All Things Bubba

They are rebuilding PNC Field next year. The playing surface itself is fairly new, and will remain, but the rest of the ballpark will be more or less replaced. The new PNC will have a full concourse and berm seating, among other things.

But that means the SWB Yankees have to find somewhere else to play next year. They asked the Mets if they could play their home games in Newark, but the Mets refused. (Both the Mets and the Yanks have veto rights when it comes to other affiliated teams moving into the NYC area.) The Yankees promised that they would not stay in Newark for more than one season, and then offered to let the Mets move any of their teams into the NYC area if they ever needed to, in perpetuity, but the Mets still said no.

So instead, the SWB Yankees are playing their games at various ballparks all over the northeast - the baseball equivalent of couchsurfing. The schedule and locations are here. "Home" games will be played at Frontier Field in Rochester, Dwyer Stadium in Batavia, New York, Alliance Bank Stadium in Syracuse, Coca-Cola Field in Buffalo, Coca-Cola Park in Allentown (Lehigh Valley), and McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.

That's gotta be rough for the players. Sure, they travel a lot anyway, but this means they'll have no home base. They'll be living out of hotel rooms all season.

The Louisville Bats come to Syracuse in early June, then play the SWB Yanks in nearby Rochester and Batavia. Not a great time of year for me (too close to Memorial Day), but I might try to go some of those games.