Email received today from Joanne Hulbert, Boston Chapter….

This week, the Boston Globe announced the Pawsox would be moved to Worcester sometime around 2021 – and become known, perhaps as the “WooSox.” We’ll see about that nickname…. Although many of us will lament the move away from Pawtucket, others will celebrate the return of a team in Worcester. The plans for the new baseball park have been revealed, and both the plans of the park and its setting certainly look quite nice. With Janet Marie Smith involved, the park is likely to be winner.

Worcester certainly has a long history when it comes to baseball, going back to before the Civil War, having spent a few years as home to a National League team – the Brown Stockings, as well as many minor league teams from which great stories have been told. And, “Casey at the Bat” was written by Worcester resident, Ernest Thayer. This is just a small bit of Worcester’s contributions to baseball history. And now, here comes baseball back to Worcester.

For a long time, we have been very lucky to have Pawtucket as a location for the RI Chapter meetings. I certainly hope members will consider traveling up Rte 146 in the future.

We hope when Worcester is up and running that we can develop a similar relationship with the new location. Many years ago, the Jesse Burkett Chapter of Worcester was a thriving organization that has since faded away. Let’s see if we can re-visit the Worcester Chapter, get it up and running again, and be ready when the WooSox take to the field, and we can continue the legacy so well supported by the RI Chapter.

Anyone interested in re-starting the Worcester Chapter? Please give it some serious thought, be brave and step up to the plate! Just a half dozen persons can get a SABR chapter organized and there is lots of help to call upon for advice- from the chapters in Boston, Rhode Island, Connecticut and Springfield as well from SABR HQ.

Joanne Hulbert
SABR Boston Chapter.