Blumenthal goes to bat for Sea Unicorns
Norwich’s minor league team could be on the chopping block if MLB plan goes through
Norwich — Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said Friday that if Major League Baseball continues with its plan to eliminate or demote 42 minor league teams, including the Norwich Sea Unicorns, Congress must look at revoking MLB’s antitrust exemption.
The process for repealing the exemption would be with legislation that begins in the Senate Judiciary Committee, of which Blumenthal is a member. The senator noted that Republican members of that committee represent states with Minor League teams, such as North Carolina, Iowa and Texas.
The impact of repealing the exemption would be that teams couldn’t bargain together with vendors, advertisers and players, he said.
Blumenthal stood with Norwich Mayor Peter Nystrom; state Sen. Cathy Osten, D-Sprague; Rep. Kevin Ryan, D-Montville; and Norwich Sea Unicorns Senior Vice President C.J. Knudsen at Norwich City Hall during a news conference Friday in support of the Norwich team, formerly known as the Connecticut Tigers.
Baseball America magazine and The New York Times first reported in mid-October that Major League Baseball proposed disbanding the Single-A New York-Penn League, of which the Sea Unicorns are a member.
In mid-November, multiple media outlets reported that the Sea Unicorns, affiliated with the Detroit Tigers, were on a list of 42 teams to be eliminated.
MLB would run a “Dream League” of unaffiliated teams with undrafted players. Blumenthal called this a “death sentence for Minor League Baseball” and called the overall plan from MLB “clueless.”
On Dec. 17, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred responded to a letter from Gov. Ned Lamont by saying that negotiations with the minor leagues “are at a very early stage” and crit
icized MiLB officials for disseminating “an inaccurate and distorted account of our conversations in an effort to create pressure on Major League Baseball.”
He said MLB has a plan for every Minor League club “to continue operations with some level of support from Major League Baseball.”
Blumenthal on Friday sent a letter to Manfred. “I strongly urge you to take a principled and committed position to maintaining minor league franchises such as the Norwich Sea Unicorns where there is enthusiastic community support and investment,” he wrote.
The senator added that the northeastern U.S. is an ideal location for minor league teams with smaller travel budgets because it is densely populated.
The MLB media office did not respond to a phone message The Day left Friday afternoon seeking a response to Blumenthal’s comments.
At the news conference, Blumenthal said the “most persuasive justification” he’s heard for the plan is that minor league players would get paid more, which he said is a good goal that can be done without eliminating minor league teams.
Other reasons given include cost savings for player salaries and concerns over the condition of minor league facilities.
“I have seen no financial statements or other actual numbers that support those contentions about cost savings, but the point is those cost savings are at the expense of local communities,” Blumenthal said. He added, “Major League Baseball is, in effect, eating its own seed corn.”
Blumenthal recalled bringing his kids to games many times, despite living at the other end of Connecticut, and Nystrom recalled that his daughter used to be a “Tater Tot” when the team was the
Norwich Navigators with Tater the Gator as a mascot.
“This new commissioner, in my opinion, really started off on the wrong foot,” Nystrom said. He added, “I really think he’s hurting this sport in general, especially among young families across the country.”
Showing her support at the news conference Friday was Kathy Bryant, who has been a season ticket holder since 1995 and came wearing a Sea Unicorns T-shirt and hat. She said Dodd Stadium is her second home.
“A friend of mine and I watched the stadium being built back in 1994, and I got so attached to the place,” Bryant said, “and I told them, I said, ‘I want season tickets for the rest of my life.’”