This story was excerpted from Ian Browne's Red Sox Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
BOSTON -- While there is a uniqueness to most Minor League baseball cities, not all of them are created equal.
In Portland, Maine, home of the Double-A Sea Dogs, the Red Sox have one of the most coveted destinations.
And that becomes clear for all to see in the pilot episode of “Grass Routes,” a new travel show available on-demand via MLB Network and MLB.TV that celebrates the unique vibe of Minor League Baseball communities.
Fittingly, Portland was the first stop on the trail this show will blaze because it’s hard to beat a waterfront community with gorgeous ocean views and a plentiful supply of lobster.
At the outset of the show, narrated by MLB Pipeline’s veteran prospect guru Jonathan Mayo, a woman the crew interviewed offers this:
“They say that Maine is the way life should be, Portland is the way vacation should be every day, for life.”
Or as Ethan Sterling, the former Mayor of Portland, puts it, "Portland has a thriving arts scene, affordable housing and luxury housing."
With a nice touch of cinematography, viewers see Hadlock Field, home of the Sea Dogs, for their three-decade existence.
The timing of when episode 1 was filmed falls under the category of fortuitous timing. Roman Anthony Pipeline’s No. 1 prospect who has since moved onto Triple-A Worcester and is knocking on the door for a call to Fenway Park, was playing in Portland then. So, too, was shortstop Marcelo Mayer -- Pipeline’s No. 10 prospect (No. 3 for the Red Sox).
Mayo interviews the marquee Minor Leaguers away from the ballpark, and there are some entertaining and insightful conversations. Mayer, currently in Worcester with Anthony as he awaits his first call-up, comes into a lobster shack to eat with Mayo.
“Sometimes you even take it for granted now that we’re here how awesome it is,” Mayer tells Mayo. “You don’t want to be someplace for too long, but if you’re going to be someplace for a year, this is definitely the place to be.”
Boston is less than two hours south of Portland.
“Literally, if I walk out [on a street in Portland], you’re probably going to see 10 Sea Dog hats in two minutes,” said Mayer. “It feels like the whole city loves the Sea Dogs. The end goal is to be a big leaguer and win the World Series. But I’m here. I’m where my feet are and I’m going to do everything I can to get better. And while I do, I’m going to have fun and be in a great city as well.”
Anthony and Mayer, best friends, lived together last summer in Portland.
“During the offseason, I started to learn how to cook and the basics of what to eat. I keep it pretty simple,” said Anthony. “And me and Marcelo, at the beginning of the year, we were like, ‘All right, we’re going to cook, and we’re gonna get up in the morning, and we’re going to make breakfast.' And we tried it once and Marcelo completely burnt the bacon and we just screwed it up and the smoke detector was going off and we were like, ‘We’re never going to do this again and we haven’t cooked since.”’
Given that Mayer always brags about what a great cook his mom is, it’s maybe a little surprising he didn’t’ pick some of that up.
“I’ve [busted] on him way too many times on interviews and stuff,” said Anthony. “He’s a great roommate but he can’t cook."
Both players loved all that Portland had to offer.
“We have such a great spot [in Portland]. It’s a great time during the summer,” Anthony said. “Yeah, it’s nice to set goals and say I want to be here by a certain time or I want to be in the big leagues by this age, but I think people forget to relax for a little bit and enjoy what you have and enjoy Portland, Maine.”
Baseball themes weave the episode together.
But don’t sleep on Portland’s culture, which includes, among other things, puppetry and a lot of good live music.
While the star players fluctuate from year to year at Hadlock Field, the constant is the beloved mascot, Slugger, the first Minor League mascot to be inducted into the Mascot Hall of Fame.
Not only does Slugger provide joy for kids at games, but the mascot also travels to a local clinic to cheer up children dealing with cancer.