The Yard Goats on Thursday night will kickoff its third-season home opener at Dunkin’ Donuts Park in downtown Hartford.
Play begins Thursday at 7:05 p.m. as the Yard Goats, the Double-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies, face the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, a Toronto Blue Jays affiliate.
The Yard Goats return to Hartford after a slow start to the 2019 season at 1-5.
A trio of promotions including an opening night celebration, a post-game fireworks show and magnet schedule giveaway is being showcased for an expected capacity crowd Thursday at the roughly 6,100-seat ballpark.
Seats were sold out on the Yard Goats website as of Wednesday morning, with only standing room tickets available for opening day. The club sold out most of its games in 2018, drawing 47 sellouts and 408,942 total visitors, representing an additional 13,746 tickets sold vs. the inaugural season downtown in 2017. It ranked No. 1 in the Eastern League in 2018 for total attendance.
The Yard Goats will host 70 games at the ballpark, named as the best in the Eastern League for two consecutive years, this year between Thursday and Aug. 29. It will field 11 weekend series during that span.
Meantime, the 2019 season could prove to be a pivotal period for the ballpark and city.
A trial is expected to begin in June to settle a $90 million lawsuit against the city of Hartford to settle whether it wrongfully terminated Centerplan Construction Co., which the city hired in 2015 to build the stadium and surrounding developments, but fired in mid-2016 due to delays and cost overruns.
The city hopes the proceedings, moved up three months to June 18, will undo liens placed on the property by Centerplan so it can move forward with Stamford developer RMS Cos. to develop areas surrounding the ballpark in a $200 million mixed-use project. RMS has proposed to build 200 residential units, 11,000 square feet for retail and community space and a parking garage with 250 spaces.
A public hearing is scheduled Monday at 7 p.m. in City Hall regarding a resolution that would authorize the city to enter a development agreement and ground lease with RMS.
[Read more: Three seasons in, Hartford’s $71M ballpark has sparked new energy but not promised development]
For now, the lots, located within a block of the stadium, are still being used for $5 parking provided by LAZ Parking, which has teamed with the Hartford Parking Authority to provide a free shuttle service on Sundays from the Market Street lot to the stadium.
Fans can pre-pay for parking on the Yard Goats website or via the LAZgo mobile app.
Dunkin’ Donuts Park could also be getting a new name in 2019 or later.
The Mass.-based purveyor of coffee, donuts and sandwiches dropped “Donuts” from its ads, packages and signage in 2019, raising questions about the fate of Hartford’s ballpark branding.
Mike Ambramson, general manager of the Yard Goats, told Hartford Business Journal on Wednesday that a decision has not yet been made on whether to change the stadium’s name.
