LIST OF PARKS
The earliest baseball memory I have is sitting in the bleachers at MacKenzie Field in Holyoke, Massachusetts when I was five or six. My father used to take my brothers and I to the Double A Holyoke Millers back in the late 70's and early 80's when I was real little. I do remember looking out across the field at MacKenzie to see the colorful advertisement signs on the outfield walls and watching the cars go by in the street behind those walls. I had yet to really discover baseball you see. Below are the minor league fields in which I have seen baseball games.
MacKenzie
Stadium was once home to the Double A Holyoke Millers. It is now
used by a semi-pro summer college league team.
A
view of the street from the bleachers. There is now a chain link
fence where there were once billboard walls. In the Summer of
2004. new billboards have been placed on the walls for the USBL
Holyoke Giants franchise..
The Millers left Holyoke in the early 1980's and after many years, there was no longer any professional baseball in the Pioneer Valley. Though there are no MLB affiliated teams here now in the valley, the region has seen its share of minor league baseball. Besides the Holyoke Millers, the city of Springfield also once had professional baseball teams that played at Pynchon Park, which burned down in 1966. There has been debate over building a new stadium in Springfield to try to attract the Double A Red Sox franchise, however the city has failed to come up with a plan that pleases the city's residents, state and local politicians and baseball officials. The issue became a hot political topic for a few years. Plans for a new stadium appear on hold for the time being however. Meanwhile Holyoke and MacKenzie are about to begin their second season affiliated with the USBL, college summer league and its Holyoke franchise, the Holyoke Giants.
BASEBALL IN HOLYOKE MASSACHUSETTS
Park: MacKenzie Stadium (1977-1982, 2004-Present)
Teams: Holyoke Millers, Holyoke Giants
Years of Service in Eastern League: 6
Years
with USBL: 2
Millers' Affiliations: California Angels, Milwaukee Brewers
BASEBALL IN SPRINGFIELD MASSACHUSETTS
Park: Pynchon Park (1939-1943; 1957-1965)
Teams: Sprngfield Rifles, Nationals, Giants
Years of Service in Eastern League: 14
Affiliations: Washington Senators, New York Giants
The
all wood stadium with fold out chairs as seats give Wahconah a
back in time feel. Like the days of old, waitresses
take your
refreshment orders and the players hang along the walls down the
baselines and chat with the fans.
A
design flaw or intentional quirk? Wahconah is unique as it is one
of only two known ballparks in the
United States which face
west into the setting sun. This makes dusk a challenge for hitters
& viewers alike.
Another
quirk of Wahconah is the owl statues which hang from the wood
ceiling.
The theory behind it is to ward off nesting and
chattering birds.
The last surviving minor league baseball team in Western Massachusetts lived in Pittsfield until 2001. The Single A affiliate of the Houston Astros, left Pittsfield's Wahconah Park at the end of the 2001 season. The independant Northern League located a franchise in the park during the 2002 season, giving Wahconah new life. Unfortunately the franchise was short lived. The city is in the midst of a struggle to decide whether to build a more state of the art stadium or spruce up Wahconah and continue to try to attract franchises. The recent possible discovery of Pittsfield as a contender for the birthplace of the game of baseball may help the traditionalists who support the continued existence of the old gem Wahconah. Seeing a game at Wahconah gives you the opportunity to be a part of a throw back baseball experience, truly one of the last of its kind. In an age where modern cookie cutter minor league ballparks in more populated areas are more successful than out of the way old style parks like Wahconah, her demise has seemed inevitable for at least a decade. Still, Pittsfield's Wahconah Park remains a true baseball park and I for one hope it remains and is modernized as is, giving fans of all ages the chance to experience a bit of pure baseball without the glitzy major league wannabe practices of many of the newer minor league parks with their mascots, fireworks, huge flashing scoreboards and high priced seats and hot dogs.
BASEBALL IN PITTSFIELD MASSACHUSETTS
Park: Wahconah Park
1965-1976 Eastern League;
1977-1984, New York Penn League;
1985-1988 Eastern League;
1989-2001, New York Penn League;
2002, Northern League.
Teams: Pittsfield Red Sox, Pittsfield Senators, Berkshire Brewers, Pittsfield Cubs, Pittsfield Mets, Pittsfield Astros, Berkshire Black Bears.
Affiliations: Boston Red Sox, Texas Rangers,
Chicago Cubs,
Milwaukee Brewers, New York Mets, Houston
Astros.
New
Britain Stadium
New Britain, CT.
