With welcoming millionth fan on horizon, WooSox prepare Polar Park with open house on March 29
WORCESTER — It took six seasons for the Red Sox’ early Triple-A farm teams to hit the 1 million mark in total attendance.
The Worcester Red Sox expect to get there in two years plus change. Their total for their first two seasons at Polar Park was 894,711. Ticket sales for April and May games are up by 20 percent over last season. Summer sales are 15 percent higher according to their accounting.
The WooSox expect to break the million mark late next month or in early May. The team is getting an pre-emptive start on the quest for a million with Opening Day at Polar Park on March 31, a 4:05 p.m. first pitch against the Syracuse Mets.
MORE: Lucchino excited to continue improving WooSox and Polar Park experience in 2023 and beyond
It is the earliest opener in the history of Red Sox minor league baseball, Triple A or any other level. The WooSox will open Polar Park’s doors to the public two days before that, on March 29, for an open house starting at noon and lasting until 4 p.m. Fans will be able to watch the 2023 edition of the Worcester Red Sox work out and listen to some on-field interviews with players.
"We have typically opened the park for a dress rehearsal before Opening Day,” team president Charles Steinberg said in a press release. “Call it a one-day spring training for our ushers, security team and concessions crew. We get to test out our new WooSox Rewards system, and we get to see our ‘Boys of Summer’ fresh from their Grapefruit League games in Florida. It helps us believe that spring really is on the way.”
This will mark the first time the Worcester Red Sox open at home. They began their inaugural season on May 4, 2021, in Trenton, New Jersey, versus Buffalo in a game relocated because of COVID-19. The home opener, with COVID crowd restrictions in place, was on May 11.
Worcester opened last year in Jacksonville on April 5 and played its first home game on April 12.
Major league rosters are in a constant state of flux this time of year, but some of the players currently on the WooSox roster who are likely to be at Polar Park for the March 29 workout include prospects Bryan Mata, David Hamilton, Ceddanne Rafaela, Chris Murphy and Brandon Walter.
Ryan Fitzgerald is on the WooSox roster as well as veteran slugger Daniel Palka, who already has played many games in Polar Park while with Rochester and Syracuse. Nick Sogard, Ronaldo Hernandez, Durbin Feltman, Victor Santos, Chase Shugart, Jake Thompson and Devlin Granberg are familiar faces as well.
The WooSox will formally introduce some off-field attractions as well. Those include new concession food items, a ribbon-cutting for the new fan deck on Plymouth Street as well as the fan bullpen and swing set on the upgraded 8th Hill.
“These are exciting times in Worcester,” WooSox chairman and principal owner Larry Lucchino said in a release. “Apartments are nearing completion across Madison Street, more are on the rise across Washington Street, and restauranteurs are opening new establishments in our Canal District. We take great pride in being a part of this broad Worcester Renaissance.”
It might not look or feel like spring around here, but baseball has its own calendar. That one says that the season will be here before the month is over.
—Contact Bill Ballou at sports@telegram.com. Follow him on Twitter @BillBallouTG.
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: WooSox welcome back fans with open house set for March 29 at Polar Park
