PORTLAND – List me among the skeptics, but among the supporters as well. I hope, this time, it flies.

Baseball in southern Maine, that is.

I hope folks in the Greater Portland area, who see themselves as big-city sports devotees, allow themselves to become permanently attached to the Double-A, minor league baseball Portland Sea Dogs.

Mainers had an opportunity to support professional baseball before – in Old Orchard Beach – and didn’t.

Some say Portland people boycotted The Ballpark. Maybe so. After all, Maine Guides owners first approached the city of Portland, and were turned down.

But Southern Mainers, and Portlanders in particular, can’t afford to boycott Hadlock Field.

If location means anything, maybe folks in southern Maine want their baseball to have that big-city flavor, reminiscent of Boston’s Fenway Park.

Maybe, for Mainers, a trip to a baseball game is supposed to give you that Fenway Feeling.

You know what it’s like.

It’s when you leave home early enough so you have plenty of time to drive around looking for a place to park.

An unfilled lot near the stadium is what you’re hoping for, but wouldn’t it be great to find a parking space on a side street a few blocks from the field? It happens. Sometimes.

At Fenway, you are aware of your urban surroundings – in the middle of the largest, major metropolitan area nearest your home. Big-city sights and sounds make Fenway a special excursion for Mainers.

You are, for a short time, part of the hustle and bustle of daily city life. As you near the famous old ballpark, you get that Fenway Feeling.

People clutching kids. Kids clutching Red Sox pennants. Red Sox jackets and hats everywhere. Fathers and mothers with sons and daughters. Grandparents with grandkids.

Groups of men or women, from out-of-town, out on the town. City couples greeting friends with dinner plans afterward.

People on sidewalks surrounding the park are all heading toward Fenway.

Well, guess what? If Monday’s home opener at Hadlock Field is any indication, you can get the same feeling in Maine.

As you approach Hadlock Field, you start looking for a place to park. You pass the shuttle lots, with buses waiting.

Entrepreneurial land-owners sit in lawn chairs hoping to fill their empty spaces with cars, and make a few bucks.

People are driving around, hoping to find that one spot on a side street a few blocks from the ballpark. It happens. Sometimes.

People on the sidewalks are heading toward Hadlock. You see similar groupings. You see baseball hats and jackets, but not the blue, white and Red Sox colors. They are Sea Dogs teal, white and black.

It is a comfortable, familiar feeling. Not like The Ballpark in Old Orchard Beach. You’re in the city. Going to the game.

You’ve got that Fenway Feeling.

The question for Sea Dogs owner Daniel Burke, president and general manager Charles Eshbach, and Portland City Mangager Robert Ganley is this: will the Greater Portland area, the people of southern Maine, and the people of the other Maine – in sufficient numbers – stand by their Dogs?

Will support be there in the good times and the bad?

Those who love baseball hope it will.

The area has demonstrated it will support a professional hockey franchise. The Sea Dogs hope the same is true for baseball.

The organization is doing much to promote its product.

Sky boxes are available for rent. Special discounts are available for children and groups. Fans have a chance to win a car or a trip. Groups can rent the barbeque area where the meal price includes a box-seat ticket.

Parking is given great attention, from shuttle bus lots to use of nearby public facilities. Area restaurants, hotels and motels have special promotions that include tickets, free parking or transportation with a purchase.

Someone who should be in the office, but isn’t, can leave a seat number and a cellular phone will be brought to the seat so the person can conduct business during a game.

How is that for acknowledging the changing habits of today’s society?

The home of the Sea Dogs is the first baseball stadium I’ve visited which advertises diaper changing facilities located in the men’s restroom as well as the ladies restroom.

If that doesn’t bring ’em out, I don’t know what will.

At last. A ballpark where Mom doesn’t get stuck with all of the dirty work.

PORTLAND – List me among the skeptics, but among the supporters as well. I hope, this time, it flies.

Baseball in southern Maine, that is.

I hope folks in the Greater Portland area, who see themselves as big-city sports devotees, allow themselves to become permanently attached to the Double-A, minor league baseball Portland Sea Dogs.

Mainers had an opportunity to support professional baseball before – in Old Orchard Beach – and didn’t.

Some say Portland people boycotted The Ballpark. Maybe so. After all, Maine Guides owners first approached the city of Portland, and were turned down.

But Southern Mainers, and Portlanders in particular, can’t afford to boycott Hadlock Field.

If location means anything, maybe folks in southern Maine want their baseball to have that big-city flavor, reminiscent of Boston’s Fenway Park.

Maybe, for Mainers, a trip to a baseball game is supposed to give you that Fenway Feeling.

You know what it’s like.

It’s when you leave home early enough so you have plenty of time to drive around looking for a place to park.

An unfilled lot near the stadium is what you’re hoping for, but wouldn’t it be great to find a parking space on a side street a few blocks from the field? It happens. Sometimes.

At Fenway, you are aware of your urban surroundings – in the middle of the largest, major metropolitan area nearest your home. Big-city sights and sounds make Fenway a special excursion for Mainers.

You are, for a short time, part of the hustle and bustle of daily city life. As you near the famous old ballpark, you get that Fenway Feeling.

People clutching kids. Kids clutching Red Sox pennants. Red Sox jackets and hats everywhere. Fathers and mothers with sons and daughters. Grandparents with grandkids.

Groups of men or women, from out-of-town, out on the town. City couples greeting friends with dinner plans afterward.

People on sidewalks surrounding the park are all heading toward Fenway.

Well, guess what? If Monday’s home opener at Hadlock Field is any indication, you can get the same feeling in Maine.

As you approach Hadlock Field, you start looking for a place to park. You pass the shuttle lots, with buses waiting.

Entrepreneurial land-owners sit in lawn chairs hoping to fill their empty spaces with cars, and make a few bucks.

People are driving around, hoping to find that one spot on a side street a few blocks from the ballpark. It happens. Sometimes.

People on the sidewalks are heading toward Hadlock. You see similar groupings. You see baseball hats and jackets, but not the blue, white and Red Sox colors. They are Sea Dogs teal, white and black.

It is a comfortable, familiar feeling. Not like The Ballpark in Old Orchard Beach. You’re in the city. Going to the game.

You’ve got that Fenway Feeling.

The question for Sea Dogs owner Daniel Burke, president and general manager Charles Eshbach, and Portland City Mangager Robert Ganley is this: will the Greater Portland area, the people of southern Maine, and the people of the other Maine – in sufficient numbers – stand by their Dogs?

Will support be there in the good times and the bad?

Those who love baseball hope it will.

The area has demonstrated it will support a professional hockey franchise. The Sea Dogs hope the same is true for baseball.

The organization is doing much to promote its product.

Sky boxes are available for rent. Special discounts are available for children and groups. Fans have a chance to win a car or a trip. Groups can rent the barbeque area where the meal price includes a box-seat ticket.

Parking is given great attention, from shuttle bus lots to use of nearby public facilities. Area restaurants, hotels and motels have special promotions that include tickets, free parking or transportation with a purchase.

Someone who should be in the office, but isn’t, can leave a seat number and a cellular phone will be brought to the seat so the person can conduct business during a game.

How is that for acknowledging the changing habits of today’s society?

The home of the Sea Dogs is the first baseball stadium I’ve visited which advertises diaper changing facilities located in the men’s restroom as well as the ladies restroom.

If that doesn’t bring ’em out, I don’t know what will.

At last. A ballpark where Mom doesn’t get stuck with all of the dirty work.