![]() Where fans are able to catch a glimpse of a future baseball star and maybe even get an autograph with one of their fishing lines, a truly unique McCoy Stadium tradition. McCoy Stadium has often been called the Building of Dreams, where minor-league dreams are one step away from major-league reality. There have been the managers colorful personalities like Joe Morgan, Ed Nottle, and Buddy Bailey and former Red Sox stars like Johnny Pesky, Rico Petrocelli, and Butch Hobson. in the Longest Game through Derek Jeter in 1995 to a young prospect like Carl Crawford in 2002. There have been great opposing players who have made their way through McCoy Stadium over the years, from Cal Ripken Jr. There have been guys like Pat Dodson, Sam Horn, and Izzy Alcantara, who were never really able to duplicate their minor-league success at the big-league level. For every Clemens or Garciaparra there has been a Buddy Hunter, a Chico Walker, a Rick Lancellotti, a Pork Chop Pough-career minor-leaguers who were just as beloved by PawSox fans as the superstars were. It is not all about the superstars, either. Guys like Cecil Cooper, John Tudor, Bobby Ojeda, Brady Anderson, Aaron Sele, and David Eckstein went on to find success with other franchises. Guys like Jim Rice, Fred Lynn, Rick Burleson, Wade Boggs, Bruce Hurst, Roger Clemens, Oil Can Boyd, Mike Greenwell, Mo Vaughn, Nomar Garciaparra, and Trot Nixon all went on to stardom in Boston. Through it all, there have been numerous great PawSox players. Of course, there was perhaps the crowning achievement of the Mondor-Tamburro regime: the McCoy Stadium renovation project, which unveiled a sparkling new McCoy on opening night, April 14, 1999, to rave reviews. There was the Mark Fidrych–Dave Righetti showdown on Jthe 1984 Governor’s Cup championship team playoff teams in 1986, 1987, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, and 1997 and Tomo Ohka’s perfect game in 2000. There was the Longest Game in 1981, a 33-inning affair at McCoy against the Rochester Red Wings that remains the longest game in professional baseball history. ![]() Under Mondor’s watch, the PawSox have not only become a rousing success both on the field and at the gate, but they have also been involved in some of the most memorable events in New England sports history. Two years later (one spent as the Rhode Island Red Sox), the franchise was in danger of being moved or folding altogether.Įnter Mondor and a whole new era for the Pawtucket Red Sox-or PawSox, as they have come to be known and loved by so many. Buzas sold the team to Phil Anez in 1975. But the good times were short lived.ĭespite consistently churning out talented young players who would contribute greatly to the success of the Boston Red Sox in the 1970s and 1980s, the Pawtucket franchise was soon in dire straits. ![]() Three years later, Pawtucket became Boston’s Triple-A franchise and won the Junior World Series title that very first year. The first incarnation of the Pawtucket Red Sox emerged in 1970 as the Boston Red Sox’ Double-A affiliate and under the ownership of Joe Buzas. The Pawtucket Slaters, a Class B affiliate of the Boston Braves, called McCoy home during the late 1940s the Pawtucket Indians, Cleveland’s Double-A affiliate, played there in 19. In fact, professional baseball was being played at McCoy Stadium some 30 years before Mondor’s arrival. Of course, the Pawtucket Red Sox existed before Mondor and Mike Tamburro, the team’s longtime president, took over the reins. After drawing just over 70,000 fans in 1977, Pawtucket attracted more than 600,000 fans during the 2001 season. Pawtucket won the International League pennant in 1977, went to the International League Governor’s Cup finals the following year, and kicked off a rousing quarter-century run at McCoy Stadium as one of the most popular sporting attractions in all of New England. On January 28, 1977, Ben Mondor officially purchased the Pawtucket Red Sox.
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