Ahlers’ responsibilities with Pirates increased Announcer is director of communications and more

Maine native Dave Ahlers has signed on for another tour of duty with the Portland Pirates, and this time around, he’ll be taking on a lot more responsibility.

After serving in almost every capacity other than deckhand and muzzle-loader for the Pirates the last eight seasons, the Cumberland Center native is now Portland’s director of communications, broadcasting, and team services.

New duties for the 1989 University of Maine graduate include overseeing communications department projects like news releases, publications, and the team Web site. He’s also now involved in community relations and promotions. He will also continue to be the radio voice of the Pirates, as he has been for the last seven years.

“It’s a little bit of everything,” Ahlers explained. “Basically, if the team is out in front of the public in some way, shape, or form, chances are I’ve got my hand in the pie.”

Ahlers, who was a reporter and producer at Bangor television station WLBZ (Channel 2), served as the Pirates’ communications director from 1997 to 1999, but gave up those duties in response to the former ownership’s revamped organizational plan.

“The previous team president had a different team structural model and wanted to separate the communications director from the broadcasting side, so I was basically a seasonal employee for a couple years,” said Ahlers. He will scale back his reporter-producer duties, which he’s done the last four year at Portland’s WCSH-TV during that time.

Current team president and CEO Brian Petrovek is happy to have Ahlers back as a full-time member of the Pirates.

“We’re thrilled that Dave will be joining us on a full-time basis to take command of our communications, media, public relations, and broadcasting business,” Petrovek said in a team news release. “He brings a wealth of experience and expertise to our organization.”

The team’s current ownership group, Portland Pirates LLC, is a group of nine owners, the majority of whom are Maine residents or who have strong Maine ties.

Although Ahlers is very happy to take over his new positions, he still wouldn’t mind answering a call up to the big league.

“Should an NHL job come along, certainly that would attract my interest, but if it doesn’t come calling, working here is a perfect setup for me,” Ahlers said. “It’s been a huge bonus that I’ve been one of the few guys in the profession who is able to do what I do in what’s basically my home town.”

A Century of Sox on NESN

New England Sports Network will trace back through the history of this region’s favorite baseball team with a two-hour special.

The Front Row documentary called 100 Seasons of Red Sox Baseball will first air Aug. 8 at 7:30 p.m.

The special, narrated by Red Sox broadcaster Tom Larson, features photographs and footage plus interviews with such notable players as Dwight Evans, Carl Yastrzemski, Carlton Fisk, Luis Tiant, Ted Williams, Johnny Pesky, Bobby Doerr, Pumpsie Green, and Broadway Charlie Wagner.

“Knowing this was their 100th season, we wanted to do something special to commemorate it and it evolved into our August special,” said NESN promotions manager Gary Roy. “We usually do one-hour Front Row specials, but there’s so much information here we had to go at least two hours to tell the story.”

Roy said the documentary was a labor of love for most of the people involved with the project.

“Well, most of them are fans, so it was kind of fun for all of us, I think,” he said.