Hadlock Field is a minor league baseball

stadium A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...

in Portland,

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and nor ...

. It is primarily home to the

Portland Sea Dogs 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. The Sea Dogs became part of the Red Sox sys ...

of the

Eastern League Eastern League may refer to: Baseball in the United States ''Most recent leagues listed first'' * Eastern League (1938–present), a minor league established in 1923 and renamed Eastern League in 1938, at the Double-A level * Eastern League (1916� ...

but also the Portland High School Bulldogs and

Deering High School Deering High School (DHS) is a public high school in Portland, Maine, United States. The school is part of the Portland Public Schools district. It is one of the three public high schools located in Portland, the others being Portland High Scho ...

Rams baseball teams. The stadium is named for Edson B. Hadlock Jr., a long-time Portland High School baseball coach and physics teacher and member of the Maine Baseball Hall of Fame.

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. 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 James J. Fitzpatrick Stadium is a 6,000 seat multi-purpose outdoor stadium in Portland, Maine, United States. It is located between Interstate 295, Hadlock Field baseball stadium, King Middle School, and the Portland Exposition Building. It is l ...

, and the

Portland Exposition Building The Portland Exposition Building, also known as The Expo, is a sports and exhibition venue (convention center) building complex in Portland, Maine. The complex includes five inter-connected buildings with 24,000 square feet of exhibition space a ...

, the second-oldest arena in continuous operation in the United States. In 2003, when the Sea Dogs affiliated with the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

, a replica Green monster, called the

Maine Monster The Maine Monster is the nickname of the left-field wall at Hadlock Field in Portland, Maine, which is the home of the Portland Sea Dogs, a double-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. It is similar to the Green Monster at the Red Sox' home, Fe ...

, was added to left field to match the original at the Red Sox'

Fenway Park Fenway Park is a baseball stadium located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, near Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home of the Boston Red Sox, the city's American League baseball team, and Boston Braves (baseball), since 1953, i ...

. 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. The left-field fence is from home plate, the center field-fence is , and the right-field fence is away. New video boards were added prior to the 2014 season. 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 Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northe ...

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. In April 2018, Hadlock was named one of the 10 best minor league baseball stadiums. During the 2019 offseason, new lighting was installed, replacing the prior metal-halide lamps with

LED lamp An LED lamp or LED light bulb is an electric light that produces light using light-emitting diodes (LEDs). LED lamps are significantly more energy-efficient than equivalent incandescent lamps and can be significantly more efficient than mo ...

s and reducing power consumption by nearly 50%.

Gallery

File:Hadlock Field 2022.jpg, The diamond, outfield, and the "

", 2022 File:Hadlock Field picnic area.jpg, Hadlock Field's picnic area is located alongside the right-field line File:Sea Dogs vs Trenton Thunder2.jpg, The Sea Dogs hosting

Trenton Thunder The Trenton Thunder are a collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League. They are located in Trenton, New Jersey, and play their home games at Trenton Thunder Ballpark. From 1994 to 2020, it was a Minor League Baseball team of the ...

in a 2007-season game File:PortlandSeadogs.JPG, alt=View of the infield in May 2007, with the Portland Exposition Center in the background. Pitching is Clay Buchholz, View of the infield in May 2007, with the Portland Exposition Center in the background. Clay Buchholz is the pitcher File:HadlockField1Alc.jpg, Hadlock Field. May 12, 2007

References

External links

* {{Eastern League ballparks Baseball venues in Maine High school baseball venues in the United States Sports venues in Portland, Maine Sports venues completed in 1994 Portland Sea Dogs Eastern League (1938–present) ballparks