NEWBURYPORT — The World Series trophy is going on tour, but that tour doesn't stop here.
While every town in the Bay State had a chance to take a picture with the World Series Trophy after the Red Sox won it all in 2004, seeing the 30-pound treasure after the latest Sox championship will not be as easy this time around.
The closest place to view the trophy will be today at Salvatore's Function Room in Lawrence from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., or in Haverhill or Peabody later in the month.
"The last tour went to more than 700 stops," said Dan Rosenthal, director of communications for the Massachusetts State Lottery, which sponsors the trophy tour. "This time we wanted to send it to bigger places so a greater number can see the trophy in a more efficient manner and time."
The preliminary tour schedule released yesterday includes Gloucester, Haverhill, Peabody and Lynn, but the Greater Newburyport branch of Red Sox Nation is out of luck.
"We tried to make it so as many people as possible can see it," Rosenthal said. "When choosing 30 places, we knew it would be difficult to get everywhere."
After the 2004 World Series win, the trophy was shown at several local locations. Nearly 1,000 people went to Newburyport High School to view it in April of 2005, when some waited in line for more than 30 minutes to get their picture taken with the 2-foot-tall, 30-pound trophy.
The trophy was also displayed throughout Amesbury and Salisbury as well as at the Newbury Town Library, the Merrimac Public Library, the Page Elementary School in West Newbury, the Rowley Public Library and the Georgetown Middle/High School.
The finalized trophy tour schedule will be available on the Lottery Web site at www.masslottery.com
"I would tell the angry people in Newburyport not to be angry and to drive to Haverhill," Rosenthal said.
World Series Trophy Tour
(Hours at all sites 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.)
r Lawrence, today, Salvatore's Function Room
r West Springfield, April 2, Massachusetts State Building Easter Exposition Grounds
r Amherst, April 5, Town Hall
r Southbridge, April 7, Town Hall
r Haverhill, April 9, Memorial Skating Rink
r Framingham, April 10, Town Memorial Building
r Arlington, April 11, Arlington Sports Center
r Gloucester, April 15, Fuller School
r Barnstable, April 16, Town Hall
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Other stops being planned: Springfield, Plymouth, New Bedford, Fall River, Taunton, Lowell, Peabody, Boston, Lynn, Malden, Attleboro, N. Attleboro, Randolph, Quincy, Weymouth, Brockton, Newton, Norwood, Revere, Cambridge, Marlboro, Waltham, Watertown, Brookline, Medford and Somerville
