The Muskrats were an expansion franchise that was formed in 1999 and began play as the Manchester Silkworms of Manchester, Connecticut, in the 2000 season. The team moved to Laconia for the 2010 season. The NECBL announced in November 2015 that the team would be called the Winnipesaukee Muskrats (named after the region's Lake Winnipesaukee) in 2016. The Muskrats folded following the 2022 season.
The Manchester Silkworms began play in 2000 as the third Connecticut-based NECBL team. The Silkworms' high water mark occurred from 2004 to 2008 when they recorded five consecutive playoff appearances. The team hosted the 2004 NECBL All-Star Game and achieved a franchise best 24–17 record in the same season.
Laconia Muskrats
Left field wall prior to renovations
After the 2009 season, Silkworms owner Ed Slegeski sold the franchise to a team of partners led by Jonathan and Noah Crane.[1] The Muskrats name was selected from a Name-the-Team contest.[2] In February 2012, the Laconia Parks and Recreation Commission approved a plan of the Muskrats to sell alcohol in a pavilion beyond left field at Robbie Mills Field that would be separate from general seating.[3] On April 30, the club announced the construction of a manual scoreboard patterned after the Green Monster at Fenway Park in Boston at the left-field fence.[4] The wall, 17 feet (5.2 m) tall and 88 feet (27 m) in length, was built during the 2012 season.
Winnipesaukee Muskrats
After the 2015 season, new general manager Kristian Svindland changed the name of the team from Laconia to Winnipesaukee, the name of Laconia's "Big Lake", to appeal to the entire region.[5]
The Muskrats folded following the 2022 season after the league's governing board rejected the team's strategy to house players.[6]
Postseason appearances
Third baseman Danny Collins, who in 2012 set an NECBL single-season home run record
