PORTLAND – Wharf Rats. Fighting Lobstermen. Buoys of Summer.

Those are some of the names that were suggested but cast aside for the team that takes the field in the spring of 1994, marking the return of minor league baseball to Maine.

Charlie Eshbach, president and general manager of the Eastern League franchise, declined comment Wednesday on news reports that the name chosen is Sea Dogs. A formal announcement was scheduled Thursday.

“Let’s just say a bunch of them are nautical, such as Breakers, Headlights, Whitecaps, along those lines. The Griffins is another that we’re considering,” Eshbach said earlier.

Eddie Griffin was a local sports promoter whose recent death was mourned by area sports fans. Eshbach also noted that a griffin of a different type is a mythical monster that’s part eagle, part tiger.

Overall, almost 1,000 entries were received in a name-the-team contest run by Portland Citizens for Baseball, a local boosters group. Eshbach and club owner Daniel Burke will have the final say.

“We’re looking for something that, number one, tells you that it’s Portland, Maine. Two, something that looks good on a logo. Three, something that looks good on souvenirs,” Eshbach says.

Simple enough? Not exactly.

Eshbach, who has hired two workers at the club office at Hadlock Field, said everyone who offered a team nickname that made the list of finalists was required to sign a legal waiver relinquishing any rights to the name.

The importance placed on the name reflects its potential for enhancing the team’s popularity and generating revenue.

In California, the NHL’s San Jose Sharks are last in their division but rank first in merchandising, says Matt Levine, executive vice president of marketing and broadcasting.

The Sharks’ splashy logo adorns all sorts of merchandise, including t-shirts, jackets, sweats, hats, shorts, parkas, pens, socks, sneakers, bags, toys, jeans, jewelry, ties, sunglasses, watches, pennants, glasses, mugs, pens, bumper stickers.