Green Hat

I may not be a true-blue member of Red Sox Nation, but I am a resident of Beantown, and I happen to know that when Boston thinks Saint Patrick's Day three things come to mind - beer, parade, Red Sox.

Now that I have begun this foray into fandom, I know that the Sox season doesn't even start until a few weeks after March 17th. Let's take a closer look at each of these symbols of the season.

Beer. Saint Patrick's Day was originally a Catholic holiday celebrating the patron Saint of Ireland, circa AD 38-461. Because Saint Paddy's Day fell during Lent, it served as a one-day break during the Lenten period of fasting (and abstaining from alcohol). Soon after Saint Patrick's Day was named an official public holiday in Ireland in 1903, and no doubt the day-off was largely spent at the pub, a law was passed requiring bars to be closed on March 17th and was in effect until the 1970s.

Parade. The Irish Society of Boston organized what is believed to be the first Saint Patrick's Day parade in the world on March 18, 1737. The parade was actually a demonstration by workers of Irish descent protesting their low wages and treatment in the workplace. This preceded the first Saint Patrick's Day parade in Ireland by almost 200 years.

Red Sox. Don't tell Youkilis, but the Cincinatti Reds were the first team to wear green for Saint Patrick's Day in 1978. The Red Sox followed with green hats in 1990 and green jerseys in 2004. Today even the bases were green at City of Palms Park. Dustin Pedroia had his socks jacked up to honor leprechauns the world over.

Now this will blow your mind and provide even more validation to bluehats who have no shame knocking pinkhats while wearing green hats themselves. According to Wikipedia, the original color associated with Saint Patrick and Ireland was BLUE!

Now isn't that the luck of the Irish?