Daily Archives: September 6, 2015

(Portland ME) Four years ago I was chasing the 18-year-old phenom of the Washington Nationals. Today it was David Dahl of the Colorado Rockies.

I did get pictures of both of them despite the fact that both of them were out of uniform on the day that I saw them at Hadlock Field in Portland.

It helped that I had looked at several pictures of the player. Interesting, both players wandered from the clubhouse to the dugout at the last minute.

Today I was blessed to have a photographer near me in the New Britain dugout who has been covering the Rock Cats for twelve years. He told me earlier that he had been at Hadlock when the team bus arrived and didn’t see David Dahl get off. However, later when a player strolled into the Rock Cats dugout just before game time I asked him if it was David Dahl and he confirmed that it was.

Today was Field of Dreams day at Hadlock. The cornfields were set up in center field and the Portland players did come out from the fields as narrator Mike Antonellis told the story.

The idea of having the cornfields as part of an event at Hadlock began in the ‘90’s when efforts were being made by Eastern League teams to celebrate the league’s 75^th anniversary. One of the Portland owners suggested the cornfield idea and it has become an annual event ever since.

Thirteenth sellout of the season for Portland. The team will finish last in the Eastern League eastern division. Fans show up anyhow. Why? Prices are low. Plenty of entertainment during the game. Good view of the action.

I go there to try and get an early glimpse of future stars. Once I got Bryce in 2011 I have done homework to try and photograph others with big futures.

David Dahl is listed as Prospect #3 in the Colorado system. David is 21 and was selected in the first round in 2012.

The Number 3 prospect in the Red Sox farm system put on a huge show today. I’m talking about Manuel Margot. The 20-year-old hit for the cycle in today’s game and drove in five runs.

Manuel has all the skills needed to be a star. His home run today was to the opposite field.

Manuel will start next season in Pawtucket but then what? You look at the Red Sox outfield (Mookie, Rusney, and Jackie) and wonder which one Manuel could replace. Trade bait??

The New Britain franchise will be moving to Hartford (CT) next year to a new stadium. An independent league team will be playing in New Britain’s park.

The Sea Dogs win today ended New Britain’s eight-game winning streak.

It was a beautiful day with plenty of September sun.

Many thanks to Chris Cameron for arranging my visit today.

(All of the pictures above and below will enlarge considerably if you click on them.)