New Britain

On Getting Out for a Day

New Britain Stadium, 2018

Saturday, May 26, 2018

Sugar Land Skeeters vs. New Britain Bees
New Britain Stadium
Atlantic League (Independent)
New Britain, CT
6:35 PM


Outside the Game:
After some tentative plans to go to Indiana by way of Chicago fell through, I was floundering with what to do with my Memorial Day weekend. In doing some cursory research, I discovered that New Britain, which had lost its minor league affiliated team to the Yard Goats two years ago, had already filled the hole with an indie league team. The Camden Riversharks of the independent Atlantic Baseball League had folded two years ago when the city of Camden bought the stadium they were playing in, tried to play hardball about the rental, and then the team had folded, leaving them holding the bag for a multi-million dollar baseball stadium that was now just hosting college baseball. Good job, Camden. Apparently, the park is going to be torn down, now, which is a shame. It was a really nice ballpark.

Anyway, although I had already visited New Britain Stadium, there was a new team in a new league there, and I decided to spend my Saturday on a trip up to see them, and air out my car a little bit, as well. Now that I finally had air conditioning to drive around in, I might as well use it.

After a lazy morning of cooking and napping, I headed out at around 2:30 PM, after most of the Memorial Day traffic had abated, and I had carefully planned a route up to 84 so I wouldn't hit what was left of it. I got to the car with my game bag and headed up to 95 via 1 and 9ish, avoiding a backed-up 495. Once I was up and going to the Palisades, it was all good. The drive out was nice and uneventful, and beside a small slow-down going through some road work in Waterbury, it was an uneventful ride up. I got there a little too early, so I stopped to get overpriced gas in my car and had a small snack before driving out to the stadium and parking. I took some pictures outside, and also noticed that the beautiful old wooden ballpark, the Beehive, that used to be next New Britain Stadium had been "renovated" at some point and turned into a high school field. Some of the grandstand still existed, but the old wooden bleachers were all torn down. That made me pretty sad as I bought a ticket and went inside the newer park.

Coming out of the game, I beat most of the crowd that had stayed to the end of the game to see the fireworks. I was out on the road before the explosions even started, and had a nice, relaxing ride back to Jersey City, hearing the Yankees lose big and how the Metropolitans had also already been trounced within an inch of their life. I spun around to see if there was any parking by my apartment on the street. There wasn't, so I went to my garage, got a Lyft back to my place, and was comfortably in bed by midnight.


The Stadium & Fans:

Home plate to center field, New Britain Stadium

I had visited New Britain Stadium before when it was home to the Twins AA affiliate the Rock Cats in the Eastern League. Two years ago, that team moved to Hartford and became the Yard Goats, so New Britain became the Bees in the independent Atlantic League. The stadium was still the same, which probably makes it one of the nicest in the Atlantic League. Outside, the biggest change is the signage, as well as one wall of the stadium that previously had all the Eastern League teams is now covered with all the Atlantic League affiliates. Also, with smaller crowds, only the main entrance by home plate was opened.

It still opens onto a covered promenade behind the seats that wraps around from outfield to outfield. All of the stores and concessions still reside in here, but now with a yellow paint job and bee-related names (the team store is the B. Hive & Co.), and a couple of the concession stands were closed, including a Puerto Rican restaurant near first. There was also a photo booth that was closed, as well.

The seating area was split up by a walkway that ran through the center of all of the seating, from short-outfield to short-outfield. The lower boxed seats ran the length of the seating bowl, while the upper deck was only seats until the dugouts, and then bleachers for the rest of the top seating run. At the top of the covered eats behind home plate were the press box and several luxury boxes. At the top of the third-base seats was the Rooftop Beehive Bar, and there was another unnamed party deck on the top of the first-base seats. Right field ended with a children's play area, while left field ended with a covered picnic area. The aging digital scoreboard rose in left-center field, among the trees that lined the outfield wall and above the single tier of outfield wall covered in local advertisements. The New Britain Sports Hall of Fame is still in the exterior walkway, the dedicated plaques are on the front of the building by the entrance, and the press box is named for Larry Michaels.

Stinger and fans

Mascot Stinger the bee is around before and during the game, schmoosing with fans and leading the between-inning entertainment that was the regular minor-league level of races, contests, and giveaways. One unique event was a sun roofed SUV that parks by the stands, and contestants try and hit the people inside by throwing bean bags into the sunroof, while also raising money for solders' charities. There was a respectable crowd for a holiday weekend, although it wasn't nearly halfway filled. Many of the fans were just there for something to do, but a good number did pay attention to the action on the field.


