Well, the calendar has indicated that it's been Spring for the last couple of weeks, but you'd never know it by the weather in New England. So, how does one get the ol' spring fever when Mother Nature doesn't cooperate? Why, a trip to your favorite ballpark, of course!
Our favorite minor league team, the Portland Sea Dogs (Double-A affiliate of your Boston Red Sox), just started their season last Thursday night. It's a little far for us to travel up to Maine on a "school night," but we made sure to be there at Hadlock Field on Saturday to see the team in action during the opening homestand.
The forecast wasn't great (cold and rainy), but we figured we could at least hang around the park no matter what happened. The rain held off, however, so the game went on as scheduled. Good thing too, as we had great seats right behind home plate and if the game had been postponed, we might not have been able to get such good seats for a later game.
The Sea Dogs hosted the Connecticut Defenders, a team we enjoy rooting for when we visit them at their home in Norwich, but when they're playing the 'Dogs, we don't want to see them do too well.
But, the Defenders did very well, pulling ahead in the fourth inning, on their way to an eventual 10-4 victory. Starter Travis Beazley took the loss. He pitched pretty well for a while, but seemed to run out of steam after a while, as happens early in the season. Both teams used four pitchers apiece over the nine innings.
So, the game didn't go nearly as well as we would have liked, but we still had a lot of fun.
Things got started with a stop at the autograph table. An hour or so before the start of each home game, a Sea Dog comes out to sign autographs and chat with the fans. As a result, we like to get there early.
Saturday's player was infielder Zach Borowiak. He's making a comeback this year after having retired following the 2007 season, during which he had made it up to Triple-A Pawtuck
et. He's back in the Red Sox fold, assigned to the Sea Dogs for now.
We had a nice little chat with him, saying how we were glad to see him back. He said he was glad to be back!
He was nice enough to pose for a photo with us. He was ready for the cold weather with the "Elmer Fudd" style Sea Dogs cap!
That particular cap is just one of the many new items to be found at the souvenir shop. We saw some good stuff, as well as plenty of stuff we've picked up in the past!
Although "we" wound up losing the game, it was still a lot of fun to see this year's team. There are a number of players who had been there at least part of last season, including hot prospects Lars Anderson (first base) and Josh Reddick (centerfield), both of whom were promoted to Double-A in 2008. How long they'll stay for 2009 remains to be seen.
Josh had the offensive highlight of the day with his second home run in as many games. Power's only part of his game, however, as he seems to do everything well.
Also returning to the Sea Dogs roster are catcher Mark Wagner, outfielder Bubba Bell, and infielders Ryan Khoury and Iggy Suarez, all of whom we've had the pleasure to meet. Nice guys all!
Iggy's back for his fourth season in Portland, so he knows how cold it gets up there in April. He was prepared, wearing a red ski mask that made him look a bit like Spider-Man. Only when he came to bat and pulled the mask down a little could we tell it was really him!
Our favorite minor league team, the Portland Sea Dogs (Double-A affiliate of your Boston Red Sox), just started their season last Thursday night. It's a little far for us to travel up to Maine on a "school night," but we made sure to be there at Hadlock Field on Saturday to see the team in action during the opening homestand.
The forecast wasn't great (cold and rainy), but we figured we could at least hang around the park no matter what happened. The rain held off, however, so the game went on as scheduled. Good thing too, as we had great seats right behind home plate and if the game had been postponed, we might not have been able to get such good seats for a later game.
The Sea Dogs hosted the Connecticut Defenders, a team we enjoy rooting for when we visit them at their home in Norwich, but when they're playing the 'Dogs, we don't want to see them do too well.
But, the Defenders did very well, pulling ahead in the fourth inning, on their way to an eventual 10-4 victory. Starter Travis Beazley took the loss. He pitched pretty well for a while, but seemed to run out of steam after a while, as happens early in the season. Both teams used four pitchers apiece over the nine innings.
So, the game didn't go nearly as well as we would have liked, but we still had a lot of fun.
Things got started with a stop at the autograph table. An hour or so before the start of each home game, a Sea Dog comes out to sign autographs and chat with the fans. As a result, we like to get there early.
Saturday's player was infielder Zach Borowiak. He's making a comeback this year after having retired following the 2007 season, during which he had made it up to Triple-A Pawtuck
et. He's back in the Red Sox fold, assigned to the Sea Dogs for now.We had a nice little chat with him, saying how we were glad to see him back. He said he was glad to be back!
He was nice enough to pose for a photo with us. He was ready for the cold weather with the "Elmer Fudd" style Sea Dogs cap!
That particular cap is just one of the many new items to be found at the souvenir shop. We saw some good stuff, as well as plenty of stuff we've picked up in the past!
Although "we" wound up losing the game, it was still a lot of fun to see this year's team. There are a number of players who had been there at least part of last season, including hot prospects Lars Anderson (first base) and Josh Reddick (centerfield), both of whom were promoted to Double-A in 2008. How long they'll stay for 2009 remains to be seen.
Josh had the offensive highlight of the day with his second home run in as many games. Power's only part of his game, however, as he seems to do everything well.
Also returning to the Sea Dogs roster are catcher Mark Wagner, outfielder Bubba Bell, and infielders Ryan Khoury and Iggy Suarez, all of whom we've had the pleasure to meet. Nice guys all!
Iggy's back for his fourth season in Portland, so he knows how cold it gets up there in April. He was prepared, wearing a red ski mask that made him look a bit like Spider-Man. Only when he came to bat and pulled the mask down a little could we tell it was really him!
The picture at left shows Iggy along with Argenis Diaz (shortstop) and the rest of the starting infield listening to the national anthem with Beazley.
Making a position change this year is Aaron Bates. He vacated first base to make room for Lars and has switched to left field. He didn't look bad out there, covering a fair amount of ground. We met him at last year's "Field of Dreams" promotion, which was a lot of fun.
We weren't as familiar with most of the Defenders, although we see quite a bit of the team during the course of a season, either at their home games on when they're on the road against other Eastern League teams.
It seems as if most of last year's team has moved up to the Triple-A Fresno Grizzlies or even all the way to the San Francisco Giants.
We look forward to seeing the Defenders at Dodd Stadium soon. And if they're not playing the Sea Dogs, we'll be cheering for 'em!
Making a position change this year is Aaron Bates. He vacated first base to make room for Lars and has switched to left field. He didn't look bad out there, covering a fair amount of ground. We met him at last year's "Field of Dreams" promotion, which was a lot of fun.
We weren't as familiar with most of the Defenders, although we see quite a bit of the team during the course of a season, either at their home games on when they're on the road against other Eastern League teams.
It seems as if most of last year's team has moved up to the Triple-A Fresno Grizzlies or even all the way to the San Francisco Giants.
We look forward to seeing the Defenders at Dodd Stadium soon. And if they're not playing the Sea Dogs, we'll be cheering for 'em!
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