98.5 – It’s official: call them the “WooSox.” The Triple-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox will keep the Red Sox nickname as they move from Pawtucket to Worcester in 2021. The team made the announcement Monday night and will brand themselves as the WooSox for short.
A bit anticlimactic, no?
After all the buzz and hundreds of suggestions from fans they ended up teasing this whole big announcement…only to keep the same exact name. Okay.
It was never a realistic option for the team to go away from the iconic brand that is the Red Sox. Would something cheeky like the Hartford Yard Goats or the Binghamton Rumble Ponies been cool? Yes, but this is a minor league franchise betting $100 Million on the fact that people will come to their games in Worcester. So sticking with the clear association to the Red Sox is no surprise.
What is surprising though is that odd smiley face logo wearing actual Red Sox.
I didn’t realize one person could take credit for something so omnipresent in American culture. Its like Mugatu taking credit for inventing the piano key neck tie.
Ya learn something new every day on this blog. Not sure if I’m dying to buy a smiley face Sox hat (I probably will), but I am psyched to see this new ballpark. As we’ve detailed here in the past, Larry Lucchino is building his magnum opus in this Triple-A ballpark in Worcester. This place is going to be sick.
Just a damn shame that friend of the blog Rusney Castillo, probably the most infamous PawSox player of all time, won’t be around to bear the fruit of his labor since his contract ends in 2020.
Yahoo – The last two men in charge of baseball operations – Ben Cherington and Dombrowski – were shown the door quickly after winning championships, and those moves are painting the Red Sox in a very bad light, according to ESPN’s Buster Olney.
“These decisions loosely frame the industry perception of the Red Sox as a chaotic company, a miserable place to work. Boston owner John Henry needs to understand this, because it is why some of the people he’d probably love to consider as possible replacements for Dombrowski privately dismiss the idea out of hand.”
Olney writes that some potential candidates have no interest in working for Henry, because they “doubt he’d have the patience to back his next general manager through the difficult crossroads ahead.”… A wide-held view in other front offices is that the highly respected and well-liked Red Sox president Sam Kennedy stands as a thin buffer between the team devolving to the level of the Mets, the team generally regarded by rival executives as baseball’s model for dysfunction. “If Sam ever walked away,” said one official, “the whole thing would be a complete mess.”
Well thats sobering to read for a team with 4 titles in the last 15 years. Are the Red Sox a complete mess of a franchise that wins in spite of its values, philosophy, and culture, not because of it? 100% Thats what happens when you have finishes of 1st, 1st, 1st, last, last, 1st, last over the previous seven years. So that is two World Series titles and three last place finishes across two GMs and three managers in seven years. Not exactly a model of consistency. In fact, the Sox have finished 15 or more games out of first place four times since 2012 (including 2019), which is the first time they had achieved that level of mediocrity since 1998.
But even with all that said for Buster Olney, one of the most well respected baseball writers in the country, to report that Fenway has become “a miserable place to work” is still startling.
I feel like I’m living in Groundhogs Day. Didn’t this same exact thing already happen a few years back? Am I the only one that read Feeding the Monster? Or the Francona book?
Those two books could not depict the highs and the lows of this organization any better than they already did.
Now for as much as we dump on the Mets for being an absolute circus:
It would seem the perception of the Red Sox, despite all their success, is not far off. That is ENRAGING as a fan of this team because it has been and should be one of the top 2 or 3 jobs in all of baseball. You have more money than almost any team to spend, a fan base that shows up and pays through the nose to support the team, and a roster built around home grown talent. Yet somehow we’ve arrived at a point where nobody of note even wants the job.
That all leads us to the most pressing question of all; who the hell is going to take the reigns for the Red Sox moving forward? I think we’re all in agreement that Theo Epstein returning would be a wet dream for everyone in town….but that ain’t happening. Olney makes it sound like nobody wants the job because John Henry has created an absolute shitshow of dysfunction at all levels, which is ironic because it all started when Henry chose a nearly 70 year old Larry Lucchino over Epstein all those years ago. During the Epstein era the Red Sox were a team of efficiency and consistency. The team boasted one of the best farm systems in baseball for years and supplemented homegrown guys like Jon Lester, Jonathan Papelbon, Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury, Clay Buccholz with high priced free agents. There was always a balance and the team rarely pushed all of its chips into the middle of the table to sacrifice the future for the present. Sure, what Dave Dombrowski did was exactly what John Henry brought him here to do. I don’t fault Dombrowski because we knew who he was when he got here. The Sox won a title, but absolutely ravaged the farm system to do it. Boston now has the worst farm system in Major League Baseball. He’s basically the baseball equivalent of Thanos.
