Pats vs Giants!

Pic is Edwin Gomez, 2011 CT Tiger.

Good luck Andrew!

From the New London Day:


"Norwich – The Connecticut Tigers announced today that General Manager Andrew Weber will step down at the end of this month, and Vice President of Operations C.J. Knudsen will replace Weber as vice president and general manager.



Weber has been with the team for four years, and led the effort to move to Norwich at the start of the 2010 baseball season. The late move that spring hurt the ability to sell tickets and sponsorships, but this summer, the Tigers ranked fourth in the nation in all levels of minor league baseball in improved attendance.



Weber called it a "tough and bittersweet decision," but felt it was time to move on and seek a new position in baseball.



"I do want to stay in baseball," Weber said. "We'll see what opportunities come my way. It has been an absolute pleasure here. The last two years have been great here. I know that with our staff, it's going to be awesome and will continue to grow."



Knudsen joined the Tigers with the team's move to Norwich after having spent 10 years as general manager of the Vermont Lake Monsters in the New York-Penn League. He has worked for 17 years in the league in which the Tigers play.



Eric Knighton has been promoted to vice president and assistant general manager."

Did you ever go by something and say to yourself:

"I should take a picture of that" .......

This week's topic: Is Johnny Damon a HOFer?

This discussion came up a couple of times on YES Yankee telecasts with no clear consensus. His regular season stats are:

17 seasons with six teams. 231 HRS, 1120 RBIs, 404 SBs, BA .286 and 2723 hits.

Assuming he get 3000 hits, which seems to be a threshold for induction, is his ticket punched for Cooperstown?
My guess is yes but I don't "think" of him as a HOFer but rather a "good" player who compiled goods stats over a long career.

Does the same then apply to Jim Thome or do we view someone with over 600 HRs differently? Oddly with Thome and the absence of any steroids use in his past the answer for me is yes and his ticket is punched.

I'm rooting for Alfredo Simon tonight....

of all people.....

Another day another dinger from former Def Brett Pill..

and Kelly's reports in yesterday's comments section that her feet have indeed touched the ground again...see the Giants homepage for the video

Wonder if Kelly's feet have touch the ground yet...

Brett Pill's 1st Major League at bat from Bay Area Videographer on Vimeo.

thanks bacci for the heads up!

From the "where is he now files"..Merkin Valdez...

is now pitching for the Rangers out of the bullpen. I actually saw the Red Sox lump him up over the weekend. He's thrown 2.1 IP with Texas to a 7.71 ERA with 3 Ks...

AR is a perfect 1 for 1!!!

that's Antoan Richardson aka Flash who played for the Defenders and made his MLBB debut yesterday with the Braves. AR singled in his first at bat off a "brand name" pitcher, Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers.
Flash was a big fan fav at Dodd and had a devoted following here on the blog; especially AR fan who shared many pics of him with me including the above screen shot. You guys must have been pumped for hours after!!!
Many thanks to AR fan for giving me the heads up on Flash's hit earlier today as I totally lost track of his callup in all the post storm Irene fun around here.

CONGRATS ANTOAN!!

Attendance for 2011 was 62,317....

last year it was 50,511 or a 23% increase over LY! Time for an All-Star Game bid....

Tigers fall short on the last day of the season...

to make the playoffs, like last year, losing to Lowell in 16 innings 6-5. Vermont won their game and make the playoffs based on a head to head tie breaker against the Tigers...OCH....
I'll have pics on Monday...

Navs win 4-1 to remain in first place...

with a one game lead with one game left in the regular season. Been awhile since I've been able to type that sentence as the Tigers win tonight beating Lowell on Norwich Navigator night. A three run bottom of the sixth was the difference in the game as Tyler Collins and Dean Green doubled in runs and aaron Westlake singled in another for a 3-0 CT lead. The Spinners scored a run on a wild pitch in the eight but Westlake singled in a run in the bottom half to get the run back.
Wilsen Palacios (5-5) pitched 7 strong innings striking out 8 and Jeff Barfiled threw a 1-2-3 9th for his fifth save.
The division championship comes down to Sunday's game. A Tiger win and a Vermont loss means the Tigers win the division. If both teams lose Sunday the Tigers win the division and if the Tigers lose and the Lake Monsters win, the season ends for the Tigers based on the regular season head to head series between the two teams which favors Vermont.

