In a corner of downtown Hartford is what some baseball fans think as a little slice of baseball heaven. Dunkin Donuts Park, home of the Hartford Yard Goats is open for business again for the second straight season.
The Yard Goats, the AA affiliate of the Colorado Rockies, opened the doors to its stadium after a rebranding and move from New Britain as the Rock Cats in 2016. However, in the Spring, Summer, and Fall of 2020, the park was left deserted, as COVID-19 blitzed through the United States and put the sports world on hold. When Major League Baseball returned in July of 2020, Minor League Baseball suffered, as the league stayed shut down to try and reduce the spread of COVID. In May of 2021 Minor League Baseball, and the Hartford Yard Goats, returned. Fans rejoiced as the sports world seemed to be going back to normal. At the end of the 2021 season, however, came a problem.
When the World Series ended on Nov. 2, all the other major sports were in full swing. The NFL had started up back in September, while the NBA and NHL started their seasons in October. Baseball, however, had been ignoring the elephant in the room for the past year. That elephant was the expiration of the MLB Collective Bargaining Agreement.
The collective bargaining agreement is the contract between the MLB Players Association and MLB Owners that breaks down the financials, rules, and regulations the MLBPA and the Owners both need to follow. With the MLB CBA expiring, the owners locked out the players. During this lockout, players that were a part of the MLB Players Association and the MLB owners spent months negotiating a new CBA to allow the league to restart.
However, Minor League Baseball still seemed to be in full swing, as the MLB Collective Bargaining Agreement did not impact those who played in the minors. Heading towards opening day right on schedule, not everyone knew what to expect in the upcoming season. One Yard Goats fan thought some pretty exciting things could happen if the lockout wasn’t ended.
Andrew Smith has been a Yard Goats fan since the team’s inception in 2016. When looking back on the lockout, he had some interesting thoughts about what fans could possibly see at Dunkin Donuts Park in 2022. “I wasn’t concerned about minor league baseball during the lockout,” Smith said. “I really thought if there was a lockout we would see some major leaguers in the minor leagues.”
While fans had no idea what to expect, Yard Goats employees, however, did. Bob Walker has been an usher for the Yard Goats since the 2017 season. Walker was not worried about this upcoming season, or his employment status. “I read that the minor leagues weren’t impacted by the lockout,” he said. Walker was very happy about this too because he’s had some great memories while working for the Yard Goats. “One night I met a guy who had just turned 100. He was celebrating his 100th birthday and he was a World War II veteran, and they brought him out onto the field to recognize his service. It was pretty neat,” Walker recalled.
Fan interaction has been a staple of what makes the Yard Goats games so much fun. Many fans shared their experiences at Yard Goats Games, all of which have been positive. “My first experience was in middle school,” said Caylee Allard. Allard is a long-time Connecticut resident who grew up going to Rock Cats games when they were still located in New Britain. “I remember the jingle/song they’d have that went ‘these cats rock’ it was really catchy and always made me wanna check out a game. I would love to go back to a Yard Goats game. It’s fun and I love to support a minor league team. Any pro sports team in Connecticut needs as much support as possible!”
The interaction with kids makes the games special for them too. On May 4th this year, the Yard Goats held “Star Wars Night.” All across the stadium, characters from Star Wars interacted with the kids who went, they gave out miniature lightsabers, and some characters even had play fights with the kids on the concourse.
“The comradery is just a good time. We can come alone or can bring the kids,” said mother Amanda Smith. “It’s a great family time.” With the Yard Goats knowing what draws fans, it’s no surprise that since their first game, their total attendance per year has gone up each year they have played in a normal season not impacted by COVID or COVID regulations.
In the chart below, from 2016 to 2019 attendance went up. Sadly in 2020, there was no Minor League season as the MLB only allowed a taxi squad to be run in case of emergencies. In 2021 attendance skyrocketed back up, but not where it once was. This isn’t because baseball was losing fans. It was again because of COVID and the attendance regulations the state of Connecticut put on stadiums.
The MLB lockout, however, seemed to drive many fans away from the game, as some fans did not appreciate the negotiation process. Walker however is not worried about fan turnout for this season. “I haven’t [seen an attendance impact] at all yet,” he said.
Part of the reason attendance might not take a hit for AA Baseball games is the way the league is now being used by the MLB. In the new collective bargaining agreement, rules that the MLB would like to implement but want to test first to see if they work, are being used by Minor League Baseball. One rule change has fans divided, and that rule is the implementation of a pitch clock. When pitchers first get to the mound they have 30 seconds to pitch their first pitch. After that after every pitch the clock resets and the pitcher then has 14 seconds to pitch the next pitch if there is no runner on base. if there is a runner on base pitchers gate 18 seconds. In case of a foul ball, the umpire gives a ball to the pitcher and the clock resets back to 30 seconds. “I think baseball is a slow game either way,” says fan Cameron Allard. “Anything the league tries to do to ‘appeal to a new crowd’ will just backfire like the ghost runner did for the MLB.” Allard admittedly has not been at a game where the pitch clock is used but he still overall doesn’t like the idea.
Some other fans are a fan of the new rule. “I’m a fan of it,” said Andrew Smith. “It speeds it up and keeps you more focused on what’s going on in the game.” Smith is correct, as game length in minor league games has been slowly getting shorter as pitchers and teams are adjusting to the new rule. In 2021 the average game time for a minor league AA game was three hours and three minutes. This season it has shortened to be an average of two hours and 39 minutes; therefore, games are on average shorter by about 20 minutes. This is just one of many new rules being tried out by MLB in the minor leagues this season.
With these new rules implemented, and local Connecticut baseball fans seemingly not going anywhere, the Yard Goats are prime to have another fun season In Hartford. “I’m going to spend a lot of time here this summer,” said Andrew Smith. “Have some fun and drink some beers.”
As of May 5th 2022, The Yard Goats are currently 13-11 in the Eastern League and are three games back of the Somerset Patriots in the Northeast Division. Their next home series is against the Portland Sea Dogs on May 10.