Back in the summer of '69, I had a fascination with baseball. My neighborhood friends would gather in back of Boothbay Harbor Grammar School for pick-up games, either in the afternoon or early evening. Other times, we would play whiffle ball on the Schmidtmann's lawn (located where the entrance to First National Bank is off Townsend Avenue). On rainy days, a few of us would play Strat-o-matic baseball with dice and cards, "real" stats and scoresheets. And I would add to my baseball card collection by spending my hard-earned mowing money on packs of Topps cards (with gum) at Wheeler's Drug Store. And how many of the hated Yankee cards (Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, etc.) did I destroy by clipping them to the spokes of my bike tires? Mantle cards eventually gained in value -- and I wished I had some when I ended up selling my collection to get money to help pay for my college bills.

Baseball has been a summer constant for many of our lives. New Englanders have been especially lucky to have experienced our Boston Red Sox winning three World Series titles since 2004. And, since 2003, Mainers and others have been enjoying seeing the "future" Sox players come through Portland with the Sea Dogs.

I have recently seen two Sea Dogs games and, "as advertised," it is a "nine inning vacation." Lots of fun and baseball at an affordable price (unless you load up on food and Sea Dog items). There are fan competitions on the field, music and more. If you like baseball and need a day or night away, I urge you to take in a game.