Hockey may be on the minds of many Maritimers today, but at least three Boston Red Sox fans from our region have turned their thoughts to baseball.

Jim Prime, Dave Ritcey and Don Hyslop are members of the Bluenose BoSox Brotherhood, which is "a diehard group of Sox fans from Nova Scotia," according to its website. The group has grown to roughly 150 members from across the province.

The three fans have convinced the Boston Red Sox to hold a Nova Scotia day at Fenway Park on July 5, when the team will play the Toronto Blue Jays.

This will be the first time it holds a day to honour a community outside of the United States.

"We're just three average Nova Scotians that have been persistent with the Red Sox, encouraging them to honour all of the baseball fans in Nova Scotia," says Ritcey. "Not just Red Sox fans, but Blue Jays fans."

Many Maritimers share a love of the Boston team, but few have likely written 13 books about the team and its players, or have a shrine in their office.

But Jim Prime does. And if his office is a shrine, then Ted Williams is his baseball god, with posters and memorabilia of the iconic baseball player plastered over the walls.

Williams hit the longest home run in Red Sox history, knocking the ball 502 feet into the right field bleachers in 1946. A lone red seat signifies where the ball landed to this day, and Prime thinks this will be a hot attraction for visitors on July 5.

Whether the game is hockey or baseball, Maritimers have long cheered on sports teams from Boston because of the special connection it has shared with Halifax since the Halifax Explosion.

The infamous event of 1917 devastated Halifax and left thousands dead and wounded. The city of Boston came to its aid immediately and sent crews to help. Nova Scotia hasn't forgotten the assistance it received from Boston, and it sends a token of appreciation to the city each year.

"The whole idea of Nova Scotia delivering a Christmas tree to Boston every year in thanks for the help rendered to us in for Halifax Explosion," says Prime.

"In the 1900s a young man by the name of Fred Lake, from near Kentville, became the manager of the Boston Red Sox," says Hyslop, recalling a direct link between the team and our region.

And then there's Babe Ruth, a famous Red Sox pitcher who was traded to the New York Yankees, signaling what many diehard fans believed was an 86-year curse for the Sox.

"The man who, at St. Mary's Boys School in Baltimore, taught him (Babe Ruth) the game, and that would be Brother Matthias, who was from Cape Breton," recalls Hyslop.

When the Red Sox take on the Blue Jays on July 5, Nova Scotians will be front and centre at Fenway Park.

"There will be two bat boys…from Nova Scotia," explains Prime.

A Nova Scotian will shout out the iconic expression "play ball" to begin the game, and another will throw the first pitch.

Prime, Hyslop and Ritcey started working on the project around 2008 when the Brotherhood convinced the Red Sox to allow the World Series trophy to travel to Nova Scotia.

"It should be phenomenal for encouraging further business ties and fostering a better tourism industry as well," says Ritcey of the upcoming Nova Scotia Day.

He is also quick to point out that the government is not involved in the project, and it won't cost Nova Scotia taxpayers anything to put on Nova Scotia Day at Fenway.

Of course, they can always dish out a few dollars if they want to attend. Prime says there are tickets left for the July 5 game, but they're going fast.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Rick Grant