“Why a different boundary from the one that separate Yankee country from Red Sox nation?” Alex Cobb, Boston Globe, October 20, 1986, p8
“He is doing his best to keep a lid on the hysteria that stalks Red Sox nation.” Dan Shaughnessy, Boston Globe, August 19, 1990, p45
- NOTE: The 1986 article, about the boundary between Mets and Red Sox fans, was earlier than Shaughnessy’s first use of the term, but it seems to have caught on more with Shaughnessy’s use.
Previous earliest use (Dickson Baseball Dictionary, 3rd edition, 2009):
1ST USE. 1993. “Citizens of Red Sox Nation” (Dan Shaughnessy, The Boston Globe, Sept. 4, 1993).
