Former Red Sox stars Lou Merloni and Jonathan Papelbon will play in the 30th annual Abbot Financial Management Oldtime Baseball Game on Thursday, August 22 at St. Peter’s Field in Cambridge. The pregame program begins at 7:00 p.m.
The game is being played as a fundraiser for The Boston Home, a non-profit residence and national resource for adults with advanced neurological disorders, primarily multiple sclerosis.
Merloni, whose nine-year big-league career included parts of six seasons with the Red Sox, will be making his 12th appearance in the Oldtime Baseball Game. During pregame ceremonies he will receive the 2024 Greg Montalbano Award, given in memory of the late Red Sox pitching prospect who appeared in the Oldtime Baseball Game in 1997 and ’98.
Papelbon, an All-Star closer who pitched seven of his 12 major-league seasons with the Red Sox and was a member of Boston’s 2007 World Series championship team, will be making his first appearance in the Oldtime Baseball Game. But he’s already played a role in the game’s history: In 2005, his rookie season with the Red Sox, Papelbon asked that his two younger brothers, Josh and Jeremy, both in college at the time, be invited to the game. The twins each pitched a scoreless inning in ’05.
Merloni and Papelbon have gone on to broadcast careers in Boston. Merloni calls games on NESN and 93.7 WEEI, and Papelbon has emerged as a booth and studio analyst on NESN.
Founded in Cambridge in 1994, the Oldtime Baseball Game is known for its dazzling reproductions of flannel uniforms representing virtually every era in baseball history. Used just once a year, these throwback uniforms include such long-ago teams as the St. Louis Browns, Brooklyn Dodgers and Philadelphia Athletics. Negro Leagues uniforms include the Kansas City Monarchs, Chicago American Giants, Detroit Stars and Cleveland Buckeyes. Teams from the 20th century minor leagues include the Hollywood Stars, Wichita Falls Spudders and Roswell Rockets.
Admission to the Oldtime Baseball Game is free. Fans are asked to bring a beach blanket or chair and camp out along the foul lines, as it is the crowd that makes the game so electric. Fans can look forward to enjoying a Wahlburger at the game as Dorchester native Paul Wahlberg and his team of A&E TV series fame provide concessions.
In the event of rain, the game will be played on Friday, August 23, at 7:00 p.m.
For more information, visit oldtimebaseball.com or thebostonhome.org.