The Eastern League made it official Friday morning. There will be no regular season Double A baseball at Dunkin’ Donuts Park for the Hartford Yard Goats.
The league said the final changes to the schedule are being made due to the delayed availability of the minor league stadium. Work on the $56 million ballpark has been halted by Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin who called the performance on its developers in June.
Yard Goats GM Tim Restall wasn’t surprised by the news. “With the lack of construction over the last month, we figured it would be coming,” he said in an interview. “We’re disappointed that we won’t play this year but we’ll contiunue to work with the city.”
Games couldn’t be played in Norwich, as was done earlier in the season, because that facility was unavailable. That means “home games” will be played in opponent’s parks. “It’s easier to play those games in Double A facilities,” Restall said.
He wouldn’t divulge exact figures, but the GM said the team’s travel budget has been doubled with all of its home games being played outside of Hartford. The team is now forced to rent 25 hotel rooms and a 55-seat bus for every game it plays. A truck also follows the team for its away “home” games as a mobile locker room of sorts, he said.
Restall said if construction were to begin, there’s a remote possibility a post-season game could be played in Hartford. The team is currently five games out of second. “If we could play one game in Hartford, we’d play one game because it’s important to get it started,” he said.
