TONIGHT AS THE 2015 BASEBALL SEASON GETS UNDERWAY BEGIN
AROUND THE HORN, BASEBALL HISTORY IN THE REGION.
WE START WITH PYNCHON IN SPRINGFIELD.
BEFORE IT'S FIERY END IN THE 1960s, IT WAS A HOME TO MINOR
LEAGUE TEAMS FOR THE CUBS AND THE GIANTS, AND THE MANY OTHER
SPORTING EVENTS.
CONNECTING POINT PRODUCER DAVE FRASER SPOKE OF LONG-TIME
SPORTSWRITER AND EDITOR GARRY BROWN, AND GUY MCCLAIN, DIRECTOR
OF THE MUSEUM OF SPRINGFIELD HISTORY, TO RELIVE SOME OF THE
MEMORIES OF PYNCHON PARK.
>> PYNCHON PARK CALLED HAMPDEN PARK, ESTABLISHED IN 1857, VERY
CLOSE TO THE NORTH END BRIDGE, A STRETCH OF LAND, OF
APPROXIMATELY 40 ACRES, AND OF COURSE, THIS IS BEFORE
AUTOMOBILES, SO PEOPLE NEEDED SOMETHING THAT WAS FAIRLY CLOSE
TO THE CENTER OF THE CITY.
THAT LOCATION IN THE NORTH END ALONG THE CONNECTICUT RIVER, WAS
A PERFECT LOCATION FOR THE PARK.
>> ITS PRIMARY PURPOSE IN THE EARLY DAYS WAS FOR HORSERACING,
AND LATER ON, BICYCLE RACING BECAME A HUGE SPORT IN THE
1880s AND 1890s, AND OF COURSE, SPRINGFIELD, NATIVE TO
SPRINGFIELD, GEORGE HINDI, WHO WENT ON TO FOUND INDY MOTORCYCLE
WAS A GREAT MOTORCYCLE BICYCLE:IN THE 1980s.
AS FOOTBALL STARTED TO BECOME A VERY POPULAR SPORT IN THE
1980s AND 1990s, MANY GREAT FOOTBALL GAMES TOOK PLACE AT
HAMPDEN PARK, AND THE MOST FAMOUS AT THAT TIME PERIOD WERE
THE FOOTBALL GAMES BETWEEN HARVARD AND YALE.
HARVARD WOULD COME OUT ON THE TRAIN FROM BOSTON, AND YALE
WOULD COME UP ON THE TRAIN FROM NEW HAVEN.
>> THE FIRST THING I THOUGHT, WAS THE HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL ON
A SUNDAY AFTERNOON, ODDLY ENOUGH HE WENT ON TO BECOME A GREAT
PLAYER AT LESLEE, AND HE RAN ALL OVER THAT FIELD, ONE OF THOSE
GAMES THAT YOU DON'T FORGET.
MY FIRST ONE.
>> BASEBALL STARTED TO TAKE OFF, AS AMERICA'S NATIONAL PAST TIME,
AND IN THE LATE 19th CENTURY, AND BASEBALL GAMES WERE HELD
THERE ALL THE TIME.
>> A SERIES OF BASEBALL TEAMS PLAYED THERE, VARIOUS MINOR
LEAGUE BASEBALL TEAMS WERE THERE.
THE CHICAGO CUBS.
LATER, THE SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS.
>> BOB BISHOP, THREW A NO-HITTER, THE ONLY ONE THE
GIANTS EVER HAD IN NINE YEARS, AND SO, I SAW THAT ONE.
THE GAME WAS OVER IN AN HOUR AND 12 MINUTES OR SOMETHING LIKE
THAT.
AND TRY THAT OUT, AND IF YOU FOLLOW THE PLAYERS, YOU KNOW
THAT THEY WERE REALLY GOOD PLAYERS COMING.
IN 1962, WHEN THE GIANTS, THE SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS PLAYED IN
THE WORLD SERIES, THEY HAD TEN PLAYERS, THAT WERE DEVELOPED IN
SPRINGFIELD, INCLUDING RON, A HALL-OF-FAMER.
I LOOKED AT THAT, AND THAT WAS BEHIND THE CENTER FIELD WALL,
AND HE COULD HIT A BALL WITH THAT POWER, YOU WERE REALLY
HITTING SOMETHING LIKE 440 FEET.
THE BIGGEST CROWD THAT I HAVE EVER SEEN THERE, 1951, THE RED
SOX CAME AND PLAYED IN AN EXHIBITION GAME.
THEY WERE ABOVE 10,000, PROBABLY, AND CLOSER TO 11.
AND THEY CAME BACK THE NEXT DAY AND DID THE SAME THING.
>> THE FIRE THAT BURNED DOWN THE STADIUM IN 1956 WAS REALLY
TERRIBLE.
IT WAS DISCOVERED, TWO BOYS WERE PLAYING ACROSS THE STREET, AND
NOTICED SOME SMOKE, AND CALLED THE FIRE DEPARTMENT, AND BY THE
TIME THAT THEY GOT THERE, AND THE STADIUM, WHICH WAS AN OLD
WOODEN STADIUM THAT GOES BACK TO 1909, SO, IT WAS REALLY VERY
OLD, STARTED GOING UP VERY, VERY QUICKLY, AND WITHIN 30 MINUTES,
THE ENTIRE STADIUM WAS BURNED TO THE GROUND, PRACTICALLY NOTHING
WAS LEFT.
I REMEMBER THAT DAY, AND THEN POM, ONE OF MY BEST FRIENDS, HE
WAS THERE, AND HE TOLD ME THAT THE FIRE BURNED SO HOT, THAT THE
CARS ACROSS THE STREET WERE GETTING PAINT PEELING OFF THE
CARS, OFF THE ROADS.
>> SINCE BASEBALL LEFT, OR AT LEAST MINOR LEAGUE LEVEL
BASEBALL LEFT SPRINGFIELD IN THE 1960s, WE HAVEN'T HAD ANYTHING
SINCE.
>> IT WILL BE NICE TO SEE BASEBALL RETURNING IN SOME FORM
TO THE CITY OF SPRINGFIELD.
IT'S A GREAT SPORT.
IT'S A GREAT SUMMER ACTIVITY.
IT WOULD BE WONDERFUL TO HAVE A BASEBALL TEAM COME BACK TO THE
CITY IN THE PRESENT DAY.