Pawtucket-bound Dylan. |
While Bob Dylan’s August 24 show at Pawtucket’s McCoy Stadium dovetails nicely with Zimmy’s self-titled “Summer ’06 Baseball Tour,” it also marks another step in the ballpark’s evolution as more than just the home of the Red Sox’ top minor league club.Since being renovated a few years back, McCoy has hosted a series of more prominent events, including a USA Baseball exhibition, the opening ceremonies of the National Governors Association, and the AAA All-Star Game. “That was our goal from the get-go,” says PawSox vice president and general manager Lou Schwechheimer, who hopes that concerts of a similar magnitude will become a regular thing at the ballpark.
Feeding the Monster, Seth Mnookin’s new Red Sox book, describes how the Boston club has turned to shows by the likes of the Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, and the Dave Matthews Band as a way of generating money not subject to Major League Baseball’s revenue-sharing agreement. Schwechheimer, though, says the PawSox “did not go into this in any way, shape, or form as a revenue-shaping opportunity.” Noting the $9 top price for PawSox tickets, compared with about $20 elsewhere in the International League, he describes the Dylan show as a win-win for the team and Pawtucket that could attract more big-name performers to McCoy. (Disclosure: the Phoenix is a co-sponsor of the concert.)
Herb Weiss, the City of Pawtucket’s indefatigable ambassador-at-large, is excited by how the Dylan show will kick off the annual Pawtucket Arts Festival, slated to run through September 17. The highlights include a Chinese dragon boat race on the Blackstone River; open studios featuring more than 50 artists; a five-night film festival; a concert by the Rhode Island Philharmonic; the Stone Soup Folk Fest; and vendors selling distinctive wares.
Weiss credits Patricia Zacks of the Pawtucket Arts Collaborative with suggesting the idea of bringing music to McCoy during a meeting two years ago with PawSox president Mike Tamburro
Dylan, who has a fondness for ballparks and whose current tour will conclude in Cooperstown, New York (home of the Baseball Hall of Fame), seems like an inspired choice for the first concert. The arrangements were set in motion when Schwechheimer, while in Dallas for winter baseball meetings last December, huddled with Dylan’s people.
McCoy, last year’s top-drawing ballpark in the International League, has a strong following. When USA Baseball first came to McCoy, Schwechheimer says, it outdrew the same event at Shea Stadium and Dodger Stadium. And just as Fenway Park offers a chance to visit a place where Babe Ruth and Ted Williams once roamed, Dylan concertgoers may walk on the grass trod not long ago by Dom DiMaggio, Fred Lynn, Coco Crisp, and other Sox luminaries. “That, to me, is the magic of it,” says Schwechheimer.
Possible future bookings at McCoy include a tennis event, a zoo-related event, the Pan-American Games, featuring baseball players from Cuba and the Dominican Republic, and music across a variety of genres.
