By Kimberly Dunbar

There’s a new sheriff in town, and he wears crazy suit coats. This summer, Worcester will boast a new baseball team in a new league with a new attitude. But there will still be a few familiar faces. Like the team’s general manager, Dave Peterson, whom you may know as “Peterman,” the energetic emcee of Tornadoes baseball games of yore, who is famous for his game-day uniform of khaki shorts and loud blazers.“I still have a collection of coats, but you won’t see me in them as much,” said Peterson, who was named the general manager of the Worcester Bravehearts in late September.

Perhaps he just doesn’t want to get them dirty. Since the announcement of baseball’s return to the city and his hiring less than four months ago, Peterson and the Creedon family ~ owners and operators of the Worcester franchise ~ have been digging in and preparing for the Bravehearts’ inaugural season in June.

“This team was a long time coming,” said Peterson, adding the idea came about after the Tornadoes left town in August 2012. John W.S. Creedon Jr., whose Worcester-based family business was a vendor for the Tornadoes, proposed the family step in and keep baseball alive in Worcester. “That August, talks began with the Futures Collegiate Baseball League, which had already identified Worcester as a market. Lots of pieces that were necessary were already in place.”

When it came time to pick a GM, the Creedons turned to Peterson because of his prior experience running the Tornadoes’ corporate sales and marketing (in addition to his engagement with fans). “I fell in love with the idea of having this team in the city,” Peterson said.

The Worcester Bravehearts ~ a name that was picked by the fans and honors Worcester’s fallen firefighters, as well as all servicemen ~ will be part of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League, a summer collegiate, wood-bat league comprised of 10 teams from across New England. “Every team is comprised of half of its players from New England and the other half of the best prospects from around the country,” Peterson said. “A lot of players already have name recognition in Worcester County.”

Including their new coach ~ former Tornadoes player Alex Trezza. After being drafted by the Detroit Tigers out of college, Trezza spent five seasons in Worcester. He is currently the assistant coach at Sacred Heart University and helped coach the University of New Haven to its first league championship in 2013.

“Alex is an up-and-coming superstar in the college baseball ranks,” Peterson said. “He has great experience and knowledge of what it takes to become a professional baseball player, to get noticed on the college level and also to be noticed in Worcester. He was a clubhouse leader for the Tornadoes, and you need a strong personality to help these kids. He gets it.”

Peterson understands that some might be wary of history repeating itself with this new team, but he’s quick to assure us that won’t be the case. “The number one difference is that we have local ownership,” he said. “The Creedons’ office has been here in Worcester since 1985, and they’ve been a local business for almost 30 years. They understand the Worcester market.”

Even though this is amateur ball ~ unlike the professional team the Bravehearts replaced ~ Peterson insists you’ll get your money’s worth at every game. “Lots of scouts come to these games. Last year, 12 players from this league were drafted by the MLB,” he said. “These players come hungry and put in a lot of effort, day in and day out. This is on par, if not better, baseball than the Tornadoes.”

Like the team before them, the Bravehearts will play their home games at an improved Hanover Insurance Park at Fitton Field. “We plan to keep great aspects that the former team had, but our job is to improve the fan experience ~ that’s what it all comes down to,” said Peterson, adding that there will be free parking, more tents and improved concessions. “We want energy to come back into that ballpark.”

Some of that energy will be generated by Peterson himself. “The fans won’t have to worry,” he said. “I’ll be out there; maybe not as much as before, but I’ll be there.”

For more information, visit worcesterbravehearts.com.