Misc fan notes: Great seeing that Tater statue back in front of Dodd...it looks great! The Navigators uniform they came up with was pretty good. It reminded me of the purple vests they played in on Sundays only over the green t-shirts they worn then for those games...not bad. Great seeing those Navigators caps as well on the players.

Very well run auction with the players presenting their jerseys to the auction winners on field after the game.
Lots of folks dug deep into their closets for Navs stuff to wear..nice to see.

I went with the 2002 home jersey worn by Mitch Jones that I worn to the Defenders playoff games in 2009. For the cap I went with the 1996 promo cap that I'm wearing at the top of this page.

Hope to make it to Sunday's game!

What to wear...what to wear...

for the Norwich Navigators promo tonight.... and I'm talking about which game worn Navs (Yankees) uniform jersey from my collection to wear...so many choices...the ugly away uniform? the rarely worn mesh one?..the Sunday only purple vest?..the much sought after pin stripe vest...the classic purple pin stripe home jersey?...what else is in that closet and I've haven't even considered which cap yet....?

Anyway the refurbished Tater statue will be repositioned in front of Dodd wearing CT Tiger colors after spending the last five years or so banished to the corner of the old Tator playground behind the picnic pavilion. The statue will not be on a pedestal as before. Nice job by the Tigers front office bringing it back. THANKS!!
The players will be wearing Navs caps and jerseys tonight. I've been given to understand that these a not reproductions of an original Navigator uniforms and caps but a hybrid of some sorts so we'll see. The uniforms will be auctioned off.

The Tigers are in first place by a game over the Vermont Lake Monsters in their division with two games left in the regular season. Go Tigers!

Power is back on! I lost power from...

7:30 Sunday morning to 8:00 PM Tuesday night. Thanks to bacci for the news re: Brett Pill being called up to the show!!

Tonight Irene! As the only good thing about...

the approaching Armageddon is the postponement of the Norwich Navigators promotion night that was scheduled for tonight. The game between Vermont and CT has been moved up to 1:05 this afternoon from 7:05 but the promo is pushed back to Sat. Sept 3nd which enables me to attend.
Props to the front office for using the correct vintage logo of the Gators on the scoreboard and not the bastardized "Giants" Gators version.

Be safe everyone!

IronBirds gift wrap it for CT 5-1...

to the tune of 4 errors and a run scoring wild pitch as the Tigers win their fifth straight and climb a game over .500. Tigers jumped out to a quick lead in the first as PJ Polk reached on an error, stole second went to third on a Dean Green single (2 for 3)and came home on a wild pitch.
Tigers starter Tom Collier held Aberdeen scoreless thru his six innings of work allowing just 3 hits while striking out 6. Collier gave way to reliever Scott Green who loaded the bases with no outs on a single, walk and HBP before being pulled for Jeff Barfield. Barfield (2-2) gave up a sac fly which resulted in a double play for the Birds lone run and induced a ground ball to get out of the jam.
The Tigers in the bottom of the seventh loaded the bases with no outs on a Green walk, an Aaron Westlake single and Jeff Holm's attempt at a sac bunt turned into a single. The fielding follies on the left side of the IronBirds infield then committed three errors resulting in four runs for a 5-1 lead.

Misc fan notes: Many thanks for a tidy 2 hour and 15 minute or so game time; usually the Yankees-Red Sox are cruising into the top of the fifth inning at that mark in their games...

About 50 or so dogs on hand for "Bark in the Park" day at Dodd...wierd hearing barking at Dodd during the game...

