Buzas and the Red Sox decided to locate their Eastern League franchise closer to Boston, and moved the club to Pawtucket, Rhode Island, and McCoy Stadium in 1970. Later Eastern League franchises The Washington Senators moved quickly and replaced the Red Sox in 1970, and the Pittsfield Senators (later Rangers when the parent team moved to Dallas-Fort Worth) remained through 1975. The Milwaukee Brewers replaced the Rangers in 1976, and the team played a season as the Berkshire Brewers. With fan support at a new low — only 23,500 fans came through the turnstiles all season — the franchise moved to Holyoke, Massachusetts, as the Holyoke Millers, and Pittsfield was again left without baseball, this time for eight seasons. But in 1985, the Buffalo Bisons moved up from the EL to the Triple-A American Association, creating a need for an eighth Eastern League franchise, and the Chicago Cubs placed their Double-A affiliate in Wahconah Park. The Pittsfield Cubs played through 1988, fielding such players as Rafael Palmeiro and Mark Grace, and winning the 1987 regular season title. But the Cubs' attendance was mired at the bottom of the league. After 1988, the Eastern League reorganized, replacing Pittsfield and other under-performing markets with new cities. However, Pittsfield continued to participate in professional baseball at a lower classification, in the Short Season Class A New York–Penn League (1989–2001) and in various independent baseball leagues since 2002. The Pittsfield Mets of the New York–Penn League would shatter the attendance marks of the higher-classification Eastern League teams, despite playing in a short-season league with fewer than 40 home games each season. Future Major League Pittsfield Red Sox Chris Coletta (1965–1969) Pete Magrini (1965) Al Montreuil (1965–1968) Jerry Moses (1965–1967) George Scott (1965) Reggie Smith (1965) Gary Waslewski (1965) Fred Wenz (1965) Billy Conigliaro (1966, 1968) Carmen Fanzone (1966–1968) Jerry Janeski (1966, 1968) Sparky Lyle (1966) Bobby Mitchell (1966–1967) Bob Montgomery (1966) Ken Wright (1966–1968) Ken Brett (1967) Russ Gibson (1967) Ron Klimkowski (1967) Ed Phillips (1967) Ken Poulsen (1967) Luis Alvarado (1968) Dick Baney (1968) Mark Schaeffer (1968) Carlton Fisk (1969) Buddy Hunter (1969) Bill Lee (1969) Rick Miller (1969) Dick Mills (1969) Source: Pittsfield Red Sox with previous Major League Experience Dave Gray (1965) Billy MacLeod (1965) Pete Smith (1965) Ed Connolly (1966) Bobby Guindon (1966–1968) Pete Charton (1967) Galen Cisco (1967) Billy Gardner (1967, 1969) Bill Schlesinger (1967–1968) Jose Tartabull (1967) Dave