Don't be fooled by all the culture in Boston - the city is really a big sports town, and has the sports bars to prove it. Not surprisingly, most of the sports bars are clustered near Fenway Park, home field of the Boston Red Sox, and TD Garden, the sports/entertainment arena that's home rink to the Boston Bruins and home court to the Boston Celtics.
What makes a great Boston sports bar? Plenty of big high-definition screens, sports memorabilia, good brew, and the occasional spotting of a home town team member.
Near Fenway, McGreevy's 3rd Base Saloon on Boylston Street more than fits this definition. The original McGreevy's opened in 1894 in Boston's Roxbury neighborhood. Owner Michael "Nuf Ced" McGreevy was a baseball fanatic and a founding member of the Royal Rooters, the first Red Sox fan club and perhaps the beginning of modern day Red Sox Nation. Babe Ruth and Ty Young lifted a few pints at the bar and contributed to the growing collection of memorabilia. Although Prohibition closed down the bar, along with every other bar in the U.S., present-day Red Sox fanatics Ken Casey (also a member of Celtic/rock/punk band the Dropkick Murphys) and baseball historian Peter Nash revived it in 2008. You can still see a lot of the original memorabilia and more recent acquisitions, including a wooden statue of a Red Sox player. Red Sox players, including the owners' friend Jonathan Papelbon, occasionally drop by.
Bleacher Bar is also at Fenway - in fact, its location under the Green Monster may make it the ultimate sports bar. What makes it particularly interesting, though, is the open garage door that enables you to look directly out across center field toward home plate. You can see a picture of Bleacher Bar here. When games are underway, a glass door drops down so that the players can't see you, but you can still see them. The food and drink - basically Sam Adams in plastic cups - is good and reasonably priced, but pales in comparison with the view. Bleacher Bar is a fun place to come even if there isn't a game underway, especially when you see the players practicing on the field.
Around TD Garden (usually just called "the Garden" in Boston), you'll find plenty of big screens and plenty of memorabilia, but the sports bar with the biggest collection of all is The Fours, named in honor of the Bruins' legendary #4, Bobby Orr. The Fours, open since 1976, has been called the "best sports bar in America" by Sports Illustrated, and has the most extensive collection of sports memorabilia in Boston. This kid-friendly bar/restaurant also has 42 screens - so if you're visiting Boston with your sports-obsessed children and don't have a chance to visit the nearby Sports Museum in the Garden, this is a great place to visit.