Portland Sea Dogs

Portland Sea Dogs
Founded in 1994 Portland, Maine
Team logo Cap insignia
Minor league affiliations
Class	Double-A (1994–present)
League	Eastern League (2022–present)
Division	Northeast Division
Previous leagues	Double-A Northeast (2021) Eastern League (1994–2020)
Major league affiliations
Team	Boston Red Sox (2003–present)
Previous teams	Florida Marlins (1994–2002)
Minor league titles
League titles (1)	2006
Division titles (5)	1995 1996 1997 2005 2014
Second-half titles (1)	2022
Team data
Name	Portland Sea Dogs (1994–present)
Colors	Navy, red, gray
Mascot	Slugger
Ballpark	Hadlock Field (1994–present)
Owner(s)/ Operator(s)	Bill Burke
General manager	Geoff Iacuessa
Manager	Chad Epperson

Portland Sea Dogs Uniform

The Portland Sea Dogs are a Minor League Baseball team based in Portland, Maine, playing in the Eastern League.^[a] Established in 1994, the Sea Dogs are the Double-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox.

The Sea Dogs became part of the Red Sox system for the 2003 season; previously they were affiliated with the Florida Marlins. The change in affiliation brought success in the 2005 and 2006 seasons as the Sea Dogs went to the Eastern League championship series both years. They won their first-ever title on September 17, 2006, defeating the Akron Aeros, 8–5, in a rematch of the series from the previous year. It was the first Double-A championship for a Red Sox farm team since 1983 when they were based in New Britain, Connecticut.

Currently, all games are carried on a network of radio stations with Emma Tiedemann providing the play-by-play, with the flagship WPEI and select TV games on NESN with Eric Frede play-by-play and former Red Sox relief pitcher Ken Ryan.

History

Minor league baseball officially returned to Maine on October 4, 1992, when Portland was awarded one of two Eastern League expansion franchises (the other being the New Haven Ravens) to begin play in April 1994. The Sea Dogs signed an affiliation agreement with the Florida Marlins on May 3, 1993, beginning what would become a nine-season relationship.^[2] The city renovated Hadlock Field, transforming what was once a high-school stadium into a professional ballpark. City manager Robert Ganley led efforts to renovate Hadlock Field and return professional baseball to Portland.

The team won its first game, defeating the Reading Phillies on the road 2–1, with the help of a 14th-inning home run by future major league catcher Charles Johnson. The team opened Hadlock Field on April 18, 1994, losing 7–6 to the Albany-Colonie Yankees.

Cartoonist Guy Gilchrist designed the team's logo as well as logos for the Connecticut Defenders, Binghamton Mets, and New Britain Rock Cats. Gilchrist's comic strip Mudpie had a series of strips in which the young cat's family visit the Portland area and attend a Sea Dogs game.

In conjunction with Major League Baseball's restructuring of Minor League Baseball in 2021, the Sea Dogs were organized into the Double-A Northeast.^[3] In 2022, the Double-A Northeast became known as the Eastern League, the name historically used by the regional circuit prior to the 2021 reorganization.^[4]

Stadium

The Sea Dogs hosting the Hartford Yard Goats during the 2016 season

The Sea Dogs' home stadium is Hadlock Field, named after long-time Portland High School baseball coach Edson Hadlock.^[5] It currently has a seating capacity of 7,368.^[5] Hadlock Field is often visited by vacationing celebrities, such as former NFL coach Bill Parcells, former U.S. President George H. W. Bush, and his wife Barbara. In left field stands the Maine Monster, a 37-foot (11 m)-tall replica of Fenway Park's Green Monster, complete with Coke bottle and Citgo sign.^[5] Along the right-field foul line just beyond first base, a picnic pavilion is available for group outings from 20 up to 300 people. In 2006, a new pavilion opened above the right-field wall over the Sea Dogs bullpen. Modeled after the Green Monster seats at Fenway Park in Boston, it seats up to 393 people and gives fans an opportunity to catch a home run ball.

Slugger the Sea Dog has been the Sea Dogs' mascot since his debut on May 6, 1994.^[6]

Season records

The team was a member of the Northeast division of the Eastern League from 1994 to 2020 and the Northeast division of Double-A Northeast in 2021. They have been members of the Eastern League's Northeast division since 2022.

