‘Jacks want to boost fan base Team finished solid in field, but ranked fifth in attendance

BANGOR – Not all of the travel arrangements have been made and some of the players are still around, but the 2004 Northeast League baseball season is in the books for the Bangor Lumberjacks.

On the field, the Lumberjacks had a markedly improved season, winning 57 of 96 games and finishing with the third-best overall record in NEL regular-season play.

In the stands, Bangor still has some work to do in filling the seats despite the official league attendance mark of 68,251 fans who attended 54 home games for a per-game average attendance of 1,264.

Off the field, there’s no such thing as an offseason as general manager Curt Jacey, team owner Chip Hutchins, and the rest of the Lumberjacks front office will be at work selling team merchandise, raising the team’s visibility in the coming fall and winter months, and selling tickets for next season.

“It was our second season here, but it was still a learning process,” said Jacey. “Getting more fans in the stands is obviously a priority for us.”

Bangor ranks fifth among the NEL’s eight teams in attendance, but one of those teams – the Aces, a travelling team hastily assembled late in the preseason to replace the folded Allentown Ambassadors franchise – played no home games. Brockton led the league with 203,094 fans while Quebec, North Shore, and New Jersey followed at 156,899; 115,118; and 106,110, respectively.

Also, official league attendance numbers are determined by paid attendance: the number of season tickets sold plus walk-up tickets sold, whether those season ticket holders actually attended a game or not).

This was the Lumberjacks’ first season spent playing home games at Husson College’s Winkin Complex, which hosted 52 games. The final two games, playoff games against New Jersey, were played at Mansfield Stadium in Bangor. Those two weekend night games drew a total of 638 fans.

Bangor’s sparse attendance didn’t go unnoticed by players.

“As long as you can still play baseball, it really doesn’t matter,” said outfielder Derry Hammond, who tied for the league lead in home runs with 23. “But honestly, I’d like to go somewhere where there are more fans. It makes for a much better atmosphere.”

Manager Kash Beauchamp wants more fans in the stands and believes getting more players and team officials out in the community – making public appearances and attending charity events – would help generate more team interest.

“I would think, yeah, we need to get people in the seats. It’s a nice place to play and a good facility, but we need more fans,” said Beauchamp, whose contract with Bangor runs out in January. “I’ve enjoyed Bangor and still enjoy it, so whatever happens, I’ll weigh everything and go with the best deal.

“I’m interested in anybody who’s interested in me. You’ve got to do what’s best for yourself and your family and there are some other teams that have expressed some interest in me. I’ve got a couple interviews, but I want to talk to Chip first. I owe him that and I want to find out the direction the team’s going in.”

A little more than two-thirds of the team roster is under contract for next season, but two of the main cogs in the Lumberjacks’ playoff machine – Beauchamp and team leader, popular starting catcher Brad Hargreaves – are free agents.

“Next year’s up in the air. I’ll basically see what happens and go where it’s the best situation for me,’ Hargreaves said. “To be honest with you, it depends. It’s not that I despise this place or hate any of the guys, but I’ve been here for two years and now I need to look at if I want to play somewhere else and change it up. As far as being picked up, this isn’t necessarily the best league.”

The NEL sold nine players to Major League Baseball organizations during its 3 1/2-month regular season. Bangor saw center fielder Jake Whitesides get signed by the Chicago White Sox and assigned to the Single A Kannapolis team in late July.

Another Lumberjacks’ standout is first baseman-outfielder Mark Burke, who is immigrating to Canada and working to obtain dual citizenship. He and fiancee Chrystie Fitchner are getting married a year from October. In the meantime, he’ll be on a college developmental team in Manitoba while he evaluates his future as a free agent.

Another player – NEL ERA leader Jerry Long, who went with a 1.97 ERA before being placed on the disabled list with a torn labrum and a partial tear of his rotator cuff just before the playoffs began – is getting married Oct. 23 and will then undergo offseason surgery before returning to work as a full-time substitute teacher.

Long is looking forward to returning to Bangor.

“Coming back this year, we only had five guys back, but next year we have three-quarters of these guys back, so it should be a good season,” said the Plymouth, Pa., native.

And then some players, like Hammond, aren’t even sure what their contract status is.

“Hopefully I can get a job playing winter ball somewhere. I don’t care where. I just want to keep playing and stay fresh,” Hammond said. “If none of that happens, I’ll probably go back to my old job as a leasing consultant for apartments in Phoenix, Arizona.”

“I think I have a pretty good shot to get a spring training invite with a major league organization.”

Outfielder Jose Garcia will play for La Hermanas’ Azucareros del Este in the Dominican League. The 23-year-old Augusta, Ga., resident will live in the Dominican Republic with his wife and children from October through January.