April 05, 2008
Baseball going back to Pittsfield to play Williams
The Berkshire press (which is to say, the Berkshire Eagle and some New York sites) is reporting today that next weekend, the 149th annual playing of the oldest series in collegiate sports—the Amherst-Williams baseball game, believed to have been, in 1859, the first-ever intercollegiate baseball game—will return to its original site, or at least the same town.
When Amherst College challenged rival Williams to a “friendly game of ball” in the summer of 1859, the two schools couldn’t agree on a site until the Pittsfield Base Ball Club stepped up and offered its playing grounds, a field located near the intersection of Maplewood Avenue and North Street.
Of course, as noted in this News 10 report, there is a coffee shop on that location now, so the game to be played on Saturday, April 12 will be held at Waconah Park in Pittsfield. Before the game, a representative from the College Baseball Hall of Fame will designate Pittsfield “The Birthplace of College Baseball” and a sign with that logo will be unveiled at Waconah Park.
After today’s win over Hamilton, this year’s Amherst team stands at 10-5-1; a doubleheader with Hamilton tomorrow and a Tuesday afternoon game at Keene State stand between the them and next weekend’s Williams matchup. The Pittsfield game will be followed by a doubleheader against Williams at home on Sunday the 13th.
Amherst won the 1859 game 73-32 after 25 innings. The Eagle suggests that this year’s return to Pittsfield might be a “dry run” for a more elaborate commemoration of the 150th year.
Parker Morse '96 | April 5, 2008 10:48 PM | Athletics | History
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