WooSox Enshrine Their Hall of Fame Class of 2025 in Ceremonies at Polar Park on August 21
IL Worcester Red Sox

WooSox Enshrine Their Hall of Fame Class of 2025 in Ceremonies at Polar Park on August 21

Published on August 21, 2025 under International League (IL)
Worcester Red Sox News Release


Janet Marie Smith, the world's premier designer of ballparks, oversaw the creation of Polar Park together with her longtime collaborator, late WooSox Chairman and Principal Owner Larry Lucchino. Smith's unparalleled design acumen was instrumental in Polar Park being voted the best ballpark in Triple-A baseball by both Ballpark Digest and USA Today.

In addition to receiving rave reviews and sporting league-leading attendance, the compact urban ballpark continues to fulfill its mission as a catalyst for surrounding development in the resurgent Canal District of Downtown Worcester.

The "handsome little ballpark" is the fifth and final project of "the Rodgers & Hammerstein of ballpark ambiance and architecture." Lucchino and Smith first partnered to create Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore in 1992, the traditional, old-fashioned downtown ballpark with modern amenities that started a national revolution, spawning more than 100 descendants in Major League Baseball and Minor League Baseball.

They have changed the course of American History by rejuvenating and revitalizing downtowns through well-designed and well-located urban ballparks.

After creating Camden Yards, Smith commuted from Baltimore to Atlanta (while she and her husband were raising three wonderful children) to convert Centennial Olympic Stadium into Turner Field for the Atlanta Braves and Turner Sports and Development.

Simultaneously, she was a design consultant in San Diego for Lucchino's creation of Petco Park.

Janet Marie then reunited with Lucchino in Boston to design and execute a decade of internationally lauded improvements that preserved, protected, and enhanced venerable Fenway Park, saving "America's Most Beloved Ballpark" from the wrecking ball. Seats atop the Green Monster, creating an inside-the-park street fair on Jersey Street, creating the Big Concourse in Right Field, expanding the Red Sox Clubhouse, restoring open air to the decks behind home plate, and adding an entire Right Field Rooftop festival are just a few of their many transformative innovations.

Returning to the Baltimore Orioles, Smith added additional touches to Camden Yards, including statues of the six greatest Orioles-an achievement that brought Hall of Famers Brooks Robinson, Frank Robinson, Jim Palmer, Earl Weaver, Eddie Murray, and Cal Ripken, Jr., back together for the last time.

Janet Marie then joined the Los Angeles Dodgers to orchestrate and execute substantial renovations to baseball's third-oldest ballpark, Dodger Stadium. In the thick of that process, she concurrently collaborated with Lucchino and commuted to Worcester to create Polar Park.

In such demand after such profound success, Smith became Chairman and Co-Founder of Canopy Team, a company launched by members of Dodgers ownership to accommodate the many projects she was asked to oversee-all while serving as the Dodgers Executive Vice President of Planning & Development. A host of Major League Baseball ballparks, including PNC Park in Pittsburgh and Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, now bear her artistic fingerprints.

Canopy Team, a woman-led firm headquartered in Baltimore and Pasadena, CA, specializes in large-scale sports projects, urban revitalization, and community-driven developments, as well as smaller projects such as museums, retail spaces, and public parks.

At Dodger Stadium, Smith oversaw the elaborate creation of the Centerfield Plaza in 2020, Dodger Stadium's first-ever "front door," featuring new fan amenities and improved accessibility with escalators, elevators, and bridges. An innovative statue to Jackie Robinson is one her beautiful touches and iconic elements.

Before diving into baseball in 1989, Smith's projects included Battery Park City in New York and the redevelopment of former industrial buildings along Baltimore's Inner Harbor.

A native of Jackson, MS, Janet Marie holds a degree in architecture from Mississippi State University and a master's degree in urban planning from City College of New York. She has an honorary doctorate from Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles and has been the Edward P. Bass Visiting Professor at Yale University.

Smith has received numerous awards including the ALDS Visionary Award, CUNY Townsend Harris Medal, and has been inducted in the State of Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame. She is also featured in the National Baseball Hall of Fame "Diamond Dreams" exhibit in Cooperstown, the "Women in Baseball" exhibit at Fenway Park, and was in the Inaugural Class (2011) of the Sports Business Journal's Women in Sports. She and her husband, Bart Harvey, have maintained their family home in Baltimore throughout her entire baseball career.

JP RICCIARDI

JP Ricciardi, an outstanding Major League Baseball executive who enjoyed a 43-year career, is a Worcester native and former high school teammate of fellow WooSox (and Red Sox) Hall of Famer Rich Gedman. Remembering his roots, he has contributed enormously to Worcester's baseball culture by launching numerous careers of local baseball talents, including Brian Abraham, who has risen to Director of Player Development for the Boston Red Sox.

After starring on the great St. Peter-Marian High School (later renamed Saint Paul) baseball teams of the late 1970's, JP went on to play at St. Leo University and then played as an infielder in the New York Mets Minor League system for Class A affiliates Little Falls in 1980 and Shelby in 1981.

