After a cancelled 2020 season and Major League Baseball's extensive retooling of the minor leagues, Thursday's arrival of a 2021 Hartford Yard Goats game schedule was received with great enthusiasm from fans, team executives and city officials.
The sixty-game home schedule opens at Dunkin' Donuts Park on May 11 vs. the Portland Sea Dogs.
It's unclear how many fans will be allowed to attend, but Mayor Luke Bronin of Hartford says it's good to know the return of wildly popular Yard Goats baseball is around the corner.
"It's about bringing those jobs back right here at the park," says Bronin, "It's also bringing those feet back on the street here in Hartford."
Under MLB's rearranged system, the layout of the schedule has changed. Travel is greatly reduced due to the pandemic, with teams playing six-game series in one city before moving on. The Yard Goats will play in the "Double-A Northeast," which replaces the now-defunct Eastern League.
Yard Goats team president Tim Restall says the road ahead is busy and uncertain, but his staff is ready to handle it: "I have done more pivoting in baseball in the last year... the thing about when you have sixty home games, if there's something that's not working on Game One, you can address it for Game Two."
Arrangements for ticket sales are TBA.
An all star game is not on the schedule. In 2019, the Yard Goats were awarded the 2021 Eastern League All-Star game, but that won't happen since that league no longer exists.