Now Peter Abraham is making it sound like the Red Sox are very aware of this negative perception around the league and are resigned to promoting from within. According to Abraham it looks like the Sox are positioning the pieces that would point to an internal candidate being the next GM.
Maybe thats a good thing who knows. Maybe having a guy thats been with the organization for years and already understands the internal workings on Yawkey Way will benefit the team in the long run. Instead of slapping a band aid on things with a big name. However, the Sox better have a plan in place. Don’t just promote someone from within just because you couldn’t do any better. Pick a guy, develop a philosophy, and stick to it. Most importantly, give the guy the power to make the tough moves. The last thing this team needs is another puppet that just does the bidding of his bosses.
Just don’t tell me you’re letting a homegrown ace walk because you don’t sign pitchers over 30 and then sign a pitcher over 30 to the biggest contract ever given to a pitcher a year later. Your move, John Henry.
Boston.com – “We want a ballpark that really looks like Worcester, tastes like Worcester, smells like Worcester — a ballpark that is really representative of its home town,” Rea, the executive vice president of real estate development and business affairs for the Pawtucket Red Sox, recently told Boston.com in an interview.
Over the last month, PawSox officials have begun to reveal what that exactly could mean.
Rea says they’re currently “knee deep” in the planning efforts for the future home of the Red Sox Triple-A affiliate, who will begin playing in Worcester in 2021. The team announced the move last August, along with plans to build a 10,000-seat stadium in Worcester’s Canal District as part of a development project that includes restaurants, apartments, and a hotel overlooking the ballpark…
…has partnered with Worcester-based craft brewer Wormtown Brewery and beverage distributor Atlas to curate a locally inspired beer menu.
“We want people to be able to have Coors and Miller and Bud, but also have the local flare that I think the Worcester and Central Mass. area is becoming known for,” Rea said.
Welcome to Worcester. Dollar Twenty Five.
Larry Lucchino is most famous for three things: 1.) Designing the beautiful Camden Yards ballpark in Baltimore 2.) Leading the revival and renovations of the modern day Fenway Park and 3.) Running Theo Epstein out of town over a pissing contest. Obviously No. 3 is not ideal, but No. 1 and No. 2 are great legacies, which is why I have faith in Larry building something awesome in Worcester.
At first glance Polar Park seems like just another licensing rights sell out that means nothing. Whether intentional or not, it actually works really well because (at least for the Pawtucket Red Sox) the Triple-A team’s mascot currently is…
Yup, a polar bear. Or “Osos Polares de Pawtucket” if you happened to grab the fire flames hispanic themed hat like myself.
Larry’s even brought in the same architects to design the new park that have been leading the Fenway renovations for the last two decades.
It sounds like they’re being pretty creative with the entrances too, which is great not only for designing a unique experience but also helps with the bottle neck problem so many parks have.
Similar to Fenway, team officials are planning to have entrances all around Polar Park, so that fans can enter from different angles and the “full circumference of the venue is busy and activated,” Rea said. The park will also be built into a hill. So while fans entering the home-plate side on Madison Street would come in on street level, those coming from the direction of Worcester’s lively Green Street restaurant and bar scene would actually walk down into the stadium from center and right field (think Baltimore’s Camden Yards with a Jersey Street-type scene above the outfield seats).
I can’t tell you how many times theres been a massive line at Fenway right when you cross over the bridge to only just bomb down around to the Ted Williams statue and just double back to save a few minutes.
“I think there will be some unique outfield geometry and architecture,” he said. “We’re still putting those final pieces in place. But I think there will be some unique Fenway-esque architecture, if not identical dimensions and identical height walls. But some things will certainly have that sort of feel to it — not just some generic, perfectly symmetrical outfield.”
Fenway-esque architecture? Hell if I know what that means. I would think as the Triple-A team you would want players to get used to the same dimensions that the parent club is using in their home ballpark so that would make sense, but who knows.
Anddd its gonna be pricey!
According to the Worcester Business Journal, it will be the fourth-most expensive minor league park ever built when adjusted for inflation.
“We want a ballpark that has Fenway charm, but with the modern amenities that you expect from a 21st century ballpark,” Rea said.
The “flexible seating and social areas” are a great idea because sometimes you just want to grab a sausage and a couple beers and shoot the shit with your buds.
Around 7,200 to 7,500 of the park’s 10,000-person capacity will be traditional, fixed ballpark seats, Steinberg said at a fan preview night in Pawtucket last month. The rest will be flexible seating and social areas catering toward younger fans and families. Rea thinks such gathering spaces will be key for attracting students from the 13 colleges in the Worcester area, who have reportedly complained about not having anywhere to mingle with each other.
