Sunday, January 31, 2010

New blog

And the winner is....Tiger Beat.

Congrats to Greg for the winning entry. Sorry, no prizes beyond a handshake.

Here's the link:
http://connecticuttigerbeat.blogspot.com/

With that, we bid a fond farewell to the Connecticut Defenders Home Base. It served us well.

See you on the other site.

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Last days

Guys and gals,

Get your blog name requests in ASAP. Spread the word...I will unveil the new blog name next week.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Name that blog

Taking suggestions for the new blog name

Someone already suggested Tigers Tales

A new day

As some suggested, this is a day of celebration; a new day for the community. A second chance, if you will. I can't really disagree with that notion. I'm also not jumping through hoops set ablaze, either.

Understand that there are things that don't quite sit well. I'm not going to get into everything at this time, but just understand there are things that could have been handled better.

Namely, the whole process. One thing I learned from watching the Defenders leave and the Tigers arrive is that Minor League Baseball works at its own pace and has no problem trampling anyone or anything in its path.

A primary concern is that, at least publicly, the search to fill jobs won't really start until the relocation gets the good 'ol rubber stamp. That part is expected to be a technicality. Here's the rub: there are several minor league experienced people in town who can help make this transition smooth as possible. There are built-in relationships with the community/advertisers, etc. There are businesses who earmarked some money for baseball season BUT became tired of waiting around the holidays. Some have already spent their bucks. Others are on the verge. Meaning, the opportunity to rake in the maximum dollars available is already gone out the window. The dollars that linger, well, those are not under a cake lid like in the Geico commercials. These stacks of cash have someplace to go besides baseball.

Had Minor League Baseball -- and the New York Penn League -- not dragged its feet for months, the Tigers could have been up and running weeks, if not a month or more ago.

Don't be shocked if there are severe struggles this season especially if the Tigers are new faces top to bottom.

Big picture: Having a new team is good. I just hope that the late start and even later move to get into the local game doesn't doom the first season at Dodd Stadium.

It's the...

Connecticut Tigers. Team will change name after 2011.

Friday, January 22, 2010

Delay

No announcement until next Thursday...deal will happen...with Tigers.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Baseball is back!

New York Penn League President Ben Hayes said Tuesday at the Norwich City Council meeting that, should the lease be finalized -- which it unofficially is -- a new team will arrive Friday.

“We’re going to have, hopefully, the final lease is on the agenda for the Alderman’s consideration,” said Hayes. “If it’s approved, we’re hopeful to come back here in a few days and make an announcement.”

Who is it?

Oneonta.

The Tigers had a member of their relocation committee at Dodd Stadium on Friday.

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Latest on the NYPL

The Norwich City Council meets Monday to iron out the terms of a lease it will present to the New York-Penn League. My understanding is that the lease should appease most, if not all, of the league's concerns.

From what I'm being told, it isn't a lock that Vermont moves — there are four teams in consideration — and the NYPL gets to pick who the lucky team is.

Just a thought: Oneonta has to be in the running, but when the team was sold prior to the 2009 season, a term of the sale was the team stayed in place until its lease expired following the 2010 season. Could it be another year until there's baseball at Dodd Stadium? I think that's unlikely, but I wanted to throw that out there.

Friday, December 18, 2009

If you care...

The Eastern League has realigned with new division names.

The Eastern Division:
New Hampshire
New Britain
Trenton
Reading
Portland
Binghamton

The Western Division:
Akron
Erie
Altoona
Harrisburg
Bowie
Richmond