My parents say I have a dilemma, which also involves AA, but I say that they don’t know what the fuck they’re talking about and just don’t understand me.

And I say this coming from having just been in Norwich.

The cold is no exaggeration…and I say that as a Bay Area native. There was pushing and shoving in the Reading Dugout to get the valued bench space in front of the heater. The visitor’s dugout (third base side got the worst of it: wind would blow straight in, but also at times come from either side. It was like all the swirling wind of Candlestick, in one small area.

People downplay Dodd’s negative effects….which is fair. Some people can do well there. Power can be had down the lines, and ground balls can exploit a hard ground and infielders with hands as cold as those of the hands of hitters. And the cold can help or hurt pitchers just as much in the same ways.

But at the same time…it’s not a pleasant stadium. Sorry to Skip and Hondo and the guys out in CT who I haven’t gotten to meet. It’s not the dimensions, or the fence height. It’s not a bad stadium. Augusta is legitimately bigger, but not by much. For me, it’s location. To start, it’s on top of a hill, and on the edge of a pretty steep hillside. And the outfield is facing down towards the river and towards the ocean. Even though it’s from the south and east, the wind blows in off the ocean.

Also…it’s in the middle of a business park. It’s quite a ways away from Norwich, which is not a big town to start with (36,600). And while New London County is fairly populous (about 260,000), the surrounding counties, the neighboring counties make up just about about one sixth of Connecticut’s total population, and that’s spread out over about half of the state. Even though it’s along a couple of pretty big highways and is central, there isn’t a lot of support, it seems, and it just feels far away from the rest of the area, without many restaurants and places to hang.

I know, I know, there’s the fact that ‘Everyone loves a winner,’ and the Giants aren’t that…but it’s a downward spiral. And the manager Bien Figueroa made some pretty spiteful comments about it, which I’m sure you guys have read. “(Bowie) was my old team and when you play in front of 10,000 fans, that’s kind of enjoyable," he said. "When you’re here and there’s not a lot of fans- it’s hard. It gets boring sometimes, I don’t like to say that, but that’s what they call home field advantage." Connecticut is the lowest attended team in the league, when I got there, they averaged 1,712 a game. The next team (Harrisburg) averaged 1,827. But after that, the next lowest is 2,413 per game, which is a pretty huge jump. That’s significant, and can’t just be attributed to losing teams.

I also think that Perez’s article short-shifts the Giants. The Giants’ farm system is one of the winningest in baseball the last few years. The team directly below Connecticut has been one of the best teams in the California League, with two championships in three years. And it’s not like the Defenders haven’t had the benefits that have won the Giants other championships, like slow player pushes, older players and minor league free agents.

The team is hardly a bunch of angels, either. Calling the owner ‘absentee’ is a compliment. The fans (both those present on here and those I met there) seemed dissatisfied with the ownership as much of the Giants. And this is a team that frickin’ didn’t play ‘Take Me Out to the Ballgame’ last week….and it wasn’t the first time apparently. And when the guy in charge was told about it and was complained to…he shrugged.

And the numbers are hard to lie about. I wrote about this last week, and these were the first major splits I came across with their top players:

Eddy Martinez-Esteve at Home: .216/.333/.216, 11 for 51, no extra-base hits.
Eddy Martinez-Esteve Away: .352/.410/.507, 25 for 71, 5 2B, 2 HR

Carlos Sosa at Home: .167/.224/.278, 9 for 54, 3 2B, 1 HR
Carlos Sosa Away: .338/.432/634, 24 for 71, 7 2B, 1 3B, 4 HR

Travis Ishikawa at Home: .167/.261/.250, 10 for 60, 2 2B, 1 HR
Travis Ishikawa Away: .321/.424/.452, 27 for 84, 5 2B, 2 HR

David Maroul at Home: .178/.193/.286, 10 for 56, 6 2B
David Maroul Away: .280/.289/.560, 21 for 75, 6 2B, 5 HR

Ultimately, there’s one thing that needs to be said. When I was speaking with the very pleasant PA Announcer, I mentioned that it might be my last time out there. He smiled and nodded, and said “Yea, I understand. I don’t expect the team to be here after next year either.” It had never even occurred to him about the affiliation agreement. When the Defenders agreement with Dodd is up after 2009, it may be that the Defenders will be as out of town as the Giants.

To that end…who knows. Maybe the Giants will stick with the Defenders, with possibly a deal with the owner to sell out, or a new owner that may lead to the team leaving town. (Maybe a two team defection to the Texas League?)

But one thing it seems no one disagrees with is that the Giants may be out of Norwich soon. Whether or not that means also with in tandem with the Defenders is another big question.

when’s the TI/Romo interviews being posted?

A thought popped up: why did the Giants change from Shrevesport to Norwich anyway? That was our AA affiliate for a long-time.

The climate complaints about Dodd are unfair too. We’ve had this discussion before, but should all teams move out of the northeast because it’s cold before June?? The majority of the season it’s going to be a helluva lot warmer in Connecticut than it’s going to be in San Francisco!!

Team doesn’t need to be in Dodd Stadium also do not want the team in an Albuquerque or Colorado Springs inflated numbers stadium.