By Reginald Johnson
A little bit of the
spirit of Bridgeport died yesterday when the Bluefish played their last game
here. My wife and I went to a number of games over the years, and whenever we
did, we had a great time. We’d see old friends, make new ones, and often see
some pretty good baseball. And there was always a happy ambiance --- lots of families
with kids in their baseball uniforms cheering wildly for the Bluefish, fans jumping
for joy when they caught foul balls, people laughing at the goofy Bluefish
mascot or singing along when the loudspeaker would blare Ray Charles’ “Hit the
Road Jack!” when an opposing pitcher was driven
from the mound by a Bluefish rally.
As others have
pointed out, the coming of the Bluefish 20 years ago seemed to lift the morale
of a city that had been demoralized by years of industrial plants leaving town,
a general economic decline and City Hall corruption. The Bluefish were the
perfect tonic for the Park City. People thronged to the “Ballpark at Harbor
Yard” as Bluefish stadium was known in the early years and the team enjoyed
great popularity.
After a number of
years there was a fall-off in attendance and there were reports the team was
having financial struggles. I don’t know
all the details of the situation, but city officials were also reportedly
concerned about the future financial viability of the team. The Bluefish paid
rent to the city for use of the publicly owned stadium.
Still, the team had
a strong and loyal fan base and the team did pretty well over the years getting
into the playoffs a number of times in
the Atlantic Coast League and winning a championship. It was a point of pride
for Bridgeporters and fans in the area to say ‘we have our own professional
baseball team – the Bluefish.’
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| A Bridgeport Bluefish baseball game in August |
But Mayor Joe
Ganim, returning for a second go-round as mayor after serving a term in prison
for corruption carried out during his first stint as the city leader in the
1990s, apparently felt that the Bluefish
did not have a great financial future and the city might do better using the
stadium site for something else. It all came to a head early this year when the
city put out a request for proposals for use of the stadium and indicated that
the use could either be baseball or some other entertainment. The Ganim
administration eventually accepted a plan from a concert promoter who has
proposed a series of concerts at the stadium. The proposal still has to be
accepted by the City Council.
The city may have had
legitimate financial concerns about the future viability of the Bluefish
staying in Bridgeport, but it is not clear whether the plan for more concerts
in the city is really a sound idea, either. For one thing the Webster Bank
Arena already hosts concerts and officials there have indicated they may have
legal issues with the new plan for concerts at Harbor Yard. Also, it should be
noted that the concerts at Seaside Park that went on for a number of years
called The Gathering of the Vibes had to be ended a couple years ago because the promoters were way behind
in their payments to the city for use of the park.
I have to admit I
am partial to baseball, so the idea of a new concert site in the city in place
of baseball just doesn’t grab me. It
seems to me that more could’ve been done to try to save the Bluefish and keep
them from leaving Bridgeport. Possibly some creative means could’ve been brought
into play such as having the University of Bridgeport take over the use of the
stadium and participate in a different payment plan with the Bluefish to the
city. The UB baseball team already uses the Bluefish field for its games.
I didn’t get the
impression that Mayor Ganim was at all sentimental about having to part ways
with the Bluefish, which is too bad. It’s also ironic since it was Ganim --- in
his first go round as mayor who brought the Bluefish to Bridgeport as part of a
redevelopment plan for the South End. While
Ganim did a lot wrong in his first tenure as mayor one of the things he did right
was bringing in the baseball team and the arena. Now, sadly, it is Ganim who is letting the Bluefish
go. The man who brought in the Bluefish didn’t seem to understand in the end how
much the team had come to mean to its fans and the city.
So the word is the
Bluefish may now move on to some city in North Carolina, although the details
of a move have not been finalized.
Now I know in a small way how the fans felt in Brooklyn when
the Dodgers left town in 1958. It’s a sad day for Bridgeport.
