Worcester Red Sox

• Location: Worcester, MA
• League: Triple-A East 2021; International League 2022-
• Affiliation: Boston Red Sox 2021-
• Ballpark: Polar Park

Team History

The Worcester Red Sox, of the Triple-A International League and briefly in Triple-A East, are owned by a group led by 2002-2015 Boston Red Sox president Larry Lucchino. The Red Sox farmhands play their home games at Polar Park in Worcester, MA.

Given their proximity and Lucchino's status as BoSox president emeritus, the partnership likely has a long future; its long past dates to the 1965 Toronto Maple Leafs.

Worcester, however, has a very short Organized Baseball history - although, before its 1902 beginning, the Worcester Ruby Legs played in the National Association and the National League.

In August 2018,[1] after Pawtucket Red Sox owners couldn't get two different Rhode Island cities to build them a new ballpark[2], they responded to months of wooing from Worcester. The Lucchino group, which was then led by James Skeffington, had purchased the club from the estate of longtime owner Ben Mondor, who died in 2010. Skeffington died after the move was decided but before it was completed.

The group first asked Providence, RI, and then Pawtucket, RI, to replace then 75-year-old McCoy Stadium, but all attempts failed. In November 2019, the team unveiled the name and logos.[3] Some logos and mascot Smiley Ball salute Worcester as the birthplace of the smiley face.

On July 9, 2022, the WooSox paid homage to their former home city by playing in PawSox jerseys and caps on "PawSox Heritage Day" - and also saluted the most significant event in PawSox history, professional baseball's longest game ever. They have also assumed the alternate identity of the "Worcester Wicked Worms", after another one of Worcester's nicknames - "Wormtown".

The WooSox play Copa de la Diversión Hispanic engagement campaign games as Los Wepas de Worcester. The term doesn't have a direct translation but is used to express positive reactions such as excitement or delight. It was perhaps heard in the Woo when Worcester won the 2021 Copa competition.

Year-by-Year Record

Year	Record	Finish	Manager	Playoffs	Notes	Hitting coach	Pitching coach	Coach
2021	66-52	7th	Billy McMillon	8-2		Rich Gedman	Paul Abbott	Bruce Crabbe, Michael Montville
2022	75-73	9th	Chad Tracy			Rich Gedman	Paul Abbott	Brendan Connolly, Jose David Flores, Michael Montville
2023	79-68	7th	Chad Tracy			Rich Gedman	Paul Abbott	Brendan Connolly, Jose David Flores, Michael Montville, Matt Wheeler
2024	79-71	5th	Chad Tracy			Rich Gedman, Doug Clark	Dan DeLucia	Jose David Flores, Brendan Connolly, Noah Junis

Further Reading

• Melanie Heller: "Boston's Triple-A affiliate goes underground as Wicked Worms", mlb.com, August 26, 2023. [4]