Remembering Joseph L. Bruno (1929-2020)

 Career politician. Lifelong sports fan. The late Senator Joseph L. Bruno was able to unite the two biggest interests in his life to bring Minor League Baseball back to the 518.

As the 21st century began, the closest thing to a minor league baseball team in the region was the independent Albany-Colonie Diamond Dogs, who'd taken over Heritage Park in Colonie a few years earlier after the Yankees moved their Eastern League (Class AA) team to New Jersey, despite the strong fan base the parent club had built for years.

Hudson Valley Community College converted its baseball field into a full-on, state of the art stadium, named for Senator Bruno, to welcome the Tri-City ValleyCats, formerly the Pittsfield Astros (and before that, the Pittsfield Mets) to the 518 in 2002. Despite Bruno's legal troubles in later years, he was still a welcome presence on opening day at the stadium.

Before the 2020 minor league season was scuttled due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Valleycats were among the leaders in attendance in the New York-Penn League every years, regardless of the team's record. Bruno had delivered a winner to Rensselaer County. The 'Cats won 3 NY-PL titles (2010, 2013, 2018), and several divisional titles, and have seen over 80 players move on to the major leagues, including current Houston Astros George Springer and Jose Altuve, White Sox pitcher Dallas Keuchel, Mets utility man J. D. Davis, and Phillies pitcher Vincent Velasquez.

However, the Valleycats will be playing in a different league in 2021, with Major League Baseball dissolving the NY-PL as part of a contraction plan, and, quite possibly, without MLB affiliation. In other words, the 'Cats could be an independent team, as the Diamond Dogs were before them before folding some years back.

It won't be the same next year, assuming the 'Cats will resume playing, with both Bruno and owner Bill Gladstone having passed on, but the memories of these men will be honored.

Rest in peace, Senator.