Always good chatting with Joe Perez prior to the game

Pics: game hero Barfield and Collier

Tigers hang on and win 4-3 tonight...

over the Aberdeen IronBirds at Dodd. Matt Crouse (4-1) pitched 6+ strong innings yo earn his fourth straight victory. The Tigers scored on an error in the second inning to jump out to a 1-0 lead.
Connecticut tacked on three runs in the third on a Tyler Collins (2-4) RBI single, a Den Green sac fly and an Arron Westlake RBI single to make in 4-0 Tigers. The baby Birds of Baltimore scored a pair of runs in the seventh. The first Ironbird run was doubled in by Ryan Zrenda of Old Lyme, CT. Zrenda, a Brown grad, was just signed by Baltimore as a minor league free agent earlier this week. The double was his first pro hit in his second game. He had a large cheering section on hand.
Melvin Mercedes (save, 2) allowed a run in the top of the ninth to make the score 4-3 to wrap up the game in just over two hours.

Pics from top to bottom: Collins, Westlake and Crouse

Tigers jam Jamestown 6-0 behind the pitching...

of NYPL All-Star selected Brennan Smith and an explosive Tiger line up. Smith went 7 innings pitched allowing just three hits and striking out 5 as he improves to 2-3 while lowing his ERA to an impressive 2.10.
The Tigers lineup broke out the bats tonight lead by the Tigers other All-Star selection Dean Green who hit two homers, a solo shot and a two run homer to pace the CT attack. Green now has 6 homers on the season and is batting .366. Eugenio Suarz and Tyler Collins each went 2 for 4 with a double, with Collins driving in two runs and Suarz one. Chad Wright also went 2 for 4 with a double.
CT improves their record to 23-28 as they try to chase down Vermont for the division lead.

Misc fan notes: Great to be back at Dodd! Good catching up with GM Andrew Weber as he caught me up with the latest news and the great scuucess of Al Kaline Day earlier thise week. The Norwich Navigators tribute night on August 27th sounds special!

Pics top to bottom: Collins, Smith and Green

Henry Sosa to make his MLBB debut...

with the Astros against the D-backs tonight. The former Defenders pitcher was aquired from the Giants last month.

Post #2000...according to Blogger this is the...

two thousandth post of greg's connecticut defenders/tigers blog. An earlier version, "minor (baseball) details" which is found under the link to the right titled "My 2005 Norwich Navigators blog" debuted on July 8, 2005 and logged 94 posts before giving way to this current version. This edition was created on Sunday October 16, 2005 to coincide with the franchise name change from the "Norwich Navigators" to the "Connecticut Defenders."

Along the way we've seen a couple of different owners, several GMs, the very real prospect of Dodd baseball ending in 2009, a subsequent league change, a playoff run (at last in '09) and another that fell just short on the last day of the 2010 season. We've seen some Norwich/Connecticut players progress to the majors to become household names and witnessed the ends of baseball careers. I've made friends in the stands, on the field, up on the concourse and in the press box. It continues to be fun ride all these years and posts later.

Having said all that; it's my intention to scale back the blog. Without boring everyone with details, work and every day life are placing a premium on my time like never before. Up until this year the blog was pretty much a 365 day operation with game updates, pics and other topical stuff. I'll still be posting but not with the frequency of past years. I'll post game recaps of games I see at Dodd and will put up some pics along the way but once the season ends the blog will be pretty much in dry dock. Feel free to look in and post and I will post from time to time but I want to provide everyone the courtesy of an explaination as to why you might be staring at the same pic for a week or so.
Thanks for YOUR time all these seasons and making this part of your routine. The blog WILL continue...

As for the pic, there is one person pictured who's still at Dodd...can anyone pick that person out and name him??

ES....

Tigers drop a pair in Auburn yesterday...

Tigers top MuckDogs 5-4 in 12 innings tonight...

at Dodd. Tyler Collins second solo homer of the game with two outs in the 12th was the game winner. Eugenio Suarez's three run homer in the 5th gave the Tigers a brief 3-2 lead. Collins homer in the sixth tied in up at 4-4.
Nick Avila (2-0) threw 3 innings of one hit ball to earn the victory.

Misc fan notes: Good to be back at Dodd...seems like it's been forever! Adam estlake made his pro debut at first and went 1 for 6.

Pics top to bottom: Collins, Westlake, Zach Maggard, starter Matt Crouse

Fond memory of the late Hideki Irabu...

Dodd was packed; they were selling tickets for the berms, lots of press on hand including Japanese media and he pitched pretty good if I remember the game correctly.
It's a sad end to his time herr. I'll be at Dodd Saturday.

