'This place means the world to me': Chad Tracy enshrined in WooSox Hall of Fame
WORCESTER — While Chad Tracy sat inside his office at Polar Park around 5 p.m. on April 25, the former WooSox manager made a rare call to his wife, Emily, during the middle of a Triple-A game.
Drenched in sweat and coated in mulch from her fingertips to toes, Emily, who was in the middle of landscaping the front yard of their home in Fairfield, Ohio, answered the phone.
“I said, ‘Darn, what did you get kicked out of the game for?’” Emily recalled. “He said, ‘Em, are you sitting down?’ You start to go into panic mode that something bad happened. But he told me a plane was coming to pick him up that night to go manage (the Boston Red Sox) in Baltimore the next day.
“I was speechless.”
Nearly four hours after telling his wife he’d been named interim manager of the Boston Red Sox, Tracy rolled a black suitcase through the lower bowel of Polar Park and left to board a plane headed for Baltimore.
It’s been a whirlwind ever since for the Tracys.
On Thursday, for the first time since that eventful day, Tracy stepped foot inside Polar Park to be enshrined in the WooSox Hall of Fame.
“I’ve done a lot of cool things in baseball over the course of my life but have never been inducted into any type of Hall of Fame,” Tracy said on Cassell’s Corner podcast earlier this year. “… I’ve literally spent more time (at Polar Park in the last five years) than I’ve spent at my own home.
“So, this place has become like a second home, or a first home in a lot of ways, because of how much time I’ve spent here, and we’ve had a lot of good times and a lot of success. So, I’m pretty proud and flattered and thrilled to have that happen.”
Before Chad Tracy is enshrined in the WooSox Hall of Fame later today, I asked the former Worcester Red Sox manager and current Boston Red Sox interim manager what it meant to be inducted into the Triple-A club’s Hall of Fame.
Here’s what Tracy said on Cassell’s Corner podcast: pic.twitter.com/6AhTKreKBP
— Tommy Cassell (@tommycassell44) July 23, 2026
A fairy tale journey
While some wondered if Chad Tracy would return for a fifth season as the WooSox manager, the baseball lifer known as “Trace” was back overseeing the Red Sox’ Triple-A club this year.
At least until April 25, when he was pulled from the dugout during the third inning of Worcester’s game and told by Red Sox brass that he was being called up to Boston.
“To finally get that call and to witness anyone’s dream coming true, how do you put that into words?” Emily told the T&G. “Not just anybody — but your husband. It’s hard to explain how crazy and cool it’s been.”
Since being named interim manager of the Boston Red Sox, Tracy has pulled the big-league club out from the bottom of the American League East standings and into third place. The Red Sox recently won 15 games in a row and currently own a 52-49 record, good enough for the third wildcard spot in the AL playoff race.
“To be doing what he’s doing, I couldn’t be prouder of him,” said Tracy’s father, Jim. “And I really believe that his ballclub takes on his personality.”
“Nothing short of a fairy tale,” said Tracy’s mother, Debra.
Before his promotion to Boston, the calm, cool and collected manager possessed a 323-295 overall record with the WooSox. Tracy led the Triple-A club to winning seasons in each of his first four years at the helm (2022-25) and became the first Red Sox Triple-A manager to accomplish that feat dating back to at least the 1930s.
During his time in Worcester, Tracy oversaw the development of current Red Sox players Wilyer Abreu, Jarren Duran, Connelly Early, Ceddanne Rafaela and Payton Tolle, just to name a few.
The second manager in WooSox history, Tracy also had 176 wins in three years as a Minor League manager in the Los Angeles Angels’ system from 2015-17. His first victory with the Boston Red Sox — during his MLB debut in Baltimore on April 26 — was the 500th win of his managerial career.
“Growing up and moving around with baseball, (Tracy’s) mom used to always say, ‘Here’s to another Tracy adventure,’” Emily said. “So, we always use that, too. Here’s to another Tracy adventure.”
Tracy spent his childhood in and around MLB clubhouses. His dad played in the Major Leagues and served as a big-league manager for 11 seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers (2001-05), Pittsburgh Pirates (2006-07) and Colorado Rockies (2009-12).
A star catcher at Pepperdine University, where he was the West Coast Conference Player of the Year in 2005, Tracy was selected by the Texas Rangers in the third round of the 2006 First-Year Player Draft. In nine professional seasons, all in the minor leagues (2006-13) and independent Atlantic League (2013-14), Tracy hit .267 with 159 home runs and 706 RBIs.
He reached Triple-A but never made the jump to the big leagues as a player.
“He was so close to being a Major League player,” his father said. “That part never really happened.”
Following managerial stints with Class-A Burlington (2015) and High-A Inland Empire (2016-2017), Tracy spent four seasons as the Angels’ minor league field coordinator. He then joined the Red Sox organization and served as their Triple-A manager for parts of five seasons.
During that time, Worcester became part of the Tracy family fabric.
“Chad just felt so at home there,” his mom said. “We knew it was a special place.”
Said Tracy: “This place means the world to me.”
“That place will always be the most special place I’ve ever been in my 17 years of doing this baseball life with him,” his wife said. “It’s just unmatched.”
No place like home
Shortly after Chad Tracy told his wife about his call up to Boston, their 11-year-old daughter, Avery, asked a question.
“‘Do we get to go back to Polar Park and see our people?’” Emily recalled.
On Thursday, Tracy, his wife, two kids and parents swung by Polar Park for his induction into the WooSox Hall of Fame. It marked Tracy’s second pit stop in Worcester since joining the Red Sox after he stopped by a few months ago to collect some personal belongings.
Tracy joins Dr. Charles Steinberg, Mark Fidrych and Gene Zabinski in the 2026 class.
“I can’t think of someone more deserving,” Red Sox senior director of player development Brain Abraham said.
“I’m just really happy for him,” WooSox infielder Nick Sogard said. “He’s someone that I’ll always root for and wish the best for.”
“This is only the beginning,” WooSox acting manager Iggy Suarez said.
During Tracy’s portion of the Hall of Fame induction ceremony, the club played a video montage of people congratulating the former WooSox manager on securing a permanent spot in the Triple-A club’s history.
“What an awesome honor. You totally deserve it, Daddy,” his 8-year-old son, Austin, said.
“From one manager to another, and from a father to a son, I can’t tell you how proud I am,” his dad said.
While the road to the big leagues was long and windy for Tracy, it was paved by his time with Worcester. And on Thursday, Chad Tracy returned to the place he once called home to be enshrined in the WooSox Hall of Fame.
His legacy forever cemented in the Canal District. Another Tracy adventure.
“When you spend a lot of time somewhere, and somebody tells you that we’re going to put a plaque or a thing up in the outfield and your name’s going to forever be attached to this place, that kind of hits you a little bit,” Tracy said. “That’s really cool and I’ve spent enough time here where this place has become pretty special to me.
“So, to know that it will always be attached to it in some way is a pretty special feeling.”
—Contact Tommy Cassell at tcassell@telegram.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @tommycassell44.
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: ‘This place means the world to me’: Chad Tracy enshrined in WooSox Hall of Fame
