There are lots of typical sounds to hear at a ballpark: The crack of the bat, the roar of a crowd, and the cries of vendors selling peanuts, soda, and hot dogs. Anyone attending Sunday’s Portland Sea Dogs game at Hadlock Field heard some decidedly… Read More
PORTLAND – Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz singled twice, walked, and flied out Monday night in his first of three rehab appearances for the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs. Ortiz went 2-for-3 in his fourth minor league game since he was sidelined on May 30… Read More
Father’s Day has taken on much more significance and meaning for Portland Sea Dogs first baseman Aaron Bates the last four years. Sunday will be no exception for the 24-year-old Boston Red Sox prospect. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var… Read More
Monmouth native Thomas “Tip” Fairchild has finally rejoined his Corpus Christi Hooks teammates following a yearlong rehabilitation after 2007 Tommy John ligament replacement surgery. The 24-year-old righthanded starting pitcher appeared in two games (both starts) for Corpus Christi – the Houston Astros’ Double-A affiliate –… Read More
It has taken 362 days of surgery, rehabilitation, and training, but Thomas “Tip” Fairchild is officially back in the game. He must be. He has the baseball cards to prove it and his name is even listed among minor league prospects on ESPN’s online fantasy… Read More
The 2008 baseball season had already been hectic and confusing enough for Mike MacDonald just two weeks into it. The Camden native and former University of Maine star pitcher had gone from longtime starter to reliever, and also been told he was going from Triple-A… Read More
You wouldn’t think being a Yankee northerner would cut native Mainer Greg Creek any slack in the heart of Dixie. Actually, it does a lot more than that. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner =… Read More
Camden’s Mike MacDonald has been thrown a couple of curveballs this year as he tries to catch on with the Toronto Blue Jays. First, the longtime starting pitcher was told he’d be starting the season back in Double-A with the New Hampshire Fisher Cats after… Read More
The 2008 professional baseball season is under way from the majors through the minors, but team rosters aren’t dotted with as many Maine names as in previous seasons. The most notable names in the pros, in general, are former University of Maine slugger Mark Sweeney,… Read More
Justin Masterson wasted no time justifying his promotion from the Single-A Lancaster Jethawks to Double-A and the Portland Sea Dogs. The Boston Red Sox Minor League Pitcher of the Month for June got off to a great start in July as well as he flirted… Read More
The way Clay Buchholz looks at it, the biggest mistake of his life has also been one of his biggest breaks. The Portland Sea Dogs ace starter has become one of the top three prospects in the Boston Red Sox organization, but if not for… Read More
This isn’t the kind of season Tip Fairchild had in mind. The Lewiston native and Monmouth Academy graduate was well on his way up the Houston Astros’ minor league baseball ladder. The way Fairchild had it figured, if he kept progressing as he has the… Read More
It’s been almost 12 years since Bangor native Matt Kinney realized nearly every young man’s dream and was drafted by a major league baseball team. Now in his 13th season of organized professional ball, the 30-year-old Kinney is simply hoping for a chance at his… Read More
Portland Sea Dogs hitters will get a chance to be part of The Rocket’s re-entry into professional ball tonight. Portland’s hitters will get an advance look at what Boston’s batters will be seeing in another couple weeks as Roger Clemens starts on the mound for… Read More
Ten days after being promoted to Triple-A Syracuse, Camden’s Mike MacDonald was watching highlights of Tuesday’s game between Toronto and Baltimore with great interest. Jesse Litsch, MacDonald’s teammate and a fellow pitcher with the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, was making his major league debut with… Read More
For Charlie Zink, the Portland Sea Dogs have become his Double-A Mafia family. Every time he tries to get away, they keep pulling him back. Since signing with the Boston Red Sox as a free agent in 2002, the knuckleball pitcher has spent all or… Read More
Despite playing only six of their scheduled 13 Eastern League games so far this season, the Portland Sea Dogs are on the verge of equaling a franchise record. With one more postponement, the Sea Dogs will equal the team record for postponements in a season… Read More
ORONO – Mike MacDonald doesn’t have much to be dissatisfied about when it comes to the way he finished his Double-A baseball season. The Camden native made a big pitch for promotion in his third minor league baseball season, going 13-9 with a 3.94 ERA… Read More
Ask Portland Sea Dogs manager Todd Claus what the turning point in the 2006 season was for his club, and he’ll have a surprising answer. “It was after our 10-game losing streak,” Claus said without hesitation Monday afternoon, while waiting for the team’s air flight… Read More
The ice had long since melted for the celebratory champagne/beer/soda that the Portland Sea Dogs hoped to spray in celebration over securing an Eastern League playoff spot. The Sea Dogs’ magic number for their playoff countdown was stuck on 1 all weekend as Mother Nature… Read More