At the Game with Oogie:

Chicken fingers and soda

I did my walking around to see everything that was different. They did a good job converting the place over to more modest designs, though I did find an old Rock Cats sign still hanging around.

I got some chicken fingers and a soda to eat and regretted not getting a backup beverage after sitting in that sun for the first hour. I got a seat right next to the dugout on the home side. There was a Hispanic family next to me who was clearly there because the father (grandfather?) loved baseball. They all amused themselves while he watched the game closely. There was another family to my right, and they were more annoying. The mother kept teasing her teenage son in front of her by touching his neck with her toes through her open-toed shoes, which was amusing the first time, but bordering on abuse after the twentieth. One of her other kids asked me for a pen to try and get autographs, which I gave him, but then he asked if I wanted it back. Why, yes, I do want my property back that I loaned to you, you little so-and-so. The older son kept running his mouth about everything, and was universally wrong about nearly everything he said, which was annoying to endure. I tried to concentrate on a family a couple rows ahead of me where a father and a young son were patiently explaining everything that was going on to an older sister. It was nice.

At the end of the game, a team of local Hispanic Little Leaguers came and sat down by the dugout in open seats and started arguing about fellow players. One guy commented it was like having a live Sand Lot re-enactment.


The Game:

First pitch in the Insect Bowl, Skeeters vs. Bees

This early-season match-up of insect teams Sugar Land Skeeters and New Britain Bees looked to be a one-sided affair, as they had opposite records, with the Skeeters at 17-9 and the Bees at 9-17, but the game was largely over in the first and just dragged out the required nine.

The Skeeters started the game by getting their leadoff batter to third on a single, passed ball, and fly out, but they stayed stranded at third. New Britain, however, came out swinging and did not stop. Well, except for their leadoff hitter, who flied to right. But then it was six straight hits (four singles [including a bunt single], a double, and a triple) before a walk and an RBI ground-out. Batting around, the leadoff hitter made two outs of the inning, striking out, but with the Bees perched on a 6-0 lead after one. Sugar Land got a runner on an error and a single and nothing else in the top of second, while the Bees cooled down with a lone single in the bottom of the inning. The Skeeters went in order in the third, while New Britain stranded a two-out double in their half.

Sugar Land got on the board in the top of the fourth, turning three singles and a double into two runs to close it to 6-2, while the Bees finally went in order. The Skeeters returned the favor in the top of the fifth, while New Britain got a one-out homer to left in the bottom of the frame to open the lead up to 7-2. Sugar Land got a double in the top of the sixth, while the Bees did them one better with a double and a walk. Neither scored.

The Skeeters stranded a walk and single in the top of the seventh, while New Britain just managed a walk. Sugar Land did the same in the top of the eighth, but the Bees had a leadoff homer to deep left-center in the top of the eighth to extend the lead to 8-2. The Skeeters gave it a go in the top of the ninth with a one-out rally. A double was followed by a walk and then another double top close it to 8-3 with second and third and only one out, but the Bees' closer got two fly outs to right to end the game with an 8-3 victory for New Britain.


The Scorecard:

Skeeters vs. Bees, 05/26/18. Bees win, 8-3.

This was kind of a first for me. The scorecard was free, such as it was, but the scorecard didn't include a scorecard. It was a cardstock tri-fold, but it was all ads for the team and sponsors. It was sort of an "assemble your own" deal, as there were printouts next to the cover with an actual scorecard, starting lineups, rosters, and statistics for both teams. You could store all these in the "scorecard," and it provided a stable platform on which to score, but the scorecard wasn't a scorecard.

The print scorecard was a Scoremaster variant, with boxes to record balls and strikes in the top left of each scoring box, along with a pre-printed diamond. It included an ongoing line score at the bottom, and comprehensive inning totals. There was space for replacements, and although slightly cramped, it was easy enough to score a game on it.

There weren't any especially interesting scoring plays per-se, but there were a bunch of odd things in the game. Firstly, the Sugar Land pitcher who gave up 6 runs and let the Bees bat around in the first inning stayed in the game until the sixth inning. I have to imagine it had something to do with pitching staff situations. Or maybe Skip wanted him to get the opportunity to bring down his ERA. Who knows? Also, the Skeeters did a switch-up of players in the second inning. I'm not sure if it was an injury or not, but it wasn't announced. A new second baseman came in and the current second baseman went out to left field.


