The PawSox: Gone, but not forgotten

 

I admit it: I became sad, and upset all over again, at Rhode Island legislators for fumbling the proposal for the new Pawtucket Red Sox stadium, when I read the stories this week about the opening of Polar Park for the inaugural Worcester Red Sox season.
That’s because, it shouldn’t have happened that way.
Not at all.
Had then-Gov. Gina Raimondo gone to bat for the stadium proposal instead of doing nothing when then-House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello flexed his czar-like powers to kill the proposal for the Slater Mill stadium, PawSox mascots Paws and Sox might have been helping fans celebrate the new stadium in Pawtucket instead of participating in the WooSox home opener and hobnobbing with national anthem singer and legend James Taylor.
That’s because, as PawSox diehards know all too well by now, Rhode Island punted, and caved to Mattiello and the ghost of Curt Schilling’s 38 Studios fiasco. That bad memory was enough to fuel the negative talk against a new Pawtucket stadium, and by then, it didn’t matter that the proposal had already been approved by the State Senate --- and had been already signed off on by both the PawSox and Pawtucket Mayor Donald Grebien.
Mattiello justifiably got widely blamed for killing the stadium, which led to the decision in August of 2018 by the PawSox to move to Worcester, and he lost his bid for re-election last November. (No tears shed here.)
But the pain that PawSox fans are feeling today is real. Mind you, that pain might have been soothed a bit had there been a 2020 season. But the pandemic and the cancellation of minor league baseball last year took care of that --- and has exacerbated Pawtucket Red Sox’ fans’ very real pain.
But I won’t kid you: knowing that McCoy Stadium, for the first time in a half-century, is silent still hurts and feels like a blow to the gut. Indeed, it still sounds odd when a Red Sox broadcaster talks about the team calling up Michael Chavis and other players from “Triple A Worcester.”
I had meant to post these stories I had written as part of The Sun Chronicle’s countdown of the Attleboro area’s top stories of 2020 last year, but the posting somehow got lost in the shuffle.
But this story, and two related sidebars --- which are attached here and which also appear on the online story (link at the end of this paragraph) --- are still relevant now that PawSox fans are felling so empty.

These stories were published in The Sun Chronicle of Attleboro, MA's Dec 19-20, 2020, Weekend edition.

LINK To the stories:
Here's a link to my year-end PawSox story of its final season being jettisoned due to COVID-19, which ran in The Sun Chronicle (Dec. 19-20)

  https://www.thesunchronicle.com/news/local_news/top-10-of-2020-the-pawsox-last-season-that-wasnt/article_b3368776-f705-5d38-9196-c4bb5ac7d9cf.html   

