Ortiz, Pedro, Boggs to Participate in Red Sox Winter Weekend

It's just about that time of year that diehard baseball fans start jonesing for springtime and the start of the new baseball season.

If waiting until March or April is too much, however, fans can get a baseball fix in mid-winter if they are willing to part with some cash – and it doesn't involve winging it to spring training, either.

The Boston Red Sox organization has announced the return of Winter Weekend in Springfield, Massachusetts. The team's website says the event allows fans to mix and mingle with members of the 2023 Red Sox, including the coaching staff.

Hall of Famers David Ortiz, Pedro Martinez, Dennis Eckersley, Jim Rice, and Wade Boggs are confirmed to be in attendance, according to Red Sox brass.

The two-day event will be held at MGM Springfield and the Mass Mutual Center in Springfield on January 20 and 21, 2023.

MassLIVE.com reported that Winter Weekend was launched at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut in 2015 but moved to Springfield in 2020 "after the Red Sox agreed to a multi-year partnership with MGM as the team's 'official and exclusive resort casino' in 2019."

Winter Weekend was last held in 2020. The COVID pandemic resulted in the cancellation of the 2021 event, and the baseball lockout claimed the 2022 Winter Weekend.

Tickets to the two-day event are not cheap, and fans should know that by purchasing weekend passes, they probably won't meet all of their favorites.

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The Red Sox website states that "Each Weekend Pass to the event comes with guaranteed access to one autograph and photo session with one or two of the attending players/alumni/coaches. Please note that the individual(s) signing autographs in each room is different from the individual(s) taking photographs."

General admission for Winter Weekend 2023 is $95 for adults and $40 for kids aged 3-14.