The Accommodations:
Sweet home, Jersey City

Click here to see all the pictures from this trip.

2018 Stand-Alone

New Britain

On a Lovely Day for Some Baseball

New Britain Stadium, 2012

Saturday, August 4, 2012

Altoona Curve (Pittsburgh Pirates) vs.
New Britain Rock Cats (Minnesota Twins)
New Britain Stadium
Eastern League (AA)
7:05 PM


Outside the Game:
It had been nearly a month to the day that I got home from Korea. Since starting these international trips, July has become a "recovery period," where I process everything from the trips (pictures, blogs, etc) and just get back to normal in living in America again. August, subsequently, has been when I realize how little time is really left in the baseball season and I get out on the road again.

Almost completely from the ether, I decided to finish seeing all the pro teams in New Jersey last year. As these things often do, I extended this out to try for all the teams in Connecticut and Rhode Island this August. There are only a grand total of four, although some of them are pushing 3.5-4 hours from my house, making day trips out on the weekend less likely, especially night games.

The way the gods of scheduling had it, the first one I could go see was one of the further out. New Britain, CT, is about 2.5-3 hours as the crow flies from Hoboken, but it seemed doable enough for a day trip out for a night game on a Saturday. I generally am bumming around anyway, and it is not like I have to get up early on Sunday.

After an abortive attempt to go into Connecticut in June (and the short version was after chancing a city crossing, a parade stopped me dead and sent me home), I decided to go the safer "up and over" route via the Palisades Parkway and the Tapen Zee Bridge.

I game myself plenty of time by leaving at 1:30, and off I rode. Outside of hitting a little bit of congestion at the bridge toll and due to an accident on 84 in Connecticut, the ride up was pleasantly uneventful. Even with stopping off for gas and lunch, I got to the stadium about two and half hours before the start of the game. I was able to get parked before they even set up the parking lot (which got me out of paying for parking), and I was the first one at the window to buy a ticket (though three other families showed up right after me). There was plenty of time for pre-game wandering about and the like.

After the game, most of the people in attendance were going back to their cars to get the gear for the Scout sleepover that night. There was no traffic at all getting out, and I was heading back to 84 in the other direction in no time, which was good given that I didn't get out until after 10:30.

Finally the West Coast swing by the Mets was working for me, as I was able to listen to the second half of the Mets-Padres game on the way home. I didn't make any stops, and outside of the TomTom trying to take me back into New York to take the West Side Highway down to the Lincoln Tunnel (because somehow that would be faster than the Palisades, in its mind), I had an uneventful ride home, the Mets won, and I managed to drag myself to bed a little after 1 AM.


The Stadium & Fans:

Home plate to center field, New Britain Stadium

The curiously uncorporatized New Britain Stadium lies at a particularly fortuitous crossroads: it is equidistant from Yankee Stadium and Fenway Park, making it a go-to destination for people in the area looking to see some baseball. This was my first game after Korea, and it was a continuation of that experience in a couple of ways. Firstly, the ballpark was located in a larger complex of stadiums. Secondly, it was largely wedged-in as well. Around the outside of the left field, there was a tiny path that let you get all the way around the stadium.

But that's where the similarities ended. This was very much a minor league American park. It was a nifty little design, and for the most part symmetrical. There were two rows of seats that only extended out the beginnings of the outfield. Each seating area ended with a special section (the events picnic area and kid's playground on the left field end, and the Comcast Patio on the right field side). Each area at the top of the park behind the bases had their own special area, as well (the MVP Seats on the third base side and the All-Star Terrace on the first base side). Even the "luxury" boxes behind home plate were symmetrical around the press box, with the Heineken Suites on the first base side and the Advance Copy Suite on the third base side. Two opposing stairwells led up to the seating areas on both sides of the field.

The interior of the stadium was one horseshoe around the stadium. At the main gate was the fan service desk and other booths. Concessions stretched down the first base hallway, and in addition to the concessions on the third base side was also the large team store. Right by the store and behind a bank of condiments were the placards for the "New Britain Sports Hall of Fame."