I’ve done this at plenty of Sox games when I stumble onto $10 tickets and its a blowout. The roof deck down the first base line is one of my favorite spots in Fenway. It also reminds me of the open local brewery and picnic table areas I raved about in our Portland SeaDogs ballpark review.
We’ll be heading back to Portland in August for another SeaDogs game and I’ll probably hit Pawtucket again for the seasons over. Needless to say I am a huge fan of minor league ballparks, whether its Pawtucket or Portland or the NH Fisher Cats or even some Brockton Rox games back in the day. Still need to make it to the Hartford Yard Goats who apparently have a sick brand new stadium downtown, but I will 100% be checking out the Worcester stadium once the PawSox move their in 2021.
Until then, please please just don’t ruin the team name with some gimmicky mascot. As Frank Lucas once said, “thats a brand name.”
WORCESTER – It’s official. In just a few years, the Pawtucket Red Sox will relocated to Worcester and play in a newly constructed stadium in the city’s Canal District. According to multiple sources, the City will make an official announcement tomorrow. Members of the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce will be present at the announcement. The Worcester Red Sox will begin play in 2021.
Specifically, the source told TWIW that Worcester’s offer will save the Pawtucket Red Sox owners “tens of millions” if they move to Worcester and build a stadium in the city’s Canal District. Another source told TWIW that it will save PawSox ownership around $23 million to move out of Pawtucket and into Worcester.
On one hand this is kind of sad to see as the PawSox have been in Pawtucket since the early 1970s, depending on how technical you want to get. We all grew up going to those games as it was just an hour down 95 and SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper than my parents taking us to a game at Fenway.
The main reason for the move is a new stadium deal, which the state of Rhode Island had been negotiating, but ultimately were reluctant to foot the bill. A minor league team that charges $5 for tickets is piking for a new stadium? How? Why?
THATS LARRY LUCCHINO’S MUSIC!
Thats right, the guy most famous for driving the greatest baseball mind of our generation out of town over a pissing contest.
He’s why.
He’s also well known for being the driving force behind ballpark projects like the Orioles’ Camden Yards. Lucchino makes me laugh because when people don’t respect his ballpark building game I just imagine him flipping his shit like Mugatu. I INVENTED CAMDEN YARDS!
I have to admit though, all kidding aside, I am starting to soften on Lucchino over the years, but I think that has more to do with the fact that he looks like Jim Leahy than anything else.
Now I can’t blame Pawtucket for balking at building a new stadium for a minor league team that had to let me bring my dog to the game to actually get me to buy a ticket (and meet the legend that is Rusney Castillo).
Even more so when you see some of the details of how much this thing might have actually cost.
“Rhode Island approved an $83 million proposal to build a new Pawtucket riverfront stadium in June. As recently as last week, Pawtucket Mayor Donald Grebien told the Providence Journal he believed his city had a 50 percent chance to retain the PawSox.”
Not to mention, Rhode Island has a bad history with financing the passion projects of the Red Sox.
But the real question here is what do we call them? The PawSox is obviously out. WoSox? WoostahSox? The one I’ve seen in actual print I cannot get on board with; the Woo Sox is a TERRIBLE name. Might as well call them Woo Girls.
So long PawSox, we hardly knew ye. I can’t promise I will visit you often, but it is my moral obligation to film The 300s Reviews: The Worcester Red Sox whenever you do open up shop.
ESPN – Tony La Russa joined the Red Sox in a vice president’s role, and he will assist president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski, the team announced Thursday..La Russa spent 33 seasons as a manager, beginning in 1979 with the White Sox when Dombrowski was an administrative assistant in the organization. La Russa won the World Series in 1989 with the Oakland Athletics and in 2006 and ’11 with the St. Louis Cardinals. He retired from managing after the 2011 season and worked in the commissioner’s office before joining Arizona’s front office.
How do I feel about the Red Sox bringing HOF baseball guy Tony La Russa into the fold?
Player personnel has been relatively good for the Sox, basically its been hit or miss over the years like any team. Chris Sale was a stud and was the front runner for the Cy Young until he faltered down the stretch. David Price has been disappointing for the most part. Eduardo Nunez? Excellent trade! Travis Shaw for Tyler Thornburg? Not so much. My point is the personnel moves have been, for the most part, pretty good. But the front office? Holy shit, thats been a soap opera for the past 15 fucking years. Ever since John Henry and co. took over the team. Lets run though some of the highlights.
Theo Epstein quits on Halloween night in 2005 and leaves the office in a gorilla costume.
Jed Hoyer and Ben Cherington take over as co-GMs and immediately trade Theo’s most coveted prospect in Hanley Ramirez (worked out OK).
