Connecticut Tigers Weekly Podcast On Host Families!!!!!
http://www.milb.com/multimedia/vpp.jsp?sid=t571
We’re always in need of host families! This week Dave Schermerhorn explains the host family program and how you can help be a part of the Tigers family! Dave’s ready to hear from you and he’s a perfect gentleman-polite, soft spoken and eager to help match your family become part of the host family program!
The Inner Workings of Game Day
Today is the second-to-last day of the Northeast Conference Tournament and we here at the Tigers treat it like a normal home game. “Tale of the Tigers” takes a look at the game day traditions around Dodd Stadium.
PHOTO CREDIT BRYAN BARKLEY
Around 10:00 a.m. members of the NEC’s television network, The Pack Network, arrive at the ballpark and start preparing for their doubleheader of action.
The Tigers have their entire staff here at the ballpark, including our new interns! With fresh faces and hailing from locales as far away as Northern California and Idaho, they were eager for a brainstorming session with Tigers General Manager C.J. Knudsen.
One of the greatest experiences of working with the Tigers is interacting with star usher Bob Pakenham. Bob always comes to the ballpark with a baseball trivia question and makes sure to ask everyone on staff!
Bob’s the one on the far left with the Raybans on. In case you were wondering, Saturday’s question is as follows: Name the only player to start ten consecutive seasons as a designated hitter?
The answer: Edgar Martinez
With such stunning weather on Saturday, Director of Facilities and Turf Management Bryan Barkley climbed up to the top of the roof at Dodd Stadium to take the following pictures.
NEC
It’s Friday afternoon here at Dodd Stadium and we’re in full swing. Field maintenance maestros Bryan Barkley and Ryan Lefler are busy getting the stadium ready for Saturday’s high school doubleheader between Plainfield and Lyman and St. Bernard and Griswold.
Ryan Lefler performing his magic on the Dodd Stadium infield.
The bullpen with a fresh coat of paint
The refurbished look of the press box
With UCONN playing its final home game at Dodd this coming Tuesday at 11:00 a.m. against the University of Rhode Island; the Tigers will also be hosting the Northeast Conference Tournament next Thursday through Sunday. The top four teams in the conference will reach the double-elimination tournament with the winner getting an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. “Tale of the Tigers” sat down with Northeast Conference Director of Communications and Social Media Ralph Ventre to get a feel for the NEC Tournament and the conference’s thoughts on playing at Dodd Stadium.
“This is our second year in Norwich,” said Ventre. “We came up there not knowing what to expect. When we got to Norwich, the first indication that this was going to be a great tournament came when the field was underwater and the grounds crew did such a great job. They worked hard for a game that wasn’t even theirs.”
Ventre explained the feeling of the conference following the 2011 tournament.
“Our main focus when we conduct a championship is the student-athlete experience. From the playing surface to the atmosphere, Dodd Stadium provides a first class experience.”
“You have to understand that with exception of Sacred Heat, who plays its games at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport on the field of the Bridgeport Bluefish, not every team plays its games on natural grass. That’s a real treat for us.”
The sport of baseball has provided plenty of notoriety for the conference.
“Some of our athletes that have reached the higher levels have helped us break into the press,” said Ventre. “Evan Scribner, who played at Central Connecticut (made his Major League debut) with the Padres in 2011. His brother Troy is one of the star pitchers on Sacred Heart. Andrew Bailey of the Red Sox played at Wagner.”
With Connecticut schools winning the last two championships (Sacred Heart in 2011 and Central Connecticut in 2010), there should be plenty of local interest in next week’s tournament. Tickets are on sale now at the Dodd Stadium Box Office.
Huskies and Ducks?
It’s just over 48 hours until the University of Connecticut comes to Dodd Stadium for a doubleheader against the University of Cincinnati. It’s the second of three dates the Huskies will play at Dodd with the final game coming on Tuesday, May 15 against the University of Rhode Island in a special D.A.R.E. Day/Education Day at 11:00 a.m. With the connection between UCONN and the Tigers and a former Husky hurler climbing the latter in pro baseball, “Tale of the Tigers” sat down with UCONN head coach Jim Penders on Wednesday to get his thoughts on a number of issues.
“We really think of this as a home away from home for us,” said Penders of Dodd Stadium. “The staff down there has been great, all the way down to putting the blue “C” behind home plate for us. We love that it’s a great ballpark with a great playing service.”
“We want to see a lot of kids (down there) follow UCONN baseball and grow up wanting to play for us.”
