Throughout the game we attended at Hadlock Field, the  public address announcer ran down Maine's 20 greatest sports moments.  I didn't hear them all, but the vast majority of them centered on high school and college sports, demonstrating that there just isn't much professional sports history in Maine.  However, the Portland Sea Dogs, who ended a 45-year draught of professional baseball in Portland, hope to change that somewhat.  Hadlock Field is the perfect place for them to do just that.  

When owner Daniel Burke brought baseball back to Portland in 1994, he found a fine place to call home.  Hadlock Field is a unique place.  The park is built right next door to the Portland Exposition Building (built in 1915), which not only provides some interesting scenery but actually affects the shape of the park.  Because of the arena, there isn't much room for seats on the first base side.  As a result, most of the seats are along the left field line.  Some have suggested that this makes the place look like one giant fish hook.  Given the maritime themes of both the home team and their parent club (the Florida Marlins), a "fish-hook" appearance may or may not have been intentional, but it nonetheless gives the park a distinctive appearance.  Such distinctiveness is very much appreciated considering that a number of the new parks being built these days seem to follow the same blueprint (i.e. Norwich and Bowie).

As with many parks, there are a few things to nitpick about, but not many.  The aluminum flooring gives the place a cheaper look than concrete would have, the concession prices are a bit steep (especially for the miniscule fish sandwich), and quite frankly, the team administration did not give us as warm a welcome as we have received in other parks.  Still, the negatives of Hadlock Field are far outweighed by the positives.  There are a number of things that are done right about this place.  The music played before and during the game was a very well selected mix of different styles and energy levels that gave the atmosphere  a nice flow as opposed to the constant driving rock found in some parks.  The concourse was very spacious with some nice displays on the walls, such as a collection of pictures of "Mainers in the Majors" and some very nice photographs of every ballpark in the league.  If I worked for the Erie Seawolves, however, I think I'd send a better picture than the one displayed here.   And, if you have kids, I think they'll find that "Slugger", the Sea Dogs mascot, is significantly more entertaining than most in the league.  There are other innovative entertainments as well, such as a team of "trash monsters" (seen on page 2) that roam the stands "eating" the fans' garbage, and a lighthouse that pops out from the outfield wall (see the video section) whenever the Sea Dogs win or hit a home run.  

One of the most impressive aspects of Hadlock Field, however, has nothing to do with the park itself. The fans are very impressive.  They show an above average amount of enthusiasm for their team, with an assist from the aluminum construction of the stands that helps them to stomp loudly when the "Dogs" are doing well.  But what really impressed me was the sportsmanship.  At the game we were at, the visiting Trenton Thunder made a few spectacular defensive plays on Portland batters.  Each one of them was duly applauded.  Perhaps the lack of major league teams in this state (and therefore an absence of outrageous salaries, ticket prices and spoiled players) has allowed them to keep their perspective on the fact that baseball is, after all, just a game.  Bravo, folks.