The Main story

PAWTUCKET
The Pawtucket Red Sox’ half-century at McCoy Stadium wasn’t supposed to end like this.
The team had been poised to spend its final season in Rhode Island before the Boston Red Sox Triple A franchise traded 78-year-old McCoy Stadium for brand, spanking new Polar Park --- an $86 million facility under construction 45 miles to the northwest in Worcester that will seat 9,508 fans --- by saluting local fans for their longtime support.
PawSox officials had planned on doing that by holding a season-long toast to the team’s last 50 years at McCoy. Highlights were to have included weekly fireworks shows (including Fourth of July extravaganzas on July 2-3), dozens of souvenir giveaways and legend nights featuring prominent retired Red Sox and PawSox players.
“We planned to make all of 2020 a celebration, a celebration of our 50 years of existence,” Pawtucket Red Sox Senior Vice President of Communications Bill Wanless said in an October story on Milb.com. (The PawSox played their first season as a Double-A team in 1970 and then became a Triple-A team in 1973.)
The events were to include a night dedicated to the team’s most famous game, the longest professional baseball contest in history, “The Longest Game --- the 33-inning marathon in 1981 against the Rochester Red Wings that started April 18-19 and ended with the final inning played June 23.
That game was going to be officially recognized as a PawSox Hall of Fame Moment on June 23, 2020, when the PawSox had been slated to play those same Red Wings 39 years to the date when Dave Koza drove in Marty Barrett to win the game 3-2 in the bottom of the 33^rd inning. In addition, two legendary PawSox and Red Sox players – catcher Jason Varitek and shortstop Nomar Garciaparra – had been slated to join the PawSox Hall of Fame.
But none of that happened, after all sports shut down March 12 due to the raging coronavirus pandemic. That left the PawSox at the mercy of Major League Baseball, which put its season on hold for months until MLB reached an agreement with the players’ union to play a shortened 60-game season that doomed the minor league season.
After that decision was made, McCoy Stadium was designated as the Red Sox’ alternate training site --- news that would have left the fans shut out except for the determination of PawSox officials to do something for their longtime fans. They accomplished that by:
* Continuing the team’s “50 Acts of Kindness” initiative, which principal owner and Chairman of the Board Larry Lucchino and team President Dr. Charles Steinberg had launched in 2019 to mark 50 years of the Boston Red Sox-Pawtucket Red Sox affiliation. That effort was expanded to ease the burden on those adversely affected by the pandemic. The initiative consisted of equipment donations, scholarship awards, mascot appearances and a food drive at the stadium.
* Offering fans the chance to eat dinner at McCoy. Thousands signed up for the “Dining on the Diamond” initiative, which involved setting up 33 socially distanced tables on the field. Turning McCoy into a reservation-only restaurant proved so popular that thousands were put on a waiting list.
* Holding drive-thru jersey and bobblehead giveaways in August and September.
* Holding a Grand Finale weekend Oct. 17-18 that included an open house, a chance to play catch, take photos and run the bases, a Scout Sleepover, batting practice for high school baseball and softball players and a racial justice and equality-themed Unity Fest staged with Black Lives Matter Rhode Island.
"It was a chance to thank our fans, to have them come out to the ballpark one more time," Wanless said.  
That aspect was particularly important to PawSox officials, who have never forgotten the main lesson about building a successful team taught by their late owner Ben Mondor, who rescued the franchise in the 1970s: take care of the fans.
“To be successful, any sports franchise needs great players and great fans,” Wanless said. “The PawSox have been fortunate to have had so many legendary players come through McCoy Stadium and – at the same time – have had tremendously loyal fans who have numbered over 19 million strong these past 50 years,” he stressed.
Wanless, who spent thousands of nights and weekends at the park over the last 35 years, is well acquainted with the local fans’ support since he’s a longtime North Attleboro resident, and he singled them out for praise.
“Attleboro-area fans are among the staunchest of that fan base and we are so appreciative of this special region for all the support they have shown,” he said in an email. “We invite all our fans in this area to come visit us at Polar Park in Worcester next spring.  We promise to provide a WooSox experience that they will enjoy.”
Larry Kessler is a retired Sun Chronicle local news editor and can be reached at larrythek65@gmail.com. He blogs at larrytheklineup.blogspot.com


