End of a Historic Baseball Town?
News of the reduction in the number of teams affiliated in the minor leagues was news that made fans shudder. Minor League Baseball is a beloved institution that has allowed millions of baseball fans to enjoy professional baseball each summer. Fireworks nights, dollar beers, $10 tickets, getting autographs of stars before they become stars, left field berm seats, and more convenience is what makes MiLB special. Many fans took for granted the idea that their local teams would always be there. Rob Manfred saw to it that wouldn’t be the case in the name of saving a few dollars more.
Gutting 40+ teams from affiliated baseball seemed crazy, and panic set in for months. Many cities were easy to guess would stay, others were easy to write off, and a handful were caught somewhere in between. One of these cities was Pawtucket, Rhode Island, a city that was synonymous with the Boston Red Sox for nearly 50 years. Players to pass through McCoy Stadium on their way to Fenway Park included Wade Boggs, Mookie Betts, Nomar Garciaparra, Jim Rice, Dwight Evans, Marty Barrett, Kevin Youkilis, Fred Lynn, Jon Lester, and countless others. McCoy Stadium was iconic in its own right. The longest game in the history of professional baseball took place there on April 18, 1981, lasting 33 innings, with Cal Ripken Jr. finishing 2 for 13 on the night. The stadium was decorated with its history as well as that of the Sox. Leaving for a shiny new stadium in Worcester, MA removed an important part of the city’s identity, with fans wondering if there will no longer be pro baseball in McCoy.
“It’s mixed emotions, it’s sad,” Pawtucket Mayor Don Grebien has said.
Well now what do they do? McCoy Stadium today sits empty, robbed of a proper sendoff and celebration of its incredible history due to MiLB cancelling the 2020 season. For several years city officials tried to reach a deal with the team’s owners to heavily renovate or build a new stadium, all of which sadly went nowhere. Currently the city of Pawtucket is paying $6,500 a month to maintain the stadium and making it presentable to prospective owners. They hope a group with the independent Atlantic or Frontier League will potentially deem their city as a suitable home for an independent league franchise, and keep baseball part of the summer tradition in the city.
I would hope that the management of either independent league, which are both now partner leagues of MLB, can see that there’s a great opportunity to capture the love of a city, preserve an iconic venue, and honor decades of baseball history. Not only doing those honorable services, the stadium is there ready to be used, at what was considered AAA worthy. With so many Hall of Famers and fan favorites having reached the majors there, what ballplayer wouldn’t want to slide in that infield dirt, sit in that dugout, and roam that outfield. Naturally some improvements will be necessary, but the standards and costs will not nearly be as high for them as it might be for others. Adequate press facilities, training areas, concessions, and everything else just might need to be smartened up a bit, and would look good as new for a new teams use.
Many will say that new ownership would face an uphill battle with the idea that not having a MLB affiliation dooms the team for failure. Is that so? There would still be the minor league feel, cheap entertainment, autographs, fireworks, and high quality talent. The Atlantic League aims to sign players at minimum AA level talents, and play in top quality stadiums. The Frontier League has teams from Illinois to Quebec. Does the quality of play decrease? For true baseball fans the answer is, “Not at all”.
Baseball is part of the soul of cities big and small across the country. Losing our teams feels like we lost part of ourselves. We see what is going on in Oakland, and they very well could be the next victim. Pawtucket lost their team against their will. Carpetbagging new owners took the PawSox away for a nicer stadium and parks. Who loses most here? The fans and residents who looked to the team as their summer nights out for generations. A wrong can be righted here, just takes the right people to decide it needs to be done. Lets get it done!
James is a contributor to The Sports Throne in the areas of Major League Baseball, the XFL, and college football, mostly in opinion articles. He’s a graduate of Clemson University, graduating in 2014. Follow his Instagram and Twitter below.
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