Dan the man in the Giants closer mix??

Giants new closer?

as Brian Wilson opens the season (at last) on the DL///

Great call out by Hondo in the..

post below about Vin Scully.

Joey....

Flash...

One of the killer Bs...

Huh? They played baseball at Dodd today...

in a last minute change of venue UCONN hosted Sacred Heart today in Norwich. Huskies (7-7) lost 5-4 as their '11 season is not living up the success of last season. Had some stuff going on today and I would not been able to attend anyway but it upsets me that I missed out...

Josh...

and from yesterday's Bulletin:

"All winter, Kevin Kelleher has been talking about money.

It’s almost time to start thinking about what really interests him — baseball.

The general manager of the new Mystic Schooners of the New England Collegiate Baseball League said this week that everything happened a little later than he would like (coming from private industry he found that the wheels turn slower when government is involved), but he has high expectations that everything will be ready for the team’s first home game on June 12.

“I’m excited, I can’t wait to talk about baseball,” Kelleher said.

Kelleher packed up the team last summer in Bristol and decided to move it east for a couple of reasons. The first was one of his partners in the team comes from Mystic and was willing to ante up the money for the move.

The second was the Muzzy Field situation in Bristol. The city would not give the NECBL a long-term lease and wouldn’t allow signs in the outfield. Kelleher said he didn’t want to move, but the lack of outfield signs was a financial burden.

The team did surveys last summer and found that the Groton-Mystic area’s demographics were similar to those of Newport, R.I., site of the NECBL’s most successful franchise.

So the Bristol group approached Groton about making the necessary improvements to Fitch’s baseball field. After some hang-ups, the legal wrangling appears to be over for the most part. Now, the lighting has to be put in place as well as new bleachers, bathrooms, concession stands and a press box.

“We’re hoping for about 500 fans a game. We would love to see 1,000, but it’s not going to take a whole lot to fill the place,” Kelleher said.

The focus is on families with $5 general admission tickets, no alcohol being sold, no cigarettes allowed and a picnic area with a view of the field.

Kelleher also doesn’t think his team will take business away from the short season, Single-A Connecticut Tigers at Dodd Stadium in Norwich. He already spoke with Tigers G.M. Andrew Weber about promotions and other issues.

“We have some crossover customers, but they’re a professional team with a ballpark,” Kelleher said.

He also said he would like the teams to play each other, but an exhibition game is not likely due to scheduling.

The Schooners will play 21 home games this summer, all beginning at 6:30 p.m. and, unlike the Tigers, will be staffed solely by volunteers.

Bob Peruzzotti will be the team’s community development coordinator. Bill Donovan is the team’s press box coordinator and is putting together some Sunday night radio broadcasts.

“We’re going to be putting out volunteer and host family applications soon,” Kelleher said. “This is all volunteers and we want to keep it that way. This is a nonprofit organization and it belongs to the community.”

The team’s roster is set for the season with 12 players from Connecticut already signed up, including Virginia Tech freshman Colin O’Keefe. O’Keefe’s father, former Waterford baseball coach Jack, is helping the Schooners.

Ray Ricker will be the manager. Former local standout, Travis Turgeon, a 2009 Springfield College graduate, is the assistant coach.

Dodd hosting tourney

Speaking of baseball, there will be some at Dodd Stadium prior to the Connecticut Tigers’ new season.

Before the Eastern Connecticut Conference tournament takes place there, Dodd will host the Northeast Conference’s championship tournament May 19-22.

It’s the first time the NEC tournament will be at Dodd. The 2010 league champion, Central Connecticut State University, played in the NCAA Northeast Regional along with UConn, Oregon and Florida State at Dodd last year.

“This will be a great opportunity for baseball fans in Connecticut to see a top-tier, Division I conference play for an automatic spot in the NCAA tournament and to showcase Dodd Stadium as a premier minor league facility,” Tigers general manager Andrew Weber said in a press release.

The Northeast Conference has three Connecticut schools in it: CCSU, Sacred Heart and Quinnipiac. The NEC championship tournament will follow a four team, double-elimination format."

Nice to see the crossover promos the Tigers and college team will have and the continued use of Dodd in the "off season" by Connecticut not only for the NEC but a couple of UCONN games that are scheduled as well.

sorry folks....

there is a lot going on these days with me outside the world of sports....but congrats to the UCONN mens basketball team-- 5 wins in 5 days! And a tip of the hat to the University of Hartford Hawks womens basketball team...Jen Rizzotti remains my all time fave Husky and the only person I could ever see replacing Geno.

another Jake pic...

Adam...

JP...

Good day for UCONN....

what better way to celebrate than with a Jake pic!

Paul pitched for the BlueFish last season..

going 4-5 in 2010. He was signed by the A's from the BlueFish and pitched single A for Oakland before returning back to the Fish to finish their season.
He returns to Bridgeport this season.

Paul O........

Bird watching at Dodd...

From the Reminder;

"Tigers' staff on the watch for high-flying hawkBy Janice Steinhagen - Staff Writer
Norwich - posted Tue., Feb. 22, 2011

C.J. Knudsen, vice president of operations for the Connecticut Tigers minor league baseball team, scans the skies at Dodd Stadium for Melvin the hawk. Photos by Janice Steinhagen. Why would a man sit in the bleachers of a snowy, deserted baseball field in mid-February, gazing skyward with binoculars?

No, he’s not looking for foul balls or high flies… at least, not of the baseball variety.

Instead, C.J. Knudsen has actually braved chilling winds and icy blasts of winter to search the skies for Melvin, Dodd Stadium’s resident red-tailed hawk.