SIDEBAR NO. 1: THE FANS REMEMBER

The cancellation of the 2020 Pawtucket Red Sox season due to the coronavirus pandemic, its last one before the club moves to Worcester’s Polar Park in 2021, left Attleboro area fans with a reservoir of fond, and deeply personal, memories, and two of them agreed to share them with The Sun Chronicle.
***
Vincent Forte, 77, of Foxboro, said he attended 10 games a year for more than 25 seasons, adding one of his most memorable games was when he met the daughter of 1950s-Red Sox outfielder Jimmy Piersall. “I grew up in Waterbury, Conn., a few blocks from the Piersall home,” he said.
His other memories included “seeing Nomar and (Yankee shortstop Derek) Jeter before they made it to the majors … military night when heavy winds carried parachuters away from landing in the park … bringing (the) grandkids to see Mr. and Mrs. Paws (mascots Paws and Sox) …. taking visitors from the Netherlands to experience a baseball game … great inexpensive sausage and pepper sandwiches and beer … free parking.”
As far as driving to Polar Park to see the WooSox play, he said he “probably will not go to Worcester.”
***
Attleboro’s Dennis Kelly, 73, is not only a rabid PawSox fan, but he’s been a member of the PawSox Hall of Fame Committee since its inception in 2016 and introduced PawSox Vice Chairman Mike Tamburro when he was inducted in 2018.
Kelly, a former president and chairman of the board of Bristol County Savings Bank, has been going to McCoy since the early ’80s when “I would take my two sons, Tom and Rob. I would attend 12 to 15 games a year,” he said.
His memories have included:
* “Attending the final home game of the year for the first time and having the players throwing real baseballs at us ... we actually walked away with a couple of balls.”
* Going to the 2004 AAA All Star game at McCoy and watching the home run derby and meeting Red Sox legend Bobby Doer.
* Celebrating his 50th birthday at McCoy in 1997.
* “Taking our family with our four grandchildren to fireworks games over the past 15 years.”
* Taking his granddaughter Madison to her first game in 2005 at 2 months old. “She went to a number of games every year since until this past season. Chace, Landon and Nolan followed suit.”
“There are so many memories, he said, “but the most important one is people --- family, old friends, new friends and even (meeting) some baseball legends.”
Kelly expects to travel to Worcester to see the WooSox play. “I will go; I don’t think it will be 12 or 15 games. I hope it will be next season,” he said.

SIDEBAR NO. 2: HOW THE FINAL GAME AT McCOY STADIUM MIGHT HAVE PLAYED OUT:

PAWTUCKET – Pawtucket Red Sox President Dr. Charles Steinberg, when asked to discuss the canceled final season at McCoy Stadium, provided a vision of what team officials had hoped the final game at the stadium, scheduled for Labor Day (Sept. 7) against the Syracuse Mets might have looked like.
“On one hand,” he began in emailed comments, “we should be grateful that we could use this summer to introduce ‘Dining on the Diamond.’ “Fans really responded to the opportunity to express their sentiments on the actual field itself. And it made for some beautiful summer nights.”
Then Steinberg, who was known for planning several elaborate Boston Red Sox Opening Day ceremonies during his years working at Fenway Park, talked about how the final game played in McCoy Stadium might have played out.
“On the other hand, we so wish we could have presented the finale that we envisioned. Imagine the last game of the season, ending just before sunset, and out from the PawSox dugout to the field walks Wade Boggs, and he heads to third base. From the visitors’ dugout, there’s his fellow third baseman in “The Longest Game,” Cal Ripken, Jr. The music to “Field of Dreams” is bathing the ballpark.
“Then out comes Marty Barrett, Dave Koza, Bruce Hurst, Rich Gedman,  Mo Vaughn, Sam Horn, Dustin Pedroia, Dennis “Oil Can” Boyd, Earl Snyder (a standout utility player with the PawSox in 2003 and 2004) and more – and they have an impromptu catch.
“Then slowly, gradually, joining them for that game of catch as the sun is low in the sky, come our season ticketholders, playing with their old pals --- friends about whom they can say, ‘I knew you when …”
And then, as the sun dips below the leftfield wall, regular fans step onto the field, ready for their catch. The field is filling with people connecting over a ball and a common love of our national pastime.
“From an 8-year-old to an 80-year-old, there they are, short pudgy types who never made it past Little League, and some of the game’s most grand Hall of Famers. Together, in a picturesque Pawtucket sunset, bidding farewell to 50 years of PawSox baseball, yet refusing to leave, refusing to let go of the game they can still hold onto, for the game is not leaving them, only its home of the past 50 years.
“That was our dream. Will it have to remain a dream? Or can it still come true? Maybe we don’t yet know the end of the story.”