It’s the latest craze sweeping Major League Baseball, and it may be coming to a Red Sox game near you.
Fans across the country are loudly and proudly going “tarps off,” the primal, spirited ritual of stripping to their shorts and waving their T-shirts above their heads.
There’s no official word on whether the Fenway Faithful will do the same on Friday, when the team opens its first homestand since the shirtless movement burst onto the national scene last week. But if the weather holds, and if the fan mood stays high, chances are we’ll see some skin in the bleachers.
The trend, in all fairness, is not new. Some rowdy sports fans have been going sans-chemise since time immemorial (or at least since the day they ditched their starched collars and ties at the ballpark).
But now a new generation of raucous fans — mostly young, mostly men, all of them loud and goofy and energetic — are turning it into a phenomenon, one that’s broken out at half-a-dozen ballparks in as many days.
It’s not clear if Fenway is next to see a bare-chested breakout — but a Red Sox spokesperson said this week that fans have the all-clear to do so.
“There is no specific policy against removing your shirt at Fenway Park,” Pete Nesbit, senior vice president of ballpark operations, said in an email Wednesday. “We ask fans to abide by the code of conduct to create a safe and enjoyable experience for all.”
So, as long as fans are using respectful language, drinking responsibly, and not using their T-shirts to interfere with balls in play, they should be all set.
“Our fans create the best home field advantage in baseball, with or without shirts, and we look forward to that energy on Friday night at Fenway Park,” Nesbit said.
It wouldn’t be the first time Red Sox fans have gone viral for their clothing (or lack thereof). On Marathon Monday in 2023, shirtless fans gathered in the center field bleachers during a rain delay, chanting and partying and chugging drinks out of their sneakers amid the deluge.
(Fan attire at Fenway also made headlines earlier this year, after two fans behind home plate were seen wearing paper bags over their heads, in an apparent protest of the Red Sox performance.)
Ground zero for the “tarps off” trend was in St. Louis last Friday. A club baseball team affiliated with Stephen F. Austin State University in Texas was in town for the nearby Club Baseball World Series. The St. Louis Cardinals offered tickets to the team, and 17 players were in the stands at Busch Stadium.
That group started the fun, and dozens of others joined. Suddenly, a couple hundred fans were creating a ruckus in right field that (maybe) helped propel the Cardinals to a 5-4 victory in 11 innings over the Kansas City Royals.
Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol loved the energy so much he bought tickets for the shirtless revelers for Saturday’s game.
Since then, shirtless fans have made appearances at games in Detroit and Seattle. A small group celebrated in Philadelphia as the Reds and Phillies played in the rain. In Tampa Bay, the revelry seemed to spur a late comeback against the Orioles on Tuesday; later that evening, shirtless Angels fans, chanting for owner Arte Moreno to sell the team, saw a walk off home run in the ninth inning.
After sweltering temperatures in Boston earlier this week, Friday’s weather for the 7:10 p.m. game against the Twins may be a little nippier.
Temperatures are expected to cool to around 60 degrees by first pitch and dip into the mid-50s under partly clear skies and light winds, according to Globe meteorologist Ken Mahan.
But that shouldn’t stop the most devoted of fans from raising their colors, he added.
“It’s going to be generally good ‘tarps off’ weather,” Mahan said. “A little chilly, but that shouldn’t hold people back.”
Material from Globe wire services was used.
Camilo Fonseca can be reached at camilo.fonseca@globe.com. Follow him on X @fonseca_esq and on Instagram @camilo_fonseca.reports.