Harrisburg Senators (WAS) @ Hartford Yard Goats (COL)
July 27, 2024
S: Zach Agnos
HR: Braxton Fulford (HFD), Yanquiel Fernandez (HFD)
Attendance: 7,319
Time of Game: 2 hours, 6 minutes
Stadium Facts
Location: Hartford, CT
Opened: 2017
Capacity: 6,121
Level: Double A
League: Eastern
Time of Game: 2 hours, 6 minutes
Stadium Facts
Location: Hartford, CT
Opened: 2017
Capacity: 6,121
Level: Double A
League: Eastern
On Saturday, I drove from New Jersey around New York City and to Hartford, the capital city of Connecticut. I am almost positive this was the first time I had ever been outside of my car in Hartford. Despite being Connecticut's largest city and a sports haven located right between New York and Boston, Hartford did not have an affiliated professional baseball team for 65 years until the team from nearby New Britain was relocated and renamed the Hartford Yard Goats in 2016 and moved into brand new Dunkin' Park a year later.
Since their inception, the Yard Goats have perennially been at or near the top of the Eastern League in attendance, despite being affiliated with a MLB team with no local ties in the Colorado Rockies. It is easy to see why that's the case though as Dunkin' Park is a gem of a ballpark. Quite frankly, it is overqualified as an AA facility. I predict Hartford will be upgraded to AAA within the next decade whether it be due to MLB expansion or relocation of teams to cities that currently have AAA clubs. Dunkin' Park has everything you could want in a modern minor league stadium. It is located just a few blocks north of downtown Hartford making it easy to get to via a variety of transportation methods. There is seating all around the ballpark, even including a second deck in right field. There is luxury seating field level as well as the suite level upper deck. The concourse is spacious, circles the entire park and provides views of the field from most locations. The concession options are plentiful. This was the first game I've attended this year where I actually had to secure a ticket well in advance because it was a sellout and then some with just standing room only tickets being sold on game day. The Yard Goats always draw well, but this was an especially large crowd due to it being Hartford Whalers Alumni Weekend. Since Hartford no longer has a NHL club, they celebrate their former team at baseball games. It was quite amazing to me how much interest there still is for this team which departed for Carolina 27 years ago. Several former Whalers were in the house for this game, including Joel Quenneville who won the Stanley Cup three times as the head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks. The local passion for the Whalers has seeped its way into the Yard Goats who share the same green and blue color scheme. The Goats wore hockey themed jerseys for this game in front of a packed house.
This Eastern League tilt featured a pretty strong Hartford lineup containing a couple of the Rockies top prospects against a somewhat depleted Harrisburg team which had its two best hitters promoted to AAA since I saw them play at home in June. One of those top prospects for Hartford was second baseman Adael Amador, who got a brief cup of coffee in the big leagues earlier this summer, suffered an injury, and then once healthy was returned back to Hartford where he had been prior to the promotion. Amador got things started for the Yard Goats in the third with a double and came around to score on a single by Bladimir Restituyo. The Goats took control of the game an inning later with five straight two out hits, four of which went for extra bases. Catcher Braxton Fulford started the string with a home run to left. It ended with the third Hartford double of the inning, Amador's second double in as many innings. The inning actually ended on that Amador double because a runner was thrown out at the plate. But not before the Goats scored three to make it 4-0. They added another in the fifth on an upper deck home run to right by Yanquiel Fernandez, who is another of the top Rockies prospects on this Hartford roster. The promising outfielder has since been promoted to AAA. All of this damage was done against Senators starter Andry Lara, who had been pitching very well this season prior to this game. He was badly outdueled by Hartford southpaw Carson Palmquist. Harrisburg did next to nothing against Palmquist in the first seven innings, with the only hits being a pair of singles by Dermis Garcia. Palmquist was given the opportunity to pitch into the eighth inning when he hit a batter and gave up a double before being pulled. Those runners came around to score putting a slight damper on his final line, which was still quite impressive: 7 2/3 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 8 K. This wound up being his last start in Hartford as he was promoted to AAA after this outing. The Yard Goats finished this one with a 5-2 victory. Despite a fair amount of action in the middle innings, this game was played in a swift 2 hours and 6 minutes. There were fireworks after the game, but I did not stick around for that because it seemed they were going to need to wait a while for it to actually get dark first. Pretty sure I was back at my hotel before that display even started.
I thoroughly enjoyed this game and my experience at Dunkin' Park. All things considered, I would probably give it the nod as my favorite park visited on this trip and certainly in the conversation for the best I've seen this year. Yard Goats is also among my favorite team names and logos. No rest for the weary. I had an afternoon game to attend the following day up in Manchester, New Hampshire.
Next ballpark: Delta Dental Stadium in Manchester, NH
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