BOSTON (WHDH) – Whether it’s “Red Sox nation,” “reverse the curse,” or “do damage,” Boston’s boys of summer have always had some great slogans to propel them to October baseball.
It was utility player Romy Gonzalez who spurred on the latest version for the 2025 team.
Back in July, Gonzalez hit a home run that traveled an estimated 454-feet, helping the Sox to win 9-3 against the Colorado Rockies at Fenway Park. When asked about how he was feeling hitting lefty pitchers, the 28-year-old slugger responded with a phrase that quickly caught fire around the team.
“Tremendously locked in,” Gonzalez said. “Constantly grinding, working together, just constantly talking about ball and lefty approaches, yeah man I feel really locked in.”
Outfielders Jarren Duran and Ceddanne Rafaela subsequently modeled shirts with those words during batting practice. The phrase then took off around the fan base, showing up in fan-made edits and social media posts. The Red Sox social media also created a tremendously locked in logo to use for the team’s postseason run.
It’s not the first, and most likely won’t be the last slogan that connects with fans.
“You know the one I liked, it didn’t work out so well, was ‘cowboy up,’” one Sox fan told 7NEWS. “That was a lot of fun but didn’t end so well in 2003.”
In 2003, Red Sox first baseman Kevin Millar started telling teammates to “cowboy up,” urging them to play to win.
A year later, the team sought to “reverse the curse” of the Bambino with a World Series win in 2004. The Sox hadn’t won it all since the team sold Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees in 1919.
Fans found unique ways to root the team on, even if it took a little spray paint to get the job done! A reverse curve sign over Storrow Drive in Boston transformed into “reverse the curse,” hoping to bring some good luck to the Sox on their quest for October. Kids also enjoyed reverse the curse ice cream, which was almost as sweet as the team winning it all in St. Louis against the Cardinals for the first time in 86 years.
In 2018, it was all about doing damage. Old friend Mookie Betts was among the Sox stars to proudly wear “do damage” gear on the path to victory.
Matt Damon, Jimmy Kimmel, and Ben Affleck were among celebrities who hopped on the band wagon, and Donnie Wahlberg posted his congratulations after the team won seven years ago with the slogan as a hashtag.
Now with Brayan Bello on the mound in game two of the Wild Card Series against the Yankees, the 2025 team looks forward to cementing “tremendously locked in” in Red Sox lore forever.
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