The Norwich Sea Unicorns are a baseball team located in

Norwich, Connecticut Norwich ( ) (also called "The Rose of New England") is a city in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The Yantic, Shetucket, and Quinebaug Rivers flow into the city and form its harbor, from which the Thames River flows south to Long ...

. From 2010 to 2020, they were members of Minor League Baseball's

New York–Penn League The New York–Penn League (NYPL) was a Minor League Baseball league that operated in the northeastern United States from 1939 to 2020. Classified as a Class A Short Season league, its season started in June, after major-league teams signed th ...

(NYPL) as the

Class A Short Season Class A Short Season (officially Short-Season A) was a level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States from 1965 through 2020. In the hierarchy of minor league classifications, it was below Triple-A, Double-A, Class A-Advanced (cre ...

affiliate of the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

. They play their home games at

Senator Thomas J. Dodd Memorial Stadium Senator Thomas J. Dodd Memorial Stadium is a stadium in Norwich, Connecticut. It is primarily used for baseball, and since 2010, has been the home of the Norwich Sea Unicorns, who were previously known as the Connecticut Tigers. It was the ho ...

. They were previously known as the Connecticut Tigers from 2010 to 2019. With

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

's reorganization of the minor leagues after the 2020 season, Norwich was not selected to continue in affiliated baseball. Starting with the 2021 season, Norwich plays in the

Futures Collegiate Baseball League The Futures Collegiate Baseball League (FCBL) is an eight-team collegiate summer baseball league. It has four franchises in Massachusetts, two in Connecticut, and one each in New Hampshire and Vermont. Format The Futures League is a wood-bat ...

History

On January 27, 2010,

Oneonta, New York Oneonta ( ) is a city in southern Otsego County, New York, United States. It is one of the northernmost cities of the Appalachian Region. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, Oneonta had a population of 13,079. Its nickname is "City of the Hil ...

Mayor

Dick Miller Richard Miller (December 25, 1928 – January 30, 2019) was an American character actor who appeared in more than 180 films, including many produced by Roger Corman. He later appeared in the films of directors who began their careers with Corm ...

announced in a press release that the

Oneonta Tigers The Oneonta Tigers were a minor league baseball team located in Oneonta, New York. They were members of the New York–Penn League. The Tigers were the Short-Season A classification affiliate of the Detroit Tigers, and played their home games ...

would be leaving the city for

, after the 2009 season. Beginning play in 2010, the Connecticut Tigers played their games in the newly renovated

Dodd Stadium Senator Thomas J. Dodd Memorial Stadium is a stadium in Norwich, Connecticut. It is primarily used for baseball, and since 2010, has been the home of the Norwich Sea Unicorns, who were previously known as the Connecticut Tigers. It was the ho ...

, which had been vacated by the

Connecticut Defenders The Connecticut Defenders were a Minor League Baseball team based in Norwich, Connecticut. The team, which played in the Eastern League, was the Double-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants major-league club from 2003 until following the 2009 ...

of the Eastern League who had left for

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

, to become the

Richmond Flying Squirrels The Richmond Flying Squirrels are a Minor League Baseball team based in Richmond, Virginia. The team, which is a part of the Eastern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants major league club, and plays at The Diamond. Th ...

simultaneous to the Tigers' arrival. In 2011, the Connecticut Tigers saw a 23% increase in total attendance and 20% increase in average attendance over 2010 numbers. The 20% increase in average attendance was the fourth largest increase in all of Minor League Baseball. The Connecticut Tigers name was only expected to be used for the 2010 season with a name-the-team contest expected to be held after the season to decide a permanent name. The team decided to keep the name, however, citing positive feedback from fans owing to the connection to the major league

, the team's

affiliate. Connecticut held on to the Tigers moniker through the end of the 2019 season. That season, the team renewed its long-term lease with the city of Norwich, and, as a result, announced a change to the team name, which would include the Norwich name and a nickname to be chosen following a fan submission contest. The five finalists from the contest were "Norwich Golden Roses", "Norwich Mill Mules", "Norwich Narwals", "Norwich Salty Dogs", and "Norwich Sea Unicorns". Ultimately, the team settled on becoming the Norwich Sea Unicorns. The start of the 2020 season was postponed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

before being cancelled on June 30. After the cancelled 2020 minor league season,

took direct control of Minor League Baseball and discontinued short-season play. The Sea Unicorns were not selected to continue in affiliated baseball. The team joined the

(FCBL), a collegiate summer league in New England, for 2021.

Playoffs

*2014: Lost to Tri-City 2–0 in semifinals

Roster

References

External links

Official website

League press release announcing the move to Norwich

MiLB.com writeup about the Tigers' 26-inning game

Box score from the 26-inning game
{{Connecticut Sports Baseball teams established in 2010 Professional baseball teams in Connecticut Detroit Tigers minor league affiliates Norwich, Connecticut New York–Penn League teams 2010 establishments in Connecticut

History

Playoffs

Roster

See also

References

External links