Dodd Stadium

Home plate entrance to Sen. Thomas J. Dodd Memorial Stadium, Aug-2011.

The seating bowl, built for Double-A ball, hosting a New York-Penn League game 16 years later.

The view from behind the plate looks out over advertisements and trees.

Chronological Tour: Stop 78

• Location: Norwich Business Park, Stott Street, Norwich, Conn. (map it using Google Maps)
• Opened: 1995
• Home teams: Norwich Navigators (1995-2005), Connecticut Defenders (2006-09), Eastern League; Connecticut Tigers (2010-19), New York-Penn League
• Capacity: 6,275

Rating: 3 baseballs

There are two roads in, and they lead through an industrial park. The field can be approached by a long winding road off Conn. Route 2, or by another road that parallels the Connecticut Turnpike (I-395).

Is the drive worth it? Dodd Stadium is nice enough, but I really didn’t see anything here that was unusual or outstanding. The field’s at the top of a hill, so it really doesn’t look out on anything except a few surrounding trees.

Despite this, the field has been visited by ESPN. The main reason was the appearance of New York Yankees pitching prospect Hideki Irabu during the 1997 season.

After eight seasons as a New York Yankees affiliate, the Navigators became a San Francisco Giants farm club in 2003, while the Yankees became associated with the Trenton Thunder.

In 2006, the club changed its name to the Connecticut Defenders, dumping the Gator mascot that had been confusing as there isn’t an alligator to be found outside of captivity within hundreds of miles of Norwich Business Park. Then, in 2009, the team announced that it would no longer be defending Connecticut but instead moving to Richmond, Va. for 2010. However, the New York-Penn League relocated its Oneonta franchise to Norwich in time for the 2010 season, adopting their parent club’s name for ten years before forming their own identity. The good news was that the club embraced its Navigators heritage and played the occasional throwback game wearing Navigators uniforms. In addition, a statue of Tater the Gator sits in the entryway.

For 2020, the club rebranded itself as the Norwich Sea Unicorns, but they never took the field due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Major League Baseball restructuring of the minor leagues for 2021 eliminated the New York-Penn League, and the Norwich club fell by the wayside.