[BobNJ1960]

Originally Posted by ryanthegoldengod

But the awful baseball weather we've been having has to be taken into account somewhat.

No. NB and Bluefish were bottom 2 in league several years running.

about 1,200 below league average, several years running.

[Chazbme99]

I was a big fan of minor league baseball between 1993-2003. Those were the glory days for baseball in Connecticut. Having 3 Double A teams running in a small state like Connecticut was very cool. I saw many future stars of baseball during that period. New Britain Red Sox / RockCats, New Haven Ravens, Norwich Navigators. I liked seeing the local affiliated teams of the Red Sox and Yankees. New Haven was fun because Yale Field was a historic ballpark. It all went downhill went Bridgeport built a new stadium and started Independent Team. That really hurt the team in New Haven. New Britain had a very successful run until a closed door secret deal was made to take the team to Hartford. Norwich lost the Yankees and eventually the Double A level affiliation. Short season A ball is a tough draw. I feel like eventually Connecticut will get another Double A or Triple A team. I think Hartford shows it can work in larger cities. New Haven would be a perfect spot. They have rebuilt the city and need a draw to bring people. I just hope that private money would build the stadium or part of it. Hartford is losing money with the poor deal they made. Sell out crowds and city lost money last year. Only in Hartford.

[J. Fiction]

Originally Posted by Chazbme99

I was a big fan of minor league baseball between 1993-2003. Those were the glory days for baseball in Connecticut. Having 3 Double A teams running in a small state like Connecticut was very cool. I saw many future stars of baseball during that period. New Britain Red Sox / RockCats, New Haven Ravens, Norwich Navigators. I liked seeing the local affiliated teams of the Red Sox and Yankees. New Haven was fun because Yale Field was a historic ballpark. It all went downhill went Bridgeport built a new stadium and started Independent Team. That really hurt the team in New Haven. New Britain had a very successful run until a closed door secret deal was made to take the team to Hartford. Norwich lost the Yankees and eventually the Double A level affiliation. Short season A ball is a tough draw. I feel like eventually Connecticut will get another Double A or Triple A team. I think Hartford shows it can work in larger cities. New Haven would be a perfect spot. They have rebuilt the city and need a draw to bring people. I just hope that private money would build the stadium or part of it. Hartford is losing money with the poor deal they made. Sell out crowds and city lost money last year. Only in Hartford.

New Haven would be great, but only with a new Stadium. I attended a few Ravens games back in the day - Yale Field, while charming, was a very mediocre place to watch a game and I believe played a role in the eventual departure of the Ravens organization (and with it, double-A baseball from New Haven).

I think it would be best if situated as close to the heart of downtown as possible - I wonder if a modern stadium could fit on the old Coliseum site? That would be the logical place to put it due to its proximity to the heart of downtown and also to the train station. Though parking would need to be sorted out.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by J. Fiction

New Haven would be great, but only with a new Stadium. I attended a few Ravens games back in the day - Yale Field, while charming, was a very mediocre place to watch a game and I believe played a role in the eventual departure of the Ravens organization (and with it, double-A baseball from New Haven).

I think it would be best if situated as close to the heart of downtown as possible - I wonder if a modern stadium could fit on the old Coliseum site? That would be the logical place to put it due to its proximity to the heart of downtown and also to the train station. Though parking would need to be sorted out.

If I remember correctly the city refused to consider building a new stadium so the team moved to a new stadium in Manchester, New Hampshire. I doubt a baseball stadium would fit on the site of the old Coliseum because it is not a big site and Orange Street runs right through the middle of it. The city is very big into restoring the street grid system and they are planning to extend Orange Street across Route 34 to connect to South Orange near Union Station. That project will cost something like $12 million so I doubt they would even consider the site even if it was large enough. Jay

[ryanthegoldengod]

Originally Posted by Chazbme99

I was a big fan of minor league baseball between 1993-2003. Those were the glory days for baseball in Connecticut. Having 3 Double A teams running in a small state like Connecticut was very cool. I saw many future stars of baseball during that period. New Britain Red Sox / RockCats, New Haven Ravens, Norwich Navigators. I liked seeing the local affiliated teams of the Red Sox and Yankees. New Haven was fun because Yale Field was a historic ballpark. It all went downhill went Bridgeport built a new stadium and started Independent Team. That really hurt the team in New Haven. New Britain had a very successful run until a closed door secret deal was made to take the team to Hartford. Norwich lost the Yankees and eventually the Double A level affiliation. Short season A ball is a tough draw. I feel like eventually Connecticut will get another Double A or Triple A team. I think Hartford shows it can work in larger cities. New Haven would be a perfect spot. They have rebuilt the city and need a draw to bring people. I just hope that private money would build the stadium or part of it. Hartford is losing money with the poor deal they made. Sell out crowds and city lost money last year. Only in Hartford.

Yes but Hartford generated $1 million in revenue last year. Problem is they are still paying off $3.5 million for the construction of the ballpark. Once they are done paying that off, they will likely make money off of it.

[BobNJ1960]

Originally Posted by Chazbme99

I was a big fan of minor league baseball between 1993-2003. Those were the glory days for baseball in Connecticut. Having 3 Double A teams running in a small state like Connecticut was very cool. I saw many future stars of baseball during that period. New Britain Red Sox / RockCats, New Haven Ravens, Norwich Navigators. I liked seeing the local affiliated teams of the Red Sox and Yankees. New Haven was fun because Yale Field was a historic ballpark. It all went downhill went Bridgeport built a new stadium and started Independent Team. That really hurt the team in New Haven. New Britain had a very successful run until a closed door secret deal was made to take the team to Hartford. Norwich lost the Yankees and eventually the Double A level affiliation. Short season A ball is a tough draw. I feel like eventually Connecticut will get another Double A or Triple A team. I think Hartford shows it can work in larger cities. New Haven would be a perfect spot. They have rebuilt the city and need a draw to bring people. I just hope that private money would build the stadium or part of it. Hartford is losing money with the poor deal they made. Sell out crowds and city lost money last year. Only in Hartford.

We won't ever get AAA with our mediocre at best attendance history. To get AA, we need NB to do far better, to show franchisees we will support a mature franchise. All cities have a honeymoon period, so never judge based on the first 3-5 years.

[ryanthegoldengod]

Honestly I'd rather have AA. The top prospects usually spend more time in AA. Some skip AAA altogether. A lot more Crash Davis types in AAA.

[BobNJ1960]

States do not get AAA w/o thriving, top of league attendance, long-term AA, unless they have hyper economic growth.

Just getting one last shot at a coast AA would be a terrific final chance.

I hope it happens..someday.

[MMS02760]

Originally Posted by ryanthegoldengod

Yes but Hartford generated $1 million in revenue last year. Problem is they are still paying off $3.5 million for the construction of the ballpark. Once they are done paying that off, they will likely make money off of it.

The City of Hartford will be paying off the construction bonds for decades. The stadium supposedly ended up costing in excess of $70M.

[MMS02760]

As for luring another baseball team, consider this:

Worcester ($70M) and the state of MA ($30M) had to commit over $100M in public funding to get the AAA affiliate of the Red Sox to move there.

Can any city in CT or CT state government afford a project like that which would be needed to attracted a new team?