PORTLAND, Maine — The sun was shining over Hadlock Field Thursday afternoon.
The Red Sox AA affiliate Portland Sea Dogs hosted a rare weekday matinee, welcoming crowds of families in the middle of school vacation week. But the perfect weather was low on the list of things for management to celebrate.
For starters, Thursday marked the 30th anniversary of the club's first-ever game at Hadlock.
"I've heard it from the community just how much that game meant to jumpstart the Sea Dogs, and how much the community has supported us since then," said President and General Manager Geoff Iacuessa, who watched the evolution since joining the staff in 2001.
In 2021, Major League Baseball assumed control over Minor League Baseball and, among other sweeping changes like slashing dozens of affiliated teams, it set new requirements for ballpark facilities.
To make Hadlock compliant, Iacuessa explained, they need to make field improvements and move the visitor's clubhouse out of the nearby Expo building and into the existing home clubhouse. In turn, they planned to break ground on a new home clubhouse, where a third base grandstand is now, sometime this summer. All told, management expects a $10 million price tag for the renovations.
The Sea Dogs' parent company, Diamond Baseball Holdings, bought the club in 2022 and has quickly amassed a portfolio of 32 minor league organizations. It intends to cover $8 million of the Hadlock project.
On Thursday, Iacuessa was also smiling because the legislature had, the night before, passed a bill extending a $2 million tax credit to the Sea Dogs over 15 years, covering the rest of the work.
While Diamond runs the show, Iacuessa said management in Portland makes day-to-day decisions and operates under their own power. Earning this local taxpayer help, he argued, shows Diamond his front office can "stand on their own two feet" and garner statewide support. Also, in the wake of the aforementioned contraction of minor league teams, he said keeping Portland's facilities MLB-compliant would go a long way toward fending off dozens of towns that recently lost their team, and were desperate to get one back.
"There's a lot of those communities that are raising their hands and putting forth significant amounts of money," Iacuessa said.
Though it passed, debate on the House floor over the tax credit bill crisscrossed parties and Maine's regions.
"If we want to support the Sea Dogs, then let’s buy season tickets," Rep. Lauren Libby, R - Auburn, said. "But let’s not ask Maine taxpayers to foot a $2 million bill."
"I guess I'm just rising today still in dismay that a corporation of this magnitude can't afford to build a clubhouse," Rep. Cheryl Golek, D - Harpswell, concurred.
"I do not view this as anything but an opportunity to prevent financiers from out of state luring a successful franchise away from this grand state," Rep. Sawin Millett, R - Waterford, argued.
"The Sea Dogs will bring in $450 million through state sales tax in those 15 years," Rep. Michael Soboleski, R - Phillips, said, citing a recent study.
The bill only awaited a signature from Democrat Governor Janet Mills.
Back at Hadlock, Iacuessa was excited to get to work, hoping to keep his beloved team in town long enough to celebrate another 30 years.
"We want to stay here forever," he said.
The Sea Dogs have until opening day 2025 to make the improvements.