Editing Bridgeport Bluefish (section)

==History of Bridgeport baseball==
The game of baseball was first played in Bridgeport, Connecticut soon after the [[American Civil War|Civil War]] ended.  Teams that called the city home included the Victors, Soubrettes, [[Bridgeport Orators|Orators]], Crossmen, Mechanics, Hustlers, Bolts, Americans, Bees, and Bears. Bridgeport was the home of [[Major League Baseball|Major Leaguer]] [[Jim O'Rourke (baseball)|James "Orator" O'Rourke]], who signed the first African-American to play for a professional baseball team in 1895.

Visiting Major League and [[Negro league]] teams often played exhibition games in the shadow of the Bridgeport's smokestacks. The last affiliated [[minor league baseball]] team, the Bridgeport Bees, played in the [[Interstate League]] and the [[Colonial League (baseball)|Colonial League]] from 1941 to 1950. Professional baseball was not played in Bridgeport for about another half-century, until the arrival of the Bluefish in 1998.

===Bridgeport Bluefish===
The first game of the Bridgeport Bluefish was May 21, 1998. The team has been to five Atlantic League Championship Series. It won in 1999 against the [[Somerset Patriots]] and lost to [[Atlantic City Surf|Atlantic City]] in 1998, [[Newark Bears|Newark]] in 2002, [[Lancaster Barnstormers|Lancaster]] in 2006, and [[York Revolution|York]] in 2010.

Some of the former major leaguers who have worn Bluefish jerseys include [[Endy Chávez]], [[Shea Hillenbrand]], [[Alex Hinshaw]], [[José Offerman]], [[Edgardo Alfonzo]], [[Deivi Cruz]], [[Junior Spivey]], [[Quinton McCracken]], [[Antonio Alfonseca]], [[Willy Mo Pena]], [[Joey Gathright]], [[Adam Greenberg (baseball)|Adam Greenberg]], and [[Mariano Duncan]].

The Bluefish won their first league championship in 1999, led by their inaugural manager, and long time major leaguer – Willie Upshaw. The Bluefish have won the most games in Atlantic League history.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.atlanticleague.com/about/history/|title=Atlantic League Professional Baseball: History|website=www.atlanticleague.com|language=en|access-date=May 16, 2018}}</ref><ref name="Lehman2015">{{cite book|author=Eric D. Lehman|title=Insiders' Guide® to Connecticut|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TEV9CAAAQBAJ|date=March 7, 2015|publisher=Globe Pequot Press|isbn=978-1-4930-1618-1}}</ref> The land under The Ballpark at Harbor Yard was purchased by the city of Bridgeport from [[Donald Trump]] for $1 and with the forgiveness of back taxes owed on the property. The Jenkins Valve plant was demolished to make way for the stadium. The success of the Bluefish led to redevelopment of the South End, including construction of the [[Arena at Harbor Yard]] and a multiuse parking garage.<ref>{{cite web | title=Bridgeport Renewal | work=EPA | url=http://www.epa.gov/swerosps/bf/success/bridge_ct.pdf | format=PDF | access-date=May 26, 2006 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060624001833/http://www.epa.gov/swerosps/bf/success/bridge_ct.pdf | archive-date=June 24, 2006 }}</ref>

The founders of the Bluefish were Mickey Herbert, [[Jack McGregor]], Mary–Jane Foster, and the Bridgeport Waterfront Investors. Herbert anchored the team through a mayoral scandal and difficult financial circumstances. Prior to the 2006 season, the franchise was purchased by Get Hooked, LLC, a group of investors from [[Fairfield County, Connecticut|Fairfield County]] that included McGregor and Foster.  However, Get Hooked dropped the Bluefish prior to the 2008 season in favor of seeking a new ballpark for the city of [[Yonkers, New York]].  The Bluefish were purchased by Frank Boulton, who is also the owner of the Long Island Ducks and the founder of the Atlantic League.

