The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
Bridgewater, NJ – The Somerset Patriots announced in a press conference on Tuesday, July 7th that the team will bring baseball back to TD Bank Ballpark this summer with the newly created SOMERSET Professional Baseball Series.
“The most important aspect of our program is the safety, security, and the welfare of not only our fans, but the community, our players, and our staff,” said Somerset Patriots Chairman Emeritus Steve Kalafer. “This is a plan that has been vetted by health care professionals, meets the CDC guidelines, and New Jersey’s executive orders. We are going to have baseball for our community.”
Starting on July 17th, the Somerset Patriots will play games against the New Jersey Blasters, a team also run by the organization, exclusively at TD Bank Ballpark. Both teams will consist of local players to help control travel and limit the risk of individuals coming from other parts of the country.
“We have been committed since our season was postponed back in March to bring baseball back to Central New Jersey,” said Somerset Patriots President/General Manager Patrick McVerry. “We have worked hard to do that the best and safest way possible to give our community something to cheer for once again. We are excited to do our part to put smiles back on people’s faces.”
The SOMERSET Professional Baseball Series will include 12 games to be played on Fridays and Saturdays from July 17 to August 22. Game times will be 7:05 p.m.
Additionally, Kalafer said special awards will be given out at the conclusion of what will be called the Joe Torre Championship Series.
“We’ll have the Sparky Lyle Pitching Award, the Willie Randolph Most Valuable Player award,” he said. “We have some really wonderful awards that we’re going to be giving to players and to teams.”
Tickets for the games will be $10.00 and general admission only. The tickets will go on sale on Thursday, July 9 at 10 am. The Somerset Patriots will only sell the number of tickets approved for outdoor gatherings by state and local government and health officials. That number is currently around 450 people with potential of increases over the next several weeks. Season ticket holders will be contacted directly via email by the Patriots ticket office regarding options on how they can attend games this summer.
“So much has been done by everybody at every level and we are so excited to be doing what we are doing,” added Somerset Patriots Co-Chairman Josh Kalafer. “It will continue that good work in a safe and sustainable way and it will ensure that we can get back to doing the things that we love to do, that we need to do, without taking any steps backwards.”
Since closing TD Bank Ballpark to the public when the pandemic hit, the Somerset Patriots have worked up a reopening plan to address several health and safety measures for the staff, players, and fans.
“This is the culmination of a tremendous amount of planning, hard work, diligence, and an endless number of Zoom conferences ” remarked Somerset Patriots Co-Chairman Jonathan Kalafer. “But we have resolve to fulfill our mission, which is to play baseball and provide America’s pastime for families in this community.”
For more information about the Somerset Patriots and the SOMERSET Professional Baseball Series, please visit www.somersetpatriots.com, follow all of the team’s social media accounts, and download the Somerset Patriots Mobile App.
