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Martin, Andrew H.

History

2011

MA

Boston has struggled for much of its history to achieve a cohesive community based on equality, with conflict frequently arising because of the diverse nature of its people. This thesis explores how the commercial enterprise of the Boston Red Sox baseball team' helped shape the social and cultural dynamics of Boston from 1901 to the present, and how, in turn, the team was shaped by the city. A significant and unorthodox relationship between the Red Sox and Boston developed over the past century and contributed to how the Boston community, which was often fragmented along racial, ethnic, and economic lines, has struggled to reach more equality and common ground for its people.
To show this relationship, three influences are explored: the role of the Irish, and the ways their identity was regarded within the city; the interplay of race, ethnicity and class, and how these factors served to exclude African Americans from the Boston community; and the formation of a unique identity for Red Sox fans, a distinct Bostonian identity that is rooted in its sense of itself, its history, and the supernatural. This thesis shows the significant role the Red Sox have played in Boston and how they have given baseball an unusual cultural power in the city, surpassing the scope typically attributed to a baseball team.