Shuttleworth Park
Amsterdam, NY
Review by Mike
Shuttleworth Park in Amsterdam, New York is the home of the Amsterdam Mohawks of the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League. This hidden gem in upstate New York opened in 1914. It served as home to a Yankees Class C minor league team during the 1940s, the only professional action at Shuttleworth. Although it has been through a lot during the intervening years, including a fire in 1942, and renovations in the 1970s and again more recently, the main grandstand is original and one of the oldest in the United States.
Set in a public park, away from downtown Amsterdam, this looks like a lovely place to watch collegiate summer league baseball. The backdrop of large, old trees is bucolic. The nearby Mohawk River, part of the original Erie Canal system, while not visible from the ballpark, lends to the sense of history in this old mill town.
The ballpark itself is simple. The old main stand sits behind home plate, but doesn’t bend as sharply as most baseball grandstands, so the seats directly behind the plate are closer to the action than those farther out on the edges. A nice roof protects the crowd from some of the elements, but since the park faces south, which is unusual, I don’t think it would provide that much shade from the sun, especially early and late in the season.
There is no seating down the left field line as this side of the field runs close to the access road into the park. Look out when driving to Shuttleworth while a game is going on! On the 1st base side there is a line of seats along with a long, wooden party deck. Another party deck and picnic area stands farther down the line, and there is one last deck to enjoy a cool beverage and a hot dog just beyond the outfield fence in fair territory by the right field foul pole.
A somewhat rundown press box sits atop the roof and, my favorite feature, one single luxury box occupies the 1st base end of the main grandstand. The main stand itself has a couple of rows of seats at ground level right by the backstop, the more rows of fixed-back seats that climb up the incline of the structure. Yet one more little party deck takes up the 3rd base edge of this stand.
With its long history (the big-league Yankees dropped by for an exhibition in 1942), lovely location, and obvious community support, to go along with more party decks per capita than any ballpark I’ve even seen, Shuttleworth Park must be a fun place for baseball, spanning the generations and ably maintaining the long tradition of local baseball in upstate New York.
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2021
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