Category Archives: New Britain Rock Cats

September 6, 2015 · 9:58 pm

Top Prospects Manuel Margot (Red Sox) and David Dahl (Rockies) at Hadlock Field today

Manuel Margot hit for the cycle versus New Britain driving in five runs

David Dahl heads for the New Britain dugout

(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.

Portland players were in the stands today wearing their 2926 Portland Eskimos uniform

Portland players were in the stands today wearing their 1926 Portland Eskimos uniform

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.

Very unlikely Manuel Margot will be in the Portland dugout next season

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.)

Red Sox #3 prospect Manuel Margot

David Dahl in the Rock Cats dugout

Manager Darin Everson

Fan gets ready to catch Manuel Margot home run. Ball is above top railing.

Will Swanner home run trots past pitcher Mike McCarthy

Will Swanner

Sam Travis gets a day off

Pat Valaika

Noel Cuevas

Joey Wong fires to first

Jordan Patterson bunt attempt

Jordan Patterson

David Chester stretches to take a high throw

Harrison Musgrave eyes the home plate umpire

Carlos Asuaje

Mike McCarthy

Carlos Estevez

Dave Burba

John Cornely

Jordan Weems

Sea Dogs announcer Mike Antonellis narrated the Field of Dreams event

Top Red Sox prospects litter Portland Sea Dogs roster

Mookie Betts and Deven Marrero

catcher Blake Swihart and pitcher Henry Owens

(Portland ME) Do you want to see the top Red Sox prospects? Portland, Maine should be your destination real soon.

The Portland Sea Dogs’ roster (according to MLB.com Prospect Watch) currently has three of the top five Red Sox prospects (Henry Owens, Blake Swihart, and Mookie Betts) as well as #13 Deven Marrero. Highly regarded Sean Coyle is also on the team along with recently arrived Bo Greenwell (Yes, Mike is his father.).

I was at Hadlock Field this morning/afternoon as the Sea Dogs pushed their won/loss record to 35-18 with a 2-1 win over the New Britain Rock Cats.

The Thursday weather for the 11AM start was downright awesome: sunny but not too hot.

Hoping to see some of the six prospects, I was blessed into a game in which all six took part. You talk about photo ops!

Henry Owens

#1 prospect Henry Owens was very impressive. The tall lefty went seven innings facing only twenty-five batters. Henry allowed three hits and kept the Rock Cats from making solid contact most of the time.

This was the first time I have seen #3 prospect Blake Swihart catch. Henry’s control gave Blake an easy-to-handle game.

I came to this game suspecting that it might be a last chance to see Mookie Betts (#5 prospect) in action. I am envisioning Pawtucket in his June future. The Sea Dogs centerfielder had a rare game for him………never got on base.

The best play I saw today? Easily it was what shortstop Deven Marrero did with Kennys Vargas’ grounder up the middle. It would have been a terrific play if Deven had just stopped the ball but he added to it by getting off the ground and getting the out at first. Granted, Kennys Vargas (6’5 – 275 pounds) appears to have David Ortiz-like speed, but the play was remarkable nonetheless. I have read in several places that Deven’s glove is major-league ready. Today I confirmed the fact for myself visually.

This young fan toasted Slugger

Mascot Slugger added to his losing streak as yet another young fan got the best of him circling the bases. This race should be under review because the young fan started halfway up the first baseline. This unfair start put Slugger way behind early and he just didn’t have the closing kick needed to win the race. Of course the way I saw it, the young fan should have been disqualified. I am starting to think these races may be fixed.

Plenty of Maine school kids in the house. There were some educational activities before the game and fun activities during the game. The Portland Sea Dogs management aims to please the attendees and again today they hit the target.

Thanks to Assistant GM Chris Cameron for arranging my visit.

