Rhode Island Monthly April 2020 | Page 19

CityState:  C urrent   l    Edited by Jamie Coelho B Y T H E N U M B E R S: The Pawtucket Red Sox By Lou Papineau The Pawtucket Red Sox are celebrating fifty years at McCoy Stadium. But, alas, this season is also their last hurrah at the beloved ballpark. A series of foiled plans — moving the team to Providence; building a new facility near Slater Mill — led to the announcement that the franchise would relocate to Worcester, Massachusetts, in 2021. To commemorate the PawSox’s five-decade run, we’ve compiled some notable numbers about our beloved field of dreams. The season opens on April 9 and the final game will be on September 7. pawsox.com July 4, 1942 1970 The Pawtucket Red Sox debut as Boston’s AA affiliate and move up to Triple-A in 1973. $2.50 Cost of a box seat ticket in 1973; they go for $14 and $13 this year. McCoy Stadium opens; in 1946, it is officially completed, dedicated and named for Pawtucket Mayor Thomas P. McCoy and becomes the home of the Pawtucket Slaters (the Class B affiliate of the Boston Braves) from 1946 to 1949. 48–91 and 85–58 Worst and best win-loss records, in the 1985 and 2008 seasons, respectively. 87,850 Number of hot dogs sold at McCoy in 2019. 688,421 Best-ever season attendance, in 2005. 11,982 18,237,605 Largest crowd at McCoy, for a game vs. the Lehigh Valley IronPigs on April 17, 2009. Total attendance from 1970 to 2019. 3 33 Number of innings in the longest game in professional baseball history, played at McCoy in 1981 vs. the Rochester Red Wings on April 18 (32 innings, eight hours and seven minutes, from 8:02 p.m. to 4:09 a.m.) and June 23 (one inning, 18 minutes). Other stats: the game has 882 pitches, 60 strikeouts, 219 at-bats and 39 hits; 1,740 attend in April (19 diehards are in the stands when the game is suspended); 5,765 witness the final inning. The PawSox win with a score of 3–2. PawSox alumni who have been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York: Carlton Fisk, Wade Boggs and Jim Rice. RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l APRIL 2020     17