LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Norwich Navigators: Connecticut Defenders
built 127 days ago
You wanted to know if Connecticut's professional baseball teams besides the Norwich Navigators have renegotiated their leases for using city-owned stadiums. You ... wanted to know how the teams, including the Navigators, have benefited the local economies.
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On June 3, 1994, the Yankees announced they would move their double-A franchise from Albany, New York, where it had been known as the Albany-Colonie Yankees since 1985, to Norwich, Connecticut, and would be known as the Norwich Navigators. Ground was broken for a new stadium in Norwich on November 3 of that year, and the team began play on April 6, 1995, with a win over Bowie. The home opener occurred 11 days later and was another Navigators victory (this time over Reading).
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Cervenak had a great season in Norwich but said the Yankees would not promote him because the Navigators were in the hunt for the Eastern League title, which they eventually won, and wanted to keep their best players there. After driving in 91 runs, he surely thought he punched his ticket out of Connecticut.
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Norwich is located near the Mohegan Sun casino, and is ... home to the area's only minor-league baseball team, the Connecticut Defenders (who until 2005 were known as the Norwich Navigators). The Defenders are the Class AA affiliate of the San Francisco Giants.
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When he first purchased the old Norwich Navigators and renamed them the Connecticut Defenders for a more regional appeal, DiBella seems to be eager to make baseball work in the Rose City. One of his first acts was to sign a lease extension to keep the team at Dodd Stadium through the 2009 season. Team options can keep the Defenders there through 2012.
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![[Tater, Norwich mascot]](http://retrieverimages.lycos.com/images/n/o/r/norwich-navigators/i/001.jpg)
Professional baseball came to Norwich in 1995 with the arrival of the Norwich Navigators, the Yankees' AA farm club. The franchise had been in Albany-Colonie, NY, for some time. The last time Norwich fielded a minor league team was in 1910 in the short-lived Connecticut League.
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Connecticut Defenders