| Wahconah Park Pittsfield, Mass. |
From Baseball's Canadian-American League by David Pietrusza:
Talk about Wahconah Park, and everyone says one thing: It's built backwards. Since it was
designed before night ball came to pass, no provision was made to take into account the setting
sun.
Surprisingly, this flaw was never really corrected. Only in 1989 did management finally install a
mesh screen in center field to help shield batters' eyes from sunset's blinding rays. Nonetheless,
somewhat unique "sun delays" are still common at the scene.
Wahconah Park has been the scene of ball games since at least 1892.
Two seasons later it hosted the city's first pro entry, a New York State League team. That
experiment ended in just a month.
The year 1919 saw significant changes for old Wahconah. First, the 50-acre site was donated
to the city. Secondly, the Eastern League's "Hillies" took up occupancy, remaining until the
circuit folded in mid-1930.
The park has undergone renovation after renovation. In 1927, the even-then badly deteriorated
grandstand was repaired. A dyke was installed on the nearby Housatonic River in an attempt to
prevent recurrent flooding. In 1931, to provide jobs for the unemployed, 1,300 men were hired
to regrade the field. They were given work in three day stints, at a cost of $25,000.
But that was long before the Can-Am League arrived, and actually the Electrics never meant to
use Wahconah, instead planning on a new park on Dalton Avenue. While construction was still
going on, owner William Connely petitioned the Pittsfield Parks Commission for use of the
Common, downtown.
Despite idle threats from the league that it would pull up stakes if permission wasn't granted, the
Parks Commission just said "No." Instead they provided rather primitive Dorothy Deming Field
on Elm Street. Aside from its generally poor facilities and lack of lighting, that "park" was
plagued by massive dust swirls a la Candlestick Park.
"They had no place to play," rues John Pollard. "They played in an open field with just one of
those wire fences."
The Electrics arrived at Wahconah late in 1942. Night baseball followed in 1946, as eight
80-foot light towers were shipped in by train from Boston. Erected too was a new $1,800
scoreboard, courtesy of the Sports Service Corporation, a concessionaire. That year's rental
agreement with the city was one cent per admission with a maximum season payment of $500.
It still needed work. "It was just a lousy ballpark," recalls Spencer Fitzgerald, "it was old, run
down." In the fall of 1949 work began on major renovations. Heavy pilings were driven into the
soggy soil to provide a firm foundation for the new grandstand. Recurrent rumors held that
Wahconah was built over a city dump, but excavations revealed nothing of the sort. New
fences, toilets, concession areas, and lockers were among the improvements. The field was
again re-graded. Total cost was $114,000.
The dimensions were uniform, in fact a bit too uniform: 352 to left, 362 to center, and 333 to
right.
From 1965 to 1988 the Eastern League located franchises several times in the park, and in
1989 the New York Mets relocated the Little Falls team of the New York-Penn League there.
In 1976 it was again renovated, this time with $700,000 in federal funds. Once more, the major
emphasis was on halting floods from the Housatonic.
You might ask why in 1949 or 1976, with massive renovations afoot, the field was never
reversed to properly align with the sun. So have a lot of other people over the years.
That point aside, though, Wahconah is a good place to watch a ball game from, cozy,
comfortable and with excellent sightlines. It's no pillar of luxury and still looks Class C in a
domed stadium world, but maybe that's part of its charm.
Talk about Wahconah Park, and everyone says one thing: It's built backwards. Since it was
designed before night ball came to pass, no provision was made to take into account the setting
sun.
Surprisingly, this flaw was never really corrected. Only in 1989 did management finally install a
mesh screen in center field to help shield batters' eyes from sunset's blinding rays. Nonetheless,
somewhat unique "sun delays" are still common at the scene.
Wahconah Park has been the scene of ball games since at least 1892.
Two seasons later it hosted the city's first pro entry, a New York State League team. That
experiment ended in just a month.
The year 1919 saw significant changes for old Wahconah. First, the 50-acre site was donated
to the city. Secondly, the Eastern League's "Hillies" took up occupancy, remaining until the
circuit folded in mid-1930.
The park has undergone renovation after renovation. In 1927, the even-then badly deteriorated
grandstand was repaired. A dyke was installed on the nearby Housatonic River in an attempt to
prevent recurrent flooding. In 1931, to provide jobs for the unemployed, 1,300 men were hired
to regrade the field. They were given work in three day stints, at a cost of $25,000.
But that was long before the Can-Am League arrived, and actually the Electrics never meant to
use Wahconah, instead planning on a new park on Dalton Avenue. While construction was still
going on, owner William Connely petitioned the Pittsfield Parks Commission for use of the
Common, downtown.
Despite idle threats from the league that it would pull up stakes if permission wasn't granted, the
Parks Commission just said "No." Instead they provided rather primitive Dorothy Deming Field
on Elm Street. Aside from its generally poor facilities and lack of lighting, that "park" was
plagued by massive dust swirls a la Candlestick Park.
"They had no place to play," rues John Pollard. "They played in an open field with just one of
those wire fences."
The Electrics arrived at Wahconah late in 1942. Night baseball followed in 1946, as eight
80-foot light towers were shipped in by train from Boston. Erected too was a new $1,800
scoreboard, courtesy of the Sports Service Corporation, a concessionaire. That year's rental
agreement with the city was one cent per admission with a maximum season payment of $500.
It still needed work. "It was just a lousy ballpark," recalls Spencer Fitzgerald, "it was old, run
down." In the fall of 1949 work began on major renovations. Heavy pilings were driven into the
soggy soil to provide a firm foundation for the new grandstand. Recurrent rumors held that
Wahconah was built over a city dump, but excavations revealed nothing of the sort. New
fences, toilets, concession areas, and lockers were among the improvements. The field was
again re-graded. Total cost was $114,000.
The dimensions were uniform, in fact a bit too uniform: 352 to left, 362 to center, and 333 to
right.
From 1965 to 1988 the Eastern League located franchises several times in the park, and in
1989 the New York Mets relocated the Little Falls team of the New York-Penn League there.
In 1976 it was again renovated, this time with $700,000 in federal funds. Once more, the major
emphasis was on halting floods from the Housatonic.
You might ask why in 1949 or 1976, with massive renovations afoot, the field was never
reversed to properly align with the sun. So have a lot of other people over the years.
That point aside, though, Wahconah is a good place to watch a ball game from, cozy,
comfortable and with excellent sightlines. It's no pillar of luxury and still looks Class C in a
domed stadium world, but maybe that's part of its charm.