While a few professional baseball players with Maine ties are starting to entertain thoughts about being promoted to the big leagues as a September call-up when major league clubs can expand their rosters, Simon Williams is just hoping to get another chance in affiliated ball. Read More
Five years after breaking into professional baseball as a 21st-round draft pick, Rusty Tucker is trying to complete his long journey back to the point he reached three years ago. He’s also hoping that point won’t be his career zenith. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define… Read More
Little did mercurial Portland Sea Dogs outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury know how “lucky” that lucky Red Sox cap he bought two years ago would be. The junior-to-be at Oregon State University was playing in the Cape Cod League in the summer of 2004 when he was… Read More
Humid or not, the muggy Maine summer weather the last few weeks has been pleasing and a welcome relief to native Georgian Chad Spann. In fact, the Portland Sea Dogs’ third baseman’s hitting has been even hotter than the weather. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define… Read More
With the professional baseball season reaching its middle innings, it’s a good time to touch base on Maine hardball prospects in the minors. Former Monmouth High School star Thomas “Tip” Fairchild is enjoying a stellar first professional season in the Houston Astros organization. googletag.cmd.push(function ()… Read More
For the better part of the last four years, Brandon Moss and David Murphy have enjoyed a close association. They were both drafted by the same Major League Baseball franchise (Boston), were both on the same minor league baseball team the last four years, and… Read More
The year 2004 may indeed prove to be a pivotal one for Edgar Martinez, one of Boston’s top minor league prospects, but not for the reasons he thought when he began his first season of Double-A ball. See, back then, Martinez was a catcher who… Read More
PORTLAND – Mike MacDonald still seems genuinely surprised that anyone would want to interview him. Even when a recent road trip with the New Hampshire Fisher Cats brought him back to his home state to play Portland, the Camden native wasn’t figuring on much hoopla… Read More
It hasn’t exactly been a dream season for Bangor native and former Bangor American Legion baseball standout Josh Pressley. After signing a minor league free agent contract with the Boston Red Sox Feb. 1, the 26-year-old Pressley was ready for what he hoped to be… Read More
Just over 2 1/3 months ago, Greg Creek was back home in Manchester, wondering if he’d ever get a chance to play pro or even semi-pro ball after being passed over in Major League Baseball’s 2005 amateur draft. Then the Atlanta Braves called, offered a… Read More
One hundred forty-three games later, Mike MacDonald is still happy to be playing ball, but he’s not dreading the end of his season, either. The Camden native, who has completed his first full minor league baseball regular season and is in the midst of a… Read More
The Portland Sea Dogs are one win – or a Trenton loss – away from their first playoff spot since 1997 and are well positioned to win their first division title in that same span. A Portland win over Altoona or a New Britain loss… Read More
Josh Pressley is all too familiar with adversity. Despite being Tampa Bay’s 1998 fourth-round draft pick and a heralded Devil Rays prospect, the former Bangor resident and 1996 American Legion baseball Zone I Player of the Year has been toiling in the minors for eight… Read More
Several minor league prospects with Maine ties are enjoying solid seasons, but don’t expect many, if any, to get the call to the majors anytime soon. Sure, Josh Pressley – the former Bangor Comrades player and American Legion Zone I player of the year –… Read More
Three months after being officially hired as the Bangor Lumberjacks manager and then losing his job within a week when the team folded, Chris Carminucci is living out of an extra-large gym bag. Life on the road is long, sometimes uncomfortable and challenging, but the… Read More
With still a little more than a month to play in most minor league baseball seasons, it has already been a Tale of Two Cities summer for Josh Pressley. It’s been both the best and worst of his eight professional baseball seasons. googletag.cmd.push(function () {… Read More
PORTLAND – It’s not like it’s a bad thing to have the same last name and bloodlines as a Hall of Famer, especially if you’re a baseball player. But even now, there are still times when Portland Sea Dogs infielder Jared Sandberg wouldn’t mind if… Read More
PORTLAND – His given name is Nelson Alexander Johnson, III; but if you yelled it to him, he likely wouldn’t answer. Nobody calls Nelson “Nelson,” not even his mom and dad. The third generation Nelson of the Washington state-based Johnson family goes by Trip or… Read More
For most people, the phrase “getting the boot” would be a bad thing. That’s not the case with Portland Sea Dogs players this season, however. If a Sea Dogs batter hits the giant, inflatable boot in Hadlock Field’s right field stands, he and a randomly… Read More
Second baseman Dustin Pedroia may be ranked sixth among Boston Red Sox prospects, but don’t be surprised if he reaches the big leagues ahead of all or most of the guys rated ahead of him. Pedroia, 21, may only be 5-feet, 8 inches, but he… Read More
A year ago, Derry Hammond was winding up a four-game series in Quebec City as a member of the independent league Bangor Lumberjacks. This week, he was supposed to be in Peoria, Ill., in the midst of a five-game series as a member of the… Read More
