PAWTUCKET – A pair of time capsules buried under McCoy Stadium was recently discovered by construction crews during their ongoing demolition of the former longtime home ballpark of the Pawtucket Red Sox in favor of a new high school.
One capsule is believed to contain memorabilia from when Rhode Island was the epicenter of baseball history.
The city announced Tuesday that Shawmut Design and Construction’s crew had found a time capsule that may include items from the PawSox’s historic 33-inning win over the Rochester Red Wings in 1981, the longest game ever played in professional baseball history. The city says the capsule was removed and is now “in a secure location."
This latest discovery comes more than two weeks after Shawmut crews discovered a time capsule embedded within McCoy Stadium’s original 1940 cornerstone. According to
a Nov. 4, 1940, article in the Pawtucket Times, the cornerstone capsule is a sealed box containing a copy of the cotton sesquicentennial program and a letter dedicating the stadium “to the health, happiness and enjoyment of the people of Pawtucket for all eternity.”
Then-Mayor Thomas McCoy – the stadium’s namesake – was among the dedication letter’s signees, according to the article.
“The Shawmut team has approached the demolition of McCoy Stadium with the utmost safety and precision, balancing progress with a deep respect for the site’s historic significance and the potential to uncover meaningful artifacts,” Chris Maury, Shawmut’s head of preconstruction for the New England Region and head of Rhode Island operations, said in a statement. “It was an exciting moment for our team to discover, identify, and carefully preserve the capsule found in the stadium’s original cornerstone. We’re continuing to search for the second rumored time capsule and have deployed ground-penetrating radar technology to support this effort. We remain committed to a safe, respectful process every step of the way.”
[caption id="attachment_496100" align="alignleft" width="393"]
SINCE DEMOLITION of McCoy Stadium, seen here mostly demolished on May 3, began, a pair of time capsules were found by construction crews. The capsules' contents will be unveiled on June 23. / PBN PHOTO / JAMES BESSETTE[/caption]
Demolition of the PawSox’s 82-year-old former home – which had sat vacant since 2020 after the team moved to Worcester, Mass. – began in March. As of May 23, only the stadium’s two foul poles remained standing.
Last month, officials
formally broke ground on the new unified city high school to be built on the McCoy site, replacing the aging Charles E. Shea and William E. Tolman high schools. The new $326 million, 375,000-square-foot high school is expected to open in September 2029.
It is unclear what is inside the “longest game” capsule, which had been reportedly sought after since April while McCoy’s demolition was being done. However, Keith MacWhorter, a former PawSox pitcher who was with the team in the early 1980s, recently told WPRI-TV CBS 12 that he believes the capsule, reportedly buried near home plate, contains “some burnt bats” since players were burning them to keep warm during the lengthy game.
The contents of both capsules will be unveiled June 23, the 44th anniversary of the conclusion of baseball’s longest game.
“I am so excited to unveil the contents of both of the historic time capsules we have found on the site at a celebration of McCoy Stadium and the longest game on June 23,” Mayor Donald R. Grebian said in a statement. “The longest game is part of McCoy Stadium’s legacy, and finding this time capsule means a part of that legacy will live on, even as we take down the stadium to make way for our beautiful new Pawtucket High School.”
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on X at @James_Bessette.
