Editing Pittsfield, Massachusetts (section)

===Baseball in Pittsfield===
[[File:Pitts09a.jpg|thumb|Wahconah Park (built in 1919)]]
In 2004, historian John Thorn discovered a reference to a 1791 by-law prohibiting anyone from playing "baseball" within {{convert|80|yd}} of the new meeting house in Pittsfield. A reference librarian, AnnMarie Harris, found the actual by-law in the [[Berkshire Athenaeum]] library and its age was verified by researchers at the Williamstown Art Conservation Center. If authentic and if actually referring to a recognizable version of the modern game, the 1791 document, would be, as of 2004, the earliest known reference to the game in America. (''See [[Origins of baseball]].'') The document is available on the [[Berkshire Athenaeum|Pittsfield Library]]'s web site.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pittsfieldlibrary.org/baseball.html |title=Pittsfield's 1791 Baseball Bylaw |date=August 2006 |publisher=Pittsfield Library |access-date=August 15, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727180324/http://www.pittsfieldlibrary.org/baseball.html |archive-date=July 27, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

A finding that [[baseball]] was invented in 1839 by [[Abner Doubleday]] in [[Cooperstown, New York]], provided the rationale for baseball centennial celebrations in 1939 including the opening of a National [[Baseball Hall of Fame]] and Museum in that city. Few historians ever believed it and even the Hall's vice president, [[Jeff Idelson]], has stated that "Baseball wasn't really born anywhere."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.espn.com/mlb/news/story?id=1799618 |title=Pittsfield uncovers earliest written reference to game |date=May 11, 2004 |publisher=ESPN |agency=Associated Press |quote=There's no way of pinpointing where the game was first played. Baseball wasn't really born anywhere. |access-date=February 6, 2009}}</ref>

In 1859, the first intercollegiate baseball game was played in Pittsfield. [[Amherst College|Amherst]] defeated [[Williams College]], 73–32.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.coolquiz.com/trivia/history/index.asp?hdate=07.01 |title=Today in History |date=July 1, 1859 |access-date=February 6, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609112311/http://www.coolquiz.com/trivia/history/index.asp?hdate=07.01 |archive-date=June 9, 2011}}</ref>

[[File:Frank Grant.jpg|thumb|right|Ulysses Frank Grant]]
[[Frank Grant (baseball)|Ulysses Frank Grant]], born August 1, 1865, in Pittsfield (died May 27, 1937), was an African American baseball player in the 19th century who played in the International League and for various independent teams.

Professional baseball was played in Pittsfield's [[Wahconah Park]] from 1894 through 2003. Teams included the early [[Pittsfield Colts]] and [[Pittsfield Hillies]], the [[Pittsfield Electrics (Eastern Association)|Pittsfield Electrics]] of the 1940s, the [[Pittsfield Red Sox]] from 1965 to 1969 with such then A-league players and future major leaguers as [[George Scott (first baseman)|George Scott]], [[Carlton Fisk]], and [[Reggie Smith]], the [[Pittsfield Senators]] (later Rangers) of the 1970s, and the 1985–1988 AA [[Pittsfield Cubs]] featuring future stars [[Mark Grace]] and [[Rafael Palmeiro]]. From 1989 to 2001, the [[Pittsfield Mets]] and Pittsfield Astros (2001 only) represented the city in the [[New York–Penn League]]. The Astros have since moved to [[Troy, New York]], and are now known as the [[Tri-City ValleyCats]].

In 2005, Wahconah Park became the home stadium of the [[Mystic Schooners|Pittsfield Dukes]], a [[List of collegiate summer baseball leagues|summer collegiate baseball]] franchise of the [[New England Collegiate Baseball League]] owned by [[Dan Duquette]], former [[Boston Red Sox]] general manager. The Dukes had played the 2004 season in [[Hinsdale, Massachusetts]], as the Berkshire Dukes. In 2009, the franchise changed its name to the [[Pittsfield American Defenders]]. The American Defenders' name refers to both the United States military and a line of [[baseball glove]]s produced by [[Nocona Athletic Goods Company]]. Duquette's ownership group also owned the [[American Defenders of New Hampshire]], members of the independent [[Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball|Can-Am League]].

Since 2012, Wahconah Park has been the home of the [[Pittsfield Suns]] of the [[Futures Collegiate Baseball League]].

[[Mark Belanger]], eight-time Gold Glove winning shortstop for the Baltimore Orioles, [[Turk Wendell]], relief pitcher for the New York Mets, and [[Tom Grieve]], outfielder for the Texas Rangers, were all from Pittsfield.

The love of baseball in the Berkshires, and especially Pittsfield, extends for all ages. Pittsfield has two Little League teams, Pittsfield American and National, who are the two dominant powers in Berkshire County Little League and Western Massachusetts. The 2022 Pittsfield 13U Babe Ruth baseball team made a run to the Babe Ruth 13U World Series Championship game. Winning the New England Regional and going all the way to the Title Series, before losing to Kado, Hawaii. Pittsfield hosted the 2023 Babe Ruth 15U New England Regional Tournament at Wahconah Park. Pittsfield received an automatic bid for hosting and advanced to the championship game, but fell to Norwalk, Conn.

Both Pittsfield high schools are known for their baseball and softball prowess. Taconic High School won state championships in 2017 and 2019 and reached the Final Four in 2023. It was the No. 1 overall seed in the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) Division III bracket in 2022 and beat city-rival Pittsfield High three times. Twice in the regular season and once again in the PVIAC Western Massachusetts Class B Championship Game in front of a crowd of over 3,500 at Wahconah Park. However, the two teams met in the Division III Sweet 16 and Pittsfield High pulled off the upset to send its crosstown rival home.