Tall wall a great call for Portland Lumberjacks add seats to Mahaney

PORTLAND – After finally getting a chance to showcase the recent renovations to Hadlock Field during the season’s first home series, the reviews are in and they’re almost unanimous in their praise.

Building the wall was a great call.

The 37-foot-high addition to the left field landscape at the Portland Sea Dogs’ home park – complete with its own scaled-down, three-dimensional Coca-Cola bottle and Citgo sign – is a home run with fans, players, and officials alike.

“This park has a lot of atmosphere to it and a lot of it has to do with that wall right there,” said Binghamton Mets manager John Stearns, a former major leaguer. “It’s a beautiful place to play baseball and already is one of my favorite places to play.”

The “junior wall,” as Mets pitching coach Bob Ojeda calls it, brings back a lot of memories for the former Boston Red Sox starting pitcher.

“It’s funny because the guys come up and say ‘Is that how it really looks?’ I tell them it’s similar, but it ain’t as far away as this one is,” Ojeda said. “The one in Fenway is right on top of you. Everyone’s commented on it. They all think it’s awesome.”

Lenny Authier, a Hadlock Field usher for the last nine seasons, says the newly named “Maine Monster” is the No. 1 topic of discussion among fans these days.

“That’s all they talk about,” said the 74-year-old Kennebunk resident. “It’s turned into quite a conversation piece.”

Most of the players for Portland and Binghamton said they’re not letting the wall intimidate them or change the way they go about hitting or pitching.

“We’re not distracted by it. In fact, I like it,” Stearns said. “Left field is only 315 to the fence, so you need a wall like that. I love the setup here. The field and stadium are beautiful with a lot of personality and that big wall out there.”

At least one player admitted the wall is a factor – consciously or unconsciously.

“We’re swinging the bats really well, but it’s going to be tough in this ballpark now that we have the green monster,” said Portland outfielder Dustin Brisson. “It’s not as close as Fenway Park, but the ball will fly out of this park anyway.”

Brisson says the Sea Dogs have three or four guys in the lineup who could hit 20 to 25 homer runs this season. Center fielder and leadoff man Jeremy Owens does not figure to be one of them.

“Don’t let that shortness deceive you. That wall…. A green monster is exactly what that is,” he said. “It still takes a good poke to get it out of here. That discourages me from pulling the ball because it takes a real shot to do it. My main goal is to hit the right-center field gap.”

Mets left fielder Marvin Seale said the wall influences his defensive tactics more than his offensive approach.

“I like the wall. It’s not really a distraction when you’re at the plate,” Seale said. “When you’re on the field, though, you’ve got to know where you’re playing because you take a ball off that hard wall, you might have a chance at throwing a guy out at second.”

Diamond ducats

The Bangor Lumberjacks are trying to offer a diverse selection of season and abbreviated season ticket packages to fans.

With the team installing 350 temporary box seats to increase Mahaney Diamond’s capacity to 3,000, the Lumberjacks can offer plenty of options to the ticket-buying public.

The following prices apply to season ticket packages: Adult – $310 for a box seat, $235 for reserved (existing grandstand seats with backs), and $115 for general admission (right field line bleacher seats); Senior citizens and children – $235 box, $155 reserved, and $8 general admission.

Individual game ticket prices are as follows: Adult – $8 box, $6 reserved, and $3 general admission; Seniors and children – $6 box, $4 reserved, $2 general admission.

Two other options include the team’s 10-pack, which gives buyers admission to 10 selected games for which the team has scheduled promotional giveaways and special events, and the cheaper five-packs. The 10-pack prices are: Adult – $65 box, $50 reserved, $25 general admission; Seniors/children – $50 box, $35 reserved, $17 general admission. Five-packs cost: Adult – $35 box, $25 reserved, $13 general admission; Seniors/children – $25 box, $17 reserved, $9 general admission.

Group sales for parties of more than 25 people deduct $1 per ticket for each member. Also, Palmer Lounge, the function room on the second floor of Mahaney Diamond’s clubhouse, is available for game-by-game rental, as are a group tent area and birthday party area. The lounge and tent area rental rates haven’t been set, but the birthday area is $11 per person. For that, each member of the party will get a goodie bag, player autographs, a photo taken with a player, and free time in the speed pitch cage. The birthday boy or girl also gets a cake, a gift, and a birthday greeting over the public address system.

Andrew Neff can be reached at 990-8205, 1-800-310-8600, or aneff@bangordailynews.net