The PawSox disappeared to Worcester four years ago. McCoy Stadium has since been razed to the ground.
But on Monday evening, a small crowd gathered in what used to be right field for one last event in what may be the longest goodbye in baseball history.
Among them, Kevin Wildenhain in full PawSox regalia. His dad had season tickets: Section 8, Row C, Seats 13 and 14. Wildenhain made sure to get a front row seat for this.
“It means a lot,” he said. “Because I always thought there was only one time capsule. Then, when I found out there were two! That was a surprise.”
The first of the two time capsules was easy to find, buried beneath the old stadium’s cornerstone, laid in 1940 by then Pawtucket Mayor Thomas McCoy.
It included a letter to posterity dated November 3, 1940, in which McCoy dedicated the new ballpark to the “health, happiness and enjoyment of the people of Pawtucket for all eternity.” Plus a souvenir program from a PawSox game that pre-dated their new home.
The second time capsule was harder to find. As workers for Shawmut Design and Construction cleared the site, they reportedly deployed ground-penetrating radar to find it: a short plastic tube shaped like a torpedo, buried between home plate and the pitcher’s mound by former team owner Ben Mondor in 1981, the year the PawSox clinched their place in the history books.
In a bit of stagecraft worthy of Mondor, the unveiling of the two time capsules took place on the anniversary of the longest game in MLB history, when the Yankees beat the Tigers after 22 innings. Which, of course, is not to be confused with the longest game in baseball history. That record still belongs to the PawSox, who beat the Rochester Red Wings in 33 innings in April of ’81.
Sadly, both the team and the stadium eventually lost their staying power.
“It’s the denouement of some tragic decisions by the state of Rhode Island and by the baseball owners,” said Dan Barry, a columnist at The New York Times.
Barry wrote what may be the definitive book on the PawSox: Bottom of the 33rd: Hope, Redemption, and Baseball’s Longest Game.
The second time capsule included memorabilia worthy of Cooperstown, including three baseballs, one signed by the PawSox, another by the Rochester Red Wings.
The third basemen for both teams eventually became Hall of Famers. For the PawSox, that was future Boston Red Sox legend Wade Boggs. For the Red Wings, it was Cal Ripken Jr., who went on to play for the Baltimore Orioles. Nicknamed “the Iron Man,” Ripken is mostly remembered as one of baseball’s greatest shortstops. But the Red Wings had him on third.
Ripken still holds the MLB record for most consecutive games played (2,632), having surpassed a previous record set by Lou Gehrig that stood more than half a century.
The second time capsule also included a third ball signed by Mondor and top executives.
Former General Manager Mike Tamburro’s name is on that ball. Monday was his first time back since the ballpark came under the wrecking ball.
“Breaks my heart, it really does,” he said, gazing out at the empty field, plowed under this year to make way for a new Pawtucket High School.
“Still,” he admitted, “it’s a good use of the old stadium.”
Eventually, the memorabilia from both time capsules will be on display at the high school. But for now, you can find it all at Pawtucket City Hall.
