‘It was home,’ PawSox fans emotional at time capsule reveal ceremony

PAWTUCKET, R.I. (WLNE) — Monday almost felt like a game day at the old McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket.

Dozens of PawSox fans waited with bated breath, as the city unveiled the contents of two time capsules buried at the site, four years after the team officially moved to Worcester.

“It’s a shame that the stadium is no longer there and the team had to move,” Pawtucket resident Sean Tobin said. “But it’s just a pleasure to be here, and it’s something that we really need to remember.”

One of the capsules contained memorabilia from the longest game in professional baseball history, revealed 44 years to the date.

The capsule, buried outside the batter’s box after the 33-inning affair on June 23, 1981, held a program, hat, scorecards and signed baseballs, all to commemorate that memorable longest game.

One of the players that was part of the 1981 PawSox squad, pitcher Jim Dorsey, was there for the special occasion.

East Providence resident Jerry Griffin was at the second part of the game when it resumed after 32 innings.

He said his friend was there the first night but left midway through.

“He went to the game for a while, then went to other places, and he was on his way home, about two in the morning and he saw the lights on,” Griffin said. “He came to the park the next morning and asked ‘Why weren’t the lights off?’ and they said ‘Well the game was still going on.'”

The other capsule contained artifacts from the stadium’s inauguration back in 1940, including a copper box, program, and an official letter signed by a committee that includes Thomas McCoy.

For fans like Carol and Domenic Cotoia from Attleboro, seeing bits of PawSox history was an emotional experience.

“Everybody was friendly, excited, they loved coming to the game,” Carol said. “We’d see the same ones over and over again.”

“We haven’t been to any WooSox games yet,” Domenic said. “We’d like to, but this was our place that we used to enjoy every once in a while, it was home.”

Even younger fans like Tobin said they grew up on PawSox baseball.

“You’re never gonna be able to remake something like this,” he said. “It’s just shame that it had to go, but it’s a blessing that I got to experience all this stuff.”