LEWISTON – It would be the stuff of Lewiston legend, like Muhammad Ali’s knockout of Sonny Liston in city’s hockey arena or John Kennedy’s 1960 campaign speech in what is now called Kennedy Park.
To bring the Red Sox – the world champion Red Sox – to Lewiston would be huge.
“I know it’s a long shot,” Lewiston City Administrator James Bennett said. “But people would talk about it for years.”
It could happen, though. It’s so possible that Bennett and Mayor Lionel Guay have sent the Sox an invitation to come.
In a basket filled with baseball trinkets, red and white bunting and the Sun Journal’s “Champs at Last!” edition, city leaders enclosed an invitation to Sox President and CEO Larry Lucchino to hold a victory parade or reception here.
It was all wrapped in red cellophane like an Easter basket and delivered by courier to 4 Yawkey Way, Boston, on Oct. 29.
“On behalf of the City of Lewiston, Maine, congratulations upon the Boston Red Sox 2004 World Series win,” begins the letter.
“Be assured that when people celebrate in Lewiston, it’s not only a party but a full-fledged event! Should the Red Sox visit Lewiston, we would pull out all the stops to provide the recognition and commendation your team so richly deserves.”
The Sox haven’t responded.
However, the team is planning stops across New England. A Red Sox spokesman said Thursday that a schedule and a list of destinations is still uncertain.
It is expected that the team will make a stop in Portland. They ought to, Bennett said. The Portland Sea Dogs team is part of the Red Sox organization.
But Lewiston could add some history and give them a nudge toward next season, he said.
Bill Carrigan, the only Sox manager to lead the team to back-to-back World Series victories, was from Lewiston.
As part of the invitation, Guay and Bennett suggested that the city of Auburn would also welcome the Sox. Imagine ticker tape and thousands of people lining the local streets, from Lisbon Street in Lewiston to Court Street in Auburn.
“I think we could put on quite an event,” Bennett said. “I think the Twin Cities could be very resourceful.”
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