WORCESTER—Maybe it’s the Dartmouth College connection.
Native New Yorker Peter Freund officially bought two more New England minor baseball teams yesterday through his Diamond Baseball Holdings, and both have a New Hampshire connection.
The Worcester Red Sox are number 27 on the roster of teams the company owns— Carlton Fisk’s number, and the Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats have just been sold to Diamond Baseball as well.
Freund went to Dartmouth College. Fisk grew up in the Granite State.
The WooSox deal was officially announced at baseball’s winter meetings in Nashville Tuesday afternoon. It remains subject to some further conditions and approvals, all of which are anticipated to be formalities.
The sale price of the WooSox was not announced. Diamond Baseball has purchased a majority interest in the team but Larry Lucchino, Ralph Crowley of Polar Beverages and Jim Skeffington Jr. of the original ownership group will continue to own shares of the WooSox.
Lucchino stays on chairman, Dr. Charles Steinberg as president and Dan Rea as general manager. The current front office staff will also be retained according to a news release announcing the sale. The team remains Boston’s Triple A affiliate and will stay at Polar Park as part of a 35-year lease negotiated when the team relocated from Pawtucket.
Freund, calling from the winter meetings after the sale was announced, said he is excited that the WooSox have become part of Diamond Baseball and that Worcester baseball fans should not expect to see any changes in their Polar Park experience.
“When we formed Diamond Baseball,” he said, “we were extremely interested in the WooSox. They are at the pinnacle of minor league baseball, one of its best franchises. It was our first priority.”
Freund has made several visits to Worcester and Polar Park through the years to get a closer look at the team he eventually bought. He likes the city as well as the ballpark.
“It is really incredible, what’s happening there,” Freund said. “I love the atmosphere, the excitement. I’ve eaten along the street behind the ballpark. I’ve had drinks there. I’ve bar-hopped there.”
Diamond Baseball does not necessarily retain previous ownership partners when it buys a team but did keep Lucchino, Crowley and Skeffington.
“It just depends,” Fruend said. “When we find individuals that add value, that are important to the community, we’re happy to have them with us. It’s not a financial decision. It’s the right partners in the right place.”
It took just a matter of a few weeks for the deal to be approved after Lucchino made his surprise announcement on a Mike Lynch-Bob Lobel podcast that the WooSox were for sale
“At 78, and after 44 years in baseball, I believe it’s time to have a succession plan, one that assures a commitment to baseball and a commitment to Worcester,” Lucchino said in the news release.
“There is no organization more committed to Minor League Baseball than Diamond Baseball Holdings, and we welcome (executive chairman) Pat Battle, Peter Freund, and this organization to our city. There is no local business leader more invested in Worcester and in Polar Park than Ralph Crowley, and we are pleased that he is part of the ownership group.
“Jim Skeffington’s late father and I set out to keep the Boston Red Sox’ Triple-A club in New England, and in good hands, and I trust that Pat and Peter will be excellent stewards.”
Freund plans to be in Worcester to meet with WooSox employees in a few days. By the time the holiday season is over, opening day in the International League only three months away so the early months should be busy one.
Freund said Diamond Baseball intends to make sure Polar Park is a busy place throughout the season with other outdoor events, concerts, etc. “This is the city’s ballpark,” he added, “and we want the people of the city to have access to it.”
Polar Park will continue to evolve under the WooSox’ new owners, Freund said, and those new owners expect that coming to Worcester will be a learning experience for them.
“I think we have more to learn from the WooSox than they have from us,” he added. “If they aren’t the best franchise in minor league baseball, they are one of them. We’re not gonna change that.”
Freund grew up a Yankees fan and is a minority owner there. The Yanks’ farm team is the Scranton-Wilkes-Barre RailRiders and they are frequent visitors to Polar Park.
Vice-versa, too. So who will Freund root for when the teams meet?
“The reality is that, wherever I am, that’s who I’m rooting for,” he said.
WooSox fans will be making sure he follows through with that.
Bill Ballou covered the Red Sox for the Worcester Telegram from 1997 through 2018. He has covered pro hockey in Worcester since 1994 and currently does a weekly column for the Worcester Red Sox. Ballou can be reached at vetgoalie@aol.com