Penders detailed his thoughts on how far the Husky program has come over the last handful of years.
“We weren’t quite ready for an Andrew Carrigan. We couldn’t quite showcase a Matt Harvry,” said Penders, of two southeast Connecticut natives that went out of state to play college baseball. “Now we would like to think guys like that are ready to play for UCONN.”
“I’ve said it before, if we get the best players in Connecticut to play for UCONN, we’re not only going to compete for a Big East Championship, we’re going to compete for a National Championship.”
For Penders, in the home stretch of his college season, he tries to devote a little time to following his former players in professional baseball; including 2011 Red Sox First Round Draft Pick Matt Barnes, who was promoted to High A Salem in the Carolina League last week.
“I try to hop on milb.com at least once a week. I texted Matt Barnes the other week and he responded. We’re rooting like crazy for Matt and all (our guys) in professional baseball.”
The Connecticut Tigers will be entering the 2nd Annual Norwich Sunrise Rotary Duck Race on Saturday, May 12 from 12:00 to 5:00 p.m. at Fireman’s Field in Yantic. We have unofficially named him “Duckey.” “Duckey” will be one of 30,000 ducks floating down the Yantic River. The Tigers got the duck from the Norwich Rotary, which uses the event as a fundraiser. Front office staff members decorated the duck and now “Duckey” is being entered in the “Best Dressed Duck Contest.” To vote for the Tigers duck as “Best Dressed,” log onto the following site: www.NorwichRotaryDuckRace.com.
Podcast #2
The new Tigers’ podcast is now online. Eric Knighton and Jon Versteeg get you updated on the happenings at Dodd Stadium.
http://www.milb.com/multimedia/vpp.jsp?sid=t571
Props
Great column by B.C. grad Mike DiMauro of the New London Day on Boston College playing in Connecticut.
http://www.theday.com/article/20120425/SPORT01/304259940/-1/frontpageMobile
Connecticut Tigers Podcast Series
The Tigers have launched a podcast series. The podcast is hosted by Director of Media Relations Jon Versteeg and will feature insight from Tigers front office members, players and sponsors as well as area media members. The first podcast is online and features General Manager C.J. Knudsen. Fans can access the podcast at the following link.
Anatomy of a Tarp Pull
On Tuesday night Boston College beat St. John’s 2-1 in a thrilling game at Dodd Stadium. Four Eagles pitchers combined to surrender just three hits. It was the first game these two schools had ever played at Dodd Stadium. As you might imagine with all the rain we had in Southeast Connecticut and around the Northeast, the path to getting the game played on Tuesday night was a long one. It started all the way back on Saturday night and involved some help from the victorious Eagles on Tuesday afternoon.
The University of Connecticut opened the collegiate schedule at Dodd Stadium on Saturday afternoon against Rutgers. The game was originally scheduled to be played at 5:30 so as to not conflict with the Huskies’ spring football game at Rentschler Field in East Hartford. Tigers’ officials and the UCONN Athletic Department made the decision at mid-week last week to move the game up to noon to avoid the impending weather.
The game was played Saturday without incident and the tarp was put on the field Saturday night at 6:00 p.m.
I don’t have to tell you what happened on Saturday night and all day Sunday.
After a cold and dreary day on Monday, this is the sight that greeted the Tigers Front Office on Tuesday morning.
Pulling a tarp even with little water on it requires a good amount of people, typically around 10 or so. When you have almost two full days of torrential downpour on the tarp, you can easily double the amount of people you need.
In stepped Mike Gambino, the head coach of the Boston College. Shortly after the Eagles arrived at Dodd Stadium Tuesday afternoon, a group of players and Coach Gambino himself helped Tigers front office members remove the tarp.
With shortly under three hours until the start of the game, the grounds crew went to work but not before stopping for a picture.
Assistant Director of Facilities and Turf Management Ryan Lefler.
Shortly after 3:30 p.m. the coaches from both schools got together to talk while Tigers staff members set up the field for batting practice.
Less than 20 minutes later, batting practice began.
College Baseball returns to Dodd Stadium next Saturday, May 5, when the Huskies take on Cincinnati in a doubleheader at 3:00 p.m. All tickets are just $5.00 and can be purchased online at cttigers.com or by calling 860-887-7962.
What a First Week!
Think the Tigers made some smart draft choices over the last few years?
