WooSox Opening Day now tentatively slated for May 11

Photo | Grant Welker Construction on Polar Park in Worcester as seen from Madison Street under the railroad overpass

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By Grant Welker

The Worcester Red Sox won't be playing their first game at their new home, Polar Park, in mid-April after all.

Major League Baseball said late Tuesday the Triple-A level of baseball, where the WooSox play, will be delayed by a month as top-level teams use alternate training sites as they did during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.

In a release Wednesday evening, the WooSox said they are now tentatively scheduled to start their season on the road on May 4 against the Buffalo Bisons and then have their home debut on May 11 against the Syracuse Mets. The changes also shorten the WooSox schedule to 120 games from 142, including 60 home games, down from 70.

For the WooSox, that'll mean an abrupt change in plans less than two weeks after the 2021 schedule was announced. The team, which has moved from Pawtucket, R.I., was due to play its first game on April 6 and its first home game in Worcester on April 13.

Less than a week later, the team got more good news: Gov. Charlie Baker was relaxing pandemic-related limits on sporting events, allowing fans for the first time starting March 22. That meant that WooSox games could play before 12% of their typical capacity, or about 1,140 fans.

The new delay until May, which city officials were hoping for, creates the possibility more coronavirus-related restrictions will be lifted, and gives construction crews extra time to put the finishing touches on the $160-million Polar Park public baseball stadium before the WooSox debut home.

“This shift in the schedule creates additional time for more people to get vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus, which will make it even safer for fans to gather at this amazing new facility," City Manager Edward Augustus said in a press release. "Additionally, we are hopeful that continued trends in the right direction in terms of the overall number of COVID cases in the City will make it possible for more people to come to the ballpark when it opens in May."

The team's Pawtucket ballpark, McCoy Stadium, was used by the Boston Red Sox as a training site for players close enough to Fenway Park but allowing for players to spread out more. MLB said Tuesday delaying the minor leagues' 2021 season will allow for more players to be vaccinated before games start.