Connecticut Defenders Tickets

Connecticut Defenders
Based in Norwich, Connecticut, Connecticut Defenders are the minor league baseball team which plays in the Eastern League with an affiliation with the San Francisco Giants. The Defenders play their home games in Memorial Stadium that was opened in 1995 and is located in Norwich. Originally the team was founded in 1995 with the name of Norwich Navigators in affiliation with New York Yankees, but it was in 2005 when the teams' name was changed to Connecticut Defenders.

On July 11, 2007, Defenders were scheduled to host Eastern League All-Star Game at the Dodd Stadium, but unfortunately the match was cancelled due to intense fog, however other events and fan activities went on through out the day.

Yankees announced on June 3, 1994 that they will be moving their double A fanchise from Albany, New York to Norwich Connecticut and will be named Norwich Navigators. The new stadium for Norwich Navigators was opened in 1995, and also in the same year Navigators played their first match on April 6 and also took their first victory over Bowie.

Norwich made it into the playoffs four times, during the span of six years. It was on 14 September, 2002 when Navigators were able to get a hold at their first and only Eastern league Championship, when they took a victory over Harrisburg with a five game series. Team at that time was being managed by the manager Luis Sojo.

It was just few weeks later after Navigators won their championship, when Yankees made an announcement that they will be ending their affiliation with Navigators just to be affiliated with Trenton Thunder. By the end of the year, Giants announced to be in affliation with the Navigators from the beginning of 2003 season.

The teams' ownership was changed in 2005, when a group under the leadership of Lou DiBella bought the team, and due to the ever decreasing attendance figures, management decided to totally refurbish the teams' image, and that context; the management held a contest that allowed the fans to chose a new name for the name along with a new mascot for the team with its name.

The new name selected for the team was submitted by the resident of East Hampton named Robert Schaub and also the logo of the team which was a bald eagle. The name Defenders and the new mascot, a bald eagle, were in the reference to the U.S Coast Guard Academy that was located near the New London and also the U.S submarine located near Groton. Apart from getting a new name and a new logo, also in that year, team signed a lease extension agreement on Dodd Stadium that will hold till 2009, after that team has an option of extending the agreement for 3 more years.

Defenders baseball Clinics are made with an aim of teaching the basics and fundamentals of baseball and sportsmanship in a sound atmosphere to the kids ageing between 5 to 12 years. The Clinic welcomes, both boys and girls to participate in it.