A cultural shift in New Britain’s final baseball season

New Britain Stadium, home of the Rock Cats. For now.Globe File

COMMENTARY

This story is the third in a summer series on New England minor league ballparks.

NEW BRITAIN, Conn. — I’m sitting at the counter at the Cracovia Restaurant, soaking up a breakfast that would have made my late, Polish grandmother proud.

This seemed the wrong place to order a bowl of bran flakes, even if any semblance of a healthy meal appeared on the restaurant’s morning menu, highlighted by the option I choose of of two eggs, kielbasa, and potato pancakes, all for $5.50 (including coffee and a basket of toast and marmalade) and the sneaking suspicion I should be at the gym for a little longer later that afternoon.

If driving into Polish-heavy downtown New Britain gives off the sort of cultural transformation one might feel amongst the French in Montreal or the Portuguese in Fall River, then walking into the Cracovia is like entering someone’s kitchen. A gruff waitress of few words greets me at the laminate counter, with a selection of Polish newspapers scattered about it, and takes my order, with images of Our Lady of Czestochowa and Pope John Paul II watching me from the wall next to the register. You can choose from an English or a Polish version of the menu here, of course, and come back later in the day for the veal liver sautéed onions ($10) or the fried pork ribs ($13.95).

Down the road at the Polmart, just past the Zieleniak A. Green Grocer, and billed as the “the largest reseller of Polish products on the east coast of the United States,’’ purveyors of Polish food will find more than a dozen versions of kielbasa (who knew?) and other sausages, as well as a variety of pierogis in a deli case (mushroom, kraut and mushroom, potato and cheese) that would make Mrs. T shake in her poser Czapka. This area of “Little Poland,’’ in what it sometimes referred to as “New Britski,’’ boasts the largest Polish population of any city in Connecticut, and New England, for that matter, a fact hardly surprising with a stroll down Broad Street, where the Kasia Bakery, Rutkowski True Value Hardware, and the Polish Falcon Nest 88 all reside.

A heart-stopping breakfast at the Cracovia.Eric Wilbur

Of course, it’s not the only heritage that New Britain is known for among New Englanders. For almost 20 years, it was also home to the New Britain Red Sox, the Double-A affiliate for the major league team just a short trip up 84 and the Mass Pike. The list of players that passed through New Britain is like a who’s who for a generation of baseball fans: Jeff Bagwell, Ellis Burks, Mo Vaughn, Roger Clemens, Brady Anderson, Steve Lyons, John Valentin, Curt Schilling, Jody Reed, and Jeff Sellers and Bob Zupcic to boot.

The Red Sox left in 1994, just as the Minnesota Twins did last year, and just as the Colorado Rockies may one day as well. But nothing pains New Britain to the point of the most recent news that it will be losing its beloved minor league franchise to Hartford, of all places, where the current Rock Cats will be known as the “Hartford Yard Goats,’’ and play in a a city-financed $56 million stadium.

The Yard Goats. Hartford?

“This is an ideal location,’’ team owner Josh Solomon said of New Britain Stadium, current home to the New Britain Rock Cats, when he purchased the team in 2012. “We’re absolutely committed to New Britain.’’

Whoops.

“I think a lot of people in the city are upset,’’ said Matt Straub, sports editor for the New Britain Herald and the local newspaper’s main Rock Cats beat writer. “When we were doing the reporting on the move itself, it was probably the most emails I’ve gotten on any story I’ve done. People are frustrated.

“The team has tried very hard to remind you that they’re only 11 miles down the road, but it’s a haul of highways and everything. So, it does feel like to the people of New Britain like it’s a big move.’’

Eleven miles. In the traffic-congested New Britain-Hartford area, it never felt so far.

Beehive Field, former home of the New Britain Red Sox.Globe File

Beehive Field, where the New Britain Red Sox played for nearly two decades, wasn’t exactly a hitter’s paradise.

“You know,’’ Gerry Berthiaume, the then-BritSox general manager, told the Globe’s Michael Madden in 1994, “the Red Sox never let Mike Greenwell and Phil Plantier play here. They were sent right up to Pawtucket without stopping here. Maybe the Red Sox were afraid of what [Beehive’s reputation] might do to their confidence.’’

