The BLOG: Lifestyle

Tessie’s Red Sox debut excites kids, honors past

Wally the Green Monster is eager to introduce members of Red Sox Nation to his pesky little sister, Tessie!

Outside Gate K, for KIDS, Tessie, the red-headed pigtailer with bright eyes and a freckled-face will be welcoming Fenway fans of all ages to the Park’s home-opening game against the Baltimore Orioles. On Monday, April 11, Tessie makes her Boston debut with her proud parents and brother near-by. Living inside left field’s 37-foot, 2-inch Green Monster, the family have been summer residents of the city since 1997.

(Courtesy of the Boston Red Sox)

(Courtesy of the Boston Red Sox)

Unknowingly, Bostonians have been singing the praises of young Tessie for more than a century. In the early 1900s to support on the hometown Boys of Summer, a group of baseball enthusiasts lead by JFK’s maternal grandfather, Mayor of Boston John Francis “Honey Fitz” Fitzgerald would walk from a local tavern, “The Third Base Saloon,” to the city’s original ball field, the Huntington Avenue Fairgrounds.

From their reserved third-baseline seats, the anything-but-reserved fans known as the Royal Rooters, would sing “Tessie,” a tune from a 1902 Broadway show Silver Slipper. Their version of “Tessie” was a rambunctious cheer- and jeer-filled attempt to support the team — then known as the Boston Americans. It was hoped by changing” Tessie” lyrics to a series of teasing taunts opponents of the Americans would become distracted and miss pivotal major league plays.

In 1903, the Boston Americans beat the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first modern day World Series. Legend has it the Royal Rooters believed their “Tessie” chorus supported the win. Although the name of the team changed to the Boston Red Sox in 1908 and the site of the emerald diamond changed to Fenway Park in 1912, love of the nation’s past time remains unchanged in Boston.

Chants of Tessie’s anthem updated by the Celtic punk-rocking Dropkick Murphys accompanied members of Red Sox Nation to the 2004 World Series. That rout marked the end of the Curse of the Bambino, when the AL Wild Card-winning Red Sox bested the National League’s St. Louis Cardinals in a four-game sweep.

This year, before we hear the words that bring cheers and happy tears to baseball fans across Fenway, the Boston Red Sox are keeping tradition and hope alive by honoring their legacy, introducing members of the Nation to Tessie, the new girl in town.

Dear Tessie, we welcome you and hope your rambunctious spirit returns a season of fun and a winning World Series to Boston.

Hear the call to PLAY BALL at 2:05 p.m. on April 11!

Contact Diane Kilgore at [email protected].