A Tale of Two Cities
Every time the possibility of the Pawtucket Red Sox relocating comes into the news, the city of Worcester is thrown around as a possibility destination. Worcester is on the up and up when it comes to minor league and small market teams as of late. The issue is quickly becoming a tale of two cities, Worcester and Pawtucket. Two very similar cities. The Worcester Railers received nothing but open arms when they moved into the DCU Center to replace the Worcester Sharks. The ECHL affiliate of the New York Islanders continue to bring economic revenue to the city of Worcester. Consequently, it is easy to see why Worcester wants to see the Paw Sox continue that trend.
Pawtucket, R.I.-04/28/2017- Larry Lucchino is trying to find a new home for the Pawtucket Red Sox, as millions of dollars has to be spent to improve the old McCoy Stadium where they currently play. John Tlumacki/Globe Staff (business)
Worcester Willing to Pay
The ongoing issue of the Pawtucket Red Sox relocation process continues to take up the news in Rhode Island and Worcester. New reports say that the city of Worcester is spending $54,000 on consulting services. That is an incredible amount of money to spend. Just to try to wine and dine the Pawtucket Red Sox, and show them around Worcester. Apparently, wooing the Paw Sox costs a pretty penny. The city believes money is not an option and are desperate for some minor league baseball.
The hiring of expensive consultants, who charge anywhere from $225 to $525 an hour, proves this notion. The consultants, Jeff Mullan and Foley Hoag, are proving to be worth the price tag by putting in the hours for the city of Worcester. A total of 131 hours, equaling a little over five days, is the amount of time they have put in so far. A tremendous amount of time spent trying to charm the Paw Sox, not to mention a lot of money.
The news saga between the two cities is few and far between. Rhode Island lawmakers and voters continue to fail to reach new grounds. While the Paw Sox themselves continue to say “nothing is changing,” the consultants beg to differ. As a matter of fact, the public display of affection between the city of Worcester and Paw Sox team officials continue to die down. Photos of team officials and Worcester officials whooping it up at the newly crowned Worcester Railers’ game made their way around the public. Nevertheless, Larry Lucchino maintains nothing new between the two parties.
The Future Ahead
Most of this ongoing issue is one party saying nothing is happening, pictures come out, then the other party saying the same thing. The relocation of the Pawtucket Red Sox seems like a never-ending process. The team is in McCoy Stadium until 2020. It is hard to see a future where the Paw Sox are not in Pawtucket. Worcester wants it another way. This seems like it could go on forever. The history of the Pawtucket Red Sox continues to grow and I hope it grows for a long time.
Follow Matt McGurn on Twitter: @MickGurn
Cover image courtesy of Stadium Journey.
