WORCESTER — The Worcester Police Department will face off against the Worcester Fire Department in the fourth annual charity baseball game at Polar Park.
The showdown, dubbed the Baseball Classic, is at 6:05 p.m. Monday, Sept. 8. Gates open at 4:30 p.m., with general admission $10.
The event begins with Police Chief Paul Saucier and Assistant Fire Chief Adam Roche each throwing a ceremonial first pitch.
The game’s proceeds will go to the WooSox Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the Worcester Red Sox that seeks to “make dreams come true” for families in the Worcester County community and beyond, according to its website.
The game, while not a huge fundraiser in dollar amounts, is a way to show support for the city’s frontline workers, according to WooSox President Charles Steinberg.
Prior to the game, the teams meet at St. John’s Church on nearby Temple Street to pay respects to officers and firefighters who died in the line of duty, including the six firefighters who died in the Worcester Cold Storage & Warehouse Co. fire in 1999, and police officer Enmanuel “Manny” Familia, who drowned trying to rescue a teen at Green Hill Pond in 2021.
“When we were first learning about Worcester, the themes that stood out were the role the Fire Department played in the consciousness of the city and how active the memories of the ‘Worcester 6’ were,” Steinberg said. “In order to play with reckless abandon we have to remember the ultimate sacrifice these heroes made”
A matchup between the Worcester Police and Fire Department baseball teams may date back more than 100 years, according to Jay O’Brien, the Fire Department team captain who helped organize the event. Before 2021, the teams hadn’t played each other in decades. O’Brien felt Polar Park was the perfect venue to revitalize the contest.
“When we heard the WooSox were coming to town, I knew I wanted to form something big at the park,” he said.
Shawn Frigon, the captain of the Worcester Police Department team, echoed O’Brien’s excitement at the opportunity to play at Polar Park.
“It’s unbelievable, especially watching the field being built and being from the city to be able to set foot on the field is amazing,” Frigon said.
O’Brien said he is thrilled to support the WooSox foundation’s mission of uplifting Worcester’s youth. He also stressed that the game is more than swinging bats and rounding bases.
“I want kids in the city to know that this is an avenue to play baseball your whole life,” O’Brien said. “If you join Worcester’s police or fire departments you may even get to play at Polar Park.”
As to who will take the trophy in Monday’s faceoff, the team captains hesitated to bad-mouth ech other.
“We’ll let our bats do the talking,” Frigon said.
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