The original
Royal Rooters were a fan club for the Boston Americans, which in 1908 changed its name to the
Boston Red Sox, in the early 20th century. They were led by
Michael T. McGreevy, who owned a Boston saloon called "3rd Base". While M.T. "Nuf Ced" McGreevy was certainly the spiritual (in both libations and foundations) leader of the Royal Rooters, Boston Mayor
John F. Fitzgerald, the maternal grandfather of
John F. Kennedy, served as chairman for a while, and during that time, M.J. Regan was the secretary. Other members included C.J. Lavis, L. Watson, T. S. Dooley, J. Kennan, and W. Cahill, among others. Their theme song was "
Tessie" from the
Broadway musical "The Silver Slipper". Though the musical ran for less than six months, the song has gone down in history. The original Rooters disbanded in 1918.