r.i.p. tater the gator

It seems that knee-jerk renaming lameness has hit my favorite minor league baseball team.

As of 2:00 pm today, the Norwich Navigators became the Connecticut Defenders. Whereas their old logo featured a seafaring alligator, the new logo is centered around a submarine – an obvious nod to the military-industrial complex that is the Groton Naval Base. The name was chosen from public entries, so I’m guessing that the midshipmen stuffed the ballot box.

I attended a few Navigators games during their inaugural season in 1995. Dodd Stadium was around 10 miles north of Conn College’s campus, and we would pay $3 ($5 if we felt rich) per ticket to see pure baseball. We saw some fun games that summer, seeing a few players who became major league stars (including Nomar Garciaparra, who played for a rival team). Tater the Gator, their happy, go-lucky mascot, would entertain the crowd, occasionally drenching them with his high-power squirt gun. The games were fun – good times.

So rest in peace, Tater. May you have good times hanging out with other lost mascots, like Youppi (who found a home with the Montreal Canadiens) and Energy Hog.

(I know I’m calling the Hog’s death a wee bit early – but really? A biker hog for energy savings? Puh-leeze!)

And I’m gonna make sure my Navigators hats and shirt stay in semi-decent shape from here on out!