Beehive Field

The real gem was next door. "Beehive Field" was a nearly completely wooden park that was the former home of Rock Cats, and their earlier incarnation as a Red Sox minor league franchise. They left for the less green pastures next door in the mid-90s, but the town fathers had the wisdom to leave the old park standing. I can understand how minor league personnel must have hated Beehive Field, with its rudimentary facilities, but it was just everything an old park should be. Sadly, it seemed to be under repair during my visit, as large parts of the structure had warning signs on it, but it was still touted as hosting the New Britain high school team and other organized amateur ball. It makes me happier that old parks like this are still in existence.

Back at the new stadium, they got a pretty big crowd for the game that night. It was Scout Night, and registered scouts were going to do a sleepover in the outfield after the game that night. Though the scouts and families were perhaps a quarter of the crowd, the rest were families and baseball fanatics out to see a game. What was notable was that for a minor-league game, there were a lot less of the between-inning shenanigans than normal, as usually at this level of ball the between-innings periods are chock full of musical chairs, and spin races, and the like. Not to say that there weren't any, but just a lot less than I was expecting. This night was also a tribute to 30 years of pro baseball in New Britain, so there were a number of video presentations on that milestone as well, perhaps replacing some of the games.

Surprising

It was another case of a predictably named mascot, however. The New Britain Rock Cats had a rock cat as a mascot. You know what? Just based on that, guess the rock cat's name. Correct, it was Rocky.


At the Game with Oogie:

Chicken fingers and water

I arrived plenty early at the park that day, predating the parking guys to the point where I got free parking for my promptness, or at least, that is the theory I'm going with. (I did ask about buying a parking ticket after the ropes went up, and I got a shrug of complete ambivalence from the teen on duty.) As per usual for minor and indie games, I sprung for the "expensive" seats behind the home dugout, to the tune of $15.

With a lot of time to kill, I ended up doing the full circuit of both New Britain Stadium, and their previous home next door, the Beehive. I get the impression that not a lot of people walk around the back of the stadium, as it is just a grass field backed by some woods and the high school, but I was surprised to find someone else out behind center field with his mitt. We both were made extremely sheepish by being found by other human beings, and it seemed clear that we had to talk to each other. I figured he was out there shagging any balls that cleared the stadium during batting practice, and god only knows what he thought of me.

"Doing some fielding practice for BP?"
"Cheap way to get a suntan."

And we both smiled and wished the other person would go away, as I did passing around to the other side of the stadium in my circuit.

After doing my normal walkabout the stadium, I grabbed some chicken fingers and fries and had some dinner at a stand-up table by the left field entrance. My seat was right at the end of the dugout, in front of an indented area where the grounds crew apparently kept all their rakes and such. Either way, it let me stretch out my legs after the long drive up, and it was welcome.

There were tons of families around me at the start of the game. As it got later and later into the night, especially with the long game, the families eventually petered away, and kids made their way into free seat upgrades to try and get balls out of the home players on the way back to the dugout. Some later arrivals weren't as lucky, but the kids that were already there shared their bounty with them. It was straight up one of the nicest things I'd have ever witnessed. One of the kid's dads caught me scoring and we talked about it for a while.

Before the family exodus, when the rock cat mascot came out for the first time, the kids of the family in the row behind me took notice. Their approximately six-year old daughter said this, word for word: "My goodness, that is a big kitty. I must hug it." I wasn't quite sure what to do with that. She eventually went over to get his autograph, and presumably a hug. I wish her well.

The stadium seemed to be facing dead north, because the sun was absolutely pounding down on the first base side as it started to set. Usually teams will align their field so that the blinding sun will fall on their opponent's dugout, but for whatever reason, the sun was right in our faces until it mercifully set behind the trees on this sweltering August evening. I've never been happier to see the lights come on before.


The Game:

First pitch, Curve vs. Rock Cats

With AA ball, you never quite know what you are going to get, except that there is going to be a big old dollop of slop worked in somewhere. Maybe there will be all hit, no pitch. Maybe it will be all pitch, no hit, but you can be sure there will be an error or two to get you through it.

The visiting Curve went down in order in the top of the first, but the Rock Cats got their lead-off hitter home after a single with a stolen base (that got my section $8 off an oil change), and error on the first baseman, and a wild pitch, while the rest of team went in order, leaving it a 1-0 Rock Cats lead at the end of one.

