Recap
Early-season interest in the Western Massachusetts League (called the Massachusetts Central League in 1902-03) ran very high with four teams embroiled in a tight race for the championship. G.W. Goodnow’s Pittsfield team, loaded with former National League stars such as Harry Hough and Snake Deal dazzled packed houses with their stylish play. The league’s success, however, turned out to be short-lived. In a bizarre twist, Goodnow and Chicopee owner Robert Duggan traded squads two weeks into the season. In the process, they alienated the budding fan base in both towns. To further confuse matters, at the end of the first half of the split-season, Goodnow bought the Springfield team and transferred Harry Hough and his fellow National Leaguers there.
By early January of 1904, the early season optimism began to fade as attendance failed to meet the high salary demands of the league’s imported stars. The Western Massachusetts League began to unravel in mid-January when the players representing the Chicopee club resigned from the league to rejoin the New England League from which they had jumped the previous year. Attendance continued to plummet and the league collapsed altogether the last week in January. Springfield, with a 28-13 record was declared second half champion, before also joining the New England League.
I sincerely appreciate the research work, and the information being shared. It is important and interesting history.