Sea Dogs Welcome Five Millionth Fan

Published on July 3, 2006 under Eastern League (EL1)
Portland Sea Dogs News Release

Portland, Maine- The Portland Sea Dogs welcomed their 5 millionth fan in franchise history on Monday, July 3rd as the Sea Dogs took on the Trenton Thunder (Yankees). Entering tonight's game, the Sea Dogs needed just 2,163 fans to reach the milestone. The Sea Dogs are one of the quickest Double-A teams to reach the 5 million fan milestone.

At 5:28 PM Mark Gallagher of Yorkshire, England walked through the Hadlock Field turnstile alongside his wife and was greeted by Sea Dogs' President & General Manager Charlie Eshbach. Mr. Gallagher delivered the ceremonial first-pitch prior to Monday's game and received a Sea Dogs prize package highlighted by two Season Tickets for the 2007 season and two travel certificates good for round-trip travel on JetBlue Airways.

The 2006 season is the 13th season of play for the Sea Dogs. In the team's first season in 1994, the Sea Dogs established a new Eastern League record in attendance as 375,197 fans made their way to Hadlock Field. Since that time the Sea Dogs have consistently drawn around 400,000 fans annually and rank among the attendance leaders in Double-A. Last season the Sea Dogs averaged a franchise record 6,290 fans per game.

The Sea Dogs have expanded Hadlock Field four times since 1994, the most recent being the addition of the U.S. Cellular Pavilion in 2006, adding 393 seats to the ballpark bringing capacity to 7,368.

The Portland Sea Dogs wish to thank all 5 million fans for their support throughout the last 13 years.

The Sea Dogs head to Connecticut on Tuesday for a four game-three day series against the Connecticut Defenders (Giants). Tickets are available for all remaining Sea Dogs home games. Tickets can be purchased by calling the Sea Dogs Ticket Office at 207-879-9500 or on-line at www.seadogs.com.

Eastern League Stories from July 3, 2006

• B-Mets come from behind in last at-bat twice, win in 13 - Binghamton Rumble Ponies
• Mets come from behind twice in last at bat, complete sweep of NH - New Hampshire Fisher Cats
• Curve treat another huge crowd to 10-0 win over first place Akron - Altoona Curve
• Thunder clobbers Sea Dogs 15-2 - Portland Sea Dogs
• Thunder bats collect 21 hits in 15-2 win - Trenton Thunder
• City Islanders Weekly - Harrisburg Senators
• Sea Dogs Welcome Five Millionth Fan - Portland Sea Dogs
• Eastern League update - EL1
• Patterson transferred to Tampa - Trenton Thunder
• Eastern League announces weekly award winners - EL1
• Curve starter Shane Youman named EL Pitcher of the Week - Altoona Curve
• Baysox on a roll, beat Senators 7-5 - Chesapeake Baysox

The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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