New Britain Stadium is the home of the New Britain Rock Cats, the Eastern League Double A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins franchise. The city of New Britain, Connecticut, a suburb of Hartford, built the modern, state of the art minor league park to replace an older, smaller park, Beehive Field which remains next door to the new stadium. New Britain Stadium saw its first pitch on April 12, 1996. New Britain hosted the Boston Red Sox Double A affiliation at Beehive Field for twenty one years. It ended prior to the 1995 season when the Red Sox moved their Double A franchise to Trenton, N.J. New Britain then signed a Player Development Contract with the Minnesota Twins. New Britain changed their nickname to the Hardware City Rock Cats in honor of the city’s reputation as a highly industrial community. After 13 seasons of baseball at Beehive Field, the Rock Cats moved into New Britain Stadium for the 1996 season. Referred to by some as the “Emerald of the Eastern League”, the 6,146-seat ballpark contains 12 luxury skyboxes, three picnic areas, a video message center, and a 65-foot electronic scoreboard.
.
I have seen a bunch of games at New Britain Stadium. It is a very fun experience, beautiful for a modern ballpark and the 2001 Rock Cats were named the co-champions of the Eastern League for the 2001 season. The Eastern League World Series in which the Rock Cats were participating had to be cancelled due to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington D.C. The New Britain franchise was also named the 2001 Double A team of the year by minor league baseball.
New Britain, for the forth consecutive season, experienced a great deal of positive attendance numbers. They set records for the largest three-day weekend (16,218), largest single crowd (6,791), fastest to 100,000 (33 dates), fastest to 200,000 (55 dates), highest regular season attendance (261,331), highest overall attendance (275,108-including exhibition game and playoffs), and eight sell-outs.
The New Britain franchise has had an impressive number of future major league players play for their teams over the years. The list includes: Brady Anderson, Jeff Bagwell, Ellis Burks, Roger Clemens, Matt Lawton, Steve Lyons, Doug Mientkiewicz, Al Nipper, Curt Schilling, Aaron Sele, John Valentin, Michael Cuddyer, David Ortiz, Lew Ford, Mo Vaughn, Justin Morneau, Torii Hunter and Todd Walker.
BASEBALL IN NEW BRITAIN CONNECTICUT
Park: Beehive Field (1983-1994) Eastern League;
New Britain Stadium (1995 - Present), Eastern League
Teams: New Britain Red Sox, Hardware City Rock Cats, New Britain Rock Cats
Years of Service in Eastern League: 19
Affiliations: Boston Red Sox, Minnesota Twins
The Lowell Spinners are the Single A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox in the New York-Penn League. They play their games at LeLacheur Park which opened in 1998. The all metal floor boards under all the seats and in the bleachers allows the home fans to rock LeLacheur Park with an earth shattering noise that reminds you of your high school sports days. The stadium was errected by the same builders who designed Camden Yards in Baltimore and Coors Field in Colorado.
Because
of Lowell's close proximity to the city of Boston, Spinners
baseball is extremely popular.
A
seat at the park comes with a view of the Merrimack River & a
red bridge which stands out beyond the right field wall.
Doubleday
Field
Cooperstown, NY.
I
do not remember who was playing in the game I saw at Doubleday
Field. But having been in awe of the Baseball Hall of Fame
building, the game going on was the perfect compliment. The field
is well maintained in its old fashioned charm.
The
Hall of Fame game between two major league teams is played at
Doubleday Field every year.
It
reminds you of a small combination of Wrigley Field and Fenway
Park
A
wonderful way to spend an afternoon in between stints in the
museum.
Judy
Johnson Field at Daniel S. Frawley Stadium
Wilmington,
DE
Ah yes, Judy Johnson Field at Daniel S. Frowley Stadium is a mouthful to say, but the locals call it Frawley Stadium. Built in 1993, it is the home of the Wilmington Blue Rocks, the Carolinia League Single A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. I saw a game here with my baseball buddy from Pennsylvania. It was an exciting game and a neat little ballpark. One of the highlights of the game was realizing that one of the bullpen pitchers on the Blue Rocks team that season had graduated a year ahead of me at my high school. I have since tried tracking him down to see where he is playing now, to no avail.
A
simple yet well designed stadium which offers a great minor league
baseball feel.
A
big expansive outfield is capped off by two tasteful electronic
scoreboards.
MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL LINKS
The Official Minor League Baseball Site Baseball-Links.com (Minor Leagues)
Ballparks and Road Trips website The Gibbs Ballpark Page
JASON'S MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL PARK SITE
Have a comment, suggestion or question? e-mail jason@burkins.net.
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