The Bluefish became the first team in [[Atlantic League of Professional Baseball|Atlantic League]] history to record 1,000 victories as a franchise in 2012. On June 27, 2012, the team defeated the [[York Revolution]] 2–1 at the Ballpark at Harbor Yard to capture the victory.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://bridgeportbluefish.com/news/index.html?article_id=1033|title=Bluefish Win # 1,000|website=Bridgeportbluefish.com|access-date=April 8, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.pointstreak.com/baseball/boxscore.html?gameid=76514|title=Bridgeport Bluefish vs. York Revolution – Atlantic League of Professional Baseball Clubs – boxscore|website=Pointstreak Sports Technologies|access-date=April 8, 2016}}</ref>

For one day in May 2016, [[Jennie Finch]] was a guest manager for the Bluefish, thus becoming the first woman to manage a professional baseball team.<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite web|last=Eisenberg |first=Matt |url=https://www.espn.com/espnw/culture/the-buzz/story/_/id/15809795/guest-manager-jennie-finch-leads-bridgeport-bluefish-win |title=Guest manager Jennie Finch leads Bridgeport Bluefish to win |publisher=Espn.go.com |date=July 16, 2013 |access-date=May 31, 2016}}</ref> The team played and won one game that day.<ref name="autogenerated1"/>

In April 2017, the City of [[High Point, North Carolina]], approved $15&nbsp;million from the city budget to begin land acquisition and engineering studies for a new $45&nbsp;million, publicly funded stadium to be financed through limited-obligation tax bonds. The stadium was expected to be the new home for the Bluefish in 2019. It had yet to be determined where (or if) the Bluefish would play in 2018.<ref>{{cite web |last=Speddon |first=Zach |url=https://ballparkdigest.com/2017/09/18/bridgeport-bluefish-play-ballpark-at-harbor-yard-finale/ |title=Bridgeport Bluefish Play Ballpark at Harbor Yard Finale |publisher=Ballpark Digest|date=September 18, 2017 |access-date=September 18, 2017}}</ref>

On August 8, 2017, the Bluefish announced that the 2017 season would be the team's last in Bridgeport. On September 17, the Bluefish played the final game in their 20-year history at the Ballpark at Harbor Yard, losing 9–2 to the [[Somerset Patriots]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://bridgeportbluefish.com/news/?article_id=2295 |title=Archived Document |access-date=September 18, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170918202137/http://bridgeportbluefish.com/news/?article_id=2295 |archive-date=September 18, 2017 |url-status=dead  }}</ref> Despite having the best overall record in the Liberty Division, the Bluefish missed the playoffs, as they finished one game back of the Patriots in the first–half standings and two games back of their cross-sound rival [[Long Island Ducks]] in the second half.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://atlanticleague.com/about/newswire/?article_id=836|title=2017 Atlantic League Playoffs Complete|website=Atlanticleague.com|access-date=May 15, 2018}}</ref>

Though it had been planned for the Bluefish to relocate to High Point, later the team ceased operations at the end of the 2017 season. High Point got an expansion franchise that is not connected to the Bluefish (the High Point Rockers).

The Ballpark at Harbor Yard was converted to a [[Concert Venue|concert venue]] known as Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater.<ref name="venue">{{cite web |url=http://bridgeportbluefish.com/news/?article_id=2233 |title=City To Turn Bluefish Ballpark Into Concert Venue |website=bridgeportbluefish.com |publisher=Bridgeport Bluefish |date=August 8, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170808235847/http://bridgeportbluefish.com/news/?article_id=2233|archive-date=August 8, 2017|access-date=August 8, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Bridgeport amphitheater gets new name ahead of reopening |url=https://connecticut.news12.com/bridgeport-amphitheater-gets-new-name-ahead-of-reopening |access-date=October 10, 2021 |work=[[News 12 Connecticut]] |date=February 25, 2021}}</ref> A groundbreaking ceremony for the replacement amphitheater was held in July 2018.<ref>{{cite news |title=Groundbreaking for amphitheater at former Ballpark at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport |url=https://www.wtnh.com/news/connecticut/fairfield/groundbreaking-for-amphitheater-at-former-ballpark-at-harbor-yard-in-bridgeport/1299393965 |access-date=April 24, 2019 |work=[[WTNH]] |publisher=[[Nexstar Broadcasting]], Inc. |date=July 13, 2018}}</ref> The amphitheater opened July 28, 2021.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Naples |first1=Kaitlyn |last2=Passmore |first2=Shawnte |title=Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater is officially open |url=https://www.wfsb.com/news/hartford-healthcare-amphitheater-is-officially-open/article_3462e0da-efad-11eb-980e-432b9624f8b5.html |access-date=October 10, 2021 |work=[[WFSB]] |date=July 28, 2021 |language=en}}</ref>