Red Sox Nation is a term used for fans of the
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...
. The phrase was coined by ''
Boston Globe
''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
'' feature writer Nathan Cobb in an October 20, 1986, article about split allegiances among fans in
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...
during the
1986 World Series between the Red Sox and the
New York Mets
The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...
.
Red Sox fandom
Red Sox fans were once described by
Dennis Eckersley
Dennis Lee Eckersley (born October 3, 1954), nicknamed "Eck", is an American professional baseball pitcher and former color commentator. Between 1975 and 1998, he pitched in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, ...
as the "ultimate
manic-depressive fanbase." For all the excitement over the quality of play by the Red Sox, there is often a twinge of pessimism about the team, as the team's failures are typically blown out of proportion. ''
Boston Globe
''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
'' columnist
Charlie Pierce
Charles Patrick Pierce (born December 28, 1953) is an American sportswriter, political blogger, liberal pundit author, and game show panelist.
Biography
Pierce graduated from St. John's High School in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, and from Marqu ...
, among others, has attributed the self-perpetuating fatalism of the Nation to the intellectual legacy of the
Puritans
The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. ...
who settled
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
and instilled in the region's inhabitants a deep-seated
Calvinist
Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...
determinism. In 2010, Forbes magazine rated Red Sox Nation as the best fans in American sports, citing points such as road attendance and overall devotion to the team. However, in 2011 GQ magazine also ranked Red Sox fans the 6th worst in the United States - and 2nd worst in Major League Baseball behind only the Philadelphia Phillies - labeling them "insufferable hypocrites".
"Official" Red Sox Nation
In 2004 the Boston Red Sox began offering official citizenship in Red Sox Nation. For a small fee, fans received a membership card with the words "Official Red Sox Nation Citizen" and access to additional Red Sox merchandise offers and newsletters.
President
In the summer of 2007, the Red Sox fan site on MLB.com offered "official" citizens of RSN the chance to register as candidates to become the first president of Red Sox Nation, for the 2008 season. A broad field of self-proclaimed candidates was whittled down (internally, by operators of the website) to 25, then an open-to-all online "primary" was held in August that resulted in 10 final candidates. For most of September, the ten were provided with weblogs on the website to mount their campaigns. On September 27,
Tim Russert
Timothy John Russert (May 7, 1950 – June 13, 2008) was an American television journalist and lawyer who appeared for more than 16 years as the longest-serving moderator of NBC's ''Meet the Press''. He was a senior vice president at NBC News, Wa ...
of
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
moderated a debate among six of the candidates in a hall at Boston University (three were no-shows, and
Doris Kearns Goodwin
Doris Helen Kearns Goodwin (born January 4, 1943) is an American biographer, historian, former sports journalist, and political commentator. She has written biographies of several U.S. presidents, including ''Lyndon Johnson and the American Drea ...
withdrew from the race). The final election, also open to the public at the same website, was held from September 28 through October 2, 2007. The winner was
Jerry Remy
Gerald Peter Remy (November 8, 1952 – October 30, 2021) was an American professional baseball player and sports broadcaster. Remy played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a second baseman for ten seasons—three with the California Angels (1 ...
, a former Red Sox player and then broadcast color commentator. The following day, Remy threw out the first pitch in the opening game of the Red Sox' playoff series.
Governors
Following Jerry Remy's election as president of Red Sox Nation, he and his vice president "Regular Rob" Crawford developed a "Red Sox Nation Five-Point Plan" to guide their first year in office. The first point of the plan called for the creation of governors to represent members of Red Sox Nation in their home states. Beginning with the six New England states, nominations were accepted through redsox.com, and from these nominations the president and vice president appointed representatives for each state. Governors were responsible for better connecting members of Red Sox Nation within their home state to the team, as well as organizing viewing parties for Red Sox Nation members in their states and collecting feedback from their constituency. Since its inaugural season, the Governor's program has thus been disbanded.
See also
*
BLOHARDS
The BLOHARDS (Benevolent Loyal Order of Honorable Ancient Redsox Diehard Sufferers) are a New York City-based group that supports the Boston Red Sox baseball team. History
The BLOHARDS were founded around 1965 by Jim Powers of Weston, Connecticut w ...
*
Cardinal Nation
Cardinal Nation, or Redbird Nation, is a term commonly used to describe, in aggregate, the fans of the St. Louis Cardinals baseball franchise. Cardinal Nation encompasses not just the area around St. Louis, but also a large portion of the Midwest ...
*
Royal Rooters
The Royal Rooters were a fan club for Boston's professional baseball team in the American League in the early 20th century. The team was known as the Boston Americans during the 1901–1907 seasons, and has been known as the Boston Red Sox sin ...
*
Steeler Nation
'Steeler Nation'' is an official name for the fan-base of the National Football League's Pittsburgh Steelers. The term was coined by NFL Films narrator John Facenda in the team's 1978 highlights film. Steelers Country is often used for the Pitt ...
*
Raider Nation
The Raider Nation is the official name for the fans of the National Football League (NFL)'s Las Vegas Raiders (formerly the Oakland Raiders and the Los Angeles Raiders). Fan Jim Hudson coined the term in the 1990s when the Raiders returned to Oa ...
References
External links
MLB Red Sox Nation WebsiteOfficial Boston Red Sox Website
{{Boston Red Sox
Boston Red Sox
Culture of Boston
Culture of New England
Gatherings of baseball fans