The University of Maine baseball team’s recently concluded NCAA Tournament run did not go unnoticed by at least one former Black Bear now toiling in the minor leagues. Former outfielder Simon Williams – who now patrols center field for the Swing of the Quad Cities,… Read More
Simon Williams was visibly impressed. He had just witnessed one of his new teammates hit two home runs in the season-opening game for the Swing of the Quad Cities – the low Single-A minor-league affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define… Read More
It’s a new frontier for former University of Maine pitcher Mike Collar. The independent Frontier League, to be specific. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes = []; var has_banner = false; for (var i = 0; i < slot_sizes.length;… Read More
Sazi Guthrie wasn’t even sure he wanted to continue playing baseball last month. The former three-sport Belfast High School star was a bit disillusioned with baseball after being released by the San Diego Padres a week before the National League West team broke spring training… Read More
PORTLAND – New Sea Dogs manager Todd Claus (pronounced Clouse) is feeling right at home already after only one week in Portland. The well-traveled coach and manager has settled in and is relishing his chance to be a manager at the Double-A level for the… Read More
PORTLAND – It’s pronounced “Clay,” but it looks like there’s a consonant missing in his first name. Say hello to Olise Claiborne “Cla” Meredith III, the sidearm closer on a Portland Sea Dogs pitching staff full of them. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var… Read More
BANGOR – It’s official. The Bangor Lumberjacks are in the playoffs and are guaranteed at least one home game, but they won’t play any at Winkin Complex. The Lumberjacks clinched at least a wild-card playoff spot with two wins over the weekend and will start… Read More
Several days before the Northeast League-mandated roster freeze for all teams, the Bangor Lumberjacks front office spent much of its time burning up the phone lines. With numerous injuries to key players occurring over the last three weeks, Bangor has had to make several trades,… Read More
Talk about an emotional roller coaster. The week of the Northeast League-Central Baseball League All-Star game couldn’t have given any more extreme highs and lows for former Bangor Lumberjacks outfielder Jake Whitesides. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var new_slot_sizes =… Read More
Following one of his starts a little over a week ago, former University of Maine ace righthander Mike MacDonald of Camden was called into the manager’s office at Falcon Park in Auburn, N.Y. But the news was not bad. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot… Read More
The next time you head out to your driveway or local playground to shoot some hoops or play H-O-R-S-E, try this experiment: Instead of shooting overhead or overhand, try shooting underhand or “granny” style. Just over a year after the Houston Astros drafted Mike Collar… Read More
The Bangor Lumberjacks have started the second half of the Northeast League’s regular season in buzz-saw fashion, winning five of their first seven games to get within a half game of first place after Sunday. What makes Bangor’s run even more impressive is the fact… Read More
Bangor Lumberjacks fans may have noticed a bulls-eye target above one of the advertising billboards in center field at Bangor’s new facility at Winkin Complex. The target is a promotion, the first of its kind in the two-year history of the Lumberjacks’ franchise. It is… Read More
A home run chase is exciting enough, especially when players stay within one or two of each other much of the season and play leapfrog at the top of the standings. When those players are teammates, the chase takes on a whole new level of… Read More
The trips north to play the Bangor Lumberjacks this week and last have had a bit more significance for a pair of Aces. Outfielder Schuyler Doakes and pitcher Brandon Bowe used to wear Lumberjacks uniforms rather than the similar black, red, and white Aces’ version. Read More
BANGOR – Monday was supposed to be a day off for the Bangor Lumberjacks, but after a hastily called postgame locker room meeting between manager Kash Beauchamp and his team Sunday afternoon, it became an early workday. Well, maybe not so much work as it… Read More
The absence of any sellouts at Husson College’s Winkin Baseball Complex during the Bangor Lumberjacks’ first-ever homestand in Bangor is both a blessing and a curse for the Northeast League team. Sure, team officials would love to see one or more, but with the added… Read More
A year ago, Tim Rall was an unproven independent league rookie who was ignored in the marathon Major League Baseball amateur draft. He was still waiting to pitch his first game as a pro. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]]; var… Read More
The effects of the United States’ ongoing effort to battle terrorism are being felt everywhere, even on the baseball diamond. A federal government directive to cap temporary work visas for foreign workers at 66,000 and hold to it is affecting plenty of Maine summer businesses,… Read More
PORTLAND – It’s hard to imagine anyone who can match the baseball resume that Maine native Carl “Stump” Merrill has built up over the last three decades. The current manager of the Trenton Thunder, the New York Yankees’ double A minor league affiliate in New… Read More
What a whirlwind year it’s been for Sazi Guthrie … And it still has two months left to run. The 23-year-old Belfast native began the year selling cars, collecting bills over the phone, and chasing a dream. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes… Read More
