Pittsfield Council Says Baseball Should Be a Holiday

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The City Council wants to give America's pastime a birthday and recognize its history in the city.

The council last week supported a request from Ward 5 Councilor Patrick Kavey and baseball enthusiast Phil Massery to recognize Sept. 5 as the official birthday of baseball.  

"It has been played here since before we were a nation. In fact, it was played so rapidly in the late 1700s that the town elders had to pass an ordinance to prevent people from playing ball in certain areas of the city because they were breaking all the windows and they were trying to prevent broken windows at the meeting house. Glass was an issue back then. If you broke a window it was a while before it got replaced," Massery explained.

"We are not claiming by having this birthday to have invented the game. We are simply saying that Pittsfield recognizes Sept. 5 as baseball's birthday."

Massery, who has for years championed Pittsfield's role in baseball, approached Kavey to give the game of baseball a local holiday. The date is in reference to the over 230-year-old broken-window bylaw and always falls around Labor Day weekend, which is a good time to celebrate baseball.

"This situation is what the word serendipitous is all about, which means 'unexpected fortune,'" he added. "We have an unexpected fortune by having this game played in our city. Also, the big point is it's free. There is nothing we have to do. There is no money to be appropriated. There is no fee to have this done."

Thanks to the efforts of the late U.S. Rep. John Olver, Congress recognized the Sept. 5, 1791, broken window bylaw of Pittsfield as the first written mention of the game of baseball in North America. Then Gov. Patrick Deval proclaimed Sept. 5 as "Pittsfield Baseball Day" in 2007.

"I just find this to be completely fascinating," Kavey said. "I think we should be highlighting our history with baseball in the city."

Dalton Board Signs Off on Land Sale Over Residents' Objections

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
05:50AM / Tuesday, December 23, 2025

Residents demanded the right to speak but the agenda did not include public comment. Amy Musante holds a sign saying the town now as '$20,000 less for a police station.'

DALTON, Mass. — The Select Board signed the sale on the last of what had been known as the Bardin property Monday even as a handful of residents demanded the right to speak against the action. 

 

The quitclaim deed transfers the nine acres to Thomas and Esther Balardini, who purchased the two other parcels in Dalton. They were the third-highest bidders at $31,500. Despite this, the board awarded them the land in an effort to keep the property intact.

 

"It's going to be an ongoing battle but one I think that has to be fought [because of] the disregard for the taxpayers," said Dicken Crane, the high bidder at $51,510.

 

"If it was personal I would let it go, but this affects everyone and backing down is not in my nature." 

 

Crane had appealed to the board to accept his bid during two previous meetings. He and others opposed to accepting the lower bid say it cost the town $20,000. After the meeting, Crane said he will be filing a lawsuit and has a citizen's petition for the next town meeting with over 100 signatures. 

 

Three members of the board — Chair Robert Bishop Jr., John Boyle, and Marc Strout — attended the 10-minute meeting. Members Anthony Pagliarulo and Daniel Esko previously expressed their disapproval of the sale to the Balardinis. 

 

Pagliarulo voted against the sale but did sign the purchase-and-sale agreement earlier this month. His reasoning was the explanation by the town attorney during an executive session that, unlike procurement, where the board is required to accept the lowest bid for services, it does have some discretion when it comes to accepting bids in this instance.