Our return to Hadlock

Today we headed to Hadlock Field in Portland, Maine for our first Sea Dogs game of the season. We were hoping for some nice weather, but settled for the rain stopping before the game started and not dipping too far below fifty degrees.

We were really looking forward to seeing Hadlock again. It's the ballpark we've visited most often, so it feels like our home field.

Among other things, we enjoy the concessions a lot. A specialty is the fish sandwich, always enjoyed by J. C ranks their pizza highly among ballpark 'za.

We planned to arrive about an hour before game time to check out the autograph table. (The Sea Dogs usually have a player signing autographs before the game, but they stop well before the game starts, so you need to get there early.) We were excited to see that today's player was Iggy Suarez! We had first met Iggy at the end of last season during the annual "Field of Dreams" event. The players emerge from behind cornstalks in the outfield and go into the stands to greet fans. Iggy was the player who came into our section and he charmed everyone with his big smile and friendly personality.

That same personality was on display today as he signed autographs and graciously posed for this picture with us!

Getting to meet players and seeing them play up close are some of the things we like best about minor league baseball.

An interesting feature of Hadlock Field is the wall where they display the "jerseys" (they're actually shirt-shaped signs with players' names and numbers) of former Sea Dogs who are currently with the Red Sox (see above photo). As of today, there are 10 up there, which is quite a sight to see: Dustin Pedroia, Josh Beckett, Kevin Youkilis, Jonathan Papelbon, Manny Delcarmen, Jon Lester, Jacoby Ellsbury, Clay Buchholz, Jed Lowrie and Brandon Moss. We've had the good fortune to meet several of these players in their minor league days and witnessed their great play, so we're glad to see that they're getting their chance with the Red Sox.

One player whose shirt was not on the wall is Justin Masterson, who was back with the Sea Dogs after his emergency start for the Red Sox last week. We caught a glimpse of him waiting to go into the dugout and he was sporting a nice, warm Red Sox parka. Perhaps a perk from making it to The Show?

Today's game featured starting southpaw Kris Johnson against the Binghamton Mets. A good performance (six scoreless innings) in a fast-paced game, which "we" won 3-0.

Highlights for the Sea Dogs included a home run from newcomer Mickey Hall and a triple from scrappy centerfielder Sean Danielson. Home runs are great, but triples are really exciting. A home run is gone right away, but with a triple, you don't know if the runner will make it. Should he have stopped at second? Will he get thrown out at third? Maybe he'll even make it home!

Of course, another highlight was seeing Slugger, our favorite mascot. We got our customary high-fives from him, which made us realize all the more that it was great to be back!

Sea Dogs -- past and present -- get their shot with the Sox

If you follow the Boston Red Sox, you probably know that a good portion of the team is fighting the flu, injured or both. Particularly hard hit has been the pitching staff. While that's not good news for those who are hurt or sick, the situation has created some opportunities for promising pitchers in the Sox farm system. We're excited about this because of the pitchers' connections to the Portland Sea Dogs, the Sox Double-A affliate -- and our favorite team.

Earlier this week, former Sea Dog and current Paw Sox pitcher David Pauley started for the Red Sox in the place of Josh Beckett (also a former Sea Dog from the team's past affiliation with the Florida Marlins). Yesterday, Craig Hansen (we saw him pitch for the Paw Sox last weekend, topping 95 mph with more than a few pitches) came in in relief. While Pauley and Hansen's outings weren't entirely successful, a current Sea Dog had a better day today: sensation Justin Masterson (0.95 ERA so far this season in four Double-A starts) got his first major league start, going a solid six innings against the Angels, and giving up only one run. He was in line to get his first major league win, but bullpen problems gave Masterson a no-decision in a 7-5 loss for the Sox. (Read about the game here)

Although this was Masterson's first start for the Sox, it wasn't his first time pitching at Fenway Park (despite the comments of one former Sox player and current NESN broadcaster). Two seasons ago, Masterson was on the mound for the Lowell Spinners at the first-ever Futures at Fenway, a double-header that pitted the Spinners against the Oneonta Tigers in the first game and the Paw Sox against the Rochester Red Wings in the second. Masterson pitched four innings in relief, and came up with the win after giving up only two hits and striking out four batters. (box score)

We were at that game (natch) and before the action started, we were hanging out on the "Big Concourse." We had made our way down to the far end of the concourse and encountered a lone ballplayer, in uniform, looking for the gate into the section of the park reserved only for players. And yes, it was all 6-feet, 6-inches of Justin Masterson, who creates quite an impression up close. We gave him a nod and the always-friendly Masterson smiled and nodded back (we didn't want to bother him, as much as we would have liked to hit him up for an autograph). In the photo at left, Masterson (No. 45) and his fellow Spinners are on the field for the Futures at Fenway pre-game. Also out there are two of the three Spinners' mascots, Canaligator and Millie-Gator, and two Red Sox mascots, Lefty and Righty.

A year and a half later at this past winter's Paw Sox Hot Stove Party (an annual fan event not to be missed), Masterson was one of about a half-dozen hot Red Sox prospects talking to fans, answering questions and signing autographs. When we got to talk to him, we recounted how we'd run into him previously at Futures at Fenway. He gave us a broad smile and said how much he'd enjoyed the whole experience. No doubt, that experience came in handy today when he was back on the mound at Fenway.

Some new hardware

One of the highlights of Saturday evening's Pawtucket Red Sox game actually happened before the first pitch ever crossed the plate.

Four current PawSox players who appeared in at least one game with the Boston Red Sox during last season were presented with their World Series rings. They're shown in the photo (which is from the PawSox, not ours), from left, Jeff Bailey and Brandon Moss (both of whom do double-duty in the infield and outfield) and pitchers Devern Hansack and Kyle Snyder.

