WORCESTER—Look at it this way. If not for winter, the baseball season wouldn’t be so precious and “hardy” would not always appear in front of “New Englanders.”
With Polar Park buried under the largest snowfall in its five-year existence Wednesday, the Worcester Red Sox unveiled the latest improvements in their home for the 2026 season, now less than two months away.
The team played host to current season ticket holders and prospective ones at the ballpark. While there were presentations about the new canopy over the Hanover Deck in left field, and the old pool table in the Royal Wooters room, the most baseball-ish news was that Roger Clemens will be in town to throw out the ceremonial first pitch on Opening Day, March 27.
His catcher will be longtime friend and teammate Rich Gedman.
As closely connected they are in Boston Red Sox history, this first pitch — ceremonial or not — is a rare occurrence. Clemens and Gedman did it only twice in real time, on Opening Day in 1988 in Boston and again in 1989 in Baltimore with President George H.W. Bush in the crowd.
That ceremonial first pitch will happen at a Polar Park that will have one very obvious improvement, the canopy. The WooSox are also upgrading the area beyond the Worcester Wall in right field by replacing the current gravel mix footing with new pavers.
The ballpark has undergone annual improvements, generally in response to fan suggestions, since it opened in 2021. It has been rated as the best Triple-A ballpark in the country, so why does it need improving?
WooSox president Dr. Charles Steinberg related the story of how when Oriole Park at Camden Yards, the first of the Larry Lucchino – Janet Marie Smith creations, opened in 1992, he was unaware of what it took to build such a park, and naive about what it took to operate that ballpark.
“I thought that when we moved into the new ballpark, that was it,” Steinberg said. “Well, along comes this fellow in that first week that we were there with what you call a punch list with things you still had to do and things you still had to fix up.”
Steinberg figured they would be fixing things up for a week. He was wrong.
“It began a life lesson,” he said, “that ballparks are living beings, and they continue to emerge, they continue to evolve, and you let them breathe with the reaction to fans’ reactions and every year we were improving Camden Yards.”
The Hanover Deck canopy is a concession to the city’s Goldilocks weather. It is either too cold for baseball or too hot, almost never just right. It is also the most popular spot for Polar Park group outings.
“Groups have told us that they would love to have more shade and the assurance of a roof for their events,” Steinberg said in a prepared statement. “We are grateful to our friends at Hanover Insurance Co. for their partnership and we are grateful to (team owner) Diamond Baseball Holdings for funding this major improvement.”
Smith joined the get-together remotely from Los Angeles where she is continuing upgrades to Dodger Stadium, the third-oldest ballpark in the major leagues after Fenway Park and Wrigley Field.
Unfortunately for Smith, while it was warm and sunny in southern California, she was 3,000 miles away from the lobster rolls here.
She told the story of how an historic pool table arrived at Polar Park, where it resides in the clubhouse for the Royal Wooters season ticket holders.
The pool table was built in 1961 and was on the Fenway Park site until the Red Sox needed more space for its baseball operations department. That included things like closing down the sub-terranean candlepin bowling alley across Landsdowne Street from the Cask and Flagon restaurant.
The Sox were, in 1961, in the middle of a dreadful string of eight straight losing seasons that ended with the Impossible Dream in 1967. The pool table had an inauspicious entry into team history.
When the renovations began shortly after new ownership took over the Sox, the pool table wound up in Lucchino’s home. After his death, his survivors offered it to the WooSox. Like many players, the pool table has now made the trip from Fenway to Polar, only this time to stay.
The 2026 International League season opens at 4:05 p.m. on March 27, a Friday. Gates will open at 1 p.m. UniBank fireworks will follow at game’s end. Fans can meet Clemens for picture taking at the Sherwood Diner during the game although he is not able to sign autographs.
Bill Ballou can be reached at vetgoalie@aol.com
