Player introductions

Through the month of February, we will introduce you to your Torrington Titans. We start the introductions with a pair of pitchers:

Chris Reed, So., LHP, Stanford

The 6-foot-4, 190-pound left-hander from California arrived at Stanford with strong secondary pitches and possesses a good breaking ball and change-up. He could pitch significant innings in a variety of roles as early as this season for the Cardinal in the always competitive Pac-10. Track Reed through the spring as Stanford opens its season Feb. 19 at home against Rice. Click here for Reed's biography.

Zac Griffith, So., LHP, Kennesaw State

The 6-foot, 165-pound pitcher made eight appearances as a freshman in 2009 and will become a major factor this year after the Owls' staff graduated four of their top starters, which accounted for more than 85 percent of the team's wins in the Atlantic Sun Conference. Track Griffith through the spring as Kennesaw State opens its season Feb. 19. Click here for Griffith's biography.

OBH movement

This space has been quiet for the last month or so.
That will change in a hurry.
We took a month off to regroup, take care of some housecleaning items and focus our sights on the first pitch of the 2010 season.
Summer is that close.
We launched our next vote - an important one - as we continue to shape our identity, not only in the Northwest Corner of Connecticut but also in the ACBL. We received quite a few member-submitted ideas and the feedback has been excellent. Eight logos are up for vote but only one will win. The vote ends Sunday afternoon before the Super Bowl kicks off.
February will be an active month with a handful of votes, another Hot Stove event at the Northwest Connecticut Chamber of Commerce and the unveiling of the Torrington Titans' roster.
Piece. By. Piece.
Each day we will introduce you to one player. Our membership will receive an e-mail first, then we will post on our blog. By April, we will have the official Torrington Titans' Web site up and running and there you will see the complete roster.
Thanks again for all your support!

Manager Vote, New York Times

Today marks the beginning of another landmark vote for Our Baseball Haven.
First, there was team name. We now have an identity.
Now, the membership will pick a manager to lead the first community-operated baseball team in the United States. Votes will go out in about an hour or so.
The vote will be three days and by the end of 2009, two of the most crucial components of building a baseball team will be in place.
Also, if you get a minute, check out New York Times columnist Peter Applebome, who mentions Torrington and Our Baseball Haven in his year-end column.

Our Baseball Haven’s Torrington Titans announce GM

(Torrington, CT) – Our Baseball Haven has announced Brian Leighton as the team’s general manager. Leighton will begin his duties immediately, working closely with the team’s partners and members.

Currently the head baseball coach at Albertus Magnus College, Leighton was named just the second head coach in the program’s history in the summer of 2005 at the age of 23 years, 3 months. Before arriving at Albertus Magnus, Leighton coached one season at Coventry (CT) High School and was an assistant coach at Eastern Connecticut State from 2000-2004, appearing in the College World Series three times, finishing first, second, and third during that span. Leighton had previously coached in the New England Collegiate Baseball League in the summer of 2003 for the Eastern Tides.

“I am excited about the opportunity to join the Our Baseball Haven team and this innovative community-based model,” Leighton said. “Torrington is a baseball community in every sense with an outstanding fan base and top-notch facilities. The community-based model will help area businesses by giving back to the community. Together we will make the inaugural Titans' season a success.”

As general manager, Leighton will be responsible for recruiting players. In addition, Leighton will be fielding inquiries from Our Baseball Haven members as to which players they may want to see on their team in Torrington. Leighton will be announcing player signings later this winter and will also be setting a date in Torrington to meet members of Our Baseball Haven in person.

“We are very happy to have Brian part of the team. It was apparent from our first meeting with him that he believed in our model and that he has a passion for the game of baseball,” said David Klineberg, partner in Our Baseball Haven. “Brian has a vision for how he wants to build a winning team and he also understands the collaborative nature of how this team will be run.”

Leighton holds a B.A. in psychology from Eastern Connecticut State and a M.A. in Elementary Education from the University of Bridgeport. For the past two years he has been a facilitator for the NCAA Division III Student-Athlete Regional Leadership Conference.

Our Baseball Haven recently announced the team will be named the Torrington Titans, which was voted on by the membership base. For more information visit www.ourbaseballhaven.com or email info@ourbaseballhaven.com.

Team Name - The Vote Are In

The votes have been tallied and the first community-operated baseball team in the United States officially has a name.
Ladies and gentlemen, this summer the Torrington Titans will be a member of the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League.
The Titans received 29 percent of the membership vote, followed by the Thunder, Pride and Berkshire Bombers.
Here is the percentage breakdown of the top vote getters:

Torrington Titans - 29 percent
Torrington Thunder - 24 percent
Torrington Pride - 23 percent
Berkshire Bombers - 16 percent

We received more than 60 team name submissions from our members. After paring the list down and omitting duplications and names that would cause copyright and quality issues, 82 percent of the members took part in the first vote.
Over the next month, look for votes on team logo, colors and other initiatives. We will have a call for logo submissions from our membership in a few weeks. We also plan to send out a series of announcements throughout the month in addition to our first Hot Stove event in late January.
Details to follow.
As always, our members will be the first to know.
Please reach out with any questions.
Thank you for your support!

Our Baseball Haven - The First Vote

Yes, we know, it's been awhile since our last blog post but there is no better time than today to start the continuous flow of information to our members and potential members.
We are on the eve of our first vote and hours away from closing the call for submissions.
And the response has been great!
The community known as Our Baseball Haven is ready to name a team, which will begin play in the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League in the summer of 2010.
More than 60 submissions were posted and a good amount were duplicates - which made life easier for us to form the ballot.
But what made this process enjoyable was the amount of thought and enthusiasm that was put into naming the first community-operated baseball team in the United States.
Every team needs an identity. By the end of the week, we will have one.
Here is a sampling of your thoughts.
Let the voting process begin.

- I would like to submit a possible name for the new team: Torrington Phoenix - how fitting as we are reviving a baseball team, and as a city, we are revitalizing!

- Have another suggestion. Since Torrington was originally called Wolcottville back in the 1700s, we thought why not name the team with some history behind the city and call it the WolCats. It would be great to have this name and use a tiger as the team mascot and have a logo with a tiger and a large TW in the backdrop.

- Since the team will be in Litchfield County and supported by many within the county: Litchfield Leaguers, Litchfield Big Leaguers, Litchfield Sluggers, Litchfield Fielders, Litchfield Lightning.

- The Torrington Bismarks. The reason for that name is twofold. The first is the Otto von Bismark brought the unification of Germany in the mid to late 1800s. This is similar to the unification that "Our Baseball Haven" is bringing to Torrington with the arrival of a new team. The second reason is that Bismark is my brother's and my father's dog's name. We gave Bismark to our dad for father's day in 2002 and think it is a great name showing the uniting of an entity/family/community.

- Two possibilities are the River Otters, named for the Naugatuck River flowing through town and behind the left field fence of Fuessenich Park and the woods that make up much of the geographical area of Torrington, and the Hilltoppers, for the topographical layout of the city of Torrington, which means "town surrounded by hills."

- I have a suggestion for a team name: Torrington Braves. Torrington Braves was the name of the local team in the Colonial League, which operated from 1947 to 1950. Thanks for bringing baseball back to Torrington!

The ballots will be sent out to our members - hundreds strong and growing - Monday morning.
Good luck and thank you for making this happen.
This is now your team.

Being the first and experimentation - Clay Shirky

Great interview with Clay Shirky. It's about 20 minutes, but a good amount pertains to Our Baseball Haven.