Beards, BoSox and Bleary-Eyed Fans

Store manager Greg Williams hung Red Sox caps on a wall display midday Tuesday at Olympia Sports. 

He then rounded an aisle to a rack of gray T-shirts splashed with bearded ballplayers.

Red Sox beard shirts — basically anything Red Sox related — is selling bigtime with the team surging in the World Series, he said.

Right on cue a customer at the Swampscott Mall store arrived for a new Red Sox hat, a replacement for her old one, which she couldn't find.

The customer was Nancy Wayne of Marblehead. She grew up in Kansas City, Missouri but has lived locally for decades and is a rabid Red Sox fan.

She loved The Idiots, the improbable Red Sox victors from 2004; but she also loves the Bearded Boys from 2013 who make up for star power with team play and their dedication to each other.

Nancy is dedicated to the Sox.

She pointed under her eyes to the puffy proof, a tell-tale sign of the sleepless fandom that has slogged through late-night, nerve-wracking playoff and World Series games.

The games run late. The suspense, drama and excitement drains you. You have to watch the post-game highlights. And after all of that you are still too excited to get to sleep, she said.

Nancy got some exciting news Tuesday morning.

Friends have tickets to Game 6 for Nancy and her husband.

That's why she was shopping for a Red Sox hat.

She'll be at Fenway. Another late night cheering for the Beards. Hoping for a championship. 

And maybe some sleep.