By Michael Letendre
What was the fate of the Bristol Merchants in 2012 when the Greater Hartford Twilight Baseball League was organizing its upcoming season?
In the final installment of the history of the Bristol Merchants in TBE, we learned that the GHTBL lost a local franchise that year.
And it would be another decade before Bristol played another game in that league (Bristol Greeners).
In May of 2012, the announcement was official that the Merchants were no more.
It was the first time in a decade that the Greater Hartford Twilight Baseball League did not have an entrant from Bristol and the loss of a facility like Muzzy Field was significant to the league overall.
The GHTBL made a statement on its website about Bristol leaving in 2012:
“The Bristol Merchants have withdrawn from the league. It has been increasingly difficult to field a team on a regular basis. Hopefully, you will see some of their other players on other teams during the season.”
Overall, the franchise won five regular season titles and four postseason championships over a competitive 11-year stint from 2001 until 2011.
And what a run it was from start to finish.
From 2001 until Bristol’s final year of 2011, the GHTBL had several different champions – including several from Bristol.
Here’s one final look at those title winners during Bristol’s run in the league:
Year Regular Season Postseason champs
2001 Newman Lincoln-Mercury People’s Bank*
2002 Mr. G’s (South Windsor) People’s Bank
2003 Newman Lincoln-Mercury Newman Lincoln-Mercury
2004 Vernon Orioles Bristol Merchants
2005 Bristol & Foss Insurance Bristol Merchants
2006 Bristol, Vernon & Meriden People’s Bank
2007 Bristol & People’s Bristol Merchants
2008 People’s Bank Meriden Merchants
2009 Bristol Merchants Bristol Merchants
2010 Bristol Merchants Meriden Merchants
2011 Foss & People’s Bank Ferguson Waterworks**
*People’s Bank won the postseason title from 2002-2004
**Ferguson won three straight championships from 2011-2013
Bristol was in the title picture from 2004-2010, going 4-3 in the finals over that time.
People’s Bank and the Meriden Merchants were the only two squads to defeat Bristol in the championship round over that 11-year span.
And from 2005-2010, the Bristol Merchants won all but one regular season title.
Merchants were discussed on the GHTBL website back in April
‘The Bristol Merchants, a Twilight League Dynasty’ was a story on the GHTBL’s website and is an excellent review of its best players with plenty of pictures.
The article from the website reads: “Over 11 seasons (2001-2011), the Bristol Merchants were 9-time GHTBL Champions, winning 4 Playoff Championships and 5 Season Titles. Their home site was the venerable Muzzy Field. The franchise was led by their player-manager, Bunty Ray and Joe Parlante who have since founded a wood bat company,Rally Bats in Bristol, Connecticut. Other major contributors to the Merchants were GHTBL veterans including Joe Parlante, Brian Archibald, Eric Butkiewicz, Rick Barrett, Rick Hewey and Adam Peters.”
The following Bristol players also dabbled in professional baseball before suiting up for the Merchants:
Name Position Program/Affiliate
Matt Arburr First Base St. Louis Cardinals
Justin Fuller Pitcher Anaheim Angels
Matt Hackney Catcher New Haven County Cutters
Jerry Hasler Pitcher Albany Diamond Dogs
Chris Klepps Second Base Windy City ThunderBolts
Nick Macellaro Shortstop Florence Freedom
Scott Martin Pitcher Los Angeles Dodgers
Jason Maule Second Base Houston Astros
Ryan Pacyna Pitcher New Jersey Jackals
Kevin Rival Pitcher New York Yankees
Chris Sawyer Outfielder Berkshire Black Bears
Jarrett Stawarz Pitcher New Haven County Cutter
Chris Strahowski Pitcher Waterbury Spirit
Most of those players crafted their games scholastically in Bristol, Plainville, and New Britain – truly giving the Bristol Merchants a local feel to the program.
Thank you for reading about the Bristol Merchants in TBE over the past summer months.
We’ll continue to review teams from the past in TBE in our Sports Sunday section in the coming months.