I'm back on Friday.....

a combo of things have kept me off the blog the last couple of days...nothing bad...just stuff...

Tigers lose a tough one 3-2 tonight at Dodd...

to the ValleyCays, allowing three unearned runs to undo a nice pitching outing by Wilsen Palacios. Good crowd on hand as well; nearly 3000 in all. The loss drops the Tiger to a game under .500 to 16-17.

Misc fan notes: Couldn't make the game as I had to be Grandpa tonight...but hey what can I say. Hopefully I'll make Dodd next Saturday as I'm missing the next series as well because of work....

Tigers sweep DH over ValleyCats tonight....

at Dodd to even their record at 16-16 and are just a half game out of first place. In the opener Luis Sanz (3-2) pitched a complete game allowing 4 hits and striking out 9 as the Tigers used a three run second inning to send them to a 4-2 win.
In the nightcap Jason King knocked in a pair of run as the Tigers on 3-2. Scott Green earned his first victoty in relief and Daniel Bennett got his 7th save.

Wild one with Tri-City as Tigers win 15-9..

in 13 innings on the road against the ValleyCats. The game was tied after 9 innings 7-7. The Tigers scored two runs in the 12th on Jeff Holm's two run homer, his third of the season but the home team tied it up at 9-9 in the bottom half of the innings. The Tigers exploded for 6 runs in the 13th with four runs on Jason King's grand slam. The homer was King's fifth of the season.
Dean Green( 3 for 7) added a homer and Zach Maggard went 4 for 7 with three RBIs.
Nick Avila picked up his first win of the season in relief.

Misc fan notes: I'll be at Dodd Friday night and Jason King is becoming a force...

Hudson Valley outlasts CT 10-6...

tonight. Jason King belted his 4th homer of the season for the Tigers and team mate Javier Azcona knocked in three runs with a 3 for 4 night at the plate.

CT top HV 8-3 behind a 11 hit attack...

with Matt Perry's 4 for 4 night leading the way. Patrick Leyland went 3 for 5 with a double and a pair of RBIs. Javier Azcona went 2 for 4 with a pair of doubles and two RBIs.

Tigers double up Renegades 8-4

in Hudson Valley tonight. Jason King (two run homer) and Javier Azcona ( 3 run homer) go deep and Dean Green went 4 for 5 with two doubles and a RBI. Curt Casali added a 3 for 4 effort.
Wilsen Palacios pitches 7 strong innings allowing just 5 hits and one run while striking out 6. He improves to 2-1 on the season.

Tigers top Scrappers 7-4...

behind Jason King's ( 2 for 4) three RBIs and Curt Casali's solo homer to salvage one game of the three game series against Mahoning Valley tonight. Melvin Mercedes (3-0) earns the win in relief and Daniel Bennett gets his 6th save.

5 run 6th sink Tigers 9-6....

as the Scrappers rally past Ct tonight. Drew Ganier (0-2) takes the loss. Dean Green's three run homer in the first was the big blow for the Tigers. Guido Knudson made his Tiger's pitching debut throwing a scoreless inning of relief.

Scrappers top Tigers 2-1 in...

Mahoning Valley tonight. The home pushed across a run in the bottom of the 9th of CT reliver Ryan Woolley. Tigers stater Brennan Smith went 7 IP allowing just a run as his good season continues. Patrick Leyland knocked in the Tigers only run.

THANK YOU!! CT Tigers front office....

for recognizing an important piece of Norwich baseball history, the Tater the Gator statue that stood in front of Dodd Stadium from 1995-2005. The Tater statue has been plucked from it's ignominious resting spot in the back corner of the old Dodd playground and is currently awaiting a much needed refurnishing.
I've mentioned the blight of the old statue in previous posts on 6/12/10 and April 27 of this year and I'm thrilled that the statue is coming back; this time in Tigers colors. In my mind's eye I'll always remember the purple and green color scheme (as pictured here) and the countless kids who had their pictures taken by it.
This is another great example of the CT Tigers front office extending themselves to the community. Many thanks!!

More pics from the 4th....

