ABANDONED FROM ABOVE

The heartbreaking story of McCoy Stadium and the Pawtucket Red Sox

I grew up in Pawtucket, Rhode Island—just a few blocks from McCoy Stadium—home to the Pawtucket Red Sox and the longest game in baseball history. My parents still live in my childhood home, which is also the house my dad grew up in. It’s a Rhode Island thing. I drive by the stadium every time I come home to visit. 

I saw hundreds of baseball games at McCoy. Seriously. I worked at the stadium when I was a teenager and did everything from sweeping the aisles to selling popcorn in the stands.

I wrote this in The Potato Puff Surprise: 

“Selling popcorn was a good gig. Not only was it the lightest snack to carry up and down the steep stadium stairs, it also generated the highest profit margin. Unlike soda, which was super heavy and cost $1.75 a cup, a box of popcorn was only $1.50. Most people gave you $2.00 and let you keep the change.”

There’s something about seeing a live baseball game. The warm summer breeze. The smell of the grass. The dirt. The seventh-inning stretch. The ritual of it all. However, McCoy was more than just a baseball stadium. It was a gathering place woven into the fabric of Pawtucket’s culture. It hosted concerts. I saw Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, and Furthur in 2012 with my family. It was a dream come true to see members of the Grateful Dead play in my hometown. The Force was strong with its annual Star Wars Day that featured amazing characters from the 501st New England Garrison and the Rebel Legion / Alderaan Base. Then there was the traditional July 3rd fireworks display. This was Pawtucket’s version of the Rio de Janeiro Carnival parade, but with more beer kegs and illegal fireworks. And truth be told, far less Samba Schools and colorful feathered costumes. Nonetheless, the city was always ablaze. Fireworks filled the sky, backyards were jam-packed with cookouts, and music drifted around every corner of the city. God, I miss those days. 

Long story short, Larry Lucchino and a group of investors purchased the PawSox in 2015 and moved the team to Worcester, Massachusetts in 2021. It was a heartbreaking loss for the city. McCoy Stadium now sits completely abandoned. The once spectacular murals of former players painted on the walls of the stadium by Rhode Island School of Design graduate, Tayo Heuser, are cracked and peeling. The stadium advertising is weathered. And the field is essentially gone. 

Rhode Island filmmaker and urban explorer, Jason Allard, recently captured McCoy stadium in its state of decay. His drone footage is spectacular and the short film is simultaneously beautiful and sad. Check it out.

-Tom

P.S. The Potato Puff Surprise turned four years old a couple of weeks ago. A reader just sent me this review of the book and I think it might be my absolute favorite: “Your descriptions of friends and shared experiences were vivid, funny, infuriating, gross, and, in the end, touching.”