WooSox celebrate former Telegram & Gazette sportswriter Bill Ballou by naming press box in his honor

After a long career spent crafting memorable stories from baseball press boxes, it was fitting that one finally will have his name on it.

Veteran sportswriter Bill Ballou, who covered the Boston Red Sox for the Worcester Telegram & Gazette for 32 years, covering more than 2,800 games before retiring in 2018, was celebrated on Thursday when the Worcester Red Sox named the press box at Polar Park in his honor.

Ballou, 73, has long been a historian of Worcester baseball, hockey, candlepin bowling and Central Mass. high school football, and has still been covering sports in the area since his retirement for various publications and websites. Having his name enshrined at Polar Park was an easy decision according to WooSox president Dr. Charles Steinberg.

"We've had an idea for a long time that we wanted to commemorate in a meaningful way the contributions that this writer has made to the history of the Worcester Red Sox and also to the history or baseball in Worcester and, really, to all of those who love the Boston Red Sox, too," Steinberg said.

Having his name on a baseball press box was special for Ballou, who holds in high regard the people he has met in those rooms throughout his long career.

"The best part is the press box. It's always full of this wonderful, unique, eccentric group of people," Ballou said. "They're funny, they're insightful, they're observant they're intelligent. They're also sardonic, sarcastic, argumentative, all those things − it's a great mix. It's like being on Johnny Carson every night of the week. It's a fabulous atmosphere. Of all the press boxes I've been in, I've never failed to get excited when I walk into whatever door it is. It's energizing and I can't wait. Games come and go, but the people are what I remember."

Ballou's wife Deborah and their daughter Abby Brinkman were in attendance for the presentation, which was part of the WooSox Media Day for their season opener at home at 3:05 p.m. Friday against Syracuse.

"I think it's important for everyone in this community to understand the positive role of media, to understand the positive role of journalists and the positive role of writers and writing and to see you can have an enduring career that does more than inform, but you can in fact change the world and that's what Bill Ballou has done," Steinberg said.

Steinberg recalled when the Pawtucket Red Sox were having issues securing a new home, Ballou placed a phone call to PawSox owner Larry Lucchino to suggest Worcester as a viable new home in case Rhode Island didn't work out. Lucchino called him back at 7:30 the next morning and admitted Worcester was an attractive alternative.

Over the next few months, Ballou's articles on a possible move ignited a postcard movement and local support focused on bringing the team to Worcester − which became a reality and the WooSox were born.

"Even though people thought this was a long shot, I thought all along this was going to happen," Ballou said. "Everything fell into place. Worcester played everything perfectly, and Rhode Island did not play it very well. I always thought this would be the end result."

It's the latest honor in a career full of them for Ballou, who is a longtime voter for the Baseball Hall of Fame and a member of the Boston Chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America and has won their Dave O'Hara Award. Ballou was also named the ECHL Outstanding Media Award winner in 2017-18 for his work covering the Worcester Railers and is a two-time winner of the American Hockey League's Ellery Award that celebrates print journalist coverage.

Ballou is looking forward to the start of another baseball season and the stories he will get to tell from the press box that now bears his name.

"I've had a great career and baseball has been a wonderful part of it and Polar Park has been a wonderful part of it," Ballou said. "I'll cover (Friday's) game and when I walk through this door I will be excited."

—Contact Jim Wilson at james.wilson@telegram.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @JimWilsonTG.