Lackey and the Dogs Take Care Of The Mets

April 22 2013, Well made and unexpected trip down to Portland to watch the Sea Dogs play the Binghamton Mets. The reason for that is Red Sox pitcher John Lackey was in Portland making a rehab start for the Dogs. Lackey who missed all of 2012 season due to Tommy John surgery on his elbow made one start for the Red Sox in Toronto earlier in this season. However after pitching well he left the game in what turned out to be a muscle strain. So Lackey on this night was on a 70 pitch limit. So I figure he would only go 4 innings or so. As it turned out he threw 68 pitched in 3 2/3 innings pitched. He gave up 3 hits no runs, walked two, and struck out five. His second inning was probley the best he gave up a single but he did strike out the side. So a good night for Lackey. The Sea Dogs also managed to score some runs on a 41 degree night. Michael Almanzar drove in 2 runs in the 1st with a double to left-center. Sea Dogs got on the board again with a Sean Wilkerson single driving in two runs. The defense let the Mets down in this game. Binghamton commited 5 errors giving Sea Dogs batters every chance to score more runs. Binghamton pitchers gave up 8 runs only 1 was earned. With 2 out in the 4th inning Sea Dogs manager Kevin Boles brought in Keith Couch to relieve John Lackey. Couch pitched 4 innings allowing 4 hits 2 runs (1 earned) with no walks and 3 strike outs. But from a fans stand point it was freezing that night. After the 7th inning concluded it was time to get out of there. But with the Sea Dogs leading 8-2 at this point I was confident that Sea Dogs would put this one in the win column. As they did. Next Up: April 28, Red Sox vs Astros at Fenway

Reunions and a tough loss

April 18 2013 Well the Sea Dogs lost this game 17-1. Yuck. So I'm not going to even get into the game that is pretty much self explanatory. But what I will get into is that this was the 20th Season Sea Dogs Celebration. It was on April 18 1994 that the Sea Dogs (then the Florida Marlins affiliate) played the Albany-Colonie Yankees. So the Sea Dogs brought back some former players to comemorate that event and the 19 seasons after that. The player that brought the most attention this evening was former gold glove catcher Charles Johnson. CJ was probley the 1st big star to play for the Sea Dogs he hit 28 home runs for Portland that season with steller defense behind the plate. He went on to play 11 big league season with the Marlins, Dodgers, Orioles, White Sox, Rockies and Devil Rays. Also a fan favorite Pookie Wilson was back in Portland for the celebration. While Wilson never appeared in the big league game but he played the game with enthusiasm and was a fan favorite for the 1995, 1996 and 1997 seasons for Portland. Rounding out the Marlins era for Portland Heath Honeycutt, Glenn Revees, Fletcher Bates and Drew Niles were back in Portland. It was great to see them. Now of corse the Sea Dogs have been the affiliated with the Red Sox since 2003. Todd Claus the manager for Portland in 2005 and 2006 was there. Now in 2006 the Sea Dogs won the Eastern League Championship. Claus was at the helm for that. Other notable players in return to Portland were Marc Deschenes, Jay Johnson, Ryan Cameron and John Nathans. Jay Johnson hit the game winning hit at Fenway Park in 2007 the first time the Sea Dogs played at Fenway Park. A game I was at. So like I said the Sea Dogs lost 17-1 but that didn't seem to matter much on a day like this. Next Up: April 22- Binghamton vs Sea Dogs

Opening Day At Fenway!!!!

April 8 2013, Baltimore at Boston Well the day finally came and opening day at Fenway Park has arrived. This was the first opening day I had ever attended. (Red Sox that is) The Sox have started of well during the 2013 season with a 4-2 record. Much better than the 0-6 start in 2011 and 1-5 start in 2012. With John Farrell at the helm now there is a new good vibes spreading through out Red Sox Nation. Clay Buchholz was the starting pitcher for the Sox. Buchholz looking to rebound after two injury plagued seasons. After a Nate McLouth leadoff single (so much for a no hitter) he kept Orioles hitters off balanced while mabey not having his best stuff still was able to pitch 7 shutout innings while only giving up 3 hits. (all singles) The Orioles starter Wei-Yin Chen was just as good until the 7th inning. With his pitch count up over a 100 pitches. Dustin Pedroia singled, Mike Napoli doubled off the wall in left. After a Will Middlebrooks strike out. Daniel Nava stepped up to the plate and the switch hitter launched a 3 run homer into section 10 of the green monster seats. The Sox had takin' a 3-0 lead. That was the day for Wei-Yin Chen. After a 1-2-3 scoreless 8th with Andrew Bailey on the mound the Sox brought in closer Joel Hanrahan. Adam Jones for Baltimore was the leadoff hitter. After a couple of foul ball he hit one out for cut the lead 3-1. Chris Davis who was the A.L. player of the week bounced out, catcher Matt Weiters struck out. So with one more out to go JJ Hardy then doubled off the monster. You could feel things feel a little tense in section 32 row 13 we're my dad and I we're sitting. But no worries! Portland native Ryan Flaherty popped out to Will Middlebrooks at third to end the game. So a very successful 1st Red Sox home opener for me. Definetly will have to get to another one soon! Next Up: April 18, Sea Dogs vs New Britain (Sea Dogs 20th Season Game)

