Squirrels Announce 2017 Home Schedule
The Richmond Flying Squirrels, Double-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants, in conjunction with the Eastern League of Professional Baseball Clubs, have announced the home schedule for the 2017 season. The 2017 home schedule consists of 70 games to be played at The Diamond in Richmond. The Squirrels will open the 2017 season at home, beginning on Thursday, April 6th at 7:05 PM against the Hartford Yard Goats (Colorado Rockies affiliate). A full overview of the schedule can be found here.
"While we are working diligently to finish the 2016 season strong on and off the field, we never stop planning for the future and are excited for the 2017 season," says Flying Squirrels Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Todd "Parney" Parnell.
Opening Day festivities at The Diamond will start at 6:30 PM, with the first pitch of the 2017 season coming at 7:05 against the Yard Goats. In 2016, these two teams opened the season at The Diamond for the Yard Goats first-ever game in the Eastern League, but the Squirrels played as the visiting team while the Yard Goats were still waiting to move into their new ballpark.
For the eighth consecutive season, the Squirrels will have the honor of hosting a game on Independence Day at The Diamond. The opponent on Tuesday, July 4th will be the Erie SeaWolves (Detroit Tigers affiliate). The Squirrels will welcome the SeaWolves to town for a three-game series from July 4-July 6.
Next year's schedule will change from 142 games overall, down to 140. "The EL schedule change of going to 140 was done for the benefit of MLB player development," said Eastern League President Joe McEacharn. "The added off days during a five month season have become necessary to meet the needs of MLB partners while still catering to our passionate fan bases across the league. This move will serve to bring consistency to each AA league schedule in 2016 and allow greater flexibility with travel and All-Star game logistics. We're confident that this will be a seamless transition for fans with real benefit for the overall welfare of the entire development system."
Monday-Thursday night games during the season will start at 6:35 while Friday night games will once again begin at 7:05. The start times for weekend games remain the same, with Saturdays beginning at 6:05 and Sundays getting underway at 12:05 as one of the first games on the entire minor league schedule. There will also be four special weekday start times throughout the season on Wednesday, April 26th against the Bowie Baysox (10:35 AM), Wednesday, May 10th against the Altoona Curve (12:05 PM), Wednesday, July 26th against the Harrisburg Senators (12:05 PM), and Monday, September 4th against Bowie for the regular season finale at 12:05.
The Flying Squirrels will play teams within their division for 44 of a possible 70 home games, including 10 games each against the Altoona Curve (Pittsburgh Pirates affiliate) and Harrisburg Senators (Washington Nationals affiliate). Richmond will host the Bowie Baysox more than any other team with 11 games scheduled at The Diamond. Of the teams in the Eastern Division, Hartford will visit seven times and the Reading Fightin Phils will play six games in the River City.
The monthly breakdown for the 2017 home schedule is as follows: 13 games in April, 14 games in May, 12 games in June, 14 games in July, 13 games in August, and a four-game series against the Baysox to close out the season from September 1-4.
Information on Flying Squirrels season-ticket packages, mini-plans, individual and group ticket options for the 2017 season will be available soon.The Squirrels begin on a six-day road trip to Altoona and Bowie starting Tuesday night. Richmond will return home on Monday, August 8th to begin a seven-day homestand. The full promotional schedule can be viewed here. Tickets are available by visiting www.squirrelsbaseball.com