Baseball Review // Worcester Bravehearts 0, New Britain Bees 6 [7/2/20 // @ New Britain Stadium, New Britain, CT]

Official Recap here :::
http://nbbees.com/team/news/?article_id=1431 //

Additional Photos can be found here :::

https://www.facebook.com/pg/raisedbycassettes/photos/?tab=album&album_id=4117543151620561


The past few months have been an interesting time for baseball.  Some of the summer leagues around here have been canceled while others have just been delayed in starting.  When I found out that the New Britain Bees would be playing baseball, I asked my dad if he wanted to go too and I bought tickets.   Since last season, the New Britain Bees have made their way out of the Atlantic League and into the Futures League, which is where the Bristol Blues used to be (The Blues, however, have gone into the NECBL with the Danbury Westerners, though the NECBL has canceled their season this year)   The times we have seen the Bristol Blues, we have seen them play against the Worcester Bravehearts the most which also made this game feel somewhat special.

When we got to New Britain Stadium, we made our way in on one side but were not allowed to walk the opposite way.  We basically entered in the middle but I'm not going to use logic in this situation because the employee told us we had to go right and couldn't go left.  I asked how we would get into the pro shop and was told we'd have to walk all the way around in a complete circle and even though their idea was to control the flow of foot traffic (of which there was not a lot- it was worse waiting in line for food and drinks) I feel like it took more away from people actually going and buying merchandise.

Inside the stadium we saw what was one of the biggest crowds at New Britain Stadium in recent memory, certainly the biggest I've ever been a part of for the Bees.  For reference, New Britain Stadium holds roughly 6000 people and they were allowed to be at 25% capacity so roughly 1500 fans could have been there but if there were over 700 they'd be generous with their counting.  Still, a good crowd for the Bees.

We sat above the entrance way on the third base side and it was nice because there weren't a lot of people around us at any angle.  One of the things which has always kind of bothered me about bleacher seating- when there is no reserved seats purchased- is getting there early, getting a good spot and then someone coming in at the last minute and expecting us to slide over to make room for them.   Having a whole row, in some ways, to ourselves was nice and though it might not make sense for the Bees financially in the long run, I wouldn't be sad if it did continue for as long as possible.

The deal with this game was that we were to sit spaced out- which everyone did- and then also wear masks when we left our seats, which everyone did.  I did not see a single fan without their mask on when walking around and that was nice.   Tickets were also only $7 and parking was free, so it seems like a fun way to spend the night out if you want to see some college level baseball being played.

At one point, Quentin wanted to go get water so we left our seats.   We found Sting hanging out so we asked if we could take a photo with him.   There were red x's on the ground and Quentin was allowed to take a photo with Sting but they had to be six feet apart.   This was fun but later in the night I'd see people with Sting (when he came into the crowd) who weren't keeping as far away.

The game itself was fun because the Bees won 6-0.   There were a lot of times when runners would get onto base but they never seemed to get anywhere.  I feel like this was one of the games where I've seen the most runners left in scoring position.   There were a few errors- where someone would throw to first and it would be out of reach to catch- but overall, especially considering a lot of these players had limited time playing (if at all) during college this year, the game was pretty solid.

While I'm considering going back to New Britain Stadium this year, I also want to go to Worcester to see the Bravehearts and where they play.    Either way, there is baseball out there (without the MLB) and even the Bees took a cheap shot at the Yard Goats by saying they were the only game around.   I wonder how many fans will come to New Britain this season since they can't go to Hartford.