Mark another important date on the calendar: Sunday, August 1, 2021—my first baseball game in two years. I was so excited to go and even more excited that I got to bring Josh—my boyfriend, yes, in case you’re new here—to his first ever Hartford Yard Goats game.

I bought us tickets a few weeks ago when we decided we wanted to go, and it was a 6:05 p.m. game, which worked out because I had work the next day in the office. Gates opened at 4:35 p.m. and we got there shortly after they opened. We took a lap around the stadium before getting food and beer: Bear’s BBQ and Ice Cream Man from Back East Brewing.

• 

• 

Our seats were behind the first base dugout, and we had two seats on the end of the aisle. I usually sit further down the first base line toward right field, so it was cool to be sitting closer to home plate.

The Yard Goats were playing the Binghamton Rumble Ponies, the New York Met’s double A affiliate. The starting pitcher for the Yard Goats was a knuckleballer because I said, “oh wow he pitches weird” and then looked at the pitch speed and it was about 65MPH. So unfortunately Josh got to sit through me explaining everything about knuckleballs and knuckleball pitchers. (He was a good sport about it.)

By the end of the first, the score was 5-2 Yard Goats after a grand slam gave them the lead. That ultimately led to the Rumble Ponies’s starter being pulled with 30+ pitches and just a third of an inning.

Josh was pretty quiet during the game, I think he was just taking it all in. I kept asking him if he had any questions throughout the game, and that’s how at one point I ended up explaining the numbers that correspond with each position and how to score the game. (Again, he was a good sport about it.)

Before we left for the game, the weather looked like it was going to be really nice, and for the most part, it was. It’s was warm and a bit cloudy but comfortable. About halfway through the game, it started to drizzle on and off, and at one point, it was raining sort of heavy. Where we were sitting, we were just past the overhang for the upper seats; we ended up moving a row back and we were able to stay dry. By that time, a lot of the people in the seats further down moved up to the concourse, but we were fine just a row back under the overhang.

The Yard Goats ended up losing 6-5, and it was a pretty good game. It ended after 9:30 p.m. and I was home around 10:00 p.m., which was good since I had to get up early for work the next day. Being back at a baseball stadium felt so normal and I really had a lot of fun, especially since I got to bring Josh to his first game. Plus I got a beer bat.