In the early part of the 1900s The Boston Pilgrims (also known as the Somersets, and later to become the Boston Red Sox) played in a very nice wooden stadium known as the Huntington Avenue Grounds. Surrounding the park within a five block radius were several bars and the most famous of them all was the “Third Base Saloon.”
It’s proprietor was a burly, well known figure in the Boston area. His name was Michael “Nuf Ced” McGreevy and you didn’t mess around with him.
The Third Base Saloon was three blocks away from the Huntington Avenue Grounds and everyone came there, including politicians, Pilgrims fans and ballplayers, entertainers, union leaders, blue collar workers, intellectuals, radicals…..everyone!
When things would get out of hand, McGreevy would step up to the bar and in a booming, authoritative voice would call out, “Nuf Ced”, thump his hand on the counter, and the crowd would settle down.
Almost everyone there were Pilgrims fans which brings us to the Royal Rooters.
One day a lively discussion was going on about the merits of the Boston club and one fan yelled out, “Boy we sure is loyal rooters.” Another fan picked up on that and added, “How about we is Royal Rooters?”
McGreevy heard that, liked it. and formed a group of around 15 people who called themselves, “The Royal Rooters” and a legend was born.
They went to practically every Pilgrims home game. They could also be seen and heard at many of the away games as well. At their peak they numbered close to over 200 fans. To try to compare them to the present day Bleacher Creatures is a joke. Here is a typical day at the park for the Rooters:
Arriving well before game time they would stand in front of the main entrance and harass (push, shove and knock down) any fan trying to get in that they deemed to be rooters for the opposing team. At this point many of them were drunk (it would be worse later on). Inside the park they would fight with themselves and nearby fans who took exception to their remarks. And their remarks usually took account of somebody’s mother, sexual practices, the so called legitimacy of your birth, and various functions of your body and lack of functions as well. The Umpire was their bitter enemy. He could do no right as far as the Pilgrims were concerned. There would be very few games when they wouldn’t come rushing down onto the field and rough up the umpire for some call that went against Boston. Opposing players would be manhandled as well! Most of the time, after an incident of this sort, some of the Rooters would end up in jail. They would usually be set free the next day because of the political connections that McGreevy had around town.
When the Rooters were first formed they looked around for a song they could use to rally their team along. One of the hit songs from that period was a piece from a popular musical which was playing in Boston. The song was called “Tessie” and it remained the rallying cry for Boston even after the Rooters disappeared from sight in the early thirties. www.baseballguru.comBoston's American League Team
The Royal Rooters actually began as fans of Boston's National League team. Most reports say that in the pennant race of 1897 they became active. As that season went on, Nuf Ced McGreevy and John (Honey Fitz) Fitzgerald, JFK's grandfather, began to more formally organize the whole group from Roxbury. The first real Rooter excursion, with about 300 fans, traveled to Baltimore to see the last three games of the 1897 season. With the advent of the American League in 1901, Ban Johnson wanted to have a Boston franchise and he was hoping Connie Mack, a native New Englander, would become its owner/ manager. Of course that didn't work out and he went on to Philadelphia. When the new team was established, the National League team knew it had a rival but it came down to something as simple as ticket prices. That factor, together with some of their favorite players moving to the American League team, helped change their allegiance. Jimmy Collins, the great third baseman, was one of the players that switched teams. Nuf Ced actually had named his saloon after him. Third Base had Collins portraits adorning its walls, and other artifacts of his throughout the bar. That and the cheaper ticket prices were the key factors. That being said, they still supported the National League team, but their first loyalty was now with the American League team.
Excerpts of this article were taken from an interview with Peter Nash, baseball historian and writer of Boston's Royal Rooters, interview by Don Hyslop www.redsoxnation.net
The 1903 World Series
Boston Americans (4) vs Pittsburgh Pirates (3)
In an effort to end a bitter two year rivalry and promote unity in baseball, the veteran National League and newly established American League decided to bury the hatchet and come together for a new kind of season finale. Nine years earlier, the two top teams in the National League competed in an experimental post-season championship in which Boston beat Pittsburgh five games to three. In 1903, both teams (now in separate leagues) found themselves competing against one another in the first official "World Series". Echoing the 1894 proposal of owner William C. Temple, Pittsburgh's Barney Dreyfuss and Boston's Henry Killilea agreed that their ballclubs, who were both pennant winners, should meet in a best-of-nine playoff series for the "World Championship." The spectacle would represent the first step towards a mutual reconciliation for years of open hostilities and blatant player raids. The Pirates, who had just won their third consecutive pennant, were the perfect representatives for the veteran Nationals. Their rivals, the Americans, had won their flag by 14½ games and represented the fledgling Americans who were still trying to establish themselves as a worthy competitor.
Game 1 of the series proved to be a complete success as fans were treated to the best baseball that both leagues had to offer. The Pirates played exceptionally well on both sides of the ball as Deacon Phillippe pitched a six hitter and right fielder Jimmy Sebring hit the first home run in World Series history. He alone drove in four runs for a 7-3 victory. Game 2 did not disappoint either as Boston mirrored Pittsburgh's previous performance. They evened the series when Bill Dinneen threw a three-hitter and Patsy Dougherty walloped two homers in a 3-0 triumph.
