History
The project to build the stadium began in 1938 and was championed by then-Pawtucket Mayor Thomas P. McCoy. It was to be built on a swampy piece of land known as Hammond's Pond and, to this day, the stadium sits at the end of Pond Street. On the afternoon of November 3, 1940, Mayor McCoy laid the foundation cornerstone.
The stadium was completed in 1942, and in 1946 was officially dedicated and named in honor of Mayor McCoy. McCoy Stadium first began hosting affiliated Minor League Baseball in 1946. The Pawtucket Slaters, a Class B affiliate of the Boston Braves, was the first team to call McCoy Stadium home. The Pawtucket Slaters would play for 4 seasons in the New England League, as Braves affiliates.
Professional baseball disappeared from Pawtucket for 16 years. It finally returned in 1966 as a member of the Eastern League. McCoy Stadium still hadn't found its true team yet and hosted the Double-A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians, the Pawtucket Indians. After 2 years, the Indians moved to Waterbury, Connecticut. McCoy was again without a team.
In 1969 the Boston Red Sox came to scout McCoy Stadium. By April 1970, the Sox had pulled their minor league affiliate out of their home in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. They moved into McCoy Stadium, where they remain today, and became known as the Pawtucket Red Sox. The franchise would spend three years playing for the Double-A Eastern League before being promoted to the Triple-A International League.
In 1976, debt-ridden owner Phil Anez threatened to move the team to New Jersey, but sold the franchise to Marvin Adelson, who lost the ballclub after threatening to move to Massachusetts. During that year, the team was briefly known as the Rhode Island Red Sox, but that name lasted just one season. Just before the 1977 season, Canadian expatriate businessman Ben Mondor arrived to resurrect the fallen franchise, and the PawSox have thrived since then. Mondor owned the team until his death on October 3, 2010, and was a well-beloved member of the community, as he has turned the ballpark and franchise into one of the most fan-friendly in all of professional baseball.
The PawSox have brought three championship titles to McCoy Stadium and Pawtucket, winning the Governors' Cup, the championship of the International League, in 1973, 1984, and 2012.
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