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Yard Goats is Hartford's New Minor League Team Name

Mathew Wilson
/
Creative Commons

Hartford's new minor league baseball team will be the Yard Goats. Team and city officials announced the name Wednesday, complete with two goats, after a contest to rebrand the former New Britain Rock Cats. 

The Colorado Rockies' Double-A affiliate will begin playing in Hartford next year in a new ballpark just north of downtown.

About 6,000 fan suggestions were winnowed down to the railroad name for an engine the moves cars in a rail yard. The team said that fits a minor league team that works "away from the big city lights" to keep a major league affiliate on track.

Anthony Castora, a UConn graduate from New Jersey, entered the winning name, which he said he heard from his railroad buff father-in-law.

The other finalists: Hedgehogs, Praying Mantis, River Hogs, and Whirlybirds.

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