HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Worcester Red Sox (nicknamed the WooSox) are a professional
minor league baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...
team based in
Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Massachusetts, second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the list of United States cities by population, 113th most populous city in the United States. Named after Worcester ...
. Beginning play in 2021, the team is the Triple-A affiliate of the
Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...
, succeeding the Pawtucket Red Sox. The team competes in the
International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major ...
, known as the Triple-A East for the 2021 season, and plays home games at Polar Park in Worcester, Massachusetts.


History

In February 2015, a group of
New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...
business leaders, led by Larry Lucchino, purchased the Pawtucket Red Sox, a Triple-A affiliate of the
Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...
since 1973. By mid-April, ownership was exploring moving the team from Pawtucket to
Providence, Rhode Island Providence () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is o ...
. In September, Governor of Rhode Island Gina Raimondo stated that the land in Providence being considered for a stadium, "was not suitable and there were too many obstacles that remained." During 2016, a feasibility study was conducted on potential renovations of the team's Pawtucket ballpark, McCoy Stadium; and from mid-2017 to mid-2018, building a new ballpark in Pawtucket was explored. A financing arrangement for partial public-funding of new stadium in Pawtucket was rejected by team ownership, who announced on August 17, 2018, that the team would relocate to a new stadium in
Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Massachusetts, second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the list of United States cities by population, 113th most populous city in the United States. Named after Worcester ...
, in April 2021. While it was initially reported that team would be named the Worcester Red Sox, the club announced a "name-that-team" competition in November 2018. The team name was officially announced on November 25, 2019, and confirmed to be the Worcester Red Sox with "WooSox" as the nickname. Like Providence, Worcester fielded a short-lived major league ballclub in the early 1880s, the Worcester Worcesters, who competed in the
National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...
.


Mascots

The team's first mascot, Smiley Ball, was introduced in Worcester on October 2, 2020. A dog mascot, Woofster, was introduced in Worcester on August 26, 2021. Roberto the Rocket was also introduced in Worcester on May 19, 2022. The red heart mascot, Clara the Heart of the Commonwealth, was unveiled on May 21, 2024.


Debut season

In conjunction with
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
's restructuring of Minor League Baseball in 2021, the Red Sox were organized into the 20-team Triple-A East. Billy McMillon, who had previously managed the Pawtucket Red Sox, was named Worcester's first manager. The team's first games were originally planned for April; however, the start of the Triple-A season was delayed into May. The team released its debut roster on May 3, and opened the season on May 4 with a loss against the Buffalo Bisons in a game played in
Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County, New Jersey, Mercer County. It was the federal capital, capital of the United States from November 1 until D ...
. The team played select games as "Los Wepas de Worcester" when participating in the Copa de la Diversión, a Minor League Baseball celebration of
Hispanic and Latino Hispanic and Latino Americans are Americans who have a Spanish or Latin American background, culture, or family origin. This demographic group includes all Americans who identify as Hispanic or Latino, regardless of race. According to th ...
heritage. In December 2021, team was named winners of the Copa de la Diversión series, and were awarded the "Fun Cup".


Later seasons

In 2022, the Triple-A East became known as the
International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major ...
, the name historically used by the regional circuit prior to the 2021 reorganization of the minor leagues. The 2022 WooSox used the most players by any Red Sox Triple-A team, 75, surpassing the prior record of 70 held by the Pawtucket Red Sox of 1995 and 2006. In November 2023, principal owner Larry Luchino stated he was actively looking to sell the team, explaining that at age 78 he wanted to "move on to blissful retirement." Later that month, the team was purchased by Diamond Baseball Holdings, who also own the Red Sox's Double-A and Single-A franchises, the Portland Sea Dogs and
Salem Red Sox The Salem Red Sox are a Minor League Baseball affiliate of the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB), based in Salem, Virginia, Salem, an independent city adjacent to Roanoke, Virginia. The team competes at the Single-A level in the Car ...
.


Yearly results

"Finish" represents the team's final position in its division at the end of regular-season play. Note: In 2021, each Triple-A team played a 10-game extension to the season, branded as the "Final Stretch"; Worcester went 66–52 per their original schedule, then 8–2 during the Final Stretch, for a final record of 74–54.


Stadium

A new ballpark was constructed for the team, opening for the 2021 Triple-A season. The cost (including land acquisition) was $159 million, with over half of the amount paid by the City of Worcester. With a capacity of approximately 10,000 spectators, it was named Polar Park through a sponsorship and
naming rights Naming rights are a financial transaction and form of advertising or memorialization where a corporation, person, or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, object, location, program, or event (most often sports venues), typical ...
agreement with Polar Beverages, which is headquartered in Worcester. The first Triple-A game was played at the ballpark on May 11, 2021, with Worcester hosting the
Syracuse Mets The Syracuse Mets are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the New York Mets. They are located in Syracuse, New York, and play their home games at NBT Bank Stadium, which ope ...
.


Roster


Retired numbers

On December 4, 2019, the team announced that uniform number 6 would be permanently retired, in honor of the six Worcester Fire Department firefighters who perished exactly twenty years prior, in the line of duty while fighting the Worcester Cold Storage and Warehouse Co. fire.


Broadcasting

In March 2020, WORC-FM (an affiliate of Nash Icon) was named as the team's flagship radio station. The broadcasters as of 2022 are Tyler Murray, Jim Cain, Mike Antonellis, and Cooper Boardman. It was later announced that radio coverage would be split between WORC-FM and WWFX. Select games are televised on NESN+.


Notes


References


Further reading

* * * *


External links

* {{Worcester, Massachusetts 2021 establishments in Massachusetts Baseball teams established in 2021 Red Sox Boston Red Sox minor league affiliates International League teams Professional baseball teams in Massachusetts Triple-A East teams