As Madden pointed out, “[Greg] Blosser, once a Red Sox slugger-to-be, hit 17 homers in his year at New Britain, but only two at Beehive. Vaughn started his professional career at New Britain in 1989 and hit only eight homers. Burks, considered by many to be New Britain’s greatest slugger, spent 1985 and 1986 at Beehive and hit the grand total of 24 homers over two years, with most of them on the road. Bagwell, the National League’s new slugger, hit about .330 at New Britain but connected for only two homers. Valentin hit two home runs over two seasons for New Britain, which — it should be added — was the scene of the demise of another Red Sox slugger-to-be, Jeff Ledbetter. ‘Beehive finished him,’ said Berthiaume.

It was 21 years ago now that the parent club, led by general manager Dan Duquette, a native of Western Mass., urged longtime owner Joe Buzas to move the team to Springfield so that it would be closer to its fan base in Boston. But Buzas refused the club’s request, choosing to remain in New Britain. Later that year, the Red Sox signed a Double-A affiliation deal with Trenton, N.J., which is, in distance, as close to Boston as New Britain is to Baltimore.

It wasn’t until 2003 that the Red Sox would get their Double-A farm team back within a more reasonable driving distance, signing a deal with the Portland Sea Dogs, but Connecticut didn’t wait long to get an affiliation. In 1995, Buzas, who also owned the Salt Lake Buzz, Triple-A team for the Minnesota Twins, signed an agreement with the Twins to host their Double-A franchise, to be known as the “Hardware City Rock Cats,’’ soon to become known as the present-day “New Britain Rock Cats.’’

An Altoona batter waits on deck.Eric Wilbur

That name, is of course, changing soon as well. The Twins ended their affiliation with the team last year, and 2015 brought the dawn of the Colorado Rockies in New Britain. They’re still known as the Rock Cats, but not for long.

In fairness, Yard Goats, chosen as the new nickname for the Rock Cats beginning next season, might have been the best of the bunch. The other choices to re-name the team upon its move to Hartford: Hedgehogs, Praying Mantis, River Hogs and Whirlybirds.

There’s only so many insurance nicknames to go around, I suppose.

To add insult to the whole ordeal, the name was submitted by a native of New Jersey. A 1998 graduate of the University of Connecticut, Anthony Castora was awarded a pair of season tickets for winning the honor of his naming rights, but will donate them to charity since he lives in…you know, New Jersey.

The move, like the one the new owners aspire to in Pawtucket, is aimed to cater to business clientele, with bars and restaurants popping up around the new stadium (Dunkin’ Donuts has already secured the naming rights), slated to open in 2016. Those are ancillary outlets the current stadium doesn’t enjoy in its immediate radius.

Beehive still stands today, as a high school outlet for baseball, right next door to New Britain Stadium, where the 44-45 Rock Cats play their final season.

It’s a cultural shift that New Britain wasn’t prepared for, and probably doesn’t deserve.

“It’s going to be different, and I don’t think there’s too much way around that,’’ Straub said.

A variety of kielbasa at New Britain’s Polmart.Eric Wilbur

***

“The clock wasn’t even up when they were f***** up,’’ bellows the voice from the visiting dugout at New Britain Stadium, where an angry coach of the Altoona Curve isn’t pleased with the sudden malfunction of the park’s pitch clock. “S***.’’

It’s matinee day at the stadium, on a morning in late May, which means school groups have packed the 19-year-old park, with the skies hinting rain, and group counselors making similar threats if the boisterous kids don’t get a grip. It’s 80 degrees out, but the Altoona pitching coach is proudly wearing his Pittsburgh Pirates jacket, perhaps a personal signal that he either doesn’t plan to be here for long, or is a bit delusional about his place in the affiliate’s organization.

I’m sitting just by the dugout, right in front of fan who’s shifting his conversations between global warming and hydraulic systems, watching a Rock Cats team that, to this point during the season, are a gaudy 29-16, and seemingly providing New Britain with one, final season of memorable minor league baseball.

