The Maine Monster is the nickname of the left-field wall at
Hadlock Field
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 name ...
in
Portland
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 northeas ...
,
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 ...
, which is the home of 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 syst ...
, a double-A affiliate of 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 eigh ...
. It is similar to the
Green Monster
The Green Monster is a popular nickname for the left field wall at Fenway Park, home to the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball. The wall is from home plate and is a popular target for right-handed hitters.
Overview
The wall was part ...
at the Red Sox' home,
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 since 1953, its only Major League Bas ...
.
Dimensions
The Maine Monster is 315 feet from home plate along the foul lines. It is 160 feet long and made of wood. Like the Green Monster, it is 37 feet high and green. There is a 12-foot screen above the wall to catch home run balls.
Seats cannot be added to the Maine Monster because there is a railroad track running immediately behind it.
{, class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
, -
!
! Green Monster
! Maine Monster
, -
, Distance from Home Plate
, 310 feet
, 315 feet
, -
, Height
, colspan=2, 37 feet
, -
, Length
, 240 feet
, 160 feet
, -
, Height of Screen
, 23 feet*
, 12 feet
, -
, Color
, colspan=2, Green
, -
, Material
, Sheet Metal
, Wood
* Height of Green Monster screen is from before the screen was taken down when the Green Monster seats were added
History
On September 18, 2002 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 syst ...
announced a new affiliation 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 eigh ...
after nine years of affiliation with the
Florida Marlins
The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park.
The fran ...
. To help train future Red Sox left fielders for the Green Monster and to add character to the ballpark, a likeness of the Green Monster was built. Construction started on October 28, 2002. The name, Maine Monster, was chosen from a contest of fans.
Advertisements
Most of the advertisements on the Maine Monster are similar to those on the Green Monster. Next to the scoreboard on both walls, there is a
W.B. Mason
W.B. Mason is an American business products company headquartered in Brockton, Massachusetts. They are widely known for their colorful fleet of delivery vehicles.
The company was founded in 1898 and started out selling rubber stamps and stencil ...
sign. Above the Maine Monster there are miniature versions of Fenway's
Coke bottles and
Citgo. In place of the Green Monster's
Jimmy Fund
The Jimmy Fund, established in Boston in 1948, is made up of community-based fundraising events and other programs that benefit Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Since 1948, millions of people have given money to the Jimmy Fund to help save lives an ...
logo, there is a sign for
TD Banknorth
TD Banknorth, formerly Banknorth, was a wholly owned subsidiary of the Toronto-Dominion Bank which conducted banking and insurance activities, primarily serving the northeastern area of the United States, headquartered in Portland, Maine. The ban ...
's "Strike Out Cancer in Kids" program. Unique to Portland's stadium are the
Hannaford and Sullivan Tire signs above the Maine Monster.
The scoreboard
Unlike the scoreboard on the Green Monster, which is manually operated from inside the wall, the scoreboard on the Maine Monster is electronic. Along both sides of the scoreboard are the initials of Sea Dogs' owner Dan Burke and his wife in Morse code. This is just like the Green Monster scoreboard which does the same thing with former Red Sox owner
Tom Yawkey
Thomas Austin Yawkey, born Thomas Yawkey Austin (February 21, 1903 – July 9, 1976), was an American industrialist, philanthropist, conservationist and Major League Baseball executive. Born in Detroit, Yawkey became president of the Boston Red S ...
and his wife.
References
*Seadogs.com History Pag
*Seadogs.com Hadlock Field Pag
Baseball in Portland, Maine