Baseball Review //
New Haven Sandlot Summer Invitational
August 2nd, 2025
Amrhyn Park, New Haven CT
(Cider League)
Additional photos from this game can be found in an album on Facebook here :::
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1824879594908920&type=3
As the summer twilight leagues begin to get into their playoffs it can feel like a serious and almost anxiety-inducing time of year. Luckily the Cider League has assembled five different teams to come to New Haven to take part in what is called the New Haven Sandlot Summer Invitational. When you think about sandlot baseball being the idea of getting people together in your neighborhood to play baseball for fun, it's kind of neat to think about how people have taken that idea in Connecticut but also other states and this brings them all together.
For instance the West Philly Waste traveled all the way to CT from PA to take on the Hartford Dark Twains and then the New Haven Bat and Ball Society. There was also a single player who came from the New Hampshire Newts and managed to play in the first and third game while umpiring the second one. It's just that idea of if you show up and you want to play, they'll find a place for you. (The Newts also come to CT as a full team August 23rd and 24th)
One of the big differences I noticed in these games as opposed to other leagues that are not sandlot is that the vibe is just more mellow. When you go to a different type of game (and I won't name any names here because this applies to so many people I've seen play) you might see a player break their bat over their leg. You might see a player slam their batting helmet against the dugout after striking out. You might even see two players on opposing teams yell to where you feel like a fight might break out.
In the Cider League though, all of that hostility and frustration just isn't there. There was one play where a player attempted to make a very tough catch in foul territory and came up just a little bit short. Everyone from both teams though still applauded and cheered at the effort. This is how I often feel about baseball. I don't want to feel like the two teams are enemies. If you're there to root root root for the home team but the visiting team makes a great play, you should be allowed to stand up and cheer.
The third game of the day was between the Elm City Char (who are from New Haven and I was seeing them for the first time) and the Albany River Frogs. This was another fine example of a team coming all the way from another state just to play the game. Both teams were short on players, so we saw NHVBBS player vs NHVBBS player, a Newt filling in and even a member of the Waste played for a third time.
This really felt like what sandlot baseball is and just baseball in general, trying to find enough people to play but also that means that when you have a team it becomes a team of people who want to play. Having people come out from four different states to play is also quite the sight as there are players who don't like to travel more than a half hour within state (and trust me, even as a spectator I sometimes don't want to drive 45 minutes to a game) But as I feel as if I'm watching baseball for the love of the game, so are all these players out there playing for love of the game.
Find more about all of these teams on the Cider League Instagram here :::
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