October baseball has returned to Boston and Red Sox fans couldn’t be happier. After last years collapse (finishing the season in last place), the Boston Red Sox have made some changes.

A key addition is left fielder Jonny Gomes. Gomes is responsible for the Red Sox beard revolution. He began the trend in spring training. Since the Boston staff has put down their razors, the Red Sox have dominated the American league; leaving fans screaming “fear the beards!” at every home game.

Although the fans attribute the team’s success to the beards, Gomes claims the beards are just a symbol of bonding. “That stuff is totally irrelevant to baseball. but if everybody gets on the same page, maybe it does help. Good teams seem to have certain music or ways they celebrate. Quirky things can bring people together” Gomes reports to the Boston Globe.

Not only has the beard revolution brought the team together, but it has also swept the Red Sox nation. Fake beards can be spotted on children, teens and adults alike at any home game. This new and improved team is reminiscent of the 2004 ‘idiots’ according to many fans. “It’s been a blast. This is the most fun I’ve ever had playing baseball,” Jarod Saltalamacchia tells the Boston Globe.” It’s not because of me doing well. What’s great about this team is we root for the best guy.

The chemistry among these players is obvious in dugout antics. Instead of congratulating each other with the traditional high five, the team pulls each other’s beards. Also- to the joy of the fans- the beards make a statement against the clean-cut New York Yankees, intensifying the Red-Sox-Yankee rivalry.

For the players, the beards represent the return of pride to Boston. “What the performance was going to be, the total number of wins achieved, we didn’t know. But there was a character that showed through in that moment that was special,” John Farrell comments to the Boston Globe.