As late summer grudgingly gives way to autumn in Maine, the boys of summer are already long since gone. The office personnel and officials of both the Bangor Lumberjacks and Portland Sea Dogs are still hard at work selling tickets and team merchandise, but the… Read More
Where have you gone, Tim Rall? It doesn’t have quite the same ring as the lyric from the Simon and Garfunkel song “Mrs. Robinson”, but it’s a question which a few fans of the Bangor Lumberjacks have asked recently. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot… Read More
Life is anything but stable during a season in which you’ve played for three different teams in three different leagues, but for Mark Burke, there was always one constant. Whether he was playing a game at home or on the road, girlfriend Chrystie Fitchner was… Read More
Ed Nottle doesn’t have anything against Mainers or their state, but he doesn’t relish trips to Orono when his Brockton Rox come to town to play the Bangor Lumberjacks. The 63-year-old manager, whose career in professional baseball has spanned five decades and all four (Single… Read More
Brockton Rox manager Ed Nottle has spent the vast majority of his life in baseball. In fact, his life is the subject of a major motion picture, which will begin filming early next year. “I’m Still Standing: The True Life Story of Singing Ed Nottle”… Read More
It’s hard enough to remain optimistic and upbeat when your team’s in the middle of a losing streak, but when you’re in the midst of an even longer-running scoreless streak … Well, that’s the epitome of frustration. Such was the case with the Bangor Lumberjacks… Read More
LITTLE FALLS, NJ – To call the journey former Bangor Lumberjacks relief pitcher Donnie Thomas embarked on Thursday night/Friday morning a “trip from hell” might be sugarcoating it a bit. Thomas, who was told after Thursday night’s home game that he was “the player to… Read More
ORONO – Portland’s Sea Dogs have their own version of the Green Monster and, for three days earlier this month, the Bangor Lumberjacks had one in Orono too. Of course, no one will ever confuse “The Monster” with the Maine Monster, but both have inspired… Read More
ORONO – Lefthanded pitcher Tim Rall, one of the Northeast League’s leaders in earned run average, has been sold by the Bangor Lumberjacks to the Seattle Mariners organization. Rall, 23, is the first player whose contract has been sold by the ‘Jacks to a major… Read More
ORONO – Ten baseball games in seven days, nine games in six, or six in three. No matter how you slice it, it adds up to many innings crammed into a short period of time. Conditions aside, it can tax a pitching staff and wear… Read More
After sitting around for a solid week while waiting for the rain to end and their inaugural Northeast League season to continue, members of the Bangor Lumberjacks would have given almost anything to play a game. A doubleheader? They could only dream about that. But… Read More
For the third time in his coaching career, Bangor Lumberjacks manager Kash Beauchamp will fill out the lineup card for a minor league all-star game. Beauchamp will manage the World team in the July 29 game at La Stade in Quebec City, Quebec. Brockton Rox… Read More
ORONO – It’s a good bet that they didn’t have this in mind when the Bangor Lumberjacks came up with the idea for “Halloween Night” promotions. Bangor starting pitcher Danny Miller suffered what looked like a horrific injury when he was struck by a hard… Read More
ORONO – They may not be household names, but there are a few Northeast League players whose friends or relatives are. Carlos Rosario, starting second baseman for the Elmira (N.Y.) Pioneers, is one such player. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot var slot_sizes = [[300,250]];… Read More
The Bangor Lumberjacks may have been inactive on the field Sunday, but the team’s front office remained busy. Bangor activated lefthanded pitcher Danny Miller from the disabled list this weekend and waived catcher Daling Rengifo to make room for him. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define… Read More
When Renaissance poet Francis Quarles wrote “Let all thy joys be as the month of May,” he was referring to a bride, but even the most blushing May bride would have difficulty matching the kind of month Jeremy Owens has had. The past 26 days… Read More
BANGOR – If they don’t know this already, the 22 players on the Bangor Lumberjacks’ roster will soon enough. Their manager has a lot of signs, but very few rules to learn … And if they miss or break any of them, there’s plenty of… Read More
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… Read More
The Portland Sea Dogs have been reaping a bumper crop of publicity – even more than usual – since switching affiliation from the Florida Marlins to the Boston Red Sox. . In addition to having a few games broadcast by Portland-area television station WMTW, the… Read More
PORTLAND – After finally getting a chance to showcase the recent renovations to Hadlock Field during the season’s first home series, the reviews are in and they’re almost unanimous in their praise. Building the wall was a great call. googletag.cmd.push(function () { // Define Slot… Read More
As much time as he spends trying to whittle down his interminable list of things to do, it never seems to get any smaller for the Bangor Lumberjacks’ Curt Jacey. “Even after you knock off 10 things, it seems like the list just keeps getting… Read More