3.06.2015

"PawSox > RISox" - a guest post by by Gus L

The MLB is a money game, the A,AA, and AAA are all training grounds and advertisers for the MLB teams they are affiliated with. I get that. I've made my peace with the MLB. Back in 1994 I swore I wouldn't watch or care again. It sounds weird that a 12 year old boy would take that stance, but I did. The only baseball I even cared about for a while was...the Paw Sox. Sure, they were part of the bigger Red Sox team but their location and part in the community are part of what makes them so great. 

Now a new ownership wants to capitalize on an existing fanbase carefully built, cared for BASEBALL fans. The typical PawSox fan is a BASEBALL fan. Not an MLB fan, not a Boston Red Sox fan (obviously most WERE but the point is, any affiliate could be at McCoy and attendance would still be solid) but a fan of THE GAME. This is an important distinction to make because there are plenty of people in pink and green "B" hats who couldn't tell you how a score sheet even works. 

McCoy is an ESSENTIAL part of the lives of both Pawtucket and local baseball fans. Where else can you see a game, get a dog a beer and not go broke? Where else can you casually sit on a left field lawn or where are all the neighborhood families going to meet up on July 4th to watch the fireworks the stadium puts on? Where can a group of kids in Pawtucket with some spending money go watch a game on a summer day if not at McCoy? Taking the Sox out of Pawtucket is going to create a big hole in many hearts of people in the local area. Not to mention the economy of a city that's been on the brink for a while.

Now they are considering a move to Providence. In an area that isn't too residential at the advantage of it's owners. I'm not sure how the fans will benefit from paying for parking, paying more for a ticket, paying more for concessions....time will tell. For now though, it feels like another piece of baseball that has succumb to money.

Goodbye to bringing a family of 4 to a game for a 100 bucks. Goodbye getting the friends together last minute for cheap. Goodbye to neighborhood fireworks. Goodbye to something that made Pawtucket residents proud. Goodbye to McCoy. Goodbye to the PawSox.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Couldn't have said it better Gus. It's going to suck to lose McCoy.

Rob Phelps said...

I will say, for some people, the Pawsox were nothing more than an ersatz Boston Red Sox. Wearing a BoSox jerseys and caps, playing Sweet Caroline...it's like telling Pawsox players "we don't actually care about you, we just can't afford to go to Fenway." The Providence Bruins suffer from this as well. Why does RI play a voluntary second fiddle? When and if the PawSox move to Providence, I hope they change their team name, and for the love of god, stop playing Neal Diamond!

William L. Duncan said...

The most pleasant parts of this amusement are the pitching and hitting mechanics. As the pitcher, you have a ton of control over the course of the ball. You can even modify the bend mid toss by squeezing left or right on the d-cushion.

George said...

Good analysis, i agree with some of the comments that pitchers have most control.

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Jimmy OH said...

When I originally commented I clicked the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and now each time a comment is added I get four emails with the same comment. Is there any way you can remove me from that service? Thanks! Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.