Some of Ken Casey’s earliest memories come from running the bases at Fenway Park after Red Sox games.
His grandfather knew all the cops detailed for the games and was even friends with Boston legend Johnny Pesky, who played for the team from 1942-52 and spent decades as a coach.
Casey and his family would wait until all the fans cleared out after games and then bound out onto the field, flying around the bases and diving in the outfield, pretending to be Fred Lynn.
“I don't think I realized how cool an opportunity that was,” Casey said. “I thought every kid got to do it.”
Perhaps even more special than that is actually being honored by the team.
On July 11, the Red Sox will pay homage to the Dropkick Murphys, the local Celtic punk rock band that features Casey as its lead singer.
As Boston plays host to the Tampa Bay Rays, the theme for the game will be Dropkick Murphys Night, and with the purchase of a theme ticket, fans will receive a limited-edition Dropkick Murphys Bagpiper bobblehead that plays the band's most famous song, "I'm Shipping Up to Boston." Cllct graded the night as the top promotion in all Major League Baseball this season.
“To be raised as a Red Sox fan throughout ... and then, as an adult, be involved with the team, it just seemed like beyond your wildest dreams,” Casey said.
But “involved with the team” is quite the understatement. There are few bands, if any, that have forged the everlasting bond the Dropkick Murphys have with the Boston Red Sox.
And it all began with a hot take.
Casey, a lifelong Massachusetts native, told the Boston Herald on July 23, 2004, the Red Sox were going to end their 86-year World Series drought, and their new single “Tessie”, would help Boston do it.
The band debuted “Tessie” the next day at Fenway Park, prior to a home contest against the Yankees, who had ousted the Sox in Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS. And that day actually marked one of the most famous games in Boston history, with Bill Mueller hitting a walk-off home run after Jason Varitek and Alex Rodriguez’s fight turned into a full-scale benches-clearing brawl.
Three months later, with the Sox down 3-0 in the ‘04 ALCS, Casey’s prediction looked like a future post for “Freezing Cold Takes.”
“I stuck my neck out with that talking trash, like I tend to do,” Casey said jokingly. “I was getting threats from my own friends, ‘Don't ever get involved with another Boston sports team again.’”
A historic comeback ... and vindication
“Thank God for the Dave Roberts steal.”
The Red Sox famously stormed back, completing the only 3-0 series comeback in MLB history, defeating the Yankees in seven games, before sweeping the Cardinals to win the 2004 World Series.
Casey was in attendance for Game 4 in St. Louis. where, after the game, he called his 86-year-old grandfather.
“(He) had waited his whole life for that moment,” Casey said. “I think that's what made that year, such an almost spiritual year, because of that family connection and the generations that had been waiting and watching games together and just waiting. Nothing will ever top the experience of 2004.”
Like Casey predicted, “Tessie” became the anthem of the epic ‘04 playoff run, with a new version of the song even beginning with the WEEI radio call of the final out in St. Louis.
Since then, the Dropkick Murphys and Red Sox have engaged in a beautiful relationship. As the Red Sox ushered in two decades of their greatest success in franchise history, the Dropkick Murphys became one of the world’s biggest Celtic punk rock bands.
The team has performed at Red Sox games three times: 2004, 2007 and 2013. All three times the Sox won the World Series. And they were supposed to perform at Game 6 of the 2018 World Series, but Boston wrapped that series up in five games.
As synonymous as “Tessie” is to ‘04, no song better defines the 2007 season than “I’m Shipping Up to Boston.”
After the Red Sox completed another World Series sweep, this time against the Colorado Rockies, the band rode with the team in the championship parade, sitting alongside Boston’s all-time leader in saves, Jonathan Papelbon.
Papelbon, who was a four-time All-Star in his career with the Red Sox, entered games to the punk ballad for all seven of his seasons in Boston.
“In a way, we kind of did think we were on the team,” Casey said.
In 2013, the Sox once again defeated the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series, but this time they closed it out at home, the only time they’ve done so in their four championships this century.
After the game, like Casey did so many years before, his kids ran the bases, circling the diamond before sliding into home plate.
“I hope you understand how insanely awesome this is,” Casey remembered telling them.
Casey will certainly be reminding himself of that same message July 11.
“(This) is a big feather in the cap of our career,” Casey said. “It’ll be nice to be able to come raise money for our charity foundation, enjoy the game with family and friends and just kind of look back over our history with the Red Sox and how cool it's been.”
Part of the proceeds from the ticket sales will go to the band’s charity, the Claddagh Fund, which Casey formed in 2009 and has raised over $20 million.
The charity’s mission is to raise money for the most underfunded non-profit organizations that support the vulnerable populations in our communities, specifically targeting funding for children, veterans and alcohol and drug recovery.
Ironically, the first event the Claddagh Fund ever held was at Fenway, but not for a Red Sox game. In 2010, Fenway Park was home to the first ever NHL Winter Classic, as the Bruins hosted the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Red Sox granted Casey and the Claddagh Fund the opportunity to hold an open skate time, where people could make a donation to skate around the rink.
Now, 15 years later, the band is back at Fenway Park, raising money for charity, but this time, the park will be celebrating them.
“All roads always lead to Fenway,” Casey said.
Matt Liberman is a reporter and video producer for cllct, the premier company for collectible culture.