The Worcester Red Sox, also known as the WooSox, are the Triple-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. Since relocating from Pawtucket, Rhode Island to Worcester, Massachusetts in 2021, the WooSox have developed a new fanbase in Central Massachusetts. As with any professional sports team, part of building excitement around the WooSox has included producing officially licensed baseball cards featuring current and former players.
While the WooSox have only been in Worcester for a short time, their players have appeared on baseball cards going back decades from their days in the Red Sox and other organizations’ farm systems. Some of the earliest WooSox player cards date back to the 1990s in sets like Bowman, Donruss, Fleer, Leaf, Pacific, Pinnacle, Score, Topps, and Upper Deck. These vintage minor league cards allow collectors to trace the career paths of players before they made their way to Triple-A.
In more recent years, WooSox on baseball cards have mainly come from Topps, the exclusive licensee for MLB, MiLB, and the MLBPA. The Topps Low Level Prospects set from 2017 is one of the first that features multiple future WooSox, like Jay Groome, Durbin Feltman, Denyi Reyes, and Mike Shawaryn when they were just starting out in the low minor leagues. Topps Chrome and Topps Opening Day also occasionally include WooSox from this time as minor pieces in their massive factory sets.
The past two seasons have seen a notable ramping up of WooSox player cards as the team’s relocation to Worcester gained momentum. Allen & Ginter in 2020 put out a special “Next-Level Talents” insert card focusing on Jarren Duran as he prepared to make his Triple-A debut. Also that year, Topps Heritage Minor League included cards of Duran, Connor Wong, and several other soon-to-be WooSox.
For the 2021 season, Topps Series 1 & 2 featured the standard Minor League subset and included multiple early WooSox standouts like Duran, Wong, Franchy Cordero, and Tanner Houck. Later in 2021 as Worcester became the new home, Topps Transcendent included a special “Inaugural Season” WooSox parallel card highlighting some of the key players. Additionally, Topps Big League had a extended “AAA Debuts” subset covering several actors making their first Triple-A appearances as new WooSox.
Upper Deck also issued the first cards solely dedicated to the Worcester Red Sox as a brand in 2021. Their “Inaugural Logo Patch” parallel inserts highlighted the WooSox wordmark in addition to players. Stadium Club also devoted specific space to the new Triple-A affiliate in the form of “Rookie Debuts” cards for Duran, Wong, and others listed as Worcester players.
Collectors can look forward to even more focused WooSox card releases from licensors like Topps, Upper Deck, and potentially new partners like Panini in future seasons. As the WooSox organization grows in Worcester and their players continue moving up the prospect chain, their cardboard representation will surely spread beyond single prospects into true team sets. Parallel and autograph cards in small print runs will also allow for newpremium WooSox memorabilia collecting opportunities. Whether chasing vintage Pawtucket gems or modern Worcester stars, baseball cards remain a fun avenue for fans to connect to this new New England baseball tradition. With the WooSox poised for on-field success, their trading card visibility and collectability stands ready to grow along with the team’s excitement in Central Massachusetts for years to come.