It’s just over a week into full season baseball and plenty of 2010 and 2011 Connecticut Tigers are starting to lay the foundation for productive seasons in the higher levels of the Detroit Tigers organization. At High A Lakeland in the Florida State League, 2011 6th Round pick Tyler Collins is killing the ball. He is 13-27, good enough for a .481 batting average.
NYPL All-Star IF Dean Green is leading the charge for the West Michigan Whitecaps, batting .379 with two home runs and 2 RBI in just 7 games! 2011 On the pitching side of things, RHP Brennan Smith started 2012 in the same dominant way he began 2011 with Connecticut, by not allowing a run over five innings pitched against Bowling Green (Tampa Bay) on April 9.
For the Whitecaps, 3rd Round pick Aaron Westlake is hitting .308 with no home runs and a team-high 4 RBI. C Patrick Leyland has gotten into three games for the Whitecaps and Curt Casali has caught the other four games.
SS Dixon Machado played in just seven games in Norwich at the end of the 2010 season following the conclusion of the GCL campaign. This season with the Flying Tigers, Machado is off to a .333 batting average (7 for his first 21 at-bats). 1B James Robbins has 13 strikeouts in 31 plate appearances. Robbins showed some power in 2011, hitting 16 home runs and 65 RBIs in 490 at-bats. He has what scouts call a “high ceiling,” being just 21 years old and not turning 22 until September 26.
Connecticut native Sean Teufel, who was born in Fairfield in 1986 when his dad Tim played for the New York Mets, spent the first week of the 2010 season with the Tigers in Norwich before advancing to West Michigan. CT Tiger fans will remember Teufel as a short reliever. He spent 2011 in Lakeland as both a starter and reliever (22 appearances, 10 starts), and has returned to the FSL to start 2012. This season he has one start under his belt, logging four innings at home against Brevard County (Milwaukee) and allowing three earned runs on six hits. Right-handers Tyler Clark and Patrick Cooper each have one bullpen appearance in 2012.
In West Michigan, IF Colin Kaline won the game against the Bowling Green Hot Rods on April 10. Here’s a link to the article on the game courtesy of the Grand Rapids Press and the final call of the game courtesy of my buddy Ben Chiswick, the voice of the West Michigan Whitecaps.
http://www.mlive.com/whitecaps/index.ssf/2012/04/west_michigan_whitecap_with_fa.html
“WHAT WOULD YOU SAY YOU DO HERE?”
It’s a great line isn’t it? Office Space, the cult classic, is probably the most-quoted movie in the American Workplace. There is a great question that gets asked of every staff member throughout the off-season.
What do you guys do during the off-season? From sales to marketing and getting the ballpark ready, there is always plenty to do!
The Tigers’ third season of baseball at Dodd Stadium begins on June 20 but our spring schedule of games began Saturday with a high school baseball game between Saint Bernard and Montville. The action continues today between East Lyme and Woodstock at 4:00 p.m. Our complete schedule of our preseason events and schedule is available at
Our UCONN game ticket information will be available soon and Connecticut Tigers single game tickets in 2012 will be on sale in the next couple of weeks. This is the first of many more posts in 2012. Stay tuned. It’s going to be a fund ride in 2012.
COMPLETE LIST OF FORMER CT TIGERS NOW IN FULL-SEASON BASEBALL.
30 former Tigers are now competing in the higher levels of full-season baseball. The complete list is as follows:
AA Erie (1): RHP Robbie Weinhardt (2010)
High ALakeland(10): LHP Sean Teufel (2010), RHP Patrick Cooper (2010), LHP Matt Crouse (2011), RHP Matt Little (2010), C Luis Sanz (2011), IF James Robbins (2010), IFDixonMachado (2010), IF Ryan Soares (2010), OF Tyler Collins (2011).
Low A West Michigan (17): RHP Josue Carreno (2010), RHP Tommy Collier (2011), RHP Wilsen Palacios (2010 and 2011), RHP Brennan Smith (2010 and 2011), RHP Nick Avila (2011), RHP Luis Sanz (2010 and 2011), RHP Michael Torrealba (2010), RHP Tyler White (2010), RHP Ryan Wooley (2011), RHP Daniel Bennett (2011), C Curt Casali (2011), C Patrick Leyland (2011), IF Aaron Westlake (2011), IF Eugenio Suarez (2011), IF Colin Kaline (2011), IF Dean Green (2011), IF Matt Perry (2010 and 2011), OF Chad Wright (2011)
D.L. in West Michigan: RHP Jeff Ferrell (2010 and 2011), RHP Scott Green, RHP Ramon Lebron (2010)
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