A Visit to Pittsfield
For years, as we’ve traveled back and forth to Cooperstown, I’ve seen the exit sign for Pittsfield and every time tell Cathy that we need to go to see Historic Wahconah Park home now to the Pittsfield Suns of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League of New England. This July we decided to plan a trip specifically to see a game there.
To make a day of it, we stopped at the Edith Wharton house and Arrowhead, Herman Melville’s home. To our surprise, there was a baseball exhibit at Arrowhead! Yous can’t make this stuff up.
We stopped by Wahconah early to scout out the area. We surveyed the stadium and took some photos (thanks Mike McGuire). We also learned that it was going to be a doubleheader starting an hour earlier than we had planned on. Great luck and the opportunity to see some bonus baseball.
It was still early so we went to downtown Pittsfield and found another surprise. A large baseball and plaque dedicated to a 1791 ByLaw prohibiting base ball playing within 80 yards of the newly built meeting house.
After that find, we returned to Wahconah ready to finally experience a game there. Even though the 1st game was a one-sided affair, the ambiance of a stadium that exudes history made it a great experience. We found the stadium personnel to be among the friendliest we’ve come across. Being old school, I really appreciate the spoken part of the game (miss you Bob Murphy and Bob Sheppard) and this stadium also boasts one of the more memorable public address announcers we have heard in our travels, Mike McGuire.
Oh, by the way, the second game was rained out.
We had a great time and would recommend that all real baseball fans, take a pilgrimage up to Wahconah and enjoy a game at this wonderful historical venue. We waited way too long to do so and are already trying to plan a return visit. Check out our baseball stops below.