Wahconah’s outfield configuration is also a problem - because the stadium also houses high school football games, the outfield wall goes from 330 feet in right field to a sharp 430 feet in right-center.
“That right center field is definitely a drive,” said Astros infielder/DH Ryan Stegall, “but you can hit the gaps and get some doubles and triples. I’m going to go out and I’m going to take the same approach I take every day, try to hit the ball on the line, and wherever it goes, it’ll hit a spot or hit a gap.”
The Sun Always Sets In Center
Then there’s Wahconah Park’s most distinctive blessing, or curse: its sunsets. The park was built in 1919, long before the invention of night baseball. The field is angled to the West, so that the sun actually sets in center.
The center field sunsets have caused the only “sun delays” in the minor leagues, as the glare over the horizon streams directly into the eyes of the catcher, the batter and the umpire. Eventually trees were planted beyond the outfield wall to block some of the glare, but the team still experiences some “sun delays” two or three times a year.
Wahconah Aflood in Red Tape Sends Strohs To Troy
A new ballpark in Troy, New York is under construction, and Murphy will move his franchise their for the 2002 season.
Today, even the smallest renovations to the 80-year-old ballpark are snarled in red tape. Wahconah Park was built on a flood plain along the Housatonic River, so any construction or filling or grading of land would need approval from the Federal Environmental Protection Agency who administers the Wetlands Preservation Act.
Tom Murphy (no relation to the Pittsfield Astros’ general manager) is the Director of the Office of Economic Development for the City of Pittsfield. Despite all his efforts to keep baseball in Wahconah Park, he knows that once the Astros leave the city for good, no new team will move in unless a new baseball facility is built.
“We have a spot in our downtown corridor, which at this point in time has been selected as the spot for a new state of the art ballpark. The decision to build a new one was really how can we build a facility that helps us to protect and keep the tradition of minor league baseball alive, done it in concert with our downtown revitalization strategy, which has over $80 million investments in private and public funds," Murphy tells MLN.
"We’re looking at this opportunity of an entertainment element of our downtown area - a new ballpark, the renovation of the Colonial Theater, bringing in over 100,000 people a year with those entertainment venues. We hope to strengthen both our business side and our entertainment side to keep our downtown operating all day and into the night.”
Unfortunately, a vote to create a civic authority, an organization that would allocate money and resources to build a new stadium, was voted down by the citizens of Pittsfield. The people wanted a renovated Wahconah, not a new stadium downtown.
“I thought that when we did the voting, that maybe they should have done two separate votes,” said Phyllis Smith, a Pittsfield resident who has housed many Pittsfield ballplayers over the years. “They wanted the stadium, but they didn’t want it that way. I know I’d be very disappointed without minor league baseball in Pittsfield, because even before I took a player in, you’d look forward to coming down to the stadium three or four nights a week.”
Tom Farley has been a regular at Pittsfield baseball games, bringing his family from nearby Stockbridge to spend an evening at Wahconah Park.
“I’ve followed Pittsfield baseball for 15 years, when the Mets first came here. And the Cubs used to have an Eastern League team here. Mark Grace used to play here, Shawon Dunston played here too. Wahconah Park’s loved by everybody, I think they ought to do whatever they can to save it. I’d hate to see Wahconah Park go under. It’s like Wrigley Field - and I’m from Chicago!”
“There may be some people who would like to see us fix Wahconah Park,” said Tom Murphy, “but it’s not practicable. Even if we do that, we would not be able to bring another team in to play there. There’s two new parks in the New York-Penn League for the New York-affiliated teams (the Staten Island Yankees and the Brooklyn Cyclones).
" I’m not aware of any club that has moved from one community into another and gone into a renovated park, as opposed to into a new facility.”
Such a facility does, however exist. As MLN reported in June, the voters of Albuquerque, New Mexico, voted to refurbish the existing sports stadium, with many of the same shortcomings as Wahconah, for $25 Million rather than build a new stadium for $35 million.
The argument for a new stadium is not new. Players in the minors want better digs, with weight training rooms and weather-protected batting facilities. Luxury boxes, modest by major league standards, provide additional revenue for teams and cities, by way of ticket taxes and stadium rent.
The baseball "fan", now going by the moniker "purist" is not the person that the modern baseball club wants to attract. Casual fans are the revenue stream of the day.
So the stadium, rich in memories and baseball history, passes into the night. A few more magic sunsets illuminate its awkward corners, and place a warm glow upon its memories.
What did you think of this story?
|
