Press Clippings

Nov 26, 2003 - Berkshire Eagle editorial

Goodbye to the Black Bears - The departure of the Berkshire Black Bears from Pittsfield, an open secret for weeks, is now official. There is no denying that the Black Bears’ tenure in the city coincided with a particularly ugly stretch of politics but owner Jonathan Fleisig’s criticism of “certain civic leaders” for undermining him is disingenuous--Mr. Fleisig was hardly an effective salesman of his team. The loss of the Black Bears almost assuredly marks the end of Pittsfield’s proud history in professional baseball, a day that became inevitable with the defeat of a proposal for a new ballpark. Native son Larry Bossidy’s purchase of a New York-Penn League team was derailed and the city had to settle for the Independent Northeast League, a bottom-level league that was never accepted by the city’s knowledgeable baseball fans. Today, the Northeast League has bailed out of the city, two of the City Council’s Three Amigos who lead the fight against the new ballpark proposal have been belatedly retired by voters, and crumbling Wahconah Park looks forward to a lonely old age.