Snapshot
BY LAUREN CLEM • PHOTOGRAPH BY JASON ALLARD
McCoy Stadium
ON NOV . 3 , 1940 , MAYOR THOMAS P . MCCOY laid the cornerstone of what would soon be known as McCoy Stadium . Far from the beloved ballpark it would become , the stadium played host to a rotating cast of minor league teams until the Pawtucket Red Sox made it their home in 1970 . It was Ben Mondor , who purchased the bankrupt team in 1977 , who brought the PawSox and their stadium to prominence — that , and a thirty-three-inning game in 1981 that still stands as professional baseball ’ s longest . Beginning next month , the stadium will be demolished to make way for a different kind of legacy — a new high school for Pawtucket students , some of whom will receive scholarships courtesy of Mondor ’ s wife , Madeleine . Contractors also plan to reuse portions of the former stadium as concrete fill at the site . For those who fear they ’ ll never stop mourning the team ’ s loss , take heart : Even the late owner himself was prone to bouts of nostalgia , and told Rhode Island Monthly in a 2001 interview he often reminisced on old times . “ When it ’ s quiet here , I walk around the park alone ,” he said . “ I stand in center field and I remember all the players who ’ ve gone through here — from Carlton Fisk and Jim Rice to Mo Vaughn and Nomar Garciaparra . I tend to relive the past . And what a past it was .”
112 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY I FEBRUARY 2025