PawSox Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, FanFest, a great season and an upcoming Craft Beer and Food Truck fest

We had the chance to attend the PawSox Hall of Fame induction ceremony in July. They were honoring one of my all-time favorite players, Mo Vaughn as well as Coach “Walpole Joe” Morgan. The beautiful Sunday morning started with a VIP barbecue located in the "Shady Pines" area of the ballpark. We were treated to some great ballpark staples like hotdogs and hamburgers, as well as one of my favorite things at a PawSox barbecue: the pulled chicken. I don't know how they do it but it is so tender and tasty without having too much sauce.

We met and took pictures with Mo and Coach Morgan as well as had the chance to have them sign some baseballs we brought with us. This was such a great opportunity to take the family to and I STRONGLY recommend it as a nice present for any baseball-loving dad/husband in your life.

After the barbecue, we went to our seats which were any general admission seat in the house (any blue seat or anything in the outfield/berm). It was a warm day and the kids were a little anxious to move around so we were really happy that the annual Fan Fest festival of all of many team sponsors was the same day! It took place in the huge field next door and fans had the chance to get samples and try different foods from various vendors. My favorites were Dunkin Donuts (of course!), AAA and Hasbro, which had the Pie-face type games with a twist, one with a Toilet Splasher called Toilet Trouble, and another one that was like a personal dunk tank in a hat called the Dunk Hat game.

The season went on through August and the beginning of September with the last home game at the end of August where the PawSox inducted the final member of the 2017 Hall of Fame class, Carlton Fisk.

Stay tuned as the PawSox are hosting their first ever Food Truck and Craft Beer festival on Saturday September 16 from 6-10 pm at McCoy Stadium. For more information and to order tickets visit pawsox.com. Guys, this would be a great thing to take the boys to or the family to as well!

Check out the video in slow-motion... Always fun:

NOTE: I was provided with tickets to the BBQ and Hall of Fame game as well as tickets for the food truck fest in order to facilitate this article. All opinions, as always, are my own.

Superheroes, Princesses and tennis matches at the Connecticut Open, Finals take place today!

 

Wednesday at the Connecticut Open tennis tournament was Super Hero and Princesses day for the day session and fans were treated to their favorite superhero walking around. Kids and families enjoyed the festivities along with some great tennis.

The weather was perfect and fans got to see some matches: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova defeated former world No.6 Carla Suarez Navarro 7-6(3), 6-0. Kirsten Flipkens continued on her journey from the qualifiers, defeating fellow qualifier Ana Bogdan. Shuai Zhang defeated Megda Linette and in an evening match Number 2 seed Dominika Cibulkova defeated Alize Cornet.

American fan favorite, Sloane Stephens stopped by New Haven to help promote a partnership between Connecticut Open and Soles4Souls. Fans coming to the tennis finals today can bring a pair of their own gently worn shoes to donate in boxes near the stadium, which will be recycled and redistributed to people in need.

Around 100 female high school athletes had the chance to get some great advice from former UConn Women’s Basketball star Rebecca Lobo, who said that she had great experiences in sports and away from sports but the experiences out of sports were because she had participated in sports.

There's still tickets available for today's final with Dominika Cibulkova taking on Australian Daria Gavrilova. Matches start at 12:30p. You can save 25% using code CO17SUMMERFUN.

 

Tuesday featured Courtgirls and Cocktails at the Connecticut Open and some exciting evening matches

Tuesday featured Courtgirls and Cocktails at the Connecticut Open and some exciting evening matches. Match play started at noon on both the Sportsmaster Grandstand as well as the main court inside the Connecticut Tennis Center stadium. Fans enjoyed food from the nine different food trucks, visited booths from sponsors and the children enjoyed time in the Aetna Fit Zone.

VIP attendees of the Courtgirls and Cocktails event (a separate ticketed event) enjoyed a lunch buffet while watching the matches on the stadium court. After lunch, they had a chance to peruse tables from vendors like Lululemon and Rhone as well as Babolat and the International Tennis Hall of Fame (located in nearby Newport, Rhode Island) all while sipping delicious iced cold brew coffee and matcha tea from BonJo Coffee, roasted in New York. Special guests included tennis players Petra Kvitova and Alize Cornet as well as Jill Zarin from Real Housewives of New York fame.

Evening matches had close to 4,000 attendees who watched Polish defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska defeat Canadian Eugenie Bouchard and China's Shuai Peng won against Croatian Mirjana Lucic-Baroni. There were a few tense moments near the end of Peng's win when she appeared to have rolled her ankle but recovered to win the match and advance to the next round.

Monday was a hot day in terms of temperature and excitement at the Connecticut Open

Monday was a hot day in terms of temperature and excitement at the Connecticut Open and filled with upsets. Favorite 3-time champion Petra Kvitova, #4 seed Kristina Mladenovic, Americans Lauren Davis and lucky loser Christina McHale, all lost their matches.

Eugenie Bouchard spoke about playing during the solar eclipse and noticed that the skies got darker but said she tried to not look up directly at the sun. After the match a fan gave her eclipse glasses and she said she would save them. Eugenie said, "I played during an Eclipse and that's the only time it'll ever happen in my career. I think that's kinda cool."

The 20th anniversary celebration of tennis in Connecticut started the evening matches which showcased the countries where players were from, speeches from the tournament director, Anne Worcester, New Haven Mayor Toni Harp, tennis legend Martina Navratilova and Yale President Peter Salovey, as well as the national anthem performed by a Yale a cappella group. There was a special doubles match featuring Martina Navratilova and Mats Wilander each playing alongside members of the Yale tennis team. The late evening wrapped up with a match between Poland’s Magda Linette beating Italy’s Roberta Vinci.