Future Appears Dark For Pittsfield Colonials

The future not looking bright for the Pittsfield Colonials baseball franchise. Credit: Phil Hoops

Howard Herman of the Berkshire Eagle wrote a rather discouraging article about the Pittsfield Colonials franchise on Tuesday. According to Herman, Can-Am League officials and owners will meet on October 3 to discuss, among other things, the future of the Colonials franchise and whether or not they can still be a viable franchise.

The story quotes league commissioner Miles Wolf as saying "If you can't pay the piper, you can't dance," and notes that the league covered the team's freight expenses for the latter half of the 2011 season. Certainly not the words you want to hear from your commissioner. Herman's story is definitely an interesting read for any fan following the independent leagues.

Newark should keep an eye on Patrick Moran if he is available for next season. Credit: Phil Hoops

Pure speculation on my part here, but I'm guessing we'll likely see a six-team league next year with the New York Federals dropping out as well. Losing the Federals isn't a huge deal since they were a travel team pretty much used as schedule filler.

The Colonials, which is an extension of the Nashua Pride franchise, on the other hand, was a dominant force this year and was one of four teams to advance to the post-season this year. If they were to fold, it would be a pretty significant lose to the league in terms of competition.

In addition, the team fielded the Can-Am League rookie of the year, Patrick Moran, someone who if he is back in the league next year would certainly be a welcome addition to Newark's pitching staff which struggled down the stretch.

It's worth noting that there have been discussions about bringing back the Atlantic City Surf, but it's not immediately clear which league they if they do indeed play in 2012. In fact, when questioned by a fan; the individual manning the team's Facebook account admitted that even they weren't sure which League the team would compete in next year.

The good news is that the Bears intend to be back next season, which is certainly a sigh of relief after the past few years of questioning the team's future although plans can always change between now and Opening Day.

Quebec and Rockland did very well in terms of attendance this year (although in Rockland's case it's not fair to judge them purely on their inaugural season as team's almost always draw better when they're new).

Brockton (1,810), Worcester (1,782) and New Jersey (1,768) all did similar attendance figures. They were followed by the Bears who drew an average of 997 nightly. If there is any positive to take away from this season is that it seemed that Newark's attendance both on paper and in person picked up through the last two months of the season after new ownership came on-board.

Pittsfield, unfortunately, came in last place with only 845 per game. Believe it or not, their attendance figures actually improved this year as last season they averaged only 717 on a nightly basis, which is clearly not enough to sustain a professional team.

I think the Nashua/Pittsfield franchise is a prime example of what happens when teams simply just don't pan out. What started as a dream in Nashua turned south when the organization did not live up to financial expectations in the years that followed. Even a move to the less expensive Can-Am League in 2006 wasn't enough to drastically turn things around. I hope that new independent franchises, such as Rockland  and Sugarland, do succeed in their respective leagues, but history does not offer a great deal of optimism.

As Herman notes that the team isn't officially dead just yet. If the team's current owners can find a new buyer, then there is a chance that baseball returns to Pittsfield in 2012; but I personally wouldn't hold my breath.