Oh, the places you'll want to go to but can't fit

A look back at some "missed connections" in 2025

With 2025 now over and 2026 underway, I figured I'd take one look back at it from the lens of what could have been: these are places/events I would have very much liked to go in 2025, but couldn’t fit in. I've been to all of these before, so they're not going to be part of my 26 in 26 plan I discussed yesterday, but I may still visit them this year (and do plan on going into more detail if I do).

There are other events I thought about going to last year that didn't happen, but they're potential 26 in 26 trips, so I'll hold off on discussing them until they either happen or we get to the end of this year without them happening.

WHITEHOUSE FIELD (HARWICH, MA) - HARWICH MARINERS

I can’t pin down exactly when the Mariners were founded, but they entered the 2025 Cape League season as defending champions (though they lost in the semis).

Whitehouse Field is in the woods next to a high school AND a community center (which means that it’s probably one of the easier parking situations). This is one of the few fields where merchandise is not sold from the press box (concessions are), as it has its merchandise in a stand on the first base side. The Mariners also have an online store, but I haven’t seen any game hats there recently...

I TRIED to come here after the Chatham game to scope their merchandise, but rain/thunderstorms ended the game before I could get here (it’s unlikely they would have been very accommodating of me when they’re trying to pack up).

NEW BRITAIN STADIUM (NEW BRITAIN, CT) - NEW BRITAIN BEES
MUZZY FIELD (BRISTOL, CT) - BRISTOL BLUES

This one’s a bit of a two-fer: while the two stadiums were opened MANY decades apart (Muzzy Field in 1914, New Britain Stadium in 1996), they share one thing in common: they both used to host the team that is now the Hartford Yard Goats.

Both teams were founded in 2015, with Bristol joining the summer collegiate Futures League and New Britain joining the independent Atlantic League (as a replacement for the Rock Cats who had just moved). In 2020, New Britain joined the Futures League, but before fans could experience the excitement that would have been the Bristol-New Britain rivalry, the Blues moved to the New England Collegiate Baseball League (the same year).

I wanted to do a double dip and visit both on the same Sunday, as the two stadiums are fairly close to each other (both being west of Hartford), the game times are decently separated (1:30 and 5:00), and I REALLY liked Muzzy Field when I visited a few years ago. However, it was always going to be complicated logistically, and the only day I could do it was the day after the MLW event, so it ended up having to be cut.

NOTE: While I could put other summer collegiate teams in here, these three were the only teams I had solid, concrete plans to visit (save for Harwich in some respects).

CLOVER STADIUM (POMONA, NY) - NEW YORK BOULDERS (FRONTIER LEAGUE)

I’m not sure what to say about the Boulders: they’ve been around since 2011, won a championship in 2014, and used to be on a super random television channel back in the day. Their stadium is probably one of my favorite independent league stadiums - mainly in that it’s far and away the newest one among the independent league stadiums I’ve been to (having been built in 2011). It’s got a fully walkable concourse, some fun things in the outfield, and even distance markers to get a sense of your walking/running speed!

The thing is, however, that I’ve been here a bunch of times before so when things started to get a little frantic for me, I didn’t feel quite as bad when I ended up having to cut this from my schedule (especially when you consider that there’s a parking fee).

SKYLANDS STADIUM (AUGUSTA, NJ) - SUSSEX COUNTY MINERS (FRONTIER LEAGUE)

Skylands Stadium has been around since the 90s; it originally hosted a New York-Penn League team, then an independent league team that folded before the current independent league team (i.e. the Miners) were established in 2015.

I kinda think that this is a cool stadium. Yes, it’s a hike to get to and it’s in the middle of basically nothing, but I like the aesthetic of the place plus parking is free. However, for the longest time, the highway leading to here had massive traffic issues due to a sinkhole. That situation has been resolved, and I did plan a somewhat last minute trip here, but it ended up getting shelved.

USTA BILLIE JEAN KING NATIONAL TENNIS CENTER (NEW YORK, NY) - US OPEN (FAN WEEK)

The US Open is one of the biggest tournaments of the tennis calendar. Every year in late August/early September, the tennis world descends on Queens, NY for the final Grand Slam event of the year.

I went to a day of the tournament back in 2014 with my family, but a lot has changed in the decade since then - namely, ticket prices being prohibitively expensive. However, there are events the week before the tournament starts, and they're open and free to the public.

I was strongly considering coming here for that (plus the fact it's next to Citi Field to check out the New York Mets team store), but had several things going on that week, so I ended up having to miss out.

ON DECK

The 26 in 26 will MOST LIKELY start next weekend, as I have "Stop 1" (and possibly 2) planned out in my head (heck, I almost went somewhere yesterday). However, there are a few "moving parts" to take into consideration (namely Northeast winter), so we'll see what happens.

Also, these teasers are probably going to be showing up a lot less/getting discontinued altogether, as a lot of times they're going to be a bit more "speculative" than I think they should be (though I do kinda like writing them...). Case in point: the fact that I almost changed Stop 1 to be yesterday...