Baseball in New Britain, Conn. (Story continues after gallery)

[bdc-gallery id=”118276″]

A few of the guys have already moved on. Yohan Flande, who was 5-0 with a 1.36 ERA for the Rock Cats in 2015 has posted a 4.73 ERA in five appearances with the parent club Rockies. Shortstop Trevor Story, who hit .281 with 10 home runs for New Britain, has been with the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes for nine games now, already hitting a pair of homers. Top Rock Cats starters Ryan Carpenter (5-9, 3.82 ERA), Matt Flemer (4-5, 3.00), and Shane Carle (9-5, 3.57) remain.

It’s Bryan Evans who makes the start for New Britain on this day though, allowing five hits and three runs over five innings in the Rock Cats’ 9-5 win over Altoona. The victory ran Evans’ record to 2-0, but he’s won only twice since (last on June 20). The win also comes with its consequences, as outfielder David Dahl, a first-round draft pick of the Rockies in 2012, suffered a lacerated spleen during a collision with his teammates. That sort of seems to be the theme for the Rock Cats these days.

Since late-May, the Rock Cats have gone only 15-29, a nosedive that has them lingering in fourth place — but not exactly challenging the hapless, 32-59 Sea Dogs for last place — in the Eastern League’s Eastern Division.

If that’s reflective on the way the city has taken to the new affiliation, which will only be around for a lone season, then perhaps that’s not fair. But something is at play in the air here.

Perhaps it’s the new ownership, but New Britain Stadium has seemingly decayed in the past decade since I last visited, proudly touting it as one of New England’s premier ballparks. Today, the place looks and feels tired. Defeated.

Or maybe it’s just the “front row’’ seats I purchased that have conveniently faded the memories:

Eric Wilbur

The main issue with the stadium, according to Straub, is poor draining. Current Red Sox outfielder Jackie Bradley, Jr. suffered an ankle injury here in 2012 while with the Sea Dogs after he slipped trying to get back to second base. Just this past week, the team had to postpone a game against the New Hampshire Fisher Cats because of issues with the irrigation system, which flooded the field.

“They’ve had a lot of issues with maintaining the field and it’s below standard in that regard,’’ Straub said. “When the Minnesota Twins ended their affiliation with the Rock Cats last year, one of the things they talked about was the quality of the field wasn’t where they wanted it to be.’’

The other issue? “It doesn’t have a lot in terms of luxury boxes or any special amenities,’’ Straub said, “but it’s a nice place to watch a game.’’

***

Hartford, of course, should know better. Hartford does know better.

This is a city that has been the dumping grounds for some of the region’s most infamous handshakes and back door deals eventually leaving the city as the bridesmaid at the altar to irrelevance. New England Patriots owner Bob Kraft toyed with Hartford, which planned to move the team to Adrian’s Landing, where the Krafts would finally get the new stadium built that the state of Massachusetts refused to finance on a plot of land in South Boston. We all know how that worked out.

In 1997, Peter Karmanos Jr. moved the beloved Hartford Whalers from the city, bringing the NHL entry to Carolina, where the team would kick Hartford in the groin even more by winning the franchise’s first Stanley Cup in 2006. To this day, the team’s theme song, “Brass Bonanza,’’ remains a Connecticut staple, and Whaler jerseys are a common sight throughout New England.

It’s no coincidence then that the Yard Goats have taken some semblance of inspiration from their athletic forefathers in the city in announcing their team colors this month, with “colors that pay tribute to Hartford Sports History,’’ in particular, the familiar green, white, and blue of the Hartford Whalers.

Some heritages never die.

“People around here will buy anything that says the word, ‘Whalers,’ Straub said. “The merchandise is going to do well. The question is will people go and drive into Hartford to see the stadium and the team actually play.’’

Maybe it’s yet to come, but Straub said one of the most prominent criticisms of the move was that there was no ‘Thank you’’ to New Britain. It’s been all Hartford, moving forward.

“People felt left out because of the history they’ve had here,’’ he said. “The team’s been here for 30 years.’’

Red Sox. Twins. Rockies. Rock Cats.

Soon, from culturally-heavy New Britain to bland Hartford, the Yard Goats.

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