Tigers win 5-3 and there's a new Eugenio in town....

or "Eugene" as the Hondo Hurricane and I used to call (affectionately) Eugenio Velez of the Connecticut Defenders and later on the San Francisco Giants and his name is Eugenio Suarez. The Tigers shortstop went 4 for 4 tonight scoring 2 runs and delivering the big blow of the game a two run triple in the third inning to give the Tigers a then 3-0 lead. CT takes the rubber game of the three game set against the Brooklyn Cyclones at Dodd tonight before 1200+ fans.

Tigers scored in the first as PJ Polk and Suarez singled to start the game. Polk would be erased at third on an attempted double steal, however Suarez would steal third later in the inning and score on a the catcher's throwing error to third.
The Tigers would add a run in the fifth on another Brooklyn error and a run in the sixth on a wild pitch.

Wilsen Palacios pitched a gutty 6.1 innings regularly hitting 90-92 miles per hour on the scoreboard radar gun and earned the win to even his record at 1-1.
Rayni Guichardo out the final two outs in a big spot in the 7th inning. Pedro Perez pitched in and out of trouble in the 8th inning. Daniel Bennett picked up his fifth save in the ninth inning.

Jason Green, Matt Perry, and Edwin Gomez had two hits each in the ball game as the Tigers improve to 10-12 n the standing before going on a long road trip that takes them to Mahoning Valley, Hudson Valley and Tri-City before returning to Dodd next Thursday with a double header against Tri-City.

Misc fan notes: First, great seeing Tom back at his station and off the DL; you were missed! Nice summer night; wish more folks were in the stands however attendance is trending ahead of last season and you can sense bricks being put in place....

Pics top to bottom are Suarez and Palacio

I'll have more pics Tuesday!

Tigers beat baby Mets 2-1...

this afternoon at Dodd. Jason King's third inning solo homer was the difference in the ball game. King's homer was his second of the season and topped off a 3 for 3 afternoon for him. King's blast enabled Luis Sanz (5 IP) to even his record at 2-2. Dan Bennett picked up his fourth save of the season.
Chad Wright had a RBI single in the second inning to give the Tigers a 1-0. CT looks to take the rubber game of the three game series versus Brooklyn tomorrow at Dodd.

Cyclones edge Tigers 3-2 tonight at Dodd...

with a run in the 8th inning off reliever Fernardo Celis (0-2) to break a 2-2 tie. Tigers scored both their runs in the second courtesy of Jeff Holm's second homer of the year with a runner aboard. It was Holm's second homer in as many games. Tyler Barrett stared for CT and was relieved by Ryan Woolley. CT with it's third consecutive loss falls to 8-12 before 1200 fans.

Misc fan notes: I'll be at Dodd on Monday.

Yanks and Tigers rained out....

no makeup date determined.....

SI Yanks rally to tie in 9th, win in 10th 4-3...

over the Tigers tonight. The Yanks tied the game off closer Daniel Bennett and scored off Drew Gagnier (0-1) to beat CT for the second straight night. Eugenio Suarez, Jeff Holm, and Dean Green knocked in the Tigers runs as Ct falls to 8-11 on the season.

Hall of Fame TE John Mackey dies at age 69 - The Huddle: Football News from the NFL - USATODAY.com

for those of us of a certain NFL age, John Mackey regardless of what team you rooted for was a force of nature at tight end...


Hall of Fame TE John Mackey dies at age 69 - The Huddle: Football News from the NFL - USATODAY.com

Staten Island Yankees edge Tigers 2-1...

down in the Big Apple tonight. Brennan Smith pitched the full 8 innings in taking the hard luck loss. Smith allowed just 6 hits and struck out six. One of the Yankke runs weas unearned.

The Tigers lone run came in on a RBI ground out by Bo McClendon. Big crowd of 7700+ fans in SI.

Tigers, Spinners split the DH...

tonight in Lowell as the home team won the first game 11-7. Wilsen Palacios (1-1) took the loss for CT. Dean Green and Les Smith both hit their first home runs and Jason King double and tripled. In the nightcap, three Tigers pitchers combined on a 2-0 shutout with Melvin Mercedes (2-0) getting the win. Green and Jeff Holm knocked in the CT runs.