Brink’s robber hangout, BoSox refuge, and Blizzard of ’78 shelter, the Dugout has charmed eight decades of scoundrels and students Theh Little Dive with a Long History

By Patrick L. Kennedy

What is it about the descent of a few steps that makes a bar seem special? Cheers, the old Rathskeller, the BU Pub—all in basements. Perhaps such a place feels like home, its cozy dimensions tugging at our cave-dweller roots. Beneath street level, out of sight, and away from the bustle of work, patrons feel free to loosen their neckties, share their off-the-cuff opinions, and tell off-color stories. Or is it the thrill of the illicit? Fugitives from the law go underground, and the original dive bars were in cellars—literally underground. In a nation that once outlawed alcohol, 30 BOSTONIA Winter–Spring Photographs by Cydney Scott 2015 In 1946, a BU dean asked the city’s licensing board to revoke maybe imbibers are seeking a speakeasy vibe: walking down those stairs and into a dimly the Dugout’s per- lit barroom feels like an act of rebellion against an imposed morality. mit because “it is Or perhaps, in the case of the Dugout Cafe, it’s a bit of both. not conducive to Some say the Dugout was a speakeasy during Prohibition. According to ’s Li- academic work.” censing Board, the Dugout’s was one of the first liquor licenses issued after the Decem- The license was ber 1933 repeal of the Volstead Act, which had established Prohibition in the renewed. in 1919. In the eight decades since it officially opened in 1934, the modest watering hole below 722 Common- Convention in 1936. The following year, wealth Avenue has been a haven for pro he worked behind the scenes to get Mau- boxers, big-league ballplayers, and ca- rice Tobin (Hon.’40) elected mayor of Legend has it reer criminals, as well as BU students, Boston; Tobin scored an upset win over that the $2.7 staffers, and professors. And the joint the legendary James Michael Curley. million robbery looks its age—the way regulars like it. By 1945, Tobin was governor of the Bay of the Brink’s, Wood paneling, wobbly stools. Bud and State, but when he refused to find a job Inc., armored car Sam on tap. Free popcorn. Even with a for an O’Keefe friend, the disagreement company, later few patches and updates, the Dugout has devolved into fisticuffs. O’Keefe won. immortalized in kept a timeless and comfortable quality, Those years were stormy in general the 1978 film The like a favorite old pair of jeans. for O’Keefe. His Nantasket nightclub Brink’s Job, was “It’s a no-bullshit kind of bar,” says was firebombed in 1937. His one brief planned at the bartender Bob Lupo. “We don’t take marriage ended in divorce in 1941. Days Dugout. credit cards, there’s no air-conditioning, later, a brawl erupted in the Dugout if you ask for a piña colada, I’ll probably that resulted in prison terms for two tell you to [buzz] off. But it’s a relaxed patrons—one a boxer, the other a con- sort of place. We expect you to treat it victed robber who was on probation . like your home—don’t leave a mess; it’s And in 1942, the Boston Health Depart- for decades, used to point to the corner a good place to just hang out and shoot ment closed the Dugout for more than booth “where the Brink’s guys planned the shit.” a week, part of a citywide crackdown on it,” says broadcaster and author Ber- For decades, the Dugout belonged nightspot code violations following the nie Corbett (CAS’83), who also tended to Jimmy O’Keefe, a former bootlegger tragic Cocoanut Grove fire that claimed bar there part-time for years. And that who owned racehorses and managed the lives of 492 people. wasn’t just Kennedy’s recollection. It prizefighters—a local celeb once more Small wonder that a Boston Univer- is documented that Maffie and Specs recognizable than Ted Williams. A man sity official called for the Dugout’s per- O’Keefe knew Jimmy O’Keefe. Maffie so well connected, he’s said to have manent closure. William Sutcliffe was even used Jimmy O’Keefe’s Restaurant, swayed elections and even punched out dean of the College of Business Adminis- at and a governor. tration (precursor to the School of Man- Avenue, as his alibi (the jury was not agement), one of the first BU schools to persuaded), and a postal worker told the Heavy hitters move from to what is now Globe he remembered often seeing Maf- O’Keefe was born in 1903 near the Campus. In 1946, he fie and his bodyguards at the Dugout. Kenmore Square. As a young man, he filed a request that the city’s Licensing We’ll never know if the crooks planned opened a pharmacy that did a brisk Board revoke the taproom’s permit “on the whole heist there, but it’s hard to trade in “medicinal” liquor, one of Pro- the grounds that the place is not condu- believe they didn’t discuss it. hibition’s many loopholes. O’Keefe par- cive to academic work,” layed that success into a small business reported. The board held a hearing. The A sportsman and a gentleman empire that encompassed nightclubs Dugout’s license was renewed. In 1961, O’Keefe himself was ar- in Boston and on Cape Cod. He hired rested, at the Dugout. An undercover a future math teacher, George Daly Crime of the century vice detective overheard him placing (SED’25), to keep the books for his vari- Four years later, the two most bets over the phone. O’Keefe’s friends, ous income streams. notorious Dugout customers would at- who were legion, clogged the Boston Po- Situated roughly halfway between tain that notoriety when they took part lice Department switchboard with calls, Park and (now in what was then the biggest heist in demanding to know how they could do BU’s Nickerson Field), the Dugout was American history. On January 17, 1950, such a thing. “It was like arresting San- especially popular with fans, Adolph “Jazz” Maffie, Joseph “Specs” ta Claus,” the Boston Record-American sportswriters, and gamblers, as well as O’Keefe (no relation to Jimmy), and noted. Within a month, the beloved tav- many of the Red Sox and Braves play- nine other men robbed the Brink’s, Inc., ern owner was found not guilty. ers. In his first year in Boston, Ted Wil- armored car depot in Boston’s North Santa Claus? The governor-puncher? liams—a rookie, sure, but a much-hyped End, getting away with more than $2.7 Yes, for all O’Keefe’s ability to handle rookie on pace to hit .327 with 31 home million. The meticulously planned rob- himself in the rough world he lived in, runs and 145 RBIs—borrowed O’Keefe’s bery took the FBI almost seven years it’s his generosity that is best remem- car. A police cruiser soon pulled him to solve, and it was dramatized in the bered today. over. The patrolman didn’t recognize the 1978 film The Brink’s Job, starring Peter “He had a heart of gold,” says Cor- young driver, but demanded, “What are Falk and Peter Boyle. The stolen money bett. “In times of trouble, he’d give you doing driving Jimmy O’Keefe’s car?” has yet to be recovered. And the crooks you 10 or 20 bucks or whatever you Two years after opening the Dugout, dreamed it up at the Dugout. needed, no questions asked.” The old O’Keefe forayed into politics. He was At least, that’s the story. The late man never turned down a panhandler a delegate to the Democratic National Frank Kennedy, a Dugout bartender or other unfortunate who wandered in

