The New Britain (Conn.) Herald is running a “Name the Team” contest for New Britain’s new Atlantic League franchise, which will have no connection to the recently folded Camden Riversharks.
More than 1,000 people submitted potential names for the new team. The five finalists are:
- Stingers
- Hornets
- Hard Hitters
- Hammer
- Bees
You can vote for your favorite at the newspaper’s home page, newbritainherald.com. The Atlantic League will make a final determination on the new team’s name based on input from the public, but the newspaper contest results are not binding.
New Britain’s Atlantic League franchise will begin play in 2016 at New Britain Stadium, which had been home to the Double-A New Britain Rock Cats since it opened in 1996. The Colorado Rockies-affiliated team is relocating to Hartford, Conn. next year and will play as the Yard Goats going forward.
PaulHadsall.com 
Even though I’ve never been to New Britain or seen an Atlantic League game, I’ve taken an interest in this team that even I don’t understand. I guess there’s something about the whole “losing your team to the bigger city 12 miles down the road” story that speaks to me on some level.
I think I would rank the names from best to worst as Stingers, Hornets, Bees – HUGE dropoff here – Hammer, Hard Hitters. I understand the significance of “Hammer” to the “Hardware City”, but it’s not a good name and I can’t get behind a team name that isn’t plural.
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