can't wait for Pawsox season to
open.
Is there a business in Rhode Island more beloved than the Pawtucket Red Sox? Probably not — and certainly none that boasts of having the likes of Nomar Garciaparra, Mo Vaughn, Roger Clemens and Wade Boggs as former employers.
Besides, what business has as many as 600,000 people visit it over the course of six months?
The Pawtucket Red Sox and their home, McCoy Stadium on Ben Mondor Way in Pawtucket, have become as Rhode Island as Del’s Lemonade, coffee milk, quahogs, and Sand Hill Cove beach.
And at a time when the complex worlds of sports and entertainment are colliding — producing results such as professional wrestling shows and the fledgling XFL — you can still find wholesome entertainment, in the form of good old fashioned baseball in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.
McCoy Stadium opened its doors on July 4, 1942, with the city leasing it out over the years to various professional teams and amateur organizations, including local high schools that have used it for football as well as baseball games. In 1973, the stadium became home to the Pawtucket Red Sox, the International League’s AAA affiliate of the Boston Red Sox.
Extra, extra innings
McCoy Stadium has enjoyed its share of special moments through the years, but none more special than those of April 18 and 19, 1981.
On those dates, the Pawtucket Red Sox and Rochester Red Wings played 32 innings of baseball — from just after 7:30 p.m. on a Saturday night until 4:09 a.m. the next day — and were still tied at 2-2. The game resumed on June 23 and in the bottom of the 33rd inning, the Red Sox squeaked out a 3-2 victory.
That contest – commemorated at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York – remains the longest game in professional baseball history.
The history of McCoy Stadium, in fact, contains a wide array of special moments – including a memorable evening in 1982 when two pitchers trying to rehab from injuries – Mark “the Bird” Fidrych, for Pawtucket and Dave Righetti, a New York Yankee phenom pitching for their AAA affiliate, the Columbus Clippers – faced off against one another. The match-up lured 9,389 fans to the park, which at the time had a seating capacity under 6,000.
The more than 50-year-old stadium, was beginning to show its age in recent years. Thanks to substantial backing from state taxpayers who approved a referendum by a wide margin, the stadium was dramatically rebuilt in the late 1990s. The “New McCoy” is the result of a $16 million reconstruction of the original facility which was completed in the spring of 1999. The result has earned rave reviews. It is now a first class ballpark with a seating capacity of 10,000.
With an outfield berm, giant scoreboard, shining concessions and restrooms aplenty, the present McCoy Stadium bears no resemblance to the one that was built in 1942. What hasn’t changed is the ballpark’s family atmosphere, one created – and insisted upon – by Ben Mondor, the team’s owner, and Mike Tamburro, the team’s long-time president.
Family atmosphere
Crowds at McCoy are peppered with families, as well as youth athletic teams that often arrive in uniform. There are long-time season-ticket holders who enjoy the night air and avid baseball fans there to scout the future stars of the Boston Red Sox, and their competitors, like the Columbus Clippers, the top farm team of the dreaded New York Yankees.
The family first approach, has been part of the organization since its inception, according to Tamburro.
“Even then, when we took a hard look at the sports marketplace, what the major league sports were leaving out were the families,” he said. “We wanted to create an atmosphere where families came first.”
In light of the rising costs of entertainment for young people and families, whether it be movies or concerts, Tamburro boasts that “a family of four can come to this ballpark for $20 or $25 — and go home with change.”
On a snowy February morning, Tamburro’s enthusiasm is obvious.
“This business is just so contagious,” he said. “The off-season now is really the month of September. After Christmas, you blink once and it’s spring training. You blink again and it’s opening day.”
Tamburro expects more big crowds at McCoy in 2001. It doesn’t hurt, he said, that expectations are so high for the Boston Red Sox, who earlier this winter signed free agent Manny Ramirez, considered by many to be among the top three hitters in Major League Baseball.
“Enthusiasm for baseball in Boston means enthusiasm for baseball here,” said Tamburro.
The golden rule
Mondor’s approach is a simple one. He treats people right. He requires the same of those who work for him. The Pawtucket Red Sox employ about 25 full-time employees and as many as 300 on game days.
In a recent interview with the Providence Business News, Mondor explained his business model.
I remind everyone that anyone who walks into McCoy Stadium is doing us a favor,” he said. “They could go elsewhere with their disposable income. So treat them accordingly.”
