In enemy territory, local Yankees fans share their Bronx cheer

Other nights, they have gathered at Champions at Boston Marriott Copley Place, and Game On! near Fenway Park.

On Monday, with bar-rattling chants of "Let's Go Yankees!" and "Hor-Hey! Hor-Hey!" for catcher Jorge Posada, the Sports Grille could have been on Manhattan's Canal Street instead of Boston's.

"It was ridiculous walking in and seeing nothing but Yankees fans. It was awesome," said Kim Elson, 26, a Cambridge school psychologist originally from Westchester County, N.Y. "I'm used to being in the minority -- when I cheer, everybody gives me dirty looks. But walking in the bar, where everyone had the common bond of loving the Yankees, well, it was just a little surreal."

Local Yankee fans have been able to find each other through an on-line group started three years ago by Nikki Fein, a Back Bay physician’s assistant who grew up in New Jersey rooting for the Yanks. The "Boston-Area New York Yankee Fan Meet-Up” group, which can be found on the meetup.com website, now boasts nearly 400 registered members, their numbers swelling each day during the Yankees' post-season march.

"I look around and I think back to the beginning, when there were four or five of us watching the game together," said Fein, who originally hosted meet-ups in her apartment. "I didn't think there were that many Yankees fans here."

Fein's co-organizer, Phil Brown, a West Hartford native who has lived in the Boston area for 10 years, said the group's popularity has soared because Yankee fans can finally smell another championship title, and because word of mouth has spread about the group.

"I think everybody has the same reaction: Where has this been for my entire time living in Boston? Why am I only discovering this now?" Brown said. "Boston can be a pretty lonely place for a Yankees fan. I heard a lot people the other night actually say, 'I'd be sitting in my living room right now if I weren't here.'"

While the group's fans have cheered wildly during the playoffs, they're still wary of being in enemy baseball territory. Brown said the group meets at bars they know will be quiet or empty on a particular night, or, as they’ve done at Champions, will simply move to a back room by themselves.

Gloating about the Yankees' success this year -- and Red Sox' lack thereof -- has also been held in check, at least so far (with a victory tonight, the Yankees will win the World Series.) But certainly, the group has found safety in numbers.

"You can actually not worry about someone hitting you over the head with a beer bottle when you cheer," said member Thom Haskell, 39, of Beacon Hill. "Instead of getting hostility from other people, it's just everybody rooting for the same team."

Brown said his favorite moment of the postseason so far was during the Game 2 meet-up at Champions.

"At the end of the game, after the last out, one guy said, 'Yankees Win!' And on cue, 75 people did [Yankee announcer] John Sterling's call, 'Theeeee Yaaaaaankees Wiiiiiiiiin!' '' he said.

How have Sox fans reacted to seeing throngs of Yankees fans reveling in the heart of Red Sox Nation? For local Yankee fans accustomed to cheering in silence, that may be the best part of all.

"I've seen people come in the doorway, ask, 'Why are there so many Yankees fans?', then turn around and go to another place," said Yankee diehard Tom Hecpor, 35, of Andover. "It's kind of funny to see people so surprised."