There are still 10 days to go until the Bangor Lumberjacks open their 2003 season, but the action has shifted from the team offices to the field now that the team has opened preseason camp.

Manager Kash Beauchamp has been conducting double sessions since Friday and the team will hold scrimmage-exhibition games with the International Baseball Academy team of Japan Tuesday and Wednesday before resuming its double sessions Thursday.

The Lumberjacks must trim their roster to the Northeast League-mandated 22 players by May 19. Teams can have as many as 28 players under contract during the preseason.

Of those 22 players, a maximum of four may be veterans and a minimum of five must be rookies. The remaining players will be designated limited service players, and of those “LS” players, one must be an LS-1 and only four may be LS-4.

Bangor currently has 28 players in camp, 16 of whom are pitchers. General manager Curt Jacey says the Lumberjacks are looking to keep 10 or 11 pitchers, so the battle for pitching spots will be the most competitive.

Sharp-dressed men

As many Major League Baseball teams debut new styles of uniforms, the Lumberjacks have chosen to go with more of a traditional look.

No radical colors, no unconventional letter styles, and no names on the backs of the jerseys. Oh … and no pinstripes.

The Lumberjacks’ home uniforms resemble Red Sox jerseys. They’re white with brick red piping down the center of the button-down jerseys and around the sleeve hems. The jersey has “Lumberjacks” on the front with red outlined letters, a small number under the team name, and a large, shadowed number on the back. The pants are white with red piping down the sides.

Away uniforms are gray with black piping. The front features “Bangor” with a shadow effect under each letter and an ax protruding from the “B” in Bangor, like the logo on the team’s caps. Numbers are again small in front and large in back, with the back number shadowed. The pants are gray with black piping.

Team members will also occasionally play in an alternate version featuring a black mesh jersey with a button-down front and white piping. The word “Jacks” will appear across the front in bold, white lettering with red shadowing. There will be a large number on the back.

Each home and away uniform also features one, full-color team logo patch on the right sleeve and solid black socks plus black warmup shirts underneath the jerseys.

The uniforms are made by a California company called A.I.S.

The caps are solid red (home) and black (away). The red ones have black buttons at the top and white eyelets. The logo is a white block “B” outlined in black with a double-bladed ax mounted on a baseball bat handle protruding from the holes in the “B.” The black away caps’ logos are virtually the same, although the “B” is red and outlined in white.

The home red caps are made by official Major and Minor League Baseball cap supplier New Era. The black ones are made by Zephyr.

Tickets? Need some tickets?

The recent renovation of Hadlock Field in Portland expanded the facility’s seating capacity by 100 to 6,975.

With about 55 regular-season home games left on the schedule, for fans who either haven’t seen a Sea Dogs game in a while or those who have decided it might be time to finally catch a game, here’s some ticket information.

Box seats cost $8 for adults and $7 for children (ages 16-under) and seniors (62 and over). Reserved seats are $7 and $6, respectively; and general admission seats are $6 and $3, respectively. Children 2 years old or younger do not need a ticket, but they must sit on the lap of their parent/guardian.

Group rates are as follows: 20-99 seats are $6 for reserved adult and $5.50 for general admission adult, $6 for reserved child/senior, and $2.50 for GA child/senior; 100-199 seats cost $6 (reserved adult and reserved child/senior), $5 (GA adult) and $2 (GA child/senior); and 1,000 tickets or more are $4.50 for GA adult and $1.50 for GA child/senior, reserved are not available.

Interested in season tickets? Box seats are $426 per seat per season or $390.50 per seat per season for a three-year contract. Reserved seats are $390.50 annually or $355 per year on a three-year deal. Skybox rentals are $550 per game, but this does not include food. Skyboxes can seat 22 people. Portland’s “picnic grove” can be rented per game for $22 per person. The grove can accommodate from 20 to 350 people.

Other special available amenities include birthday parties ($14 per person), rental of the Portland function room (starting at $100), the VIP program (honor a person with an on-field pregame ceremony plus four box seats, the chance to throw out the ceremonial first pitch, a public address and scoreboard message, a Sea Dogs cap and baseball, four hot dogs, four sodas, and four biscuits ice cream treats for $100 per game). Also scoreboard messages and PA announcements can be purchased for $25 apiece.

For more information, call the ticket office at 879-9500.

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