CT Defenders

[riradioguy2]

With the announcement the Defenders are officialy relocating to Virginia, are any stations really affected? Does anyone know a complete listing of the stations that were carrying the games?

 

[KML0224]

Wasn't WICH-AM 1310 of Norwich the only one?

 

[bub]

I recall at one time WLIS 1420 AM in Old Saybrook carried their games with occasional games on their sister station, WMRD 1150 AM in Middletown.

 

[KML0224]

WMRD-AM 1150 actually carried the New Britain Rocks Cats this season, along side of WTIC-FM 96.5 HD2.

 

[Whale]

Should've stuck with Norwich Navigators. The alligator with the periscope was a brilliant logo.

 

[bub]

The team formerly known as the Connecticut Defenders are now the Richmond Flying Squirrels. New logo will be unveiled December 1st. Don't take my word for it. Check out the link for yourself. GO NUTS! :

http://squirrelsbaseball.com/

 

[DToTheJ]

"Now, here's something we hope you'll really like!"

 

[DToTheJ]

Good news: Baseball is coming back to Norwich! (Albeit a team from the lower rungs of minor league baseball, but it's baseball, nonetheless.)

The Oneonta Tigers will start playing at Dodd Stadium this year. They are run by, as you would guess, the Detroit Tigers.

More info:
http://www.theday.com/article/20100128/SPORT04/301289454/1044

 

[GlennO]

Should've stuck with Norwich Navigators. The alligator with the periscope was a brilliant logo.

The alligator was a great logo. To be fair, the Norwich Navigators were affiliated with the New York Yankees. The CT Defenders were an affiliate of the San Francisco Giants.

 

[BRNout]

From a practical standpoint, how in the heck is Richmond going to support the "Flying Squirrels" when they already have a very well-established (AAA) Minor League team known as the Richmond Braves? You can't tell me that there wasn't a better place to move this team. It won't last.

 

[KML0224]

The Richmond Braves are now in Gwinett, GA now, if I'm not mistaken.

 

[CTListener]

From a practical standpoint, how in the heck is Richmond going to support the "Flying Squirrels" when they already have a very well-established (AAA) Minor League team known as the Richmond Braves? You can't tell me that there wasn't a better place to move this team. It won't last.

The Richmond ballpark isn't up to Class AAA standards anymore. The team, as another poster reported, moved to the Atlanta suburbs and a ballpark with all the bells, whistles and corporate boxes, a couple of years ago.

 

[CTListener]

Good news: Baseball is coming back to Norwich! (Albeit a team from the lower rungs of minor league baseball, but it's baseball, nonetheless.)

The Oneonta Tigers will start playing at Dodd Stadium this year. They are run by, as you would guess, the Detroit Tigers.

More info:
http://www.theday.com/article/20100128/SPORT04/301289454/1044

Good for Norwich -- although given the piss-poor support that town gave its Class AA franchise over the past 15 years, it's hard to believe a Class A team will draw flies there -- but Oneonta had been in the NY-Penn League forever, mostly as the first step up the ladder for Yankees prospects. I'd imagine there are plenty of long faces there today.

 

[BRNout]

From a practical standpoint, how in the heck is Richmond going to support the "Flying Squirrels" when they already have a very well-established (AAA) Minor League team known as the Richmond Braves? You can't tell me that there wasn't a better place to move this team. It won't last.

The Richmond ballpark isn't up to Class AAA standards anymore. The team, as another poster reported, moved to the Atlanta suburbs and a ballpark with all the bells, whistles and corporate boxes, a couple of years ago.

WOW, I didn't realize that. That's sad, the Braves AAA team resulted in generations of Braves fans coming from that area. And, to move the team to an Atlanta suburb seems a waste when there are so many mid-sized cities that would happily support such a team.

Given that, I guess the move makes sense.....even if the team mascot doesn't.

 

[DToTheJ]

The Richmond Braves are now in Gwinett, GA now, if I'm not mistaken.

They're actually known as the Rome Braves (Rome, GA/Gwinnett County).

 

[CTListener]

The Richmond Braves are now in Gwinett, GA now, if I'm not mistaken.

They're actually known as the Rome Braves (Rome, GA/Gwinnett County).

Two different clubs. The Rome Braves are a Class A team playing in a 5,000-seat stadium in Rome. The Gwinnett Braves are a Class AAA team playing in a 10,000-seater in Lawrenceville. Same country, different cities, different teams.

With games no longer on TBS every night, the Braves aren't "America's Team" anymore, so why should they care if they have a farm team outside their home market? Focusing on reinforcing their brand within their home market makes sense, and putting the AAA club, with players who are one step away from the big club, in the big club's backyard makes sense not only from a marketing standpoint but from a logistical one as well -- emergency call-ups are easier for the Braves with a team in Gwinnett County than for, say, the Brewers with a team in New Orleans. (I think they're still there...)

 

[bub]

Unrelated note: Former Waterbury Spirit radio voice Stu Paul is now the new radio voice for the Nashville Sounds, the Triple-A Pacific Coast League affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. He had called the games of the San Antonio Missions, the Double-A Texas League affiliate of the San Diego Padres for the previous 8 seasons.

Stu Paul called the Spirit games on WATR for 4 seasons from 1997-2000. The Waterbury Spirit were an independent minor league team playing out of the Northern League.

 

[DToTheJ]

The Richmond Braves are now in Gwinett, GA now...

They're actually known as the Rome Braves...

Two different clubs. The Rome Braves are a Class A team playing in a 5,000-seat stadium in Rome. The Gwinnett Braves are a Class AAA team playing in a 10,000-seater in Lawrenceville...

Whoops... I stand corrected! Thanks!