Dead Night @ Dodd Stadium

From The Day:

Pitching Kills Gators On ‘Dead' Night

By CHARLIE WIDDOESPublished on 8/7/2005

Norwich — On “Dead” night at Dodd Stadium, the Norwich offense was alive and well.

Clad in Grateful Dead-inspired tie-dyed jerseys, the Navigators went off for six runs on 11 hits before 3,536 fans.
To their dismay, two pitching meltdowns allowed the Harrisburg Senators to come back from a 6-3 deficit pull and out an 8-6 victory.

A decision by Norwich manager Dave Machemer also backfired at a key juncture.
With the game tied at 6 and a man on first with two outs, Machemer elected to send pitcher Billy Sadler up to bat instead of using a pinch-hitter.

The move came with one of the Navigators' best pitchers, Merkin Valdez, warming up in the bullpen and one of his hottest hitters, Randy Walter — who is batting .500 (13-for-26) since July 28 — available to pinch hit.
Sadler (5-5) struck out and in the next inning surrendered an RBI triple to Dee Haynes that would score the go-ahead run. Haynes came home to score on a wild pitch to make it 8-6.

Navigators starter Anthony Moreno, who is in his third stint with the team after shuttling between Norwich and Single-A Augusta, struggled with his control through the first three innings but managed to get out without allowing a run.

After going through the order once, though, Harrisburg hitters got to Moreno in the fourth.

Dan DeMent led off with a home run to left-center field. Larry Broadway, Haynes and Ryan Zimmerman followed with a single, double and an RBI single, respectively, to give the Senators a 2-0 lead.

After another RBI single, this time by Josh Labandeira, made it 3-0, Moreno's night was over.

He went three innings and gave up three earned runs on seven hits with one walk and no strikeouts. Alfredo Simon came in with runners on first and second and retired the first three batters he faced.

Norwich came back in the bottom of the fourth with a run thanks to an error by Zimmerman at third. Carlos Valderrama led off with a single, took third on a Tyler Von Schell double and scored when Zimmerman let A.J. LaBarbera's grounder go under his glove and into left field.
The offense really got going in the fifth.

Chris Curry singled to lead off. After Simon struck out trying to bunt with two strikes, Fred Lewis, Kevin Frandsen and Dan Ortmeier had consecutive singles, Ortmeier's coming with the bases loaded and driving in two runs.
Valderrama followed with an RBI double and Von Schell drove in two more with a triple to give the Navigators a 6-3 lead.

Von Schell, a night after driving in both runs in a 2-1 win, went 2–for-4 with two RBI.
Scott Chiasson came in in the seventh inning after Simon had pitched three hitless innings with a strikeout and a walk and didn't fare as well.

Chiasson faced three batters and gave up a leadoff walk, a two-run home run and a double before being relieved by Sadler.

Kenny Kelly, who is batting .125 as the Senators' leadoff batter, hit the home run — his first of the year.
Sadler allowed the runner he inherited from Chiasson to score on an RBI single by DeMent, tying the game at six.
• Home plate umpire Art Stewart ejected someone for the second straight night.

After tossing Harrisburg manager Keith Bodie on Friday for arguing a call, Stewart threw out Navigators pitching coach Bob Stanley for arguing a third strike call to Julio Cordido from the dugout.

From OurSportCentral.com:

(Norwich, Conn.) -- Bidding is underway for the 2005 Norwich Navigators game-worn tie-dye jerseys which is part of the annual Grateful Dead theme night. The 2005 jerseys, however, are perhaps the most vibrant the Navigators have ever worn, helping to kick off a fast first day of bidding.

The Navigators wore the jerseys during their Saturday, August 6 game against the Harrisburg Senators with fans getting their first opportunity to begin the silent bidding during the game. The minimum bid was $80. The highest first day bid was $295 for the jersey of Catcher Chris Curry. The day is also highlighted by a Grateful Dead tribute band - the Zen Tricksters - which began a live concert at 5:30 p.m.

"This is a promotion that we began a couple years ago that has taken a huge leap forward this year with these eye-popping jerseys and the music of the Zen Tricksters," said Keith Hallal, Navigators General Manager.

The Navigators are the Double-A Affiliate of the San Francisco Giants, celebrating their 11th season in Connecticut. Tickets for all home games are now available by calling 860-887-7962 or by visiting www.gators.com. Group outings, corporate picnics and skybox rentals are also currently on sale. In addition, appearances by both team mascots, Tater the Gator and Rally the Raven, are available for various children's events.