Polar Park opening date set for April 13
Photo | Grant Welker
A snow-covered Polar Park is racing toward completion with less than two months until the first Worcester Red Sox game.
The Worcester Red Sox are slated to play their first game at Polar Park on April 13, the team announced Thursday.
Polar Park has a capacity of 9,508, but Massachusetts rules related to the coronavirus pandemic appear to rule out any fans attending that first game, at least for now. Stadiums and similar facilities are closed until the state moves to Phase IV of its reopening plan, which doesn't have a set timeline.
The WooSox said the 2021 playing schedule may change if delays occur to the major or minor league season due to COVID-19. The WooSox will announce game times, the promotion and special event schedule, and ticket prices and availability at a later date.
The WooSox, which moved from Pawtucket, R.I., and sat out last season because of the coronavirus pandemic, will start the season with away games starting April 6.
Polar Park appears ready to open on time, albeit potentially without needing to accommodate fans, despite a short construction timetable and a roughly seven-week stop in construction last spring during the first peak of the pandemic.
The city-owned Polar Park, which is being built off Madison Street at a cost of $159.5 million, will host its first game against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. The WooSox are slated to play 70 home games this season. All will be played against northeast division opponents: Lehigh Valley, Buffalo Bisons, Syracuse Mets, Rochester Red Wings and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders.
The WooSox season will run through Sept. 19, and the last home game at Polar Park for the season will be Sept. 12 against the IronPigs.
The pandemic has drastically changed sports schedules, at least when it comes to playing before fans. The Boston Red Sox, Bruins and Celtics and the New England Patriots all have played without a home crowd since the pandemic started.
In Worcester, the Massachusetts Pirates, an arena football team, canceled its 2020 season. The Worcester Railers hockey team ended its 2020 season early and is sitting out this year while most of the rest of its league continues on. The Pirates are planning to begin their season April 24, with their first home game at the DCU Center set for an undetermined date in May, the team said Thursday.
The top affiliate of the Boston Red Sox has long played in the 14-team International League, but baseball's minor leagues have been shifted this season with some teams moving up or down in development levels and others, including the Lowell Spinners, losing their professional affiliation.
The league the WooSox will play in, now called Triple-A East, will have 20 teams, including six new members: the Iowa Cubs, Omaha Storm Chasers, St. Paul Saints, Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, Memphis Redbirds and Nashville Sounds.
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