The Worcester Red Sox, also known as the WooSox, are establishing a Hall of Fame this year, the club announced on Thursday.

“The WooSox Hall of Fame will recognize the outstanding careers and contributions of former or current WooSox players, managers, coaches, broadcasters, and executives as well as others who have been instrumental in the history of the Worcester Red Sox,” the press release read.

It’s not a particularly long history, team president Dr. Charles Steinberg acknowledged in the announcement, but the WooSox don’t see a reason to wait to show their appreciation. “Even though we are still in the early innings of the history we are creating in the Heart of the Commonwealth, personalities have emerged who we would like to thank; it’s best not to wait,” said Steinberg.

This year will be the Red Sox Triple-A affiliate’s fourth season at Polar Park in Worcester, and the first under new ownership; Diamond Baseball Holdings reached an agreement to purchase the team from the majority of their previous 11 owners, including Larry Lucchino, at the end of November. Prior to their first season in Worcester in 2021, they were the Pawtucket Red Sox – or PawSox – of Rhode Island’s McCoy Stadium for half a century.

The PawSox unveiled their own Hall of Fame less than a decade ago, and enshrined 11 members between the inaugural class of 2016 and their final class in 2020: previous owner Ben Mondor, Wade Boggs, Jim Rice, manager Joe Morgan, Carlton Fisk, Mo Vaughn, executive Mike Tamburro, Fred Lynn, Roger Clemens, Nomar Garciaparra, and Jason Varitek.

Who will have the honor of being in the inaugural WooSox HOF class?

There are a number of obvious choices for this year’s class, and Lucchino and Steinberg are the likely headliners. There would be no WooSox without the longtime duo, who were also integral to the Red Sox going from an 86-year championship drought to a 21st century dynasty before taking over the PawSox.

Architect and ballpark visionary Janet Marie Smith, who worked with Lucchino throughout several rounds of Fenway Park renovations in the first decade of the century and spearheaded the design of Polar Park (as well as the construction of Baltimore’s Camden Yards and San Diego’s Petco Park), is another. Last May, over 87,000 participants went through five rounds of Ballpark Digests’ annual bracket-style voting and crowned Polar Park America’s best Triple-A ballpark of 2023.

Boston Celtics legend Bob Cousy would be a fitting choice. He moved to Worcester in 1946 to play college basketball at College of the Holy Cross – which played the first football game at Polar Park in October ‘21 – and has called the city home for almost his entire life since. Now 95 years old, “the Cooz” has kicked off each of the first three WooSox Opening Days, taking the field to give humorous, unscripted speeches and declare, “Play ball!”

A diverse selection committee including WooSox and Red Sox staff, media members, and local business leaders and members of the Worcester community will elect the candidates for the inaugural class.