Three of the players -- Bailey, Moss and Hansack -- were called up to Boston during the season on a fill-in basis. Kyle Snyder spent all of last season with the major league team but was recently put on waivers and then accepted an assignment with the PawSox. It was exciting to see all four -- especially Bailey, Moss and Hansack, whose excellent play we've enjoyed since they were with the Portland Sea Dogs in recent years -- get their rings during the pre-game ceremony.

Two other former PawSox players also got their World Series rings this week -- David Murphy and Kason Gabbard. Both Murphy, an outfielder with a great arm, and the lefty pitcher Gabbard were in Boston with the Texas Rangers, where they were traded last year as part of the ridiculous, if not disastrous, deal that brought the Red Sox Eric Gagne. We here at DITR don't like to pick on players, but we don't think that anyone who was even halfway paying attention to the Red Sox last season could miss that Gagne could not get it done. (And that's not to mention that Boston already had a closer and a good setup guy before Gagne got here...but we digress...)

We've been fans of both Gabbard and Murphy since they played for the Portland Sea Dogs back in the 2005 and 2006 seasons. We're regulars at Hadlock Field in Portland, Maine every summer and both players, particularly Murphy, were favorites with not only the fans (they voted him Player of the Year in 2005) but also the staff. When Murphy got called up to the PawSox in May 2006 and got off to a hot start (he was International League Player of the Week his first week on the job), one of the Sea Dogs' ushers, Frank (aka Ballpark Frank) lamented after a questionable play in the outfield that he was glad for Murphy, but sad for Portland. Little did he know who would get the call to Portland a few months later: centerfielder/super hero Jacoby Ellsbury.

It was Ellsbury's later call-up to the PawSox that moved Murphy from center field to left field, and ultimately, out of the Red Sox organization. As good as Murphy is (he was a first-round draft pick by the Sox in 2003 and the first ever by manager Theo Epstein), Jacoby is a force to be reckoned with, and that was clear pretty quickly to anyone watching.

While Murphy and Gabbard were in the Red Sox farm system, we had the opportunity to meet them both on a number of occasions. At hot-stove event in the winter of 2006, J was chatting with Murphy and pointed out that he wore No. 18 with the Sea Dogs during the 2005 season and the Red Sox had an opening for a centerfielder wearing No. 18 (Johnny Damon, had just signed with the Yankees). While Murphy got a kick out of that -- "Oh, I hadn't thought about that," he told J -- curiously, he was wearing No. 24 when the '06 baseball season started.

We had a chance to get reacquainted with Gabbard and Murphy at the PawSox Hot Stove Party in the winter of '06. The event, held in the clubhouse and training areas beneath McCoy Stadium that are normally off-limits, featured autograph sessions and panel discussions with several stars of the Sox minor league system. Gabbard and Murphy were among them, and Gabbard got a roar out of the crowd when he told a young fan that he wasn't worried that he wasn't a particularly good student because he had baseball to fall back on. Murphy was always classy and friendly at such events, and we found in a chance meeting with his wife Andrea at a PawSox game during the '07 season, that she was equally so when it came to talking to fans.

The photo at left was shot by J at the January 2007 Red Sox Rookies fan event at the Souvenir Store across Yawkey Way from Fenway Park. Murphy, third from right, is talking to infielder and Sea Dog/Paw Sox teammate Chad Spann, center, and....Jacoby Ellsbury, who hadn't made it out of Double-A ball yet. They were among a dozen top Red Sox prospects who took part in an elite training program designed to groom them for the majors. All 12 at the event were in the minors at this point, but at least seven have gone on to play in the majors: Murphy, Gabbard, Clay Buchholz, David Pauley, Craig Hansen, Brandon Moss and Ellsbury.

For another take on Murphy and Gabbard getting their rings, check out this story from MLB.com: http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080418&content_id=2546517&vkey=news_tex&fext=.jsp&c_id=tex

Our 2008 season kicks off

Our 2008 season got underway earlier this month with some fun -- but chilly -- games. The first game was the Pawtucket Red Sox vs. the Indianapolis Indians on Saturday, April 5 (even earlier than the Boston Red Sox home opener) in Pawtucket, R.I. The mercury didn't climb out of the 40s that day. The next day, we headed to Norwich, Conn., for the Connecticut Defenders vs. the New Hampshire Fisher Cats at Dodd Stadium. The warmest it got at that game was 40, the temp was hovering around 37 when we left the ballpark.


This weekend, we got a taste of the best of baseball weather. Warm temperatures, climbing into the mid-70s for our day game today (back to Norwich for more Defenders, this time playing the Reading Phillies). Last night, we also did a repeat performance of one of our first stops (PawSox, taking on the Buffalo Bisons at McCoy Stadium). Again, much more pleasant experience -- with temps that started out in the high 60s, it was a lot easier to focus on the game when fighting hypothermia wasn't a consideration.


This Saturday and Sunday was a reminder of how fast the early season changes from cold contests of survival to a warm welcome of what we love about the minor leagues: prime seats and hot baseball. Our seats today at Dodd Stadium had us in the first row, directly behind home plate. Not only could we call pitches and strikes, we were also to throw in our two cents when the umpire was getting an earful from the Reading Phillies' manager over whether a pitch actually hit a Defenders batter (for the record, it did). So it was only the right thing to do to encourage the ump to "Run him!" when P.J. Forbes' tirade was running long (for the record, it worked -- Forbes was ejected and pitching coach Frank Cacciatore took over for the rest of the game).

Scores:

Saturday, April 5: Indians, 5; PawSox, 4 box score

Sunday, April 6: Defenders, 4; Fisher Cats, 2 game recap

Saturday, April 19: Bisons, 7; PawSox, 0 box score

Sunday, April 20: Defenders, 6; R-Phils, 5 game recap