The Curve lead off the second with a single, and then a walk made it two on with no outs, which is never good if you're pitching. After a strike out, the Rock Cats gave up another single to load the bases, and then things got bizarre. The next batter up grounded one slowly to short, who went for and got the sure out at first. The runner from third scored, but the runner going from first to second either thought it was a double play, or forgot how many outs their were, because he made for the dugout. The first baseman fired back to the shortstop who tagged him out, for a simple 6-3-6t double play to end the inning. I would not want to be that runner going back to an angry manager after that level of bonehead play. But the Rock Cats went in order, leaving it tied at the end of two.

In the top of the third, the Curve got a lead-off walk thrown out on a steal attempt and nothing else. The Rock Cat's lead-off runner got to first on a shortstop error, moved over after a sacrifice bunt back to the pitch was successful enough for an infield single, and then a ground out to short left it first and third with one out. Another single brought home the run, but a double play ended the third with the Rock Cats up 2-1.

A potent mix of a single, a walk, and an error brought in a run with no outs for the Curve in the fourth. A sacrifice fly brought another in, but they could do no better, taking back the lead at 3-2. The Rock Cats started off their half with back-to-back singles, but could do nothing with it. In the fifth, the Curve scattered a single and a walk to no effect, but the Rock Cats started the sixth with a line drive homer to left to tie it at 3. The bases got loaded with back-to-back singles and another E6 before a sac fly brought in another run. But they got nothing more, regaining a slim 4-3 lead.

The Curve went in order in the sixth (thanks in part to a superman catch by the Rock Cat's center fielder), while the Rock Cats rudely greeted a new Curve pitcher. A lead-off walk was followed by a single, and a wild pitch moved them both over. A one-out single brought them in, but a hit batsman and single got them nothing more before the end of the inning, with the Rock Cats having some breathing room at 6-3.

The seemingly deflated Curve went in order in the seventh, but the Rock Cats turned a hit batsman and three more singles into two more runs, opening it up to 8-3. The Curve only managed a single and walk that went nowhere in the eighth, and the Rock Cats coasted to the ninth with a walk to show for their half of the eighth.

Then things got interesting. A new Rock Cats pitcher promptly gave up a single, a double, and another single to chip off one run of the lead. A sacrifice fly brought in another. After getting a fly out to right, it looked like the pitcher would be able to finish it off, but he got pulled before he had the chance. The new pitcher then gave up two more singles, to make the score an uncomfortable 8-6, with runners on first and third with two out. The go-ahead run came to plate, and struck out looking, giving the pitcher a save, and the Rock Cats the far too close 8-6 victory.


The Scorecard:

Curve vs. Rock Cats, 08/04/12. Rock Cats win, 8-6.

For the first time since Washington, PA, I had a new score card to explore. The score card was part of the $3 program, and was just a separate double-sided copy of what looked to be an official scorer sheet. The xerox was also a little off, and some of the column headers on the left were cut off because of it. Certainly not the worst scorecard I've gotten at a minor league park, but certainly interesting.

The reason I surmise it was an official scorer sheet is because it had a section up top to prove out your card (which involves adding up at bats, walks, sacrifices, and hit by pitches and comparing it to the total for runs, left on bases, and put outs to see if they add up), as well as a tracking for every pitch outcome or throw to a base, as well as a section for pitch counts. Even after Pittsburgh, this was the most involved scorecard I have ever had to fill out, but even though it was labor-intensive, I had a lot of fun with it. The layout made substitutions very easy to handle, and I have to say how much I like the pitch count tracking system they had in place, which I'd never seen before. If the at-bat goes for more than ten pitches or throws to bases, however, you are going to run into big problems. Also, the score sheet only took into account nine innings, so if your games goes to extra innings, or a team bats around on you, you are also going to have some rather serious difficulties.

Scoring-wise, there were some doosies. I think if I live to be a hundred, I will never have to repeat the DP 6-3-6t double-play from the second inning ever again, and the 5U-5-2 DP in the sixth was also a rare one.

Tracking pitches also lets to ferret out some really weird patterns that you otherwise would have missed. In the forth, for example, the first three batters started with a ball and then put the second pitch into play. The next two after that head nearly identical "BBTBH" lines (ball, ball, taken strike, ball, in play), except that the pitcher walked the second guy. Not mind-changing insights by any stretch, but still fairly interesting.


The Accommodations:
After a long, late drive after a long game, Hoboken.

Click here to see all the photos from this trip.

2012 Stand-Alone Trip