Wahconah Park
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Wahconah Park is a city-owned baseball park located in Pittsfield, Massachusetts and nestled in a working class neighborhood. One of the last remaining ballparks in the United States with a wooden grandstand, it was constructed in 1919 and seats 4,500.
At the end of the 2003 season, the Berkshire Black Bears did not renew their lease. Jim Bouton is an ardent supporter of the future of the ballpark and devotes considerable time fundraising for the park's future and trying to secure a relationship with a new franchise. Bouton's attempt to get the city to fund a new ball park was voted down by the city council in November, 2003.
In 2005, Pittsfield city officials reached an agreement with Dan Duquette for the Pittsfield Dukes, a New England Collegiate Baseball League summer team, to play at Wahconah Park.
Field dimensions are 334' to left field, 374' to center field, and 333' to right field. Because the field was constructed before the advent of field lighting, no harm was seen in orienting the diamond due west. One of only two professionally used parks in the U.S. today facing west (the other being Sam Lynn Park in Bakersfield, California built in 1941), games are sometimes temporarily suspended while the sun sets. Lights were not installed until 1946. In 1989 a mesh screen was placed in center field to help shield batters’ eyes.
In 1927, a dyke was installed on the Housatonic River in an attempt to prevent recurrent flooding.
Professional Teams at Wahconah Park
- New England League: Pittsfield Electrics (1913-14)
- Eastern League: Pittsfield Hillies (1919-30)
- Canadian-American League: Pittsfield Electrics (1941-48), Pittsfield Indians (1949-50), Pittsfield Phillies (1951)
- Eastern League: Pittsfield Red Sox (1965-69), Pittsfield Senators (1970-71), Pittsfield Rangers (1972-75), Berkshire Brewers (1976), Pittsfield Cubs (1985-88)
- New York - Penn League: Pittsfield Mets (1989-2000), Pittsfield Astros (2001)
- Northeast League: Berkshire Black Bears (2002-2003)
Notable Major Leaguers Who Have Donned A Pittsfield Uniform
- Greg Maddux
- Mark Grace
- George Scott
- Jason Isringhausen
- Preston Wilson
- Shawon Dunston
- Edgardo Alfonzo
- A.J. Burnett
- Jeromy Burnitz
- Ty Wiggington
- Brain Daubach
External links
- Stadium Views - Ball Parks of the Minor Leagues (http://www.geocities.com/paulsminorleagueparks/Pittsfield.htm)
- Photo of stadium (http://www.klx.com/guide/gallery/images/pittsfield/pittsfield1.jpg)
- Phot of right field (http://www.klx.com/guide/gallery/images/pittsfield/pittsfield2.jpg)
- Photo of sun setting into batter's eyes (http://www.minorleaguenews.com/graphics/baseball/Graphics/wahconah/wahconah2.jpg)
