WooSox owner Larry Lucchino 'very thankful' for team's first-year success in city

WORCESTER — Larry Lucchino spent Thanksgiving in his hometown of Pittsburgh.

Even though the principal owner of the Worcester Red Sox traveled 535 miles from his suite at Polar Park to the Steel City, he never felt like he left Worcester.

“I’m back in my old neighborhood, and I’ve said it before that Pittsburgh was a good practice ground for Worcester, because it has many of the same factors — work ethic, civic pride, neighborhood, politics, ethnicity. Worcester feels like Pittsburgh to me.”

Lucchino was finally able to enjoy a little bit of downtime this week and reflect on the organization’s accomplishments this past year.

“I am very thankful,” he said. “We had a superb first year, but it was only the first year. We need to have a very good second and third year to establish it as one of the premier franchises in all of Minor League Baseball.”

The road to Worcester and the challenges of relocating the Red Sox’ Triple-A affiliate from Pawtucket, Rhode Island, to the Canal District were daunting at times, but the end result was worth it for Lucchino & Co.

“We are thankful for Worcester,” Lucchino said. “We agonized over whether and when to leave Rhode Island. Thanks to Worcester, it appears we made a great decision.”

The WooSox’ inaugural season at Polar Park exceeded expectations. On the field, the team finished third in the Northeast Division with a 74-54 record. Off the field, fans came out in record numbers as more than 300,000 enjoyed the atmosphere at the state-of-the-art facility.

“The fact that Worcester is a great baseball town, (the WooSox) are going to be a regional team, a Central Massachusetts team with the headquarters in Worcester,” Lucchino said. “It’s going to include a lot of towns and cities. The people are quite passionate about baseball and very knowledgeable. Of course, the Red Sox overlay helps quite a lot.”

Tops in several categories

The WooSox’ website also ranked No. 1 in all of MiLB for unique visitors (912,000), total visitors (1.6 million) and page views (3.3 million). Worcester was also No. 1 in the country among MiLB clubs in online ticket sales.

The Canal District has been revitalized with Polar Park as the epicenter. With continued growth in the area, Worcester will become a destination for more than just baseball. Business, civic and political leaders, along with the WooSox, united to help guide and create a sense of pride in the city.

Worcester has become the “Yes” city, and it will soon reap of benefits. Lucchino understands his vision to build a gem of a ballpark would not have been possible without the city welcoming the team with open arms.

“We’ve been able to do a lot with the city officials.," Lucchino said. "They shared our vision for a different kind of ballpark, more than a ballpark, and we shared their vision for growing, and changing, and improving the neighborhood."

The WooSox already are implementing upgrades and changes in and around Polar Park for 2022 and beyond.

“We intend to make Worcester one of the top two, or three of the 120 minor league teams,” Lucchino said. “I should say it already is.”

—Contact Joe McDonald at JMcDonald2@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoeyMacHockey.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Worcester Red Sox, principal owner Larry Lucchino, Polar Park, Pittsburgh