Tag: Jonathan Fleisig

2002 Berkshire Black Bears baseball program from the Northern League

Berkshire Black Bears

January 4, 2018

The Berkshire Black Bears were an effort to establish independent professional baseball at historic Wahconah Park in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. The Black Bears arrived in Pittsfield in 2002, close on the heels of the departing Pittsfield Astros of the Major League-affiliated New York-Penn League. Former Boston Red Sox slugger George “Boomer” Scott, who starred for the Pittsfield Red Sox clubs of the 1960’s, managed the Black Bears. The franchise left town after two seasons, moving to New Haven, Connecticut in 2004.

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1997 Massachusetts Mad Dogs Baseball Program from the Northeast League

Massachusetts Mad Dogs

February 9, 2013

The Massachusetts Mad Dogs were an independent pro baseball outfit that played at Fraser Field, a Depression-era ballpark in Lynn from 1996 through 1999. Former Red Sox star George “Boomer” Scott managed the ball club and ex-Sox pitcher Dennis “Oil Can” Boyd briefly pitched for the Dogs during the 1997 season. The decrepit condition of Fraser Field hinderedthe clubs final seasons, with the park’s unique clamshell roof condemned and propped up by wooden beams in 1998. The franchise left Lynn and went on hiaturs in 2000, later re-surfacing in Pittsfield, Mass in 2002.

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New Haven County Cutters Baseball

New Haven County Cutters

August 6, 2012

The New Haven County Cutters were an independent professional baseball club that played in the Northeast League (2004) and its successor, the Can-Am League (2005-2007). The Cutters were a road worn franchise that originally formed in 1996 and had previous stops in the Massachusetts cities of Lynn and Pittsfield. Playing out of Yale Field, the Cutters had the unenviable task of replacing the departing Class AA Ravens of the Eastern League, who left town in 2003. Indy ball rarely flourished in cities that had just lost affiliated Minor League Baseball teams and New Haven was no exception. The Cutters disbanded in 2007 after four season of tepid support.

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