He began his post-playing career as a coach in the New York Yankees Minor League system before joining the Oakland Athletics as a Minor League instructor and scout in 1986. By the early 1990s he had risen to the rank of East Coast scouting supervisor and later national crosschecker, eventually signing ten Major League players including notables like INF Mike Bordick as well as Worcester natives RHP Tanyon Sturtze (both with Oakland) and LHP Tim Collins (with Toronto).

His big break into the front office came in 1996 when he was promoted to Assistant General Manager of the Oakland Athletics, first under Sandy Alderson and then under Billy Beane in 1997. In the late 1990's, JP had the distinction of being on the selection committee to help choose the players for the U.S. team in the 1999 Pan-Am games as well as the U.S. Olympic team that won the first-ever Gold Medal for the United States in baseball at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia.

After great success with the A's, JP was named General Manager of the Toronto Blue Jays in 2001, where he served till 2009 with teams that had such stars as Roy Halladay and Carlos Delgado.

After a year (2010) as an analyst on ESPN's Baseball Tonight, JP rejoined the New York Mets organization as Assistant GM from 2011-2019, and then the San Francisco Giants, as Senior Advisor from 2019-2023.

During many of the baseball off-seasons, Ricciardi was the head basketball coach at Holy Name High School in Worcester, reaching three Mass State Finals in his 11 years at the helm. Furthermore, he was the co-founder of the Friendly House basketball program in Worcester that grew from 30 kids in 1984 to over 300 today.

Starting in 2024, after retiring from full-time baseball responsibilities, JP provided insightful color commentary for WooSox Baseball on NESN & NESN+.

Ricciardi and his wife Diane live in West Boylston, MA. One son, Dante, was named the Boston Red Sox Scout of the Year for 2024, and son Mariano played three years of professional baseball as well. JP has also created a popular podcast, "The Brushback with J.P. Ricciardi," that streams on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube.

JARREN DURAN

Jarren Duran, who starred for the Worcester Red Sox in each of their first three seasons before soaring to record-setting heights with the Boston Red Sox, becomes the first active player to be elected to the WooSox Hall of Fame. Duran, 28, was the first-ever batter in WooSox history when he led off Worcester's inaugural game on May 4, 2021, in Trenton, New Jersey, against the Buffalo Bisons. (The Buffalo home game was played in Trenton because of Covid pandemic restrictions in Canada that required the parent Toronto Blue Jays to have the option to play in Buffalo.)

Duran played 139 games for the WooSox, amassing 28 home runs, 80 RBI, and 36 stolen bases. Among his many memorable moments was his spectacular walk-off, three-run home run at Polar Park on the WooSox' first-ever Father's Day game, June 20, 2021; it was the first walk-off home run in the history of Polar Park.

In 2024, Duran had a record-breaking season with the Boston Red Sox that included being named the Most Valuable Player of the Major League All-Star Game.

Jarren made his Major League debut on July 17, 2021, at Yankee Stadium and singled off Gerrit Cole on the first pitch he saw. He split the 2022 season between Worcester and Boston before putting together a terrific 2023 campaign when he was named Boston Red Sox Comeback Player of the Year after batting .295 in 102 games.

In 2024, Duran rewrote the Red Sox and MLB record book while playing 160 games and being named Red Sox MVP. He led Major League Baseball in doubles (48) and was tied for 1st in triples (14), becoming the first player to lead both leagues in doubles and triples since Lou Brock of the St. Louis Cardinals in 1968. Ty Cobb (1908, 1911, 1917) and Bobby Veach (1919) are the only other American League players ever to do so.

Jarren also ranked among the top five players in the Majors in plate appearances (1st, 735) hits (5th, 191), extra-base hits (4th, 83), runs scored (8th, 111), stolen bases (T9th, 34), outfield assists (1st, 12) and defensive runs saved (2nd, 23). He was also a Rawlings Gold Glove finalist.

Furthermore, Jarren became the first player in MLB history with 10+ triples (14), 20+ HR (21), 30+ steals (34), and 40+ doubles (48) in a season.

It all added up to Duran earning his first All-Star Game selection. And during that game on July 16, 2024, at Globe Life Field in Texas, he broke a 3-3 tie with a decisive 2-run home run in his first at-bat of the game in the bottom of the 5th inning to propel the American League All-Stars to a 5-3 victory. Jarren became the fifth Red Sox player to earn All-Star Game MVP honors, joining Carl Yastrzemski (1970), Roger Clemens (1986), Pedro Martinez (1999), and J.D. Drew (2008).

A Southern California native, Duran was selected by the Red Sox in the 7th round of the 2018 First-Year Player Draft out of California State University (Long Beach), where he was a standout second baseman from 2016-18.

A newfound advocate for mental health, Jarren spoke about his own challenges, first to classes of students from Emerson College and Assumption University, and then nationally in the Netflix documentary, The Clubhouse: A Year With the Red Sox. His courage has inspired countless individuals around the world to "talk about it," a crucial first step in ending the stigma that has surrounded mental health.

Newly-installed Hall of Fame monuments of Jarren Duran, JP Ricciardi, and Janet Marie Smith join 2024 Hall of Famer Rich Gedman's on Lucchino Lane just past left field at Polar Park.

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International League Stories from August 21, 2025


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