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.

Tigers and Spinners rained out tonight in Lowell...

will play a DH tomorrow.

Tigers walk off with a 3-2 win

thanks to Javier Azcona's one out solo homer in the bottom of the ninth. The blast earned the Tigers a split of the two game series with Lowell at Dodd. The teams continue the home and home series tomorrow in Lowell with another two game set.
Azcona also started the Tigers first rally of the game in the third with CT down 1-0 as he tripled to the right field corned and then scored and a RBI ground out by PJ Polk. Jason King followed with a RBI single to give the Tigers a 2-1 lead.
Luis Sanz started for the Tigers and pitched 5 innings. Ryan Woolley gave up a run in his two innings of work. Clemente Mendoza pitched the last two innings for the Tigers and gets the win before 1200+ fans.

Misc fan notes: Connecticut native and former Vanderbilt catcher Curtis Casali made his pro debut with the Tigers and doubled in four plate appearances.

Pics from top to bottom: Colin Kaline, Casali, Azcona, and Polk

Game still in progress....

as it was delayed by rain for almost 90 minutes and I had to leave early for holiday family fun, I'll have a recap and pics later on tonight. Luis Sanz with a good outing so far against the Lowell Spinners.

A couple of misc fan notes: long time game staffer, Tom Phalen remains on the mend and our continued good thoughts go out to him.

Good seeing former Defenders batboy Jared Allen today at the game.

Nice move by the front office in thanking the fans who stuck around during the rain delay by comping them for a future game when they present today's ticket stub at the ticket office.

Worcester Telegram & Gazette - telegram.com - Tornadoes' Minicozzi looking for major shot

Worcester Telegram & Gazette - telegram.com - Tornadoes' Minicozzi looking for major shot

Spinners pound Tigers tonight 16-8...

banging out a mind numbing 24 hits. For the definition of a blowout just check out the box score. The good news is it counts just as a single loss in the standings and they get back at it soon enough Sunday afternoon to hopefully put this one behind them.
Speaking of mind numbing, the Tigers scored five runs in the bottom of the ninth thanks in part to six wild pitches uncorked by Lowell reliever Braden Kapteyn and another by the pitcher who finally closed out the game Andrew Jones.

Matt Crouse deals, Les Smith shines, and Tigers hit...

as the Tigers survive a sloppy 8th inning (3 errors and a WP) that saw their 6-0 shrink to a 6-5 nail biter against the Vermont Lake Monsters. Starter Crouse threw a tidy 5.1 IP allowing 5 hits to improve to 1-1 on the season with a 1.29 ERA. RF Les Smith made great catch to end the 3th inning resulting in a double play to end the inning as the runner on first was doubled off. Alexander Nunez also had a defensive gem to end the fourth inning on shallow popup to right field.
The Tigers had five players with two hits each: Chad Wright, PJ Polk, Jason King (2 RBIs), Dean Green and Les Smith.
Dan Bennett pitched the 9th to earn his second save as CT salvaged one game of the three game set from Vermont. The Lowell Spinners come into town for a pair of games staring tomorrow.

Misc fan notes: GET WELL TOM!! Tom, the long time Dodd elevator gatekeeper fell ill Wednesday night at the game. Sounds like he'll be on the DL for a little bit but he is on the mend and hopefully will be back soon. Rest up buddy and pound some liquids!

Great as always seeing Hondo back at Dodd. It was of course the immortal Travis "it's too cold to hit at Dodd" Denker that was driving us crazy!

Nice side arm delivery from the press box tonight also.....

Pictured player is birthday boy Matt Crouse