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Red Sox fans shed shirts in numbers as part of largest ‘tarps off’ demonstration in history of movement originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
While the “tarps off” movement seemed to have subsided in recent weeks compared to the beginning of the summer, Boston Red Sox fans revitalized the movement during their game against the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday night.
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Typically, the “tarps off” movement is kept to one or two sections to make the number of participating fans more dense. Boston’s Friday night showing, however, was spread out across the Fenway Park stands from edge to edge.
It can never hurt to take a look back at how the “tarps off” movement started, along with how vast Boston’s effort looked.
Here’s how Boston displayed its take on the “tarps off” movement.
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Red Sox fans shed shirts in numbers during game vs. Blue Jays
During their game against the Blue Jays on Friday, hundreds of Boston fans took their shirts off and waved the garments around in a circular motion. Some fans questioned their existence, while others knew this was the start of the famous “tarps off” movement.
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Each fan that stood up and partook created a domino-like effect, and the number of shirts in the air steadily rose at Fenway Park. Here’s a look at the Fenway fanatics who took their tarps off on a warm July night:
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What is ‘tarps off’?
“Tarps off” is when a group of fans takes their shirts off and waves the article of clothing in a circle. The motion should emulate that of a rally towel.
The key to an impactful “tarps off” showing is when a group of fans all partake in the deed while standing near each other in the same section. Along with that, volume is key. The louder the cheers and the more people who partake, the more likely a “tarps off” movement is to be noticed by an MLB team’s broadcast or rally its team.
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How did ‘tarps off’ start?
In the MLB, the trend began at Busch Stadium when shirtless St. Louis Cardinals fans came together through a duo of sections in an attempt to rally their team to a walk-off win on May 15. A Stephen F. Austin University club baseball team is credited with starting the trend, and fans from across the stadium joined in after noticing the fun.
The Cardinals won on an 11th-inning walk-off single by Yohel Pozo, so the team leaned into the trend in future games. St. Louis hosted the Stephen F. Austin club baseball team the following week and let a shirtless member of the Lumberjacks team throw out the first pitch. Just one day later, the Cardinals announced that a designated section of the bleachers in right field would become a “dedicated high-energy fan section.”
The trend didn’t fully start in baseball, though. It truly began in college football in 2025, when one Oklahoma State fan was dared to go to an empty section of the stadium and take off his shirt. More fans started joining him, and the “tarps off” trend became a theme, often at games with few fans in the stands hosted by bad teams. Oklahoma State went 1-11 in 2025 and had already fired coach Mike Gundy by the time its “tarps off” trend started.
Fans at Wisconsin, UCLA, Virginia Tech, and more soon joined in on the fun at their own home games, and the rest was history.
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