Sox unveil details of sold-out Winter Weekend
Majority of current roster, along with new manager Cora and popular alumni, slated to attend
BOSTON -- The Red Sox have already secured their first sold-out crowd for 2018, and it will be at Foxwoods Resort and Casino in Connecticut for the team's increasingly popular and fourth annual "Baseball Winter Weekend," which will take place from Jan. 19-21.
The event gives fans the unique chance to have personal interaction with their favorite players as well as team executives and coaches.
Over 6,800 tickets were sold for weekend-long, baseball-themed festivities that will include the majority of the current roster, in addition to legendary alumni.
"The speed with which this event sold out this year is a testament to its growing popularity," said Red Sox president/CEO Sam Kennedy. "With virtually all of our players present, along with our new manager, Alex Cora, no matter how cold it is outside, it feels like Spring Training is just around the corner. We are thankful to the fans attending who are as eager as we are to get back to baseball."
Aces Chris Sale and David Price and stud closer Craig Kimbrel will be joined by cornerstone position players like Dustin Pedroia, Andrew Benintendi, Xander Bogaerts, Jackie Bradley Jr., Hanley Ramirez and Rafael Devers.
The Red Sox have already confirmed attendance of 24 players from the current roster. The alumni will be as big of a draw, featuring Hall of Famers Wade Boggs, Dennis Eckersley, Carlton Fisk, Pedro Martinez and Jim Rice along with other fan favorites like David Ortiz, Fred Lynn, Jason Varitek, Luis Tiant and Tim Wakefield.
Festivities will begin Friday night with the annual "Town Hall," in which the entire team is introduced to the crowd, and fans can ask questions about the state of the team to members of ownership and senior management.
In recent years, the most entertaining and informative portion of the weekend are the panel discussions which take place Saturday. The Red Sox have set up six panels for this year's event, starting with "Cora and his coaches" at 9 a.m. ET, giving fans a chance to interact directly from the new manager.
At 10:30 a.m., several Red Sox pitchers will give insights on their craft during the "On the Mound" panel. The laughs should flow at noon, when "The Red Sox game show" takes place.
Current and former players who learned the game outside the United States will come together at 2 p.m. for "Baseball: A Universal Language."
Children get to steal the stage at 3:30 p.m., when they ask players any questions they like at the "Kids Press Conference."
The final panel of the day is at 5:30 p.m., called "Teammates for Life" and it centers around a special bond that was formed by Red Sox players. Specific details of that panel will be announced at a later date.
For more information on Winter Weekend, including a full list of the scheduled attendees, go to redsox.com/winterweekend.