Game Postponed

Well no game today. Bought my ticket, 2 rows behind home plate sat down with my hotdogs then the anoucement saying that the field was not in good playing condition. The game was postponed to July 2 as a single admission doubleheader. So no baseball game today. But got 2 of 3 Sea Dogs games in this weekend. Not bad considering 1st week of April in the state of Maine. So Next Game: Monday April 8 Opening Day at Fenway Park, Baltimore Orioles at Boston Red Sox! photo from www.seadogs.com

Sea Dogs Pitchers Dealing Heat On A Cold Night

April 5 2013 Well it was another frosty night at the ballpark. After a pounding the Sea Dogs took in the season opener the Dogs were looking to rebound. Brandon Workman who the Red Sox minor league pitcher of the year in 2012 took the hill looking to silence the Thunder bats. Things started off well for Workman in the 1st striking out the first two of three he faced. Portland in the bottom half got on the board on a sac fly from left fielder Tony Thomas which scored Shannon Wilkerson who reached with a leadoff single. Xandier Bogaerts and Stephen Drew then reached on back to back errors. With two on and two out Micheal Almanzar singled in Bogaerts to give Portland a two run lead. In the top of the 2nd Trenton fought back with 4 runs highlighted on a Neil Medchill 2 run homer. At that point the Thunder held a 4-2 lead, but Workman did not get frazzled he went on to strike out the side. After another Trenton error in the second the Sea Dogs scored to make it 4-3. Portland went on to score 4 more runs in the 4th (Trenton made 2 more errors that inning) But the real highlight was on the mound. After a rocky 2nd inning Workman settled down got the side in order in the 3rd, 4th, and struck out the side again in the 5th. That was the day for Workman, so 5 innings 3 hits, 4 runs, 1 walk, 9 strikeouts. Sea Dogs manager Kevin Boles then brought in right hander Chris Martin. He pitched 3 innings 2 hits 0 runs 1 walk 7 strike outs. (Including striking out the side in the 6th) Rounding the 9th inning Brock Huntzinger pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning. So at games end the Sea Dogs pitchers racked up 17 strikeouts altogether. A new franchise record. Quite a feat in front the 2,337 that were in attendance a cold night. Next Up: Sea Dogs vs Trenton - Sat April 6

April 4 2013 Opening Day- Sea Dogs vs Trenton Thunder

Well the long anticipated Sea Dogs season opener has arrived. After a long snowy winter in Maine baseball season is back. That also means summer is not too far off. It was a frosty 40 degree night at the ballpark but the 5,447 in attendence that night didn't mind. Few interesting notes going into this game- Stephen Drew a free agent shortstop the Red Sox signed during the off season suffered a concussion during spring training was sent to Portland to rehab on his way back. He is likely to be in a Sea Dogs uniform for the first 2 to 3 games. Also Daniel Bard star setup relief pitcher for the Sox who had a historically bad 2012 season for Boston was sent to Portland at the end of Spring Training in hopes to regain the confidence and stuff to get him back to Boston. So he is a work in progress. So on to the game. The pitching matchup was Nik Turley for Trenton and Drake Britton for Portland. Trenton scored first on a 3 run homer by first baseman Kyle Roller. But thats how a night it was for Portland Britton did not last long on this cold night lasting only 3 innings giving up 5 hits 7 runs (only 3 earned, Dogs defense was sloppy on this cold night making 5 errors). Sea Dogs had a lead briefly in the 2nd after Heiker Meneses hit a 3 run homer to centerfield. But that did not last long with Trenton catcher JR Murphy and then third baseman Rob Segedin homered in to the night to give Trenton a 7-4 lead. A lead they did not give up. In the 7th inning Daniel Bard came in to pitch for the Sea Dogs. While his velocity was up to 95 mph his location was off he gave up a 2 run homer to Trenton dh Neil Medchill. I had moved down to the lower section behind home plate to get some pictures. He just seems lost out there still. Hopfully he'll make it back. Other notibles Stephen Drew went 0-3 with an rbi ground out. Red Sox top prospect Xander Bogaerts went 0-4 with 3 strike outs. So not so impressive on opening night but its only game one. Next game: April 5 Sea Dogs vs Trenton