32 BOSTONIA Winter–Spring 2015 looking for meal money or even a free national semifinals almost every year. team bus got back up Comm Ave to the drink. He also helped out BU’s Buildings “Believe it or not, these were the pre- campus. Suddenly, Coach Jack Parker & Grounds workers when they went on scholarship days,” says Brian Durocher (SMG’68, Hon.’97) halted the bus and strike in 1978. (SED’78), and players needed part-time said, ‘Gang, we’ve stopped here beside And he was a father figure to thou- jobs to get by. “It was a hockey tradition Marsh Chapel so we can offer a prayer sands of BU students. (Remember, the that your junior or senior year, you’d of thanks.’ We all jumped out and went legal drinking age was 18 in Massa- get hired at the Dugout,” whether as to Jimmy O’Keefe’s house of worship chusetts for most of the 1970s.) When bartender, bar-back, or bouncer. (Duro- across the street.” O’Keefe died in 1987, Senator John F. cher, who is now head coach of the BU The next day, police enforced a ban Kerry (D-Mass.) marked the occasion women’s hockey team, was goalie and on all but essential vehicles. O’Keefe re- during official proceedings of the US cocaptain of the 1978 national champi- portedly got around this by having his Senate, telling his colleagues, “The Dug- on squad.) The whole team gathered in beer delivered via a Boston Edison util- out Cafe served as…a counseling center the old alehouse after games, along with ity truck. The power was still out that for students from .” the usual mix of fans, sportswriters, and night, and Durocher was serving beers Kerry (Hon.’05) (today the US secre- assorted hangers-on. The jukebox fea- by candlelight. Globe reporter Joe Con- tary of state) added that O’Keefe was the tured “O Canada” for those players who cannon (DGE’59, CAS’61) joked, “Can’t “definition of compassion.” hailed from north of the border. you do something about this?” Duro- Famously, the Dugout was open dur- cher just shrugged. At that, Concannon Crossroads of Terrier Nation ing the Blizzard of ’78, when at least two would write in the paper, “The lights and The Dugout remained popular and a half feet of snow fell across New the jukebox went on. When your team is with sporting old-timers—former mid- England. Hundreds of fans spent the 20-0, you have it all under control.” dleweight world champion Johnny Wil- night in the Boston Garden after watch- Players still gather at the Dugout af- son played cards there many nights until ing BU beat BC in the first round of the ter the Beanpot. Corbett says the bar’s closing time; Ted Williams stopped by to Beanpot. Governor Michael Dukakis present owner “has done a terrific job as reminisce in 1981—but by the 1970s, the declared a state of emergency as snow- the keeper of the flame.” (Bill Crowley, bar was most strongly associated with a drifts covered entire cars and roads be- Jr., inherited the place from his father, college sport: BU hockey. The Terriers came impassable. who inherited it from his longtime boss electrified the city that decade, winning “Somehow,” defenseman Jack O’Keefe.) “It’s part of the fabric of the three national championships and five O’Callahan (CAS’79), a member of the BU hockey family,” says Corbett. “The conference titles. They earned seven 1980 “Miracle on Ice” US Olympic team Dugout is the crossroads of Terrier Beanpot trophies and made it to the that took gold, later told the Globe, “our Nation, and long may it run.” W

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