WORCESTER—It isn’t spilling any beans to describe the relationship between the Worcester Bravehearts and Worcester Red Sox as anything but a match made in heaven.
From the moment the city, with much pomp and circumstance, announced it had wooed the Boston Red Sox’ Triple-A Minor League team from Pawtucket, RI, it has been pretty much staring and cold shoulders from the Bravehearts toward the team they saw as encroaching on their turf.
After all, it was John Creedon, Jr. and family who brought summer baseball back to the second largest city in New England after the Worcester Tornadoes dissipated and faded from view – quite spectacularly, we might add. One year after the former CanAm League product folded, Creedon and the College of the Holy Cross announced a new team to play at Fitton Field at the foot of College Hill in Worcester.
Soon, the name was chosen: the Worcester Bravehearts.
Then came the inaugural season in 2014. The Bravehearts won it all in their first year. Then, in 2015, they won again. After falling to the rival Nashua Silver Knights in 2016, the Bravehearts did it all again in 2017. Four years, three championships. One year later, they would once again grab a trophy, albeit in co-championship fashion after Game 3 of their series against the now-defunct Martha’s Vineyard Sharks was washed out.
Not long after came the announcement: the Pawtucket Red Sox were moving to Worcester.
“We felt slighted and disrespected,” Bravehearts General Manager Dave Peterson previously told The Worcester Guardian.
That much was obvious. Creedon himself has made remarks to that effect, but he has never publicly come out and said he felt the city turned its back on them. But in baseball and business circles, the talk has always been since that fateful moment that the Bravehearts and the City of Worcester had essentially “broken up.”
The WooSox were the new dance partners, and they didn’t just know how to waltz; they could tango like the dickens. They had players such as Chris Sale come in for rehab. The Bravehearts’ biggest names were on an opposing team when the sons of David Ortiz and Pedro Martinez played at Fitton Field for the Brockton Rox. The WooSox had a 9,508 stadium they insisted be called a ballpark. The Bravehearts played in a bandbox (sound familiar?) next to a football field with traffic on the I-290 overpass zipping by just beyond the outfield fence.
There was some talk of a partnership. Save for some off-the-record comments from those in the know, nothing has ever been aired publicly about the nature of any talks between WooSox ownership, led by Larry Lucchino, and the Creedons. The fact that the two teams have done nothing together in the WooSox’ first three years of existence speaks volumes. Sometimes, you say it loudest when you don’t say it at all.
Could that all be changing? Could a collegiate baseball team whose focus has been more on entertainment and kid-friendly activities such as running across the outfield during a break in action, than the actual talent on the field, find the WooSox to be a willing dance partner after all?
“I think there’s an opportunity to work together to help the community,” Matt Vaccaro told the Worcester Guardian on Super Bowl Sunday, hours before the Kansas City Chiefs and San Franciso 49ers took to the field in Las Vegas. “There’s an opportunity to give back with more than just baseball, but to be supportive of each other. It’s trying to build personal relationships with each other.”
Matt Vaccaro is the new president of the Worcester Bravehearts. His family, led by dad Frank Vaccaro, Sr., bought the Bravehearts, who celebrated their 10th anniversary last year, from Creedon. They are getting ready for their 11th season, which is expected to start in May after players are done with school. The team plays in the Futures Collegiate Baseball League, which is expected to announce its summer schedule this week. The Bravehearts too should be putting out their schedule, Vaccaro said.
But what about the really big news? Will there be a partnership with the WooSox? What will it entail? Bravehearts games at Polar Park? Red Sox players rehabbing with both teams? OK, that probably won’t happen. But what would a “partnership” look like?
The Bravehearts and WooSox, who have not won a championship, apparently know. Both sides met Thursday, Feb. 8. According to Vaccaro, his contingent included his brother, Frank Vaccaro, Jr., and their dad. The Sox, he said, was represented by President Dr. Charles Steinberg; Dan Rea, vice president of business and real estate; and Nicole Valentine, senior vice president, government relations/WooSox Foundation.
Just what was discussed – and whether any major announcement could soon be coming – is not something either side appears ready to divulge. Steinberg has not returned texts or phone calls requesting comment.
“I have some idea as to what they might do,” Peterson said Sunday night. “I cannot reveal it now because I think there are multiple meetings that might need to place in order for the idea to come to fruition.”
Matt Vaccaro did not get into specifics but described the “great meeting” as a brainstorming session.
“It was about helping each other promote baseball, things like helping the less fortunate, working together on team building that can help both franchises,” he said.
Pressed for specifics on the Thursday meeting, Matt Vaccaro said, “We talked about … their future plans,” he said. “We’re in two different levels. They main things is we have a college atmosphere; they have professional players.”
But yes, a partnership, he said, could potentially see the Bravehearts play at Polar Park, he said.
“Having a Bravehearts Day would be great,” he conceded.
Both teams could have signage in both parks as well. The Vaccaros’ full-time business, Masis Staffing Solutions, already sponsors both teams.
Elaborating a bit more on having “some idea” what was discussed, Peterson teased his questioner.
“I know what the discussions will be about,” he said, “and I think it will be an exceptional partnership.”
Meanwhile, there’s the other big news: the Bravehearts taking the field this summer under new ownership for the first time.
“It’s more excitement than anything,” Matt Vaccaro, who played catcher for one season with the Tornadoes, said of his feelings about taking the reins from the Creedons. “I always wanted to own a franchise. It’s right next to my hometown [of Shrewsbury]. We want to put a great product on the field. We’re working hard behind the scenes to create a great family experience at the ballpark.”
With more than 30 years’ experience as a journalist, Walter Bird is a former editor of Worcester Magazine, former executive editor of Stonebridge Press Newspapers, and a two-time Weekly Reporter of the Year through the New England Newspaper & Press Association. He can be reached at walterbirdjr@gmail.com
