Pawtucket Red Sox

Pawtucket Red Sox
Pawtucket Red Sox
1970–2020; Pawtucket, Rhode Island ;
Minor league affiliations
Class	Triple-A (1973–2020); Double-A (1970–1972);
League	International League (1973–2020); Eastern League (1970–1972);
Major league affiliations
Team	Boston Red Sox (1970–2020)
Minor league titles
League titles (4)	1973; 1984; 2012; 2014;
Division titles (7)	1977; 1991; 1994; 1996; 2003; 2011; 2013;
Wild card berths (3)	2008; 2012; 2014;
Team data
Name	Pawtucket Red Sox (1977–2020) Rhode Island Red Sox (1976); Pawtucket Red Sox (1970–1975);
Colors	Navy, red, white, light blue;
Mascots	Paws and Sox
Ballpark	McCoy Stadium (1970–2020)

The Pawtucket Red Sox, known colloquially as the PawSox, were a professional minor league baseball club based in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. From 1973 to 2020, the team was a member of the International League and served as the Triple-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. They played their home games at McCoy Stadium, and won four league championships, their last in 2014. Following the 2020 season, the franchise moved to Worcester, Massachusetts, to become the Worcester Red Sox.

The Pawtucket Red Sox were born as a Double-A Eastern League franchise in 1970. Three years later, Boston's Triple-A affiliate in the International League replaced the Eastern League PawSox. After enduring three different owners, at least two threats to move the team elsewhere, and bankruptcy, the PawSox were purchased from the International League by local industrialist Ben Mondor in January 1977. Over the next 38 years, Mondor (who died in 2010) and his heirs stabilized the franchise and turned it into a success; it was twice (1990 and 2003) selected the winner of Baseball America's Bob Freitas Award as the top Triple-A operation in minor league baseball,^[1] won the 1990 John H. Johnson President's Award, led its league in total attendance three times between 2004 and 2008,^[2] and captured three Governors' Cups as playoff champions.

On February 23, 2015, the team was sold to a group headed by then-Boston Red Sox president and chief executive officer Larry Lucchino and Rhode Island attorney James J. Skeffington. Thwarted in two attempts to replace McCoy Stadium with a new facility (first in adjacent Providence, then in a downtown site in Pawtucket), the club announced on August 17, 2018, that it would move to Worcester, located 42 miles (68 km) to the northwest at the opposite end of the Blackstone Valley, in 2021.

On June 30, 2020, it was announced that the 2020 Minor League Baseball season was cancelled, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.^[3] Thus, the team last played minor league games in Pawtucket during the 2019 season.^[4]

^ "Baseball America Awards". Baseball America. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
^ Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles (2008). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. pp. 561–724. ISBN 978-1-932391-17-6.
^ Adler, David (June 30, 2020). "2020 Minor League Baseball season canceled". MLB.com. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
^ Speier, Alex (July 13, 2020). "The PawSox were much more than just a baseball team, and the WooSox want to be the same way". Bostonglobe.com. Retrieved July 15, 2020.

[1] "Baseball America Awards". Baseball America. Retrieved 20 August 2018.

[2] Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles (2008). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. pp. 561–724. ISBN 978-1-932391-17-6.

[3] Adler, David (June 30, 2020). "2020 Minor League Baseball season canceled". MLB.com. Retrieved June 30, 2020.

[4] Speier, Alex (July 13, 2020). "The PawSox were much more than just a baseball team, and the WooSox want to be the same way". Bostonglobe.com. Retrieved July 15, 2020.

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