The Portland Sea Dogs are a Minor League Baseball team based in Portland, Maine, playing in the Eastern League. Established in 1994, the Sea Dogs are the Double-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox.
Originally affiliated with the Florida Marlins, the Sea Dogs became part of the Red Sox system for the 2003 season. The team went to the Eastern League championship series in 2005, losing to the Akron Aeros; and again in 2006, when they defeated the Aeros to win the first Double-A championship for a Red Sox farm team since the New Britain Red Sox in 1983.
All games are carried on a network of radio stations with Emma Tiedemann providing the play-by-play, with the flagship WPEI doing both home and away games.
History
Minor league baseball returned to Maine on October 4, 1992, when Portland was awarded one of two Eastern League expansion franchises (the other being the New Haven Ravens) to begin play in April 1994. The Sea Dogs signed an affiliation agreement with the Florida Marlins on May 3, 1993, beginning a nine-season relationship. The city renovated Hadlock Field, transforming a high-school stadium into a professional ballpark. City manager Robert Ganley led efforts to renovate Hadlock Field and return professional baseball to Portland.
The team won its first game, defeating the Reading Phillies on the road 2–1, with the help of a 14th-inning home run by future major league catcher Charles Johnson. The team opened Hadlock Field on April 18, 1994, losing 7–6 to the Albany-Colonie Yankees.
Cartoonist Guy Gilchrist designed the team's logo. His comic strip Mudpie had a series of strips in which the young cat's family visit the Portland area and attend a Sea Dogs game.
The team won its sole league title on September 17, 2006, defeating the Akron Aeros 8–5, in a rematch of the series from the previous year.
When Major League Baseball restructured Minor League Baseball in 2021, the Sea Dogs were organized into the Double-A Northeast. In 2022, the division was renamed the Eastern League, the name used by the regional circuit before the 2021 reorganization.
Ahead of the 2023 season, the Sea Dogs' longtime owners, the Burke family, sold the team to Diamond Baseball Holdings.
In August 2024, Portland cartoonist Lincoln Peirce featured the team in his comic strip Big Nate.
Stadium
The Sea Dogs' home stadium is Delta Dental Park at Hadlock Field, named after longtime Portland High School baseball coach Edson Hadlock. It has a seating capacity of 7,368. Hadlock Field is often visited by vacationing celebrities, such as former NFL coach Bill Parcells, former U.S. President George H. W. Bush, and his wife Barbara. In left field stands the Maine Monster, a replica of Fenway Park's Green Monster, complete with Coke bottle and Citgo sign. Along the right-field foul line just beyond first base, a picnic pavilion is available for group outings from 20 up to 300 people. In 2006, a new pavilion opened above the right-field wall over the Sea Dogs bullpen. Modeled after the Green Monster seats at Fenway Park in Boston, it seats up to 393 people and gives fans an opportunity to catch a home run ball. After the 2024 season, construction began on a new locker room facility behind the left field grandstand.
Logo The logo was designed by Guy Gilchrist and has remained the same throughout the franchise's existence with the exception of a color scheme change to reflect the team's affiliate transition from Marlins to Red Sox. It features an animated harbor seal whose head and flippers appear through the gap in the letter P. Explaining the inspirations for the logo, Gilchrist stated, "At the time that I did the Sea Dogs, the biggest-selling logos were the San Jose Sharks and the (Chicago) Bulls. And so, I mean, duh. I took Slugger and instead of him having a hockey stick in his mouth, I put a bat in his mouth. And I had him looking straight at us, just like a bull."Caputo, Paul. "Nancy, Sluggo, and Slugger: The Story Behind the Portland Sea Dogs," SportsLogos.Net, Saturday 17 May 2014. Retrieved 30 August 2026.
Slugger the Sea Dog has been the Sea Dogs' mascot since May 6, 1994. The name originated from a cracked Carl Yastrzemski bat which Gilchrist received from Roger LaFrancois in the early 1980s.
Season records The team was a member of the Northeast division of the Eastern League from 1994 to 2020 and the Northeast division of Double-A Northeast in 2021. They have been members of the Eastern League's Northeast division since 2022.
In the below table, "Place" represents finish within the team's division for the overall regular reason. Note that in 2019 and since 2022, the Eastern League played a split-season schedule, with first half and second-half winners advancing to the postseason.
+ Legend Place PlayoffsDivision champions Won championship seriesMade playoffs Lost championship series
+ Results by seasonYearW–LPct.PlaceManagerPlayoffs 1994 60–81 4th Carlos Tosca 1995 86–56 1st Lost to New Haven, 3–2 in semifinals 1996 83–58 1st Defeated Binghamton, 3–2 in semifinalsLost to Harrisburg, 3–2 in championship 1997 79–63 1st Fredi González Defeated Norwich, 3–2 in semifinalsLost to Harrisburg, 3–1 in championship 1998 66–75 3rd Lynn Jones 1999 65–77 3rd Frank Cacciatore 2000 71–70 4th Rick Renteria 2001 77–65 3rd 2002 63–77 5th Eric Fox 2003 72–70 3rd Ron Johnson 2004 69–73 4th 2005 76–66 1st Todd Claus Defeated Trenton, 3–2 in semifinalsLost to Akron, 3–1 in championship 2006 72–67 2nd Defeated Trenton, 3–1 in semifinalsDefeated Akron, 3–2 in championship 2007 71–72 2nd Arnie Beyeler Lost to Trenton, 3–1 in semifinals 2008 74–66 2nd Lost to Trenton, 3–0 in semifinals 2009 67–74 4th 2010 70–71 3rd 2011 59–83 6th Kevin Boles 2012 68–73 4th 2013 68–73 4th 2014 88–54 1st Billy McMillon Lost to Binghamton, 3–2 in semifinals 2015 53–89 6th 2016 55–84 6th Carlos Febles 2017 65–74 4th 2018 63–76 6th Darren Fenster 2019 62–77 6th Joe Oliver 2020 — — — Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic 2021 67–47 2nd Corey Wimberly 2022 75–63 3rd Chad Epperson Lost to Somerset, 2–0 in semifinals 2023 73–63 3rd 2024 78–60 1st 2025 64–71 4th 2026 71–65 2nd Kyle Sasala
Roster
Broadcasts
Sea Dogs games can be heard on the following radio stations: 95.5 WPPI Topsham, Maine, 95.9 WPEI: Saco, Maine, 780 WEZR: Rumford, Maine, and 1450 WPNO: South Paris, Maine. Game audio is also streamed for free on MiLB.com
Games can be watched for free using the Bally Live app, or with a paid subscription to MiLB.TV, though Black Out Restrictions may apply.
Notes
References
External links
Statistics from Baseball-Reference 2021 Media Guide