For PawSox Fans, Pawtucket Residents, Team Loss Is ‘Devastating’
The PawSox team logo. RIPR File Photo
The PawSox are still in Rhode Island even though the team has announced plans to move to a new stadium in Worcester in 2021. The team played home games this weekend at McCoy, and fans were emotional about the prospect of losing the team.
“Devastated, just devastated,” said Seekonk resident Kelly Adams. She spent her childhood in Pawtucket, with trips to McCoy Stadium a regular family ritual.
“My father started taking my sisters and I here in like ’73, ’74, and we’ve been coming here ever since,” Adams said. “I take my daughters here now. I’ve spent so much of my life here.”
Adams came to catch a home game between the Sox and the Durham Bulls out of North Carolina Friday night. Though the ball park filled with cheering families, and a summer breeze drifted through the stands, a pall now hangs over the stadium.
After decades here at McCoy, the days are numbered for the PawSox in Pawtucket. The team will move to Massachusetts in three years.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do with myself after 2020, because we come here the first weekend they open, and we’ll be here until the last game of the year,” Adams said. “I don’t what I’m going to do with myself. I’ll have to find a hobby or something.”
Of course Adams, could go to Worcester, but for some die-hard fans, That’s not such an appealing option.
Bob and Kerry Spurr bring their two boys to McCoy about a dozen times a year. Though they live in Raynam, the family doesn’t think they will follow the team to the new stadium in Massachusetts.
“I’ll go check it out to say I’ve done that one, but this is where the PawSox are to us,” Bob Spurr said.
“Worcester for us is an hour away,” said Kerry. “So even though we live in Massachusetts, this is where we want to come. This is home, this is where they belong, it’s where we belong. This feels like home to us.”
Fans like Bob Spurr are quick to express displeasure with Rhode Island leaders, who they say let the team slip through their fingers.