Trivia Guy

The “Maine Monster”, originally uploaded by Popehammer.

Last night I went to my first Portland Sea Dogs baseball game… and it was great. For those who don’t know, the Sea Dogs are the AA affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. Many Sox greats have come through Portland including Jonathan Papelbon and Youk.

A few months ago, I bought ticket packages that included 8 Sea Dogs games and 2 Red Sox games…I got 4 seats for each one..mostly because I had no other way to get Sox tickets..and the Sea Dogs tickets were super cheap ($7 each) so I figured, ‘what the hell, maybe I’ll get up there and see a game, maybe I’ll just give them away to my friends in Maine.

After last night though, I think I’m going to every single game. It’s only a 90 minute drive from Boston. You can park 100 yards away from the main entrance. My $7 seats were about 25 rows behind the plate. Beers are GOOD (Geary’s and Shipyard) and cheap… Ice Cream Sundaes..$3. Between every inning there is some super cheesy yet fun activity going on down on the field. One inning they gave some kid a bucket of lobsters and he had to throw them about 90 feet to his friend that had a lobster trap in which he needed to catch the aforementioned lobsters. Yeh..I’d rather eat them, but still fun to watch.

Last night was a great game. Sea Dogs pitcher Clay Buchholz took a perfect game into the 7th before his shortstop missed a grounder (he had to dive but still should have made it). The game was tied until the bottom of the 8th when Cory Keylor sent a 3-run homer over the “Maine Monster” (pictured above).

Speaking of homeruns.. that brings me to my two favorite parts:

1. Whenever the Sea Dogs hit a home run, a GIANT lighthouse emerges from behind the centerfield wall, a fog horn sounds repeatedly and fireworks shoot off everywhere. It’s so great.

2. The ballpark is SO intimate (read: small) that the players and umpires can hear you even when you’re not screaming at the top of your lungs. I got in some of the best heckling of my life last night. I reserved the harshest criticism for the visiting team (Bowie Bay Sox) but you better believe I laid into shortstop Jacoby Ellsbury when he blew the perfect game!

**NOTE: Alert reader, Kristin, has pointed out that Ellsbury wasn’t even in the game.  She is correct, it was Hernandez that made the error.  I let Ellsbury have it for no reason.  These things happen.  I’m sure Ellsbury deserved it for some reason or other…like NOT BEING IN THE GAME!  You lazy bum!