A Day at the Park: Portland SeaDogs Baseball arrives!
Yesterday was my first visit to Hadlock Field here in Portland to see the local Boston Red Sox AA affiliate. Hadlock is a pretty little ballpark that seats about 6,000. Due to Easter Sunday and the chilly (low 40s) temperature, there were only about 800 folks in the stands.
According to Baseball America, a highly respected publication that covers high school, college, and minor league baseball, only two of the Red Sox top ten prospects will start the season in Portland: Lars Anderson, a first baseman, and Josh Reddick, a centerfielder. Double A is where most of the prime major leaguers of the future do most of their work, as AAA is mostly for backups to the big league team and fine tuning of the skills the real prospects learned in the lower levels of the minor leagues. So it comes as a bit of a disappointment to me that there is so little talent in Portland. But I decided to make the most of it and concentrate on Anderson and Reddick for the day.
Reddick, a lefthanded batter, had a home run to right but struggled in his other plate appearances. Anderson, considered the best prospect in the Red Sox farm system, looked pretty bad and struck out three times. He did manage a bloop single late in the game. Neither did much in the field, with Anderson missing a throw from short that led to a SS error. Both players have good size and Reddick looks to have the athletic ability to play center in the majors and possibly, considering the homer, enough power to potentially play a corner outfield spot at Fenway.
The SeaDogs won on Sunday 6-1. Though the weather turned chillier as the day went on and the sun periodically hid behind the clouds, I had a great time and can't wait for my next visit to Hadlock.
According to Baseball America, a highly respected publication that covers high school, college, and minor league baseball, only two of the Red Sox top ten prospects will start the season in Portland: Lars Anderson, a first baseman, and Josh Reddick, a centerfielder. Double A is where most of the prime major leaguers of the future do most of their work, as AAA is mostly for backups to the big league team and fine tuning of the skills the real prospects learned in the lower levels of the minor leagues. So it comes as a bit of a disappointment to me that there is so little talent in Portland. But I decided to make the most of it and concentrate on Anderson and Reddick for the day.
Reddick, a lefthanded batter, had a home run to right but struggled in his other plate appearances. Anderson, considered the best prospect in the Red Sox farm system, looked pretty bad and struck out three times. He did manage a bloop single late in the game. Neither did much in the field, with Anderson missing a throw from short that led to a SS error. Both players have good size and Reddick looks to have the athletic ability to play center in the majors and possibly, considering the homer, enough power to potentially play a corner outfield spot at Fenway.
The SeaDogs won on Sunday 6-1. Though the weather turned chillier as the day went on and the sun periodically hid behind the clouds, I had a great time and can't wait for my next visit to Hadlock.
posted by joe sweeney at 5:03 AM
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