It didn't take long for Charlie Dowd to find a job. Less than two weeks after being fired as the general manager of the Bridgeport Bluefish, he is back in baseball.

Dowd has been hired as the general manager of the Connecticut Defenders, the Class AA affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. He replaces Jim Beaudoin, who resigned at the end of the season in order to relocate to Maine with his fianc.

"I'm happy to be back at work,'' Dowd said. "There's a lot of things that really work for this opportunity right now. Certainly, I'm in the industry that I really enjoy. I'm able to stay in Madison, in Connecticut, which is really important to me and my family. And I'm with an ownership group who's progressive, has interest in other things that I have interest in. So there's certainly a lot of upside to it."

Dowd, 44, will be formally introduced during a luncheon today at Mona Lisa's Restaurant in Norwich at 2 p.m. After working without a contract for the entire season with the Bluefish, Dowd accepted a two-year deal with the Defenders on Oct. 10. Monday was his first official day at his new position.

"It's a really good challenge,'' Dowd said. "Right now, the main responsibility is creating stability. They've been without a general manager for a month and a half and it seems as though the situation was not all that positive for a good chunk of the '06 season. So there's just a core of staff left. It's really building up a staff and getting ready for the 2007 season.

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April 1 comes a lot quicker than May 1.''

Dowd was fired by Bluefish CEO Mary Jane Foster on Oct. 3 after serving nine seasons as the team's general manager. He had been the only general manager in the history of the franchise.

Under Dowd's guidance, the Bluefish became the winningest team in Atlantic League history. They won the league championship in 1999, reached the playoffs in five of the first eight seasons and had only one losing season (2005).

"Everybody that I know that knows him thinks he's going to be a great fit and a great person for the job,'' said Shawn Holliday, the Defenders' Director of Broadcasting/Media Relations. "He's a smart guy. He's a hard worker and he'll be a great fit here.''

Dowd returns to organized ball, as well as the Eastern League, for the first time since serving as the general manager of the Class AA New Haven Ravens from late-1992 through 1997. His career began in the Mets organization in 1989 before stints at Class AA Midland (1990-91) and Class A Salinas where he landed his first general manager position in 1992.

The Defenders will host the Eastern League all-star game next season. The fact that Dowd played a major role in hosting the Atlantic League all-star game at Harbor Yard in 1999 and 2006 was appealing to the Defenders' ownership during their search.

"They were very prudent, of course, in doing the search because we have the all-star game this coming year,'' Holliday said. "Charlie ran a couple of All-Star games, including last year in Bridgeport, and he secured the all-star game in New Haven before he left — the '98 all-star game. So he's a great fit at the right time."