Celebrating the Red Sox in enemy territory
Sam Galanis
Contributing Writer
I first moved to New York City last year. Needless to say, being a Red Sox fan in enemy territory wasn’t very fun that year. But watching the Red Sox win the World Series in the land of the Yankees? Now that was a blast.
People in New York City are from everywhere in the world, so there’s a restaurant or a bar for pretty much every demographic. Including Red Sox fans. The Red Sox bar we ended up at was Professor Thom’s. Well, sort of. See, Professor Thom’s is probably the most popular bar among young Red Sox fans. So when I got there two hours before the game, and it was already packed and my friends weren’t there yet, things weren’t looking so good.
Directly to the right of Professor Thom’s is a San Francisco Bay Area bar called Finnerty’s. I noticed some Sox fans peeking in the window of Professor Thom’s and electing to just watch the game next door. So that’s what we did. There were very few people in Finnerty’s when we got there, so we had a spot right under a television. But before long, the bar was full of Sox fans. It turned into Professor Thom’s part two. The game was on literally every television.
The two bars were so packed that the lines to get in them stretched down the block. I saw a few sad Golden State Warriors and L.A. Kings fans in line hoping to watch their respective games to no avail. Sox fans had completely taken over another city’s bar. I mean, once Finnerty’s realized what was happening, they started to play Dropkick Murphys’ “I’m Shipping up to Boston” to lure fans in.
The crowd at Finnerty’s was amazing. We would chant “Let’s go Red Sox” or “Papi” all throughout the game. When Lackey was taken out and Fenway Park chanted his name, so did the bar. Everyone was enjoying watching the game with their fellow fans.
And when they won, the crowd went wild. They played more Dropkick Murphys, The Standells’ “Dirty Water,” “Sweet Caroline,” “We are the Champions,” you name it. Everyone stayed and sang and cheered and watched the postgame ceremonies.
Then, when everyone left, we went out to the sidewalk to hear cheers all throughout the neighborhood. Cheers for the Red Sox. In New York City. It was so surreal. As we walked to the train, we high fived about a million strangers yelling things like “World champs!” and “High five city!” It was unlike anything I had ever experienced.
When I got home, as much as I wished I was in Boston, I was glad that I had experienced seeing the win in New York. If I had to be anywhere else, where better than enemy territory? We had successfully infiltrated our rival baseball town. We got to be the ones who were the happiest fans in the city. I can say for sure that around 11:30 last night, New York was Boston’s city.
Comment or follow me @_SamMG
Contributing Writer
I first moved to New York City last year. Needless to say, being a Red Sox fan in enemy territory wasn’t very fun that year. But watching the Red Sox win the World Series in the land of the Yankees? Now that was a blast.
People in New York City are from everywhere in the world, so there’s a restaurant or a bar for pretty much every demographic. Including Red Sox fans. The Red Sox bar we ended up at was Professor Thom’s. Well, sort of. See, Professor Thom’s is probably the most popular bar among young Red Sox fans. So when I got there two hours before the game, and it was already packed and my friends weren’t there yet, things weren’t looking so good.
Directly to the right of Professor Thom’s is a San Francisco Bay Area bar called Finnerty’s. I noticed some Sox fans peeking in the window of Professor Thom’s and electing to just watch the game next door. So that’s what we did. There were very few people in Finnerty’s when we got there, so we had a spot right under a television. But before long, the bar was full of Sox fans. It turned into Professor Thom’s part two. The game was on literally every television.
The two bars were so packed that the lines to get in them stretched down the block. I saw a few sad Golden State Warriors and L.A. Kings fans in line hoping to watch their respective games to no avail. Sox fans had completely taken over another city’s bar. I mean, once Finnerty’s realized what was happening, they started to play Dropkick Murphys’ “I’m Shipping up to Boston” to lure fans in.
The crowd at Finnerty’s was amazing. We would chant “Let’s go Red Sox” or “Papi” all throughout the game. When Lackey was taken out and Fenway Park chanted his name, so did the bar. Everyone was enjoying watching the game with their fellow fans.
And when they won, the crowd went wild. They played more Dropkick Murphys, The Standells’ “Dirty Water,” “Sweet Caroline,” “We are the Champions,” you name it. Everyone stayed and sang and cheered and watched the postgame ceremonies.
Then, when everyone left, we went out to the sidewalk to hear cheers all throughout the neighborhood. Cheers for the Red Sox. In New York City. It was so surreal. As we walked to the train, we high fived about a million strangers yelling things like “World champs!” and “High five city!” It was unlike anything I had ever experienced.
When I got home, as much as I wished I was in Boston, I was glad that I had experienced seeing the win in New York. If I had to be anywhere else, where better than enemy territory? We had successfully infiltrated our rival baseball town. We got to be the ones who were the happiest fans in the city. I can say for sure that around 11:30 last night, New York was Boston’s city.
Comment or follow me @_SamMG
