Local bars abuzz with excitement

LYNN – Dave Raymond knew the Red Sox had the game in the fourth inning when a salesman walked into Tony?s Pub and Grill with American League Championship Series T-shirts.?Those are outdated,” said Raymond. “We need World Championship T-shirts right now.”Seconds later, Jonny Gomes brought Jacoby Ellsbury home to bring the score to 5-0, and the bar erupted for the fifth time in less than two hours. Eighty hands were thrust in the air, with people high-fiving each other and grabbing their drinks in celebration as Brad the bartender rang the gong. And there were still five innings to go.?Everyone is hardcore down here,” said owner Tony Nicosia, Jr. “Yelling at the TVs after every pitch – it?s pretty awesome.”It was the same energy that put Lynn resident Dave Gugliotta on his feet at Lynnway Sportscenter, clapping and shouting for John Lackey during his final pitches, and then as he walked off the field at Fenway Park.?If you can?t go to the game itself, you go to a sports bar,” said Gugliotta, who watched five of the six games in the series at Sportscenter. “Hooting and hollering in my recliner at home just doesn?t have the same zing.”The zing brought a full house to Tony?s, the neighborhood joint where Lynn firefighter and Boston Marathon hero Matt Patterson clapped his friends on the shoulders after each run. Across the bar, employee and local umpire Don January recalled watching the struggle of watching the Red Sox come so close for so many years from the Franklin Street establishment. After spending so many games together, Nicosia said he knew almost every person on the room.?We?ve been spoiled in the last 10 years with every Boston team,” said Raymond. “It almost makes you forget the old days – ?75 and ?86.”As Raymond finished, a loud cheer ran through the bar as the Red Sox put another score on the board. He glanced at the screen, and turned back, adding, “I don?t know if that?s a bad thing.