Theo returns, but ultimately quits again in 2011 after yet another pissing contest with Larry Lucchino. Lucchino retires 4 year later, while Epstein has not only resurrected the Cubs and won a World Series, but has turned them into a juggernaut.
Beloved manager Terry Francona gets absolutely TRASHED in the media on his way out of town in 2011.
Bobby Valentine is hired in 2012 and immediately makes a mockery of the franchise and is shit canned after just 1 season.
John Farrell is kept on as Red Sox manager after 2016 and the team lets his replacement in waiting, Torey Lovullo, leave for the Diamondbacks. Lovullo goes on to lead Arizona to a 93 win season (+24 from 2016) and the Red Sox promptly fire Farrell one year later anyways.
So now finally, after years of a reality TV show running the front office we finally get an adult in the room. La Russa is a legend in baseball so its a huge win for the Sox to bring him on board.
Apparently La Russa and Dombrowski are buds, so I would assume it was Dave’s idea to pluck him out of Arizona’s front office to help right the shaky ship that is the Boston Red Sox.
The Red Sox now have a respected, experienced, strategic guy in the front office to complement Dealer Dave. So when Dombrowski wants to trade Rafael Devers, Mookie Betters, Xander Bogaerts and Andrew Benintendi for Giancarlo Stanton and his $300 Million contract Tony La Russa can slap the phone out of his hand. Plus he’s the only one with the stones to tell David Price to pipe down if he tries to mess with his boy Dennis Eckersley again.
ESPN – Theo Epstein is the world’s greatest leader. So said Fortune magazine, which published its annual list on Thursday morning. The Chicago Cubs’ president of baseball operations finished in the top spot, ahead of Alibaba founder Jack Ma. Pope Francis at No. 3, Melinda Gates at No. 4 and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos rounded out the top five.
Thank GOD the Red Sox won the World Series in 2013 because otherwise this shit would be straight up demoralizing. Not only has Theo Epstein taken a perennial dumpster fire of a team that used to routinely top 100 losses a season and turned them into the BEST team in baseball, but now he’s been crowned the World’s Greatest Leader by Fortune.
Dude beat out Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and the Pope. Theo Epstein beat out the motherfucking Pope. The Red Sox forced that guy out. All because Larry Lucchino, who has since been put out to pasture, wanted to have a dick measuring contest with the young blood. Because the guy who doesn’t even work here anymore wanted to feel important, we let legitimately the best baseball executive of our generation slip through our fingers.
Larry Lucchino calling all the shots because he helped build a cool ballpark down in Baltimore. Lucchino was a straight up real life version of Mugatu. “I INVENTED CAMDEN YARDS.”
Theo, a guy who grew up in BROOKLINE, who dreamed of working for the Red Sox did just that, then helped construct 2(!) championship teams and then was shown the door. How does that happen?
And now he’s the World’s. Greatest. Leader. Good. I hope that makes John Henry puke on his 50 fucking foot yacht.
The Red Sox did not immediately respond when asked to comment.
Holy shit imagine if the Sox did not have that miracle run to win the World Series in 2013? There was the absolutely epic collapse of 2011, the chicken and beer fiasco, the downright shameful smear campaign of Terry Francona, the Bobby Valentine abortion of an experiment, followed by 3 last place finishes in 4 years. That is a dark, dark period if not for that title they somehow shoehorned in there. And Theo is probably laughing like a bastard right now out in Wrigleyville counting his $10 million a year salary.
If one of the highest spending teams in baseball could only somehow get their hands on a young stud executive the Sox would be set for a generation.
With Terry Francona wining AL Manager of the Year yesterday it got me thinking. Francona was manager of the year and was in the World Series, now Jon Lester could very easily win the NL Cy Young tonight to go along with his World Series title, not to mention Theo Epstein potentially winning MLB Executive of the Year. So out of Boston’s not so long ago core of the franchise, we could see a Manager of the Year, Cy Young winner, MLB Executive of the Year and a World Series title all in the same season and the Red Sox will receive ZERO BENEFIT.
Thats crazy. I know some of these guys have been gone for a couple of years now, but let that sink in. The one time core of the Red Sox may have a clean sweep of the biggest awards in the sport. I honestly don’t know if Larry Lucchino feels bad about ousting pretty much all of these guys or if he just laughs it off and thinks, “Fuck it, I invented Camden Yards.”
Either way, hopefully its a wakeup call for John Henry to STOP MEDDLING IN BASEBALL AFFAIRS. You ran the best baseball executive of our generation out of town over a pissing contest just so we could hold onto the 70 year old guy who likes to monetize everything down to the goddamn bricks at Fenway. Solid management plan.
Those two books could not depict the highs and the lows of this organization any better than they already did.
The 300s 