With delays to the opening of Dunkin’ Donuts Park ongoing, the Hartford Yard Goats (Class AA; Eastern League) will now play two series at NYSEG Stadium, home of the Binghamton Mets. The Eastern League announced the changes today, affecting a total of seven games.
From July 4-7, the Yard Goats will play as the home team in a four-game series against the Mets. Starting on July 8, the Yard Goats will host the Portland Sea Dogs in a play a three-game, two-day set. As a result of these changes, a series that was originally scheduled to conclude on July 10 will now finish a day early, when the two teams square off in a doubleheader.
This is the latest round of changes following the Hartford Stadium Authority‘s decision on Monday to terminate its contract with ballpark developer Centerplan Cos. and DoNo, LLC. Within a matter of days, the Eastern League officially confirmed that the Yard Goats’ two remaining home series in June would be relocated, with the first going to Northeast Delta Dental Stadium, home of the New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Class AA; Eastern League) and the other moved to Norwich’s Dodd Stadium.
At this point, no firm timeline has been established as to when Dunkin’ Donuts Park will finally be ready for occupancy. The cancellation of the contract with the developer, combined with a previous decision by the authority to call on a performance bond from Arch Insurance, has left the project at a standstill.
Looking ahead, the next home series that is left hanging in the balance is a three-game set against the Altoona Curve that is to begin on July 18. Once that concludes, the Yard Goats will not play as the home team again until July 28, when they are to start a four-game series against the Harrisburg Senators.
With the timeline for Dunkin’ Donuts Park still uncertain, it is possible, if not likely, that the league will be making more schedule changes over the coming weeks.