Baseball has been played on its field since 1892.
The grandstand of the one the grand old stadiums of baseball is facing the wrecking ball in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Sometime soon, when the weather gets warmer, the Wahconah Park grandstand will be demolished and eventually will be replaced. Baseball has been played at the site since 1892 and a wooden grandstand was built in 1919 as the ballpark became the home of the Pittsfield Hillies franchise of the Eastern League, an eight-team Class A league with teams based in New England. Pittsfield spent $114,000 in 1949, which would be roughly $1.5 million today to build a permanent steel, iron and concrete grandstand with 2,000 seats. Pittsfield was the home to many minor league teams. Wahconah Park’s grandstand failed a safety inspection and was closed in 2022. The stadium was last renovated in 1989. The ballpark was added to the United States National Register of Historic Places in 2005.
The ballpark had a unique place in minor league and college summer league baseball history. The local college summer league team is called the Pittsfield Suns and with good reason. Wahconah Park faces west which causes a major problem when the sun sets 40 minutes after the first pitch is thrown. The setting sun appears directly in the batter’s eye which leads to delays of up to 20 minutes until the sun dips below the horizon. It appeared that the end of the line for the ballpark was coming in 2003. The Pittsfield Astros New York Penn League team moved to Troy, New York after the 2001 season. An independent league franchise used the park in 2002 and 2003 but the owners of the Berkshire Black Bears business left town after 2003. Jim Bouton led a successful effort to keep the park alive. The grandstand will be rebuilt.
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