In the below table, "Place" represents finish within the team's division for the overall regular reason. Note that in 2019 and 2022, the Eastern League played a split-season schedule, with first-half and second-half winners advancing to the postseason.

Results by season Year W–L Pct. Place Manager Playoffs 1994 60–81 .426 4th Carlos Tosca   1995 86–56 .606 1st Lost to New Haven, 3–2 in semifinals 1996 83–58 .589 1st Defeated Binghamton, 3–2 in semifinals Lost to Harrisburg, 3–2 in championship 1997 79–63 .556 1st Fredi González Defeated Norwich, 3–2 in semifinals Lost to Harrisburg, 3–1 in championship 1998 66–75 .468 3rd Lynn Jones   1999 65–77 .458 3rd Frank Cacciatore   2000 71–70 .504 4th Rick Renteria   2001 77–65 .542 3rd   2002 63–77 .450 5th Eric Fox   2003 72–70 .507 3rd Ron Johnson   2004 69–73 .486 4th   2005 76–66 .535 1st Todd Claus Defeated Trenton, 3–2 in semifinals Lost to Akron, 3–1 in championship 2006 72–67 .518 2nd Defeated Trenton, 3–1 in semifinals Defeated Akron, 3–2 in championship 2007 71–72 .497 2nd Arnie Beyeler Lost to Trenton, 3–1 in semifinals 2008 74–66 .529 2nd Lost to Trenton, 3–0 in semifinals 2009 67–74 .475 4th   2010 70–71 .496 3rd   2011 59–83 .415 6th Kevin Boles   2012 68–73 .482 4th   2013 68–73 .482 4th   2014 88–54 .620 1st Billy McMillon Lost to Binghamton, 3–2 in semifinals 2015 53–89 .373 6th   2016 55–84 .396 6th Carlos Febles   2017 65–74 .468 4th   2018 63–76 .453 6th Darren Fenster   2019 62–77 .446 6th Joe Oliver   2020 — — — Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic 2021 67–47 .588 2nd Corey Wimberly   2022 75–63 .543 3rd Chad Epperson Lost to Somerset, 2–0 in semifinals

Legend Place   Playoffs Division champions   Won championship series Made playoffs   Lost championship series Slugger the Sea Dog, the team mascot

Roster

Portland Sea Dogs roster

• v
• t
• e

Players				Coaches/Other
Pitchers 22 Matt Barnes #* 30 Zach Bryant  2 Ryan Fernandez 18 Michael Gettys 17 Rio Gomez  3 Kyle Hart 49 Rich Hill #* 13 Brett Kennedy 56 Dominic LoBrutto 29 Joan Martinez 57 Bryan Mata * 51 Oddanier Mosqueda 19 Brendan Nail 16 Yusniel Padron-Artiles 58 Victor Santos 21 Dylan Spacke  5 Brian Van Belle 23 Jacob Wallace 97 Thad Ward		Catchers 25 Kole Cottam 10 Elih Marrero 32 Oscar Rangel ~ Infielders 24 Alex Binelas 28 Ricardo Cubillan 53 David Hamilton 54 Christian Koss  7 Nicholas Northcut 11 Hudson Potts 52 Ceddanne Rafaela 37 Tyreque Reed 33 Stephen Scott Outfielders 15 Wil Dalton 31 Tyler Dearden 20 Izzy Wilson		Manager 55 Chad Epperson Coaches 99 Doug Clark (hitting coach) 88 Lance Carter (pitching coach) 12 Chris Hess (coach) 43 Katie Krall (development coach) 7-day injured list * On Boston Red Sox 40-man roster ~ Development list # Rehab assignment ∞ Reserve list ‡ Restricted list § Suspended list † Temporarily inactive list Roster updated July 28, 2022 Transactions → More rosters: MiLB • Eastern League → Boston Red Sox minor league players

Notes

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Portland Sea Dogs.

• Official website
• Statistics from Baseball-Reference
• 2021 Media Guide

This page was last edited on 2 March 2023, at 01:03