Maine's MiLB team played as -- of course -- the Lobster Bakes
Josh Jackson
@JoshJacksonMiLBPORTLAND, Maine -- They'd played as the Whoopie Pies. They'd played as the Bean Suppahs and the Clam Bakes. They'd played as the Red Snappers.
In keeping with the food-based alternate identity craze that began sweeping Minor League Baseball more than 10 seasons ago, the Portland Sea Dogs have paid MiLB-style homage to a litany of iconic Maine dishes.
But until this summer, they hadn't paid tribute to the most iconic Maine dish of all. Finally, on a Friday evening in late August, the Double-A affiliate of the Red Sox took the field as the Maine Lobster Bakes. The club had lobster-themed contests and gags drizzled over the ballgame like so much melted butter.
"What lobster means to Maine -- I think it means everything," said Jacob Knowles, the lobsterman/influencer, shortly before throwing out the first pitch. "It's kind of the staple and the heartbeat of Maine. Without it, I don't know if we'd be the same state."
The Lobster Bakes were victorious, beating the Yankees-affiliated Somerset Patriots, 2-1, despite the presence of rehabbing Anthony Rizzo in the Somerset lineup. Rizzo was no stranger to Portland's Hadlock Field -- he had 20 homers and 30 doubles as a member of the Sea Dogs in 2010 -- and knew how to eat like a local.
"I had a lobster roll for dinner last night, I had it for lunch today and I'll probably get it for dinner tonight, too," Rizzo said. "I've got to take advantage of the food here while I'm here."
Fans Bryan Olesky and Alissa DeSanti were in agreement with that mentality, although their focus was more on Minor League fun than crustaceans specifically. In town from Erie, Pa., Olesky wore a Bean Suppahs cap and a T-shirt with a lobster graphic, while DeSanti sported a new Lobster Bakes cap and an Erie Pepperoni Balls hoodie.
"We've got it all," DeSanti said between bites of ice cream from a Maine Whoopie Pies helmet bowl. "We're super excited. Love it!"
"We figured it was a special night," Olesky said. "We like to try to go to every stadium [for promo nights] to see what everybody does."
Low-hanging fish the promo may have been, but there was a reason it took so long for Portland to don lobster unis. From any seat in the park, there are views in the direction of the right-field line of another sports venue: the Expo Building, home of the Celtics' G-League partner. That team was known as the Maine Red Claws from 2009-21.
"We really wanted to be respectful of them and their brand and not infringe upon that," Sea Dogs president Geoff Iacuessa said. "Then they changed their name to the Maine Celtics, so we gave it a year or so and then started planning the lobster [identity] unveil."
Freed of neighborly concerns, the Sea Dogs launched a uniform set with a lobster in a pot on a white square resembling a bib on the front and a "Buoys of Summer" slogan on one sleeve, as well as a merchandise line.
The between-innings entertainment included their standard "lobster toss" -- in which contestants must catch flying rubber lobsters in lobster traps -- as well as lobster-ish spins on classics, like a lobster-suited kid in a race against mascot Slugger the Sea Dog. Slugger later cut loose with a specially created dance routine.
Meanwhile, up in the broadcast booth, the Sea Dogs' Emma Tiedemann and Rylee Pay sampled and critiqued -- live on the air -- three lobster dishes from The High Roller Lobster Co., a local spot that had earned praise from Red Sox prospects like Marcelo Mayer.
These items included the "Lobby Pop" ("It's all the good things you would want -- lobster on a stick," per Pay); "Lobster Cheese Crisp Tacos," which had a shell made of crisped cheese and a stuffing of you-know-what ("I do like the cheese!" Tiedemann said); and a "flight" of three small lobster rolls ("Divine," in Tiedemann's appraisal).
On the field, the Lobster Bakes were cooking. Wikelman Gonzalez, Boston's No. 14 prospect, tossed five no-hit innings to outduel rehabbing Yankees righty Clarke Schmidt, and outfielder Phillip Sikes delivered a walk-off sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth. As with any proper Maine lobster bake, the crowd went home happy.