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

Deven Marrero dives back to first

Tony Thomas (former Sea Dog)

Sean Coyle

Mookie Betts signs

Henry Owens

Deven Marrero

Mookie Betts pregame

Blake Swihart

Deven Marrero

Blake Swihart

Nick Kvasnicka

Bo Greenwell

Deven Marrero steals second

pregame rocket launch

Number One Prospect Gerrit Cole (Pittsburgh Pirates) sighted in New Britain Rock Cats walkoff win over Altoona Curve

2011 #1 draft pick Gerrit Cole rests in the Altoona bullpen after a pregame workout.

Chris Colabello won the game for New Britain with a 2-out, 3-run homer in the bottom of the ninth.

(New Britain CT) That Chris Colabello is even playing for AA New Britain is a big story.

Last night, Chris (28-years-old) enhanced that “big story” resume with a 2-out, 3-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Rock Cats a thrilling 5-4 win over the Altoona Curve on Friday night.

The victory keeps New Britain ½ game ahead of Reading in the battle for the second playoff spot in the Eastern League Western Division.

Chris (from Milford MA) spent seven years in the Independent Canadian-American League playing for the Worcester Tornado before getting a tryout with Minnesota after being Player-of-the-Year in the Can-Am League.

Chris’ homer (17th) over the right-centerfield fence was off of Altoona reliever Vic Black who hadn’t surrendered a homer all season up to that point. The fireworks display at New Britain Stadium after the game seemed extremely appropriate.

pre-game dance team

My love affair with minor league baseball continues. I found the atmosphere at New Britain Stadium in my first visit to be very patron-friendly with plenty of food and excitement close at hand.

I enjoy the dispositions of the players at the minor league level. You can sense their excitement and optimism as they hope to make a favorable impression and move up to the next level. Most of them are under twenty-five and just plain happy to be where they are.

My goal at minor league games is to get pictures of prospects from either team. The had-to-get for me was 2011 #1 draft pick pitcher Gerrit Cole of Altoona. He was not pitching this game but with the help of an autograph seeker I learned which one he was. I got several shots of him warming up before the game. I assumed that he would be in the bullpen during the game but he wasn’t since he’s pitching on Sunday. I ended up with a pretty good closeup of him in the Altoona dugout.

Other prospects I succeeded in getting were: Altoona’s Brock Holt, Kyle McPherson, and Matt Curry and New Britain’s Aaron Hicks, Joe Benson, and Oswaldo Arcia.

Brock Holt – top hitter in the Eastern League

Brock is leading the Eastern League in batting. Aaron was the Twins #1 pick in 2008. Joe is the Twins second-best prospect according to Baseball America. Joe saw some action in the majors in 2011. Oswaldo is a 21-year-old from Venezuela.

My assumption is that the majority of the fans on hand are unaware of the prospects on each team. However, the ten-fifteen, card-carrying autograph seekers I saw were not in that number. They knew the newcomers and actively positioned themselves before this game for the chance to get signatures. The recent release of the 2012 minor league team sets provides a face to match up with a signature.

I learned that New Britain has had minor league baseball since 1983 and were early-on a farm team of the Red Sox. They have been connected with Minnesota for eighteen years and recently signed on for two more years.

In my pre-visit reading I discovered that New Britain outfielder Aaron Hicks’ father (Joe) was drafted by San Diego and played in the minors. However, Joe was hit by a pitch and his career ended. The experience soured Aaron’s dad on baseball and he never mentioned his baseball past to his son, in fact, encouraged Aaron to play golf. Aaron later came upon a bat of his father’s and his passion for baseball began.

Also regarding Aaron Hicks, I read that the drafting of outfielder Byron Buxton in the first round in the 2012 draft has lit a fire under Aaron since then. Aaron may be hearing footsteps. Aaron is already a terrific fielder. He needs to get his bat going to move on to AAA.

I thank Jeff Dooley (15-year Voice of New Britain Rock Cats) and Pat O’Sullivan for arranging my visit. I enjoyed it a lot.

(The pictures above and below enlarge considerably if you click on them.)