“He came flying in last year and just stuck around,” said Knudsen. “He has a couple of different perches around the stadium.” The bird of prey patrols the stadium for field mice and other rodents, Knudsen said. “Not long ago, we witnessed a stand-off between Melvin and a squirrel. It lasted about an hour and a half before the squirrel got away,” he added.

Knudsen is vice president of operations for the Connecticut Tigers, the single-A short-season farm club for the Detroit Tigers Major League Baseball team. He’s one of seven Tigers staffers who keep Dodd up and running in the off-season, planning promotional events, connecting with community groups and lining up sponsorships.

Despite the drifts of snow that blanket the playing field and still persist in some places in the stands, Knudsen and his co-workers are dreaming of spring – and of the crack of the bat.

“It’s nice to be thinking of warm summer nights on a cold winter day,” he said. “You hang out at the ballpark in the summer months, hang out with the fans and watch baseball. And in the winter months, it’s fun to talk about it.”

This will be the second Connecticut season for the Tigers, the third minor-league baseball team to call Dodd home. Knudsen explained that the short-season single-A team is the first step into the major leagues for players who sign a contract after being drafted out of college or high school.

This season’s crop of Tigers is beginning to appear at the Lakeland, Fla., training camp, he said. Pitchers and catchers reported to camp Feb.14, and the rest of the players will show up in March. The Tigers’ season opens with an away game June 17, and the home opener at Dodd is June 20. “We play 76 games in 80 days,” said Knudsen.

The players’ goal is to continue the climb into the major leagues, through the multi-layered minor league structure, Knudsen said. The goal of his staff at Dodd is to “continue to build the franchise and get the community involved,” he said. “People had a great experience here last year. The word’s starting to get out.”

Among the events on the agenda for the 2011 season: Boy and Girl Scout sleepovers at the ballpark; baseball clinics for kids; games of catch on the field and free baseballs for spectators after Sunday games; and the traditional Friday night post-game fireworks.

Another tradition – the baseball team mascot – will also continue this season. The Tigers brought back Tater the Gator, mascot for the former Norwich Navigators, because they “heard a lot of great things about him and he was beloved by the fans,” said Knudsen. The fiberglass figure of Tate that used to stand in front of Dodd has been moved indoors because of weather damage, and a decision is pending as to whether it will be restored and replaced.

The “live” Tater will join the Tigers’ mascot, CT, to encourage fan participation again this season, Knudsen said.

Knudsen said that bringing families out to enjoy an economical day of baseball at the local field is “what minor league baseball is all about.” There’s always that chance, he said, of getting an autograph from a player who might be in the majors some day.

“Last year we drew over 50,000 fans,” Knudsen said. “This year, we anticipate a large increase. We’ve started to put down roots here. It’s the community’s ballpark, and we’re really the tenants. It’s for the community to enjoy.”

And who knows… on one of those summer days, the fans might finally get a glimpse of Melvin the hawk, too."

Interesting blog...from Ben's biz blog:

"The Greatest 21 Days -- Really interesting premise here, as author Steve is systematically profiling each and every player included in the 1990 CMC baseball card set. In his own words: "Did they make the Majors? Did they not? And what interesting things happened along the way?" The name references the film Bull Durham, as Crash Davis once said that the greatest 21 days of his life was the time he was in the "The Show."


The link to this blog as well as Ben's is on the right. Very ambitious undertaking by this blogger and a good read as well; kind of inspires me to did something along similar lines with ex Navs/Defs players.....hmm....

NEC baseball coming to Dodd:

from the Tigers website:

"The Connecticut Tigers and the Northeast Conference are pleased to announce that Senator Thomas J. Dodd Memorial Stadium will be the host site of the 2011 NEC Baseball Championship. The tournament will take place from May 19-22.

The winner of the four-team double-elimination NEC postseason tournament will receive an automatic berth in the NCAA Championship field of 64.

"The Connecticut Tigers and Dodd Stadium are extremely excited to be the host for the 2011 Northeast Conference Baseball tournament," said Tigers General Manager Andrew Weber. "This will be a great opportunity for baseball fans in Connecticut to see a top-tier Division I conference play for an automatic spot in the NCAA tournament and to showcase Dodd Stadium as a premier minor league facility."

The 2011 NEC Baseball Championship presented by Akadema marks the first-ever occasion that Norwich will host the tournament, but the fourth time in 19 years that the championship will take place in Connecticut (Bridgeport, CT in 1999; New Britain, CT in 2007 & 2009).

"We are excited to host the 2011 NEC baseball championship at Dodd Stadium," commented Northeast Conference Commissioner Noreen Morris. "This provides our student-athletes an opportunity to compete in a quality venue that has shown a strong commitment to college baseball, having served as a 2010 NCAA Regional site."

The Northeast Conference's three Connecticut-based schools, Central Connecticut State, Quinnipiac University and Sacred Heart University are all within 70 miles of Dodd Stadium.

Central Connecticut State University won the 2010 NEC Tournament after entering as the No. 2 seed. The Blue Devils advanced to the NCAA Regionals, which were played at Dodd Stadium, where the Blue Devils took on the Florida State Seminoles and the UConn Huskies.

The Connecticut Tigers are the Class-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers and play in the New York-Penn League. The Tigers' home opener at Dodd Stadium will be June 20th 2011 at 7:05 P.M. against the Tri-City ValleyCats (Class-A affiliate of the Houston Astros). Season tickets are on sale now at www.cttigers.com or by calling the Tigers box office at (860) 887-7962."

Nice job!!

March 2011 is a tribute to the Defs of 2008...