Tim Restall, the General Manager of the Hartford Yard Goats, has been named the Eastern League Executive of the Year for 2017. The 2017 season was his second as the General Manager of the Yard Goats. Restall will be presented with the award at the Baseball Winter Meetings in Orlando, Florida during the Opening Session on Monday, December 11.
The work for Tim and the rest of the Yard Goats staff came long before opening day, as the organization spent more than two years overseeing the opening of Dunkin’ Donuts Park, their brand new stadium in downtown Hartford. Restall’s leadership helped the Yard Goats to have a wildly successful inaugural season at Dunkin’ Donuts Park. The Yard Goats welcomed a total of 395,196 fans through the turnstiles at Dunkin’ Donuts Park in 2017, which was the second highest total in the Eastern League. They also ranked third in the league in average attendance, with 5,812 fans per game coming out to the ballpark. The team welcomed sellout crowds to 41 of their 68 home games during the season, including selling out 26 of their final 31 home games.
One of the reasons for the strong support of the Yard Goats at their ballpark was the way the organization got involved within the community in Hartford. That included a community outreach effort to the significant Latino population in the city of Hartford that included broadcasting all home games in both English and Spanish while also distributing marketing materials such as pocket schedules and posters in both languages.
With the presentation of this award the Eastern League would also like to recognize the outstanding performance this season by the entire Hartford Yard Goats staff.
“Tim and the rest of the staff in Hartford did a tremendous job in meeting the challenges that came with the opening of Dunkin’ Donuts Park,” said Eastern League President Joe McEacharn. “The hard work of Tim and the rest of the Yard Goats staff was on full display throughout the season as the team created an exciting, fun atmosphere that kept fans coming out to the ballpark night in and night out. That hard work was not only on display at the ballpark, but also throughout the city of Hartford as members of the organization were out working in their community to give back to their fans.”
Restall, who is a native of Raymond, New Hampshire and attended New Hampshire College and UNH Manchester, is an 18-year veteran of the baseball industry. Tim became the General Manager of the New Britain Rock Cats in 2013 and has remained in that role through the organizations relocation to Hartford. He started his baseball career working as the Food and Beverage Manager for the West Michigan White Caps from 2000-2003 and followed that up by joining the New Hampshire Fisher Cats for their inaugural season in 2004. Restall then worked as the General Manager for Centerplate from 2005-2007 before returning to the Fisher Cats as the Vice President of Business Operations in 2008.