Minor League Baseball returns to Norwich

With the departure of the CT Defenders (formerly the Norwich Navigators), it appeared minor league baseball might not inhabit nearby Norwich in 2010.  However, the NY/Penn short-season rookie league has announced the relocation of the Detroit Tigers franchise from Oneonta NY to Norwich.  Unlike the former AA league (first a Yankee farm team, recently an affiliate of the SF Giants), whose season began in April, the rookie league starts in June, with many players who were just drafted.  Both the Red Sox (Lowell, MA) and the Yankees (Staten Island) have teams in this league, as well as the Brooklyn Cyclones.  Due to this late move, the team will retain the name “Tigers” for 2010, but will likely seek a new name for 2011.  The former Norwich team headed for Richmond, VA and was renamed the “Flying Squirrels”, with much greater appeal to the youthful fan base than “the Defenders” could muster.  With that in mind, the early push is on for “The Norwich Narwhals.”  It retains the Norwich name, the connection to the Defenders (the USS Narwhal was a submarine built in Groton in the late 60’s),  and just imagine the hats!