What’s in a name?

Well, if it’s the name of the new left field wall standing 37 feet high and sporting fresh coats of green paint at Portland’s Hadlock Field, there are 721 suggestions and a whole lot of interest in it.

The wall, modeled after its famous counterpart in Fenway Park – complete with a scaled-down, three-dimensional Citgo gas sign and Coca-Cola bottle above it – has been a lightning rod for attention this season for the Boston Red Sox Double-A baseball affiliate in Portland.

The Portland Sea Dogs and Portland Press Herald sponsored a name-the-wall contest. They expected plenty of entries, but not the flood of suggestions which stuffed mail sacks and e-mail accounts alike.

“We got more than twice as many entries for this as we did for the name-the-team contest we held in 1993,” said Chris Cameron, Sea Dogs public relations director.

With well over 700 entries, the staff was kept busy evaluating everything from the sublime (Portland Headwall, Big Green Sea Monster, Green Mainester, Whaling Wall, Great Barrier Reef) to the clever (Green Moosester, The Wallmighty, Lobster Trap, Hadlock Ness Monster, Mike Greenwall) to the ridiculous (Bucky Dent Memorial Wall, the Monster Smash, Lobstah Monstah, Hadlock Hulk, the Green Giant, the Frustration Crustacean).

In the end, the long list was whittled to 10 finalists: the Maine Wall, Sea Wall, Maine Monster, Sea Monster, Lobster Trap, Ball Buster, Emerald Ogre, Slugger’s Wall, Green Monster North, and Junior.

And lest anyone accuse the Sea Dogs judge panel of favoritism, Cameron can squelch that kind of talk.

“Yeah, [former Red Sox outfielder] Mike Greenwall got my vote. I was always a fan, but it got shot down,” he said.

The final say went to Sea Dogs general manager Charlie Eshbach, who picked “Maine Monster” two weeks ago.

“We basically wanted something to have a long-lasting effect and give fans outside the area a good sense of what it was,” Cameron said.

Twenty-four fans suggested the winning name, so a drawing was held to determine the winner of the contest. Sandy Trefsger of Auburn won four Sea Dogs season tickets for the rest of this season. The other 23 finalists will have a chance to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at a game this season.

From Russia, with glove(s)

The Russian National Team will take a tour of the northeast next month as it plays five games against Northeast League teams in four days.

The Russian Baseball Federation will send its best players stateside to play a preseason exhibition schedule against NEL teams for a second straight year. The Russians will start the tour in Brockton, Mass., on May 15 to play the Brockton Rox. From there, it’s on to Berkshire, Mass., for a May 16 game and next up is a May 17 doubleheader against the New Jersey Jackals. The final stop is Allentown, Pa., for a May 18 game against the Ambassadors.

The Russian team posted a 2-6 record last year against the NEL. Oleg Korneev, a 6-foot-7, 220-pound pitcher from Moscow was signed by the Seattle Mariners after they scouted him on that tour. The 20-year-old righthander is currently rehabilitating his elbow in Arizona after Tommy John ligament replacement surgery. He is assigned to the Class A Peoria Mariners.

The Russians aren’t the only foreign visitors on the 2003 Northeast League exhibition schedule. A Japanese all-star team will visit Brockton (Mass.) on May 12, and Orono for two days (6:30 p.m., May 13 and 14) to play the Lumberjacks before finishing up the tour against the North Shore Spirit in Lynn, Mass., May 15.

With a Quebec-based team already in the NEL, the league has a decidedly foreign/international flavor this spring. The Quebec Capitals (Les Capitales de Quebec) of Quebec City will host a senior league team (Ligue de Baseball Senior du Quebec) in two exhibition games on May 17 and 18.

Lumberjacks catch Sea Dog

The Bangor Lumberjacks signed right-handed relief pitcher Brandon Bowe Monday.

Bowe made 45 appearances for the Portland Sea Dogs last year, striking out 53 batters and walking 23 while compiling a 3.72 ERA in 75 innings of work.

The Stockton, Calif., native and 30th-round selection by Florida (1999) is a candidate to be the team’s closer.

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