Tombstone
Born: November 15, 1994 – Re-branded from New Britain Red Sox1Doyle, Paul. “Rock Cats are ready to play”. The Courant (Hartford, CT). November 17, 1994
Move Announced: June 4, 2014 (Franchise to become Hartford Yard Goats in 2016)
First Game: April 6, 1995 (L 3-2 @ Harrisburg Senators)
Last Game: September 7, 2015 (L 10-4 @ Portland Sea Dogs)
Eastern League Champions: 2001 (Co-champions)
Stadia
1995: Beehive Field
Opened: 1983
1996-2015: New Britain Stadium (6,146)22009 New Britain Rock Cats Program
Opened: 1996
Dimensions (2009): Left: 330′, Center: 400′, Right: 330′
Branding
Mascot: Rocky (the Cat)
Ownership & Affiliation
Owners:
- 1995 – 1999: Joe Buzas
- 2000 – 2011: Coleman Levy, Bill Dowling, et al.
- 2012 – 2015: Josh Solomon, Jim Solomon & Jennifer Goorno
Sale (2000): $6.5 million (Joe Buzas to Coleman Levy, Bill Dowling, et al.)3Gonzalez, Roberto. “They Could Use A Good Lawyer”. The Courant (Hartford, CT). March 29, 2000
Sale (2012): $15.25 million (Dowling, Levy et al. to Josh Solomon and siblings)4Ryan Chichester. “Rise and Fall of Pro Baseball in New Britain, Part 3: Rock Cats are sold to Josh Solomon, changing New Britain baseball forever, as team bolts for Hartford,” New Britain Herald, November 18, 2019, www.http://www.newbritainherald.com/NBH-New+Britain+Bees/361719/rise-and-fall-of-pro-baseball-in-new-britain-part-3-rock-cats-are-sold-to-josh-solomon-changing-new-britain-baseball-forever-as-team-bolts-for-hartford (accessed January 1, 2023).
Major League Affiliations:
- 1995-2014: Minnesota Twins
- 2015: Colorado Rockies
Background
The blue collar central Connecticut city of New Britain gained professional baseball in the spring of 1983, thanks to famed minor league owner Joe Buzas and at the expense of the nearby city of Bristol, Connecticut.
Buzas had owned the Boston Red Sox’ Class AA farm team in the Eastern League since 1958. Buzas was a sharp and frugal operator who managed to survive the extremely lean times in the Minor League Baseball industry during the 1960’s and 1970’s. One of his tactics was to aggressively move his franchises in search of better stadium leases. Between 1958 and 1983, Buzas moved his Eastern League club seven times among cities in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. His final move, from Bristol’s Muzzy Field to New Britain’s Beehive Field in 1983 was the shortest. The two cities are a mere 11 miles apart.
But in New Britain, Buzas finally settled down. To the extent that in August 1994, Buzas resisted pressure from the Boston Red Sox to accept a $10 million from Springfield officials to move the club to a new ballpark in the western Massachusetts city in 1996. Days after an emotional Buzas announced the team would remain in place, New Britain city leaders approved their own plans to construct a $10 million new ballpark adjacent to Beehive Field in Willow Brook Park.
The episode led to the end of Buzas’ five-decade relationship with the Red Sox.
Key Players
New Britain produced a steady pipeline of future Major League stars during the 21 seasons of the Rock Cats era. The best of the best included:
- Outfielder Torii Hunter (Rock Cats ’96-’98)
- Designated hitter David Ortiz (Rock Cats ’97 and ’01)
- Catcher A.J. Pierzynski (Rock Cats ’98 and ’00)
- Third baseman/first baseman Michael Cuddyer (Rock Cats ’00-’01)
- Pitcher Kyle Lohse (Rock Cats ’01-’03)
- 2006 American League MVP Justin Morneau (Rock Cats ’01-’03)
- 2009 American League MVP catcher Joe Mauer (Rock Cats ’03)
- Pitcher Francisco Liriano (Rock Cats ’04-’05).
- Infielder Trevor Story (Rock Cats ’15)
Hunter, Cuddyer and Morneau are all members of the Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame. Mauer will be soon and has already had his uniform number retired by the Twins. And Ortiz was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2022 for his heroics with the Boston Red Sox.
Red Sox To Rock Cats
At the end of the 1994 season, the Boston Red Sox pulled their Eastern League farm club out of New Britain and moved it to Trenton, New Jersey. Buzas quickly struck a new affiliation agreement with the Minnesota Twins. As part of the changeover from the Red Sox to the Twins, the team was re-branded as the Hardware City Rock Cats for the 1995 season.
New Britain will lose affiliated professional baseball after 33 seasons at the end of the 2015 season. Nearby Hartford, Connecticut lured the team away from the promise of a new $56 million ballpark. The former New Britain Red Sox/Rock Cats will be known as the Hartford Yard Goats beginning in April 2016.
New Britain Rock Cats Shop
Links
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