Pawtucket Unveils Time Capsules Commemorating McCoy and Baseball’s Longest Game

Memorabilia from the “Longest Game” time capsule buried in 1981. (Photos by Justin Theriault)

While demolishing McCoy Stadium to make way for a new Pawtucket High School, city officials dug up two time capsules preserving memories of the historic stadium. The first, buried in 1981, featured memorabilia from baseball’s longest professional game played that year. The second, found in a cornerstone of the stadium, had been placed there during its construction in 1940. Both capsules were revealed to the public on June 23, the forty-fourth anniversary of “The Longest Game.”

First, some history on the date’s significance: On June 23, 1981, the Pawtucket Red Sox and the Rochester Red Wings concluded the thirty-three-inning pitcher’s duel that ended in a 3-2 victory for the PawSox. By the time PawSox first baseman Dave Koza knocked in the winning run, the game had lasted eight hours and twenty-five minutes. 

The game originally started on the evening of April 18 and would be called at 4 a.m. on Easter morning. On the first night, an estimated 1,700 fans attended and only about twenty remained in the seats to see the end of the thirty-second inning. When the game resumed on June 23, more than 5,700 people were there to watch its conclusion, including more than 130 sports reporters from all over the United States.  

At the time Pawtucket took center stage in the sports world, Major League Baseball was on hold due to the 1981 players’ strike. It was in this moment that McCoy Stadium was etched into the record of America’s most historical sport, and that night, two of the sport’s most notable names could be found on the diamond. The PawSox lineup featured future Hall of Famer and Red Sox legend Wade Boggs. At the time, Boggs was less than a year away from making his big-league debut. As for the Red Wings, baseball’s Iron Man, Cal Ripken Jr., was at shortstop and would make his debut just over a month later for the Baltimore Orioles. These two legends had six base hits, and it was Boggs who kept the game alive in the bottom of the twenty-first inning with an RBI single. 

A total of fourteen records were set that night, and everyone knew it was a game to be celebrated and remembered forever. In that spirit, team officials buried a time capsule with memorabilia from the game near the batter’s box later that year.

Flash forward to the end of the 2019 season, and the PawSox left Pawtucket for Polar Park in Worcester, Massachusetts, described by some as the country’s most expensive Minor League Baseball stadium. The move sparked a rebrand from the PawSox to the WooSox and left a gigantic hole in the city of Pawtucket. For many, the discovery of the time capsules was a way to relive the glory days left behind with the stadium’s demolition.

“What we’re all here to see is the time capsule and the contents uncovered during the demolition process,” says Pawtucket Mayor Donald R. Grebien. “Everybody was waiting with bated breath understanding that we had one … but now we have two.” 

Attendees had a chance to view and take pictures of the contents. The capsule from 1940 contained a letter to “Posterity” dated Nov. 3, 1940. Signed by Thomas P. McCoy, Albert J. Lamarre, Joseph Ranguette, Edward Donovan, Vincent J. McAloon, William Flanagan and Thomas E. Harding, the letter was the work of the Special Committee for Pawtucket Stadium. (The stadium was renamed McCoy in 1946.) It also contained an envelope from the office of the mayor marked “Municipal Stadium” in pencil. These contents were found inside a copper box. 

A letter buried in the cornerstone time capsule in 1940 during the stadium’s construction.

The capsule buried in 1981 proved more interesting to PawSox fans. It consisted of a dark gray PVC Pipe that measured twenty-six inches by six inches. Inside were a PawSox official hat and three Wilson baseballs, two of them signed by players on each team. The third baseball was signed by then-PawSox owner Ben Mondor, then-PawSox President Harold Cooper, former PawSox General Manager Mike Tamburro, the capsule’s creator LeRoy White and another, unidentified person. 

Tamburro was among those in attendance at the time capsule unveiling, as was former pitcher Jim Dorsey, both of whom offered remarks and spent time talking to fans. A fan who attended the second half of the longest game, Jerry Griffin, also participated in the ceremony. It was Griffin who showed off a special poster made for the game that currently sits in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. Grebien grew up in the area and shared with the large crowd his favorite memories of McCoy, which he said would not be erased. 

“While we’re sad to see McCoy Stadium demolished, we’re so excited about the future,” Grebien says. “This will be the site of the new Pawtucket High School … We’re going to be incorporating original seating from McCoy, and the foul poles are being incorporated.” 

Pawtucket City Council President Terrence Mercer, who grew up around the corner from McCoy and even worked for the team in the summer of 1981, recounted the famous event.

“If you recall, [the longest game] was during a Major League Baseball strike, so it was the only baseball game on a national level right here in McCoy stadium. Much like McCoy stadium has always been, that became a source of pride for the community. Suddenly we, all of Pawtucket, were going to be in the Hall of Fame,” he recalls.

For many of those in attendance, seeing the plot of land that McCoy stadium once stood upon as nothing but dirt and grass was sad. But the future looks bright for Pawtucket, and the moment ensured that while the PawSox might be gone, the memories they created won’t be forgotten.  

Other items unveiled during the “Longest Game” commemoration event.

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