WooSox surprise family with gifts, on-field recognition after they buy 500,000th ticket

WORCESTER — When the Akins family visited Polar Park for the first time on Friday, the trio of Liam (son), Ken (dad) and Noreen (mom) were stopped by Worcester Red Sox personnel just inside the doors.

But not for anything bad. No, the Akins family were the WooSox guests of honor.

Unbeknownst to them.

As Liam scanned his voucher at Gate D, he held the 500,000th ticket sold for WooSox home games this season. Shortly after, the Akins family was presented with a premium gift basket and invited to be recognized before the second game of a doubleheader between the Worcester Red Sox and Buffalo Bisons.

“We thought it was a joke, that it wasn’t real,” Noreen said.

“It was shocking at first. I was very surprised,” Liam said. “I’ve seen things like that on TV shows and movies, and it was kind of fun to experience it in person. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, so it was very entertaining and fun.”

Successful baseball trip to New England for Florida family

On Thursday and Friday, Liam Akins attended baseball showcase camps at Brown University. He’s a 15-year-old pitcher and infielder at Tampa Preparatory School who hopes to play baseball in college.

During their trip up north this week, the Akins family also toured Boston College, Boston University, Harvard, Northeastern and Holy Cross.

Liam preferred the latter.

“Holy Cross felt very brand new, we checked out the athletic facilities, and they were beautiful,” he said. “So I think I really like Holy Cross the best. It was awesome.”

Avid baseball fans, the Akins family also attended the Red Sox game on Wednesday at Fenway Park. But after a busy week, they weren’t sure if they had enough energy to go to the WooSox game on Friday at Polar Park.

Now, they’re happy they did.

“We’re just so glad that we made the decision to come for so many reasons,” said Noreen, who will return home on Saturday with her husband and son. “But it just absolutely put an exclamation point on the end of the trip, and we’re just so glad we did it.”

WooSox gain three new fans for life

WooSox president Dr. Charles Steinberg partakes in a meeting before each home game where he learns about all the groups of people who are coming from out of town to watch games at Polar Park.

Steinberg mentioned groups of people from England and Chicago who visited the newest ballpark in Worcester on Friday to watch the twin bill. And of course, Steinberg also referred to the lucky trio from Tampa who purchased the 500,000th ticket.

“It’s an important milestone because that means we’re the only club in Minor League Baseball to sell more than 500,000 tickets over the past two years, and you dream of a streak starting, and it’s also an indication that here — in Year 3 — people are still enjoying the ballpark and trying it out,” Steinberg said. “When people are coming from Tampa to visit the ballpark is an illustration of a phenomena that we’ve been tracking all season, and that is people are coming from all over to Worcester.”

Some of the top prizes gifted to the Akins family on Friday were a Trevor Story game-worn hat, a navy WooSox jersey and four DCU Club buffet vouchers, among many other souvenirs they hope to fit in their carry-on bags.

The icing on the cake for the Tampa threesome, however, was being recognized on the field prior to the WooSox’ 5-0 win.

“It was nice to experience it as a family,” Ken said. “After today, we’re absolute WooSox fans for life.”

—Contact Tommy Cassell at tcassell@telegram.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @tommycassell44. 

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Worcester Red Sox honor fan who bought milestone ticket this season