Hadlock Field

Hadlock Field
Location 271 Park Avenue
Portland, ME 04102
Coordinates 43°39′25″N 70°16′42″W / 43.65694°N 70.27833°W / 43.65694; -70.27833Coordinates: 43°39′25″N 70°16′42″W / 43.65694°N 70.27833°W / 43.65694; -70.27833
Owner City of Portland[1]
Operator City of Portland
Capacity 7,368 [1]
Field size Left Field: 315 feet
Center Field: 400 feet
Right Field: 330 feet
Surface Grass
Construction
Broke ground May 21, 1993[1]
Opened April 18, 1994
Expanded 1995, 1998, 2002, 2006[1]
Construction cost $3 million[1]
($4.8 million in 2016 dollars[2])
Architect William E. Whited Inc.[1]
Project manager The Public Works Department of the City of Portland[1]
General contractor The Sheridan Corporation[3]
Tenants
Portland Sea Dogs (EL) (1994–present)

Hadlock Field is a Minor League baseball stadium in Portland, Maine. It is primarily home to the Portland Sea Dogs of the Eastern League but also the Portland High School Bulldogs and Deering High School Rams baseball teams. The stadium is named for Edson J. Hadlock, Jr., a long-time Portland High School baseball coach and physics teacher.

History and development

The park opened on April 18, 1994 with a capacity of 6,000. A year later, 500 seats were added, boosting capacity to 6,500. Expansion in 1998 increased capacity to 6,860 and in 2002 to 6,975.[1] About 400 seats were added in right field before the start of the 2006 season, and the park currently seats 7,368. Hadlock Field is located between Interstate 295, the historic Fitzpatrick Stadium, and the Portland Exposition Building, the second-oldest arena in continuous operation in the United States. In 2003, when the Sea Dogs affiliated with the Boston Red Sox, a replica Green monster, called the Maine Monster, was added to left field to match the original at the Red Sox' Fenway Park.[4] A replica Citgo sign and Coke bottle were added as well to make the field look even more like Fenway Park.

In 2006, the tenant Sea Dogs were Eastern League champions.[5] The left-field fence is 315 feet from home plate, the center field-fence is 400 feet, while the fence in right-field is 330 feet away. New video boards were added prior to the 2014 season.[6]

Field of Dreams Day at Hadlock Field is always a special date on the Portland Sea Dogs schedule. It is celebrated on the first Sunday of September and is usually a sold out event, which features the team wearing 1926 Portland Eskimos uniforms. Much like the Hollywood film, with the cornfield set up in center field, the Sea Dogs players receive a loud standing ovation when they began to emerge through the stalks and ran onto the field for the Fan Appreciation Day Game.[7][8]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Knight, Graham (July 6, 2010). "Hadlock Field - Portland Sea Dogs". Baseball Pilgrimages. Retrieved September 24, 2011.
  2. ↑ Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Community Development Project. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Retrieved October 21, 2016.
  3. ↑ "Hadlock Field" (PDF). The Sheridan Corporation. Retrieved February 23, 2014.
  4. ↑ Solloway, Steve (April 18, 2003). "Naming Game Is One That's So Easy to Lose". Portland Press Herald. p. 1D.
  5. ↑ Thomas, Kevin (May 22, 2014). "Sea Dogs Sweep Doubleheader Against Binghamton". Portland Press Herald. Retrieved May 26, 2014.
  6. ↑ Thomas, Kevin (April 11, 2014). "Sea Dogs Win Hadlock Field Opener". Portland Press Herald. Retrieved May 26, 2014.
  7. ↑ Sotos, Wendy (2008). The Portland Sea Dogs. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7385-5712-0.
  8. ↑ Sea Dogs take win on ‘Field of Dreams’ day at Hadlock. Portland Press Herald. Retrieved on September 7, 2015.
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