For over 20 years, the Brockton Rox have been a part of the “City of Champions.” But the franchise lost its claim to professional baseball in 2011 when the team moved to the Futures League, a collegiate baseball league.
Now, the Rox are making their way back to the professional game. They will be playing in the Frontier League, an MLB Partner League , and have a new ownership group that includes Red Sox legend Jim Rice.
It was a big moment for those gathered at City Hall on Wednesday.
“I just think it’s a new day, new ownership group that [have] a vested interest in baseball,” said Brockton Mayor Robert Sullivan. “To have Jim Rice as an ownership partner, it’s really, it’s a new day in the city of Brockton. And it’s gonna be great baseball in the field.”
The new-look Rox are owned by Bill Janetschek and his son, Rob, and Shawn Reilly, who co-founded another Frontier League team, the New York Boulders. Rice rounds out the lineup as a owner and ambassador.
For Rice, this presents an opportunity to mentor younger ballplayers.
“I’m in a situation where I feel like I know I can help a young player trying to get to the big leagues,” Rice said. “If you listen, you may get there faster. But if you want to go the other route, it’s gonna take you a little longer. And so that’s why I was fortunate enough to be around a guy named Carl Yastrzemski, a guy named Ted Williams, a guy like Johnny Pesky, a guy like [Joe] DiMaggio. You learn from those guys. And that’s what it’s all about.”
Although the day was touted as a return of professional baseball to the city, the Frontier League was represented in Brockton last year by the New England Knockouts.
Sullivan said the Knockouts rebranded as the Rox while the collegiate league team wasn’t playing in Campanelli Stadium.
Either way, the Rox returning to pro ball has some special significance to the city.
“To be able to have the moniker Brockton Rox back for professional baseball, I mean that’s what it’s all about, right?” Sullivan said.
For the ownership, having the Rox come back to pro ball presents a unique opportunity as the summer approaches.
“So, when this opportunity became available, I said to Bill [Janetschek], ‘I’ve experienced it, this is a great sports town, we know it’s here,’” Reilly said. “And the people will come out, they just need the name back that they love so much.”
