Hadlock set for All-Star game Six Sea Dogs to play in Double-A classic in Portland tonight

With a franchise record six players selected to play, home field advantage, and a capacity crowd, the symmetry couldn’t be much better for the 2005 Eastern League All-Star Game.

The 7 p.m. game has been sold out for a month, the Portland Sea Dogs are in first place, and Hadlock Field is hosting its first professional minor league all-star game.

All that, and there’s still more.

The EL’s home run derby will lead off Wednesday’s lineup at 5:15 p.m. Two teams of five players each (North and South) will compete in a three-round derby format. The North sluggers are slated to be Portland’s Jared Sandberg (16 homers through Monday), Dan Ortmeier (15) of Norwich, Danny Matienzo (18) of New Britain, Binghamton’s Mike Jacobs (18), and Shelly Duncan (22) from Trenton. The South sluggers are Josh Bonifay (17) and Jose Bautista (12) from Altoona, Harriburg’s Dee Haynes (15), Randy Ruiz (22) of Reading, and Akron’s Jonathan Van Every (15).

For each home run hit, Western Union will donate $50 to the Maine Children’s Cancer Program at the Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital. Ten fans selected at random through a Hannaford Bros., contest will each be paired with a player in the contest and will win money based on their slugger’s performance.

Another fan – a man from Campton, N.H., who was selected via the Barber Foods Pitch & Win Sweepstakes, will try to win $100,000 if he can throw a strike (by hitting a Barber Foods target) between the second and third innings of the All-Star Game.

Earlier in the day, a Little League baseball team from Hampden and four others from Cape Elizabeth; Westbrook; Pelham, N.H.; and Derry, N.H., will take part in an all-star clinic at 10 a.m. The randomly-selected teams will take the field with the Eastern League All-Stars in a series of clinics designed to help improve the their baseball skills.

Besides Portland third baseman Sandberg, the nephew of Chicago Cubs Hall of Fame second baseman Ryne Sandberg, the other Sea Dogs players selected to be on the northern division roster are lefthander Jon Lester, the league’s pitcher of the week for July 4-10; second baseman Kenny Perez; shortstop Hanley Ramirez; and outfielders Brandon Moss and Chris Durbin. Righthanded starting pitcher Jon Papelbon was also selected for the team, but was since promoted to Triple A Pawtucket and replaced by Trenton righthander Justin Pope.

First-year Sea Dogs manager Todd Claus will also manage the north squad while Dogs pitching coach Fernando Arroyo, hitting coach Russ Morman, and trainer Masai Takahashi will serve in the same capacities for the squad.

Other North stars of the future to focus on include pitcher Yusmeiro Petit, the New York Mets’ second-best major league prospect, according to Baseball America; pitcher Merkin Valdez and outfielder Dan Ortmeier, the San Francisco Giants’ No. 2 and 12 prospects; Josh Banks, the Toronto Blue Jays’ No. 9 prospect;

Young standouts on the South roster to keep an eye on are pitcher Tom Gorzelanny, outfielder Rajai Davis and third baseman Jose Bautista, the Pittsburgh Pirates fifth-, 11th- and 12th-best prospects; pitcher Joel Zumaya, the Detroit Tigers’ No. 4 prospect; third baseman Tripper Johnson, the Baltimore Orioles’ No. 8 prospect; and outfielder Michael Bourn, the Philadelphia Phillies’ No. 5 prospect.

The Hadlock Field gates will open at 3 p.m. and all fans attending the game will receive a souvenir baseball. Other fans will take part in an Eastern League All-Star autograph session in which they meet the players and receive an All-Star baseball.

Wednesday’s All-Star game will be televised live by New England Sports Network (NESN) and broadcast live by radio stations WBAE of Portland (1490 AM), WCNM of Lewiston (1240 AM), WKTQ of South Paris (1450 AM), WTME of Rumford (780 AM), Sanford’s WPHX (1220 AM), and WMEX of Rochester, N.H., (106.5 FM). The game will also be broadcast live on the official Minor League Baseball Web site at MiLB.com.