Baseball America Feature:
Portland, Maine - The Portland Sea Dogs have been named Baseball America's 2014 Minor League Team of the Year.
In 2014, the Sea Dogs produced their best record in franchise history; 88-54 capturing the Eastern Division title by five games over the Binghamton Mets before falling in the first round of the playoffs. The Sea Dogs 2014 roster included some of the top prospects in all of Minor League Baseball including Mookie Betts, Henry Owens, and Blake Swihart.
The Sea Dogs 2014 Opening Day set the tone for the season as Betts led-off the season with a home run and Owens tossed a rain shortened complete game no-hitter against the Reading Fightin Phils.
Betts reached base safely in his first 36 games of the season and a total of 66 straight games dating
back to 2013. Betts hit .355 in 54 games with the Sea Dogs and by the end of June he had reached the big leagues with Red Sox.
Owens set a franchise record with 14 wins and was named the Eastern League Pitcher of the Year after notching a 14-4 record with a 2.60 ERA and 120 strikeouts in 20 starts.
Brian Johnson captured the Eastern League ERA title with a 1.75 ERA, the lowest mark in the league since 1985.
The Sea Dogs pitching staff had a league best 3.41 ERA and led the league with 12 shutouts.
Portland had six players named Eastern League All-Stars; Sean Coyle, Derrik Gibson, Owens, Noe Ramirez, Robby Scott, and Swihart.
The Sea Dogs had 14 players promoted to Triple-A during the season including two players that reached the Major Leagues with the Red Sox; Betts and Carlos Rivero.
First year Sea Dogs manager Billy McMillon earned Eastern League Manager of the Year honors.
Off the field, the Sea Dogs attracted 359,427 fans to Hadlock Field in 2014 and recorded 14 sell outs.
In October, Portland, Maine was named the Best Minor League Baseball Town in America in a study conducted by financial technology company, SmartAsset. The study was based on a Quality of Life score and a Minor League Baseball Experience score.
The Sea Dogs and the City of Portland will host the 2015 Eastern League All-Star Game at Hadlock Field on July 15th. The Sea Dogs open the 2015 season on April 9th at 6:00 PM at Hadlock Field against the Reading Fightin Phils. Tickets for the 2015 season and All-Star Game are now on sale.
Tickets can be purchased by calling the Sea Dogs Ticket Office at 207-879-9500 or order online at www.seadogs.com.
About Baseball America:
Baseball America has been around since February 1981, when founding editor Allan Simpson started the magazine in his garage in White Rock, British Columbia. What began as a magazine--originally called the All-America Baseball News--has since evolved into a full-service media company, with a biweekly magazine, four annual books, a host of special publications.
Baseball America moved to Durham, N.C., in January 1983 and has steadily grown in readership, in influence in the baseball industry and in size, with more than 20 employees now both in our Durham headquarters and in New York, Chicago and Atlanta.
The magazine is published biweekly and covers baseball at every level, with an emphasis on finding the best players in high school, college and the minors and tracking their progress.
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