More than a century before the invention of Red Sox Nation, there lived in Boston a baseball fan who stood out among the crowd. A tavern owner with a thick neck and a booming voice, baseball’s first superfan was loud enough to shout down any argument or burgeoning brawl in his sometimes rough and tumble saloon with one simple command: “Enough Said!”
His name was Michael T. McGreevey, but he was known around town and at his tavern, which he called the Third Base Saloon, as “Nuf Ced.” And it was Nuf Ced McGreevey who was the heart, soul and lifeblood of a rowdy, raucous, often inebriated, but always dedicated and passionate, club of baseball fans known as the Royal Rooters.
The Creation of the Royal Rooters
In that last decade before the dawn of 20th Century, McGreevey’s saloon was the local hotspot for politicians, sportswriters, baseball fans and a throng of the city’s growing Irish working-class. Nearly all of the patrons at the Third Base were fans of the Boston Beaneaters, the town's National League franchise, and many of the team’s top players were tavern regulars. The Rooters remained avid fans of the Beaneaters through the 1899 season, when McGreevey learned from the players how poorly they were paid, especially in light of what he deemed exorbitant ticket prices. As a result, the Rooters relations with the team soon became strained. So when American League President Ban Johnson placed a new franchise in Boston, the disaffected Rooters officially jumped ship and became fans of the Boston Americans (renamed the Red Sox in 1907).
From Third Base to Huntington
On game days, the Royal Rooters marched in procession from the Third Base Saloon to the Huntington Avenue Grounds, which was the team’s home field prior to the opening of Fenway Park in 1912. The Rooters had a reserved section of seats along the third base line, close enough to the field to intimidate or distract opposing players with their insults, epithets and vicious taunts. They were also known for breaking into popular songs, and with several hundred Rooters all singing at once, the din was often sufficient to disrupt the concentration of opponents, and, according to the Rooters and a number of sportswriters at the time, sometimes influence the outcome of a game.
Tessie
The most famous of these songs, and the one most associated with the Rooters was Tessie, a popular tune from a turn-of-the-century Broadway play. During the 1903 World Series, which pitted Boston against Honus Wagner’s Pittsburgh Pirates, the Rooters sang Tessie incesantly, which fired up the Boston crowd and greatly annoyed the Pittsburgh nine. Pirates outfielder Tommy Leach credited at least part of the Americans’ eventual World Series victory to the Rooters, saying, “that damn Tessie song was a real hum-dinger, but it got on your nerves after a while.”
The Royal Rooters Riot at the 1912 World Series
Nine years after defeating the Pirates in the first World Series, the team (now called the Red Sox) found themselves back in the Fall Classic in 1912. With the Red Sox leading the Series three games to two, Boston’s top pitcher, a 34-game winner named Smokey Joe Wood, was scheduled to take the mound.
Prior to the contest, however, the team’s owner, Jimmy McAleer, sold the Rooters seats to other fans. When the Rooters showed up at the field and found that their seats were occupied, Fitzgerald and McGreevey met with McAleer in an attempt to get back their seats. The owner said "no deal" and told the leaders that the group would have to watch the game from the standing-room only section. The Rooters went ballistic, knocking over the temporary wall that separated the crowd from the field. The fans seated in the usurped seats retaliated against the Rooters, firing peanuts, Cracker Jacks and scorecards at McGreevey's bunch.
Mounted police were called in to stop the riot. With billy clubs in hand, the cops drove the Rooters to the left field SRO section. The riot was over, but the delay caused Wood’s arm to stiffen up, and the great pitcher was so awful that he couldn’t make it through the first stanza. The Red Sox lost the game 11-4, and the furious Rooters boycotted Game 7, which turned out to be a Series-clinching victory for the Sox.
The Rooters are Gone But Tessie Lives On
After the victory, and after an apology from McAleer to Fitzgerald and McGreevey, the Rooters once again embraced their team, attending the victory parade just a few days after the Series ended. The Rooters saw their beloved Red Sox win two more titles in the next three seasons, and then disbanded after the 1918 World Series.
Some say the spirit of the Rooters is embodied in the current Red Sox Nation. (Others say that Red Sox Nation is a money-making hoax being perpetrated on loyal Boston fans and recent bandwagon jumpers alike.) Regardless, one thing is for sure: Tessie lives on.
In the summer of 2004, a Celtic punk rock bank known as the Dropkick Murphys recorded their own version of the song, with new lyrics that paid homage to McGreevey and his raucous clan of baseball fanatics. When the song was released, lead singer Al Barr predicted that the new tune would help break the Sox 86-year championship drought (which, interestingly coincided with the disbanding of the Rooters) and lead Boston to the promised land.
He may have been right because, after humiliating the hated Yankees in a remarkable come from behind ALCS victory, the Sox swept the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series, and brought home their first title in almost a century.
Today, the song is still played over the public address system at Fenway Park after every Red Sox win.
Long live the memory and the legacy of the great Royal Rooters.
