PawSox owner Ben Mondor, left, with former outfielder Jim Rice and former manager Joe Morgan last month, has his team ready to once again make a run at the Governor’s Cup.

The Providence Journal / Andrew Dickerman

PAWTUCKET — They understand and accept their primary role to develop talent for the Boston Red Sox, but the players, coaches and front office personnel with the Pawtucket Red Sox also want to win, which should make this last month of the season most interesting.

Pawtucket and the Scranton-Wilkes Barre Yankees are battling for first place in the International League North Division, and the schedule for the next 12 days could decide which team wins the division. The Yankees are in town for a two-game weekend series, last night at 6:05 and this afternoon at 1:05. Both teams will head to Scranton for a four-game showdown tomorrow night through Thursday night. The PawSox will return home for a four-game series against Charlotte and then host the Yankees for two games.

Talk about a showdown: eight games in 12 days between the top two teams in the division. The club that emerges with the division lead after the final out on Aug. 13 should have the edge with 2½ weeks to play.

But the International League standings and playoffs are of secondary importance at McCoy Stadium. Where the Boston Red Sox stand in the American League East and producing players who can help Boston win are both paramount.

“You know, it’s just different,” PawSox manager Ron Johnson said of the Red Sox philosophy. “We all want to win. I mean, from an organization (point of view) you want to win. You like to have your minor-league teams win, your major-league team win. I mean, we don’t play the games to go out to lose. But, obviously we’re not going to sacrifice any development for the sake of a win at the minor-league level. If we can blend it all together, and we can be fortunate enough that the cards fall where we win, then great.”

The PawSox have operated with that approach since Ben Mondor bought the franchise in 1977.

“I started in 1979 and remember Ed Kenney, Eddie Kasko, Ted Williams and Eddie Popowski sitting in Ben’s office and talking about how important it was to get players ready for the big leagues,” said Lou Schwechheimer, vice president and general manager of the PawSox. Kenney, Kasko and Popowski directed Boston’s minor-league operations in those days, and Williams, the Hall of Fame icon, weighed in with advice from time to time.

“Ben, Mike (Tamburro, president), myself, our staff, everyone realizes first and foremost our primary responsibility is to ensure that we continue to develop players for the Boston Red Sox. If our players continue to thrive on the field as minor leaguers and get promoted to Boston, then we have done our job,” Schwechheimer said.

The PawSox pay a competitive price to play by those rules. The organization has won only one Governor’s Cup, the International League championship, since 1977. That occurred in 1984, when the PawSox beat Columbus in the first round and edged Maine in the five-game final series.

Pawtucket has made the playoffs only 11 times in the Mondor Era, the last in 2003, when the Durham Bulls swept the Governor’s Cup series. Since 2003, the PawSox have not finished within seven games of first place.

But that’s all right because the Boston Red Sox have won two World Series in that period, and that’s reward enough for everybody in the PawSox family. Fifteen players were called up to Boston last year, and each received a World Series ring. How big is that? Pawtucket pitcher Devern Hansack attended a post-game function Wednesday and people wanted to have their picture taken with him and his ring.

“He was wearing the biggest smile,” Schwechheimer said. “Last year, he went up and gave a quality performance. All these guys know they’re just a phone call away from the big-league club.”

This season, Pawtucket has sent 12 players to Boston, and when the call comes from Yawkey Way, the PawSox make it a cause for celebration.

“We’ll do a nice announcement, and our fans will give him a standing ovation. They feel pride and that they played a small part in it,” said Schwechheimer.

That’s not always the case in other minor-league towns. Schwechheimer recalled that when Baltimore summoned Cal Ripken Jr. from Rochester, which was in the International League pennant race at the time, fans booed and a Red Wings official complained that the franchise “was getting killed in the papers.”

“But our fans know they’re here for a night of quality entertainment. They’re here to see our players get ready to go up to Boston. If we win, that’s all the better,” he said.

Schwechheimer can rattle off the players who have come through Pawtucket on their way to Boston, and the players who succeeded them when the call came. He remembered a singles-hitting, loose-gloved third baseman named Wade Boggs who worked on his game here, became a big-league batting champion with home-run power, a Gold Glove third baseman and a Hall of Famer.

“Two years ago, he came back and ran out to third base and kissed the ground. He blossomed here,” Schwechheimer said.

In 1984, Pawtucket’s top three pitchers were Roger Clemens, Dennis “Oil Can” Boyd and Al Nipper. By the time the International League playoffs started, they were throwing in Boston. Mike Rochford, Robin Fuson and George Mecerod took their place and won the big games on the way to the championship.

Schwechheimer recalled Sept. 1, 1996, when Boston called up shortstop Nomar Garciaparra, a right fielder, two starting pitchers and a closer.

“We’re in the playoffs,” he said. “but we understood these guys can help the big club.” Rochester eliminated the PawSox in four games.

That’s what it’s all about at McCoy Stadium, even in the thick of a Triple A pennant race, and Ron Johnson knows better than anybody.

“He has the toughest job of all. He’s constantly working every single day with the coaches to make sure our players are preparing to make the next leap to Fenway Park,” Schwechheimer said.

Sitting at his desk in the PawSox clubhouse, Johnson looked up from his laptop and glanced at the flat screen on the wall to his right.

“This biggest thing, you know, is we watch them win on TV,” he said.

Them, of course, being the Boston Red Sox.

mszostak@projo.com