Waterbury Baseball 1884–1986 (1884-1888, 1891, 1894-1895, 1897-1902, 1906-1914, 1918-1928, 1947-1950, 1966-1971, 1973-1986) Waterbury, Connecticut |
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Minor league affiliations | |
League | Eastern League (1966-1986) |
Previous leagues
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Major league affiliations | |
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Minor league titles | |
League titles | 3 (1924, 1925, 1970) |
Team data | |
Previous names
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Previous parks
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Municipal Stadium |
Several different Minor League Baseball teams have been located in the city of Waterbury, Connecticut since 1884.
The earliest Waterbury teams played in the Connecticut State League between 1884 and 1912. These teams went by several different nicknames during this period, including the Brassmen, Brass City, Indians, Pirates, Rough Riders, Authors, Invisibles, Finnegans, Champs and Spuds.
The Waterbury Brasscos (also called the Nattatucks) played in the Eastern League from 1918-1928. They won two league titles in 1924 and 1925.
The Waterbury Timers played in the Colonial League between 1947 and 1950.
Waterbury became home to professional baseball again in 1966 when the Waterbury Giants, an affiliate of Major League Baseball's San Francisco Giants came to town. From 1966-1986 (with the exception of 1972), the Waterbury team played in the Eastern League as an affiliate of the Giants, Cleveland Indians, Los Angeles Dodgers, Oakland Athletics, Cincinnati Reds and California Angels. The team name changed every time the affiliation agreement changed hands. Waterbury did not have an Eastern League team at the start of the 1972 season. However, in the middle of the season, flooding made the ballpark in Elmira, New York unusable, and so the Elmira Pioneers played their "home games" in the second half of the 1972 season in Waterbury.
The Independent Northeast League chose to place a team in Waterbury in 1997 as the Waterbury Spirit, but they moved after the 2000 season to become the North Shore Spirit.