Rain, and even snow, have disrupted the Sea Dogs season, even if they did play through bitter cold and snow in their home opener on April 8. Corey Rosier ran through the snow flakes to score the winning run in the bottom of the 10th. Daryn Slover/Portland Press Herald
Three hours before Tuesday night’s game between the Portland Sea Dogs and Hartford Yard Goats at Delta Dental Park at Hadlock Field, it was sunny and around 70 degrees. Perfect baseball weather.
That hasn’t been said much so far this season.
Just two months into the season, 11 Sea Dogs games have been postponed because of rain, or snow as the case was on April 12. Another game, last Friday at Somerset, was suspended and completed the next day. Six Sea Dogs home games have been postponed so far this season. The record nobody wants to break is nine.
There’s not much they can do about it but shrug and hope the skies clear.
“Rain is rain, right? But I’ve never seen this much,” Portland manager Chad Epperson said as he watched his team take batting practice.
Rain disrupts everything, not just games, When the tarp is on the infield, batting practice moves to the indoor cage alongside the clubhouse. A pitching machine can be used to shoot ground balls down a hallway for impromptu fielding drills.
“We try to do as much as we can to keep them moving around. There’s nothing that can replicate being out on the field and getting the work in,” Epperson said as Sea Dogs took their cuts and sprayed balls around the field under the warm sun. “We’ll take days like this all day long. We’ve earned it.”
Entering Tuesday’s contest, Portland had played 48 games, the fewest in the Eastern League. The Sea Dogs are used to playing early season games in the cold, but at least they’re playing. When it rains as much as it did over the first two months of the season and games are subsequently scrapped, layering up to play on a brisk night would be welcome.
Assistant groundskeeper Brandon Rolfe top dresses home plate while preparing Hadlock Field for the Sea Dogs’ home opener. The grounds crew has been busy this season, with what seems like constant rain falling and disrupting the Sea Dogs’ schedule. Daryn Slover/Portland Press Herald
Outfielder Caden Rose grew up in Alabama. He expected the cold when he arrived in Portland this spring. The near constant rain was a surprise.
“I have not had this many rainouts (in my life). It’s something new, for sure,” Rose said. “It’s out of our control. The only thing we can do is show up ready to play every day. The team we’re playing against has to deal with the exact same thing. You can’t make excuses. Yeah, it sucks, but you’ve got to deal with it and be ready to play.”
So far this season, only two series were not affected by weather. One was the season-opening three game trip to Reading, which was less a series and more a prologue. The other was when the Sea Dogs managed to get in six games at Hartford the third week of April.
Not once, not twice, but thrice, Portland had games postponed on back-to-back days — April 12 and 13 at home against New Hampshire, April 26 and 27 at home against Reading, and again May 13 and 14 at Somerset. Portland has played seven doubleheaders, eight if you count Saturday when they finished Friday’s suspended game. In the minor leagues, doubleheader games are seven innings instead of nine. That’s four innings lost for in each doubleheader to players looking for that extra at-bat, four innings that bullpen arms don’t get to throw.
“I also look at it as, it’s a really good time to give the bullpen a blow, too. If we’re swinging the bats well, maybe you still get that at-bat. It’s definitely not the norm,” Epperson said.
Baseball players are creatures of routine. You come to the ballpark, you get your work in, you play a game, and you do it again the next day. The May 9 game against Chesapeake was called just a few hours before its scheduled 6 p.m. start. The field was set up for batting practice, then suddenly, the Hadlock Field grounds crew was breaking it down with the speed of concert roadies eager to get on the road to the next tour stop.
Starting pitcher Blake Wehunt grew up in north Georgia. Like Rose, this season’s collection of rainouts is new to him, too.
“Last year, I think I had one rainout the entire minor league season,” said Wehunt, who pitched in Low-A Salem and High-A Greenville. “I think I’ve had maybe two starts (out of eight) that were on schedule. Other than that, it’s been pushed back for rainouts, snowouts, and everything else.”
A dry Hadlock Field has been a rare site this season. Six Sea Dogs home games have been postponed so far. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Portland Press Herald
You wake up in the morning, and get yourself into the zone to pitch that night. Then, the game is called off. What do you do?
“You just have to treat it like it’s the day before (the start). You have to get your throwing in, get you body feeling good, and take care of what you need to. Do the same thing you did the day before to keep your body ready,” Wehunt said. “Control what you can control and go out there and compete.”
Epperson said while rainouts are frustrating, players at the Double-A level have enough professional experience to quickly refocus.
“I can’t say it’s not taxing mentally on the guys, because they’re raring to go. But they’ve played enough now at this level that they can adjust and bounce back and be ready for the next one,” Epperson said.
The next few days in Portland look fantastic, a glimpse of summer. Saturday’s forecast calls for rain. The Yard Goats and Sea Dogs have a 6 p.m. first pitch scheduled.
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