Pittsfield Astros

New York-Penn League (2001)

Tombstone

Born: October 1, 2000 – Affiliation change from Pittsfield Mets
Moved: 2002 (Tri-City Valleycats)

First Game: June 19, 2001 (L 11-4 vs. Vermont Expos)
Last Game: September 5, 2001 (L 4-3 @ Auburn Doubledays)

New York-Penn League Championships: None

Stadium

Wahconah Park

Ownership & Affiliation

Owner: Bill Gladstone

Major League Affiliation: Houston Astros

Attendance

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Print Download

Source: The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (3rd ed.), Lloyd Johnson & Miles Wolff, 2007

Background

Longtime Pittsfield Mets owner Bill Gladstone went looking for city help to modernize Pittsfield, Massachusetts’ ancient Wahconah Park in the late 1990’s and came up empty. But just over the border in Troy, New York Gladstone found political partners willing to build a new $12 million ballpark for his Class A New York-Penn League ball club that would be ready in time for the 2002 season.

By the time Gladstone signed a new Major League affiliation agreement with the Houston Astros in October 2000, the plan to relocate to Troy was already in place. So the newly re-named Pittsfield Astros were a lame duck operation by design, destined to spend only one summer in Pittsfield under their new identity before moving on to greener pastures.

The Astros went 45-30 under field manager Ivan DeJesus. Four Astros players eventually went on to make the Major Leagues: Philip Barzilla, Brooks Conrad, Charlton Jimerson, and Todd Self. Only Conrad played more than a handful of games.

Move & Aftermath

As planned, the franchise moved to Troy in 2002 and took the name Tri-City Valleycats. The ValleyCats still exist today, but the team experienced a series of seismic changes during 2020. First, long-time owner Bill Gladstone passed away at age 88 from COVID-19. Later in the year, Major League Baseball dissolved the New York-Penn League and the entire short-season Class A classification as part of what was effectively a hostile takeover of Minor League Baseball. The ValleyCats were left out of the MLB’s re-organized farm club system and elected to join the independent (non-Major League affiliated) Frontier League for the 2021 season.

Affiliated pro baseball never returned to Pittsfield since the Astros departed in late 2001, although the city has seen a succession of independent pro teams and collegiate wooden bat league clubs.