Pittsburgh's pitching staff, ravaged by illness and injuries, forced the Pirates to start Phillippe again in Game 3 after only one day of rest. The veteran workhorse, a twenty-five game winner during the regular season, rose to the challenge allowing only four hits in a 4-2 win. Three days later, Pittsburgh went to their dependable ace for a third time and backed him up with reinforcements who came out swinging. Third basemen, Tommy Leach, knocked in three runs while Honus Wagner and Ginger Beaumont each collected three hits. Boston was unable to answer and Pittsburgh led the series three games to one.
Boston was down, but far from out. Cy Young, a veteran, twenty-eight game winner was called upon to cool off the Pirates in Game 5 and that's exactly what he did. Pittsburgh never knew what hit them. Young yielded only six hits and drove in three runs in an 11-2 runaway. The following day, Game 2 winner Bill Dinneen maintained Boston's momentum with a 6-3 victory in a contest that featured four hits, two RBIs and two stolen bases by the losing Pirates. The series was now tied at three games each.
Deacon Phillippe, who was undefeated in the series, took the mound for the Pirates in Game 7. Unfortunately for Pittsburgh, all good things must come to an end. The Americans' playing manager Jimmy Collins and Chick Stahl knocked him for first inning triples and Boston bolted to an early 2-0 lead en route to a 7-3 triumph. For the first time, the Americans had seized the Series lead. Ahead four games to three, Boston would attempt to nail down the championship on its own Huntington Avenue Grounds.
Game 8 looked to be a pitchers duel as Dinneen and Phillippe went head to head to a scoreless tie through the first three innings. Boston managed to get on the board twice in the fourth and again in the sixth. Phillippe battled on and would end up pitching his fifth complete game in the Series, which lasted thirteen days, but Dinneen bested him in the climactic finale, tossing his second shutout of the Series and notching his third victory. The 3-0 decision was the Americans fourth straight triumph and made the upstart Boston team champions of the First American League vs. National League World Series. With great pitching dominating the play, hitters obviously had a rough time at the plate. Boston batted .252 while Pittsburgh, despite the presence of National League batting champion Honus Wagner, hit .237. www.baseball-almanac.com
"Tessie" & The Royal Rooters
The original version of "Tessie (You Are the Only, Only, Only)" was written by Will R. Anderson and was featured in the Broadway musical The Silver Slipper, which ran for 160 performances between October 27, 1902 and March 14, 1903. While a popular tune, the song gained greater notoriety when it was adopted as a rallying cry by the Royal Rooters.
After the first four games of the 1903 World Series, Boston was down 3–1 to the Pittsburgh Pirates. (It was a best of 9 series; 5 wins were needed to win the series.) The Royal Rooters began rallying their team with every song they could think of; ultimately "Tessie" helped win the day. Pittsburgh outfielder Tommy Leach credited at least part of Boston's win to "that damn 'Tessie' song." He continued: "It was a real hum-dinger of a song, but it sort of got on your nerves after a while." (Boston won Game 5 and went on to win Games 6, 7, and 8 to win the series 5–3.)
The Rooters stopped singing it in 1916. The Red Sox won the World Series in 1918 but then endured an 86-year drought before winning again in 2004, the same year a rerelease of "Tessie" was issued by the Dropkick Murphys.
In 2004, the Boston-area group Dropkick Murphys recorded a cover of "Tessie," released on an EP of the same name. The Murphys said it was their intent to "bring back the spirit of the Rooters and to put the Red Sox back on top." The goal of the Murphys was realized when later that year the Boston Red Sox won their first World Series in 86 years. from Wikipedia and Spiritus-Temporis.com
"Tessie"
Lyrics by the Dropkick Murphys
Tessie is the Royal Rooters rally cry
Tessie is the tune they always sung
Tessie echoed April through October nights
After serenading Stahl, Dinneen and Young
Tessie is a maiden with a sparkling eye
Tessie is a maiden with a love
She doesn't know the meaning of her sight
She's got a comment full of love
And sometimes when the game is on the line
Tessie always carried them away
Up the road from "Third Base" to Huntington
The boys will always sing and sway
Two! Three! Four!
Tessie, "Nuf Ced" McGreevy shouted
We're not here to mess around
Boston, you know we love you madly
Hear the crowd roar to your sound
Don't blame us if we ever doubt you
You know we couldn't live without you
Tessie, you are the only only only
The Rooters showed up at the grounds one day
They found their seats had all been sold
McGreevy led the charge into the park
Stormed the gates and put the game on hold
The Rooters gave the other team a dreadful fright
Boston's tenth man could not be wrong
Up from "Third Base" to Huntington
They'd sing another victory song
Two! Three! Four!
Tessie, "Nuf Ced" McGreevy shouted
We're not here to mess around
Boston, you know we love you madly
Hear the crowd roar to your sound
Don't blame us if we ever doubt you
You know we couldn't live without you
Tessie, you are the only only only
The Rooters gave the other team a dreadful fright
Boston's tenth man could not be wrong
Up from "Third Base" to Huntington
They'd sing another victory song
Two! Three! Four!
Tessie, "Nuf Ced" McGreevy shouted
We're not here to mess around
Boston, you know we love you madly
Hear the crowd roar to your sound
Don't blame us if we ever doubt you
You know we couldn't live without you
Tessie, you are the only only only
Don't blame us if we ever doubt you
You know we couldn't live without you
Boston, you are the only only only
Don't blame us if we ever doubt you
You know we couldn't live without you
Red Sox, you are the only only only
NufCed