On Thursday, the Connecticut Tigers announced their new team name, the Norwich Sea Unicorns, after a decade as Tigers. The Sea Unicorns will remain the Detroit Tigers Class A short Season affiliate despite the name change.
“2019 was our 10th season as the Connecticut Tigers and the 25th of having Minor League Baseball in Norwich. Now it’s time to bring new energy to the ballpark and new excitement around our team,” said team general manager Dave Schermerhorn. “This also coincides with our new [stadium] lease with the City of Norwich, so it’s a good time to bring Norwich back into our name, to strengthen our bond and show how proud we are to be based here.”
The team received about 700 name suggestions from fans. The suggestions were narrowed down to five finalist: the Sea Unicorns, the Golden Roses, the Mill Mules, the Narwhals and the Salty Dogs. After taking a tour of Norwich, it became clear to them that the city’s harbor was a huge part of its history.
Schermerhorn acknowledged that Sea Unicorns and Narwhals are “essentially the same thing”. “The question was, which name resonates more? Which is more unique and more uniquely ours?” said Schermerhorn, explaining the choice of Sea Unicorns over Narwhals. “In our logo set, the main character is a narwhal. The idea is that he’s an underdog, tired of being picked on.”
They settled on Sea Unicorns.
The color scheme was also based on the city’s history. According to Schermerhorn, gold was used because “new immigrants to the United States were told to go to Norwich because the streets were paved with gold”. Navy blue was used because the team is close to Naval Submarine Base New London and the General Dynamic Electric Boat Company, which produces a good amount of the submarines for the Navy. One of the secondary logos also pays tribute to the ‘Submarine Capital of the World’ by having the Sea Unicorn breaching out of the water.
The Sea Unicorns also unveiled their new uniforms which include home white, road gray and navy and gold alternates. All four uniforms feature a rose logo on the sleeve, which represents Norwich’s nicknames as the Rose City and the Rose of New England.