Welcome back for my continuing series of attending Hartford Yard Goats games this season. Sort of unintentional but I’m rolling with it. Game #1 of the year was a few weeks ago with just Josh and myself. This game we were going with my parents and family friends.

The game started at 6:10 p.m., and Josh and I were meeting the rest of our group there. We got to the stadium around 5:00 p.m. Thankfully parking is $5 and a block or so away from the stadium, so we usually don’t worry about not getting a spot.

Our first stop was the team store. After going to games for the past five years, I finally wanted to buy a hat. I got a dark blue adjustable baseball hat with the goat logo on the front, and after purchasing it, I ripped the tag off the top so I could wear it at the game.

We headed over to our seats, which were a section to the right of where we sat at the last game. My parents and our family friends were already sitting in our row. When I was younger, we—my parents, myself, and the family friends—would go to New Britain Rock Cats games over the summer. The Rock Cats were the double AA affiliate of the Minnesota Twins and were re-named when they moved to Hartford in 2016, becoming the Yard Goats. This was our first game as a group—well, plus Josh—and was a fun tradition to start again.

Our usual selfie at the game! This time, featuring my sunburn from Thursday’s trip to the beach.

It was Hartford Whaler’s Alumni Weekend, the Yard Goats way of honoring the NHL team that used to play in Hartford from 1979 to 1997; the team is now the Carolina Hurricanes. (The Yard Goats colors of blue and green are a nod to the Whalers colors.) Prior to the game, there were Whalers alumni signing stuff out on the main concourse, and the team wore jerseys that looked like hockey sweaters. The stadium was pretty packed, and when I looked up the recap for the game, I guess it was actually the largest sell-out crowd in Dunkin’ Park history—7,556.

The Yard Goats were playing the Somerset Patriots, the Yankees affiliate. We were sitting on the first base side—because of where the sun sets—which also happened to be the visitor’s side, so we were among many Yankees fans. Josh got confused a few times and clapped when the other people clapped—for the other team.

By the fifth inning, the score was 7–3 Patriots, and Josh kept saying that we saw a comeback and win at the last game, so he still had faith in the Yard Goats. Two Yard Goats hit home runs, and they played the Whalers song. Unfortunately, the final score was 9–3 Patriots, and we had to miss the fireworks because we had to leave after 9:00-ish since Josh had to go to bed for work. (But as my dad would say, the fireworks aren’t as good as the ones we saw at Pawtucket Red Sox games years ago.)

Other things to note:

• When my dad was trying to get out of our aisle, he managed to knock Josh’s beer over out of the cup holder, so we won’t let him live that down for a while.
• Josh and I had a miscommunication when it came to ordering food on our second round, and we ended up with two trays of chicken tenders and fries.
• Seriously, how do I go about stealing one of those tiny goats?
• Josh has been ready from the first game we went to for the kiss cam. We haven’t been picked yet, but they got close during this game by showing the couples a few rows in front of us.

Our final game of the season will be on August 19 with the same crew as over the weekend. Will we be 3-3 in getting Bear’s BBQ? We’ll have to wait and see.