Thank you Portland Sea Dogs
Baseball is unpredictable, but now the world is!
Greetings from Grafton, Massachusetts. I spent the first 23 years living in Ashland, Mass (parents still reside there), the next 23 in various states, and now back to the East Coast. For all of us that work in minor league baseball, we are very familiar with packing up and moving. This decision to move home was not an easy one, but a decision I was excited to make. I wanted to write my thoughts and feelings on everyone involved with the Portland Sea Dogs.
I spent 15 years working for the best people I’ve met in baseball. The Burke family is kind. Very simple. They care about their staff, fans, and the game. There was always a comfortable feeling around the Burke family, and they made us part of their family. That was special to me.
The front office was led by Charlie Eschbach when I started and now run by President and General Manager Geoff Iaceussa. I look up to both who know how to manage people. Being in charge is not something I’d ever want to do, and they have a calmness about them. That’s my number one quality from any leader.
In the last three years, since re-joining the office on a full-time basis, I was lucky enough to become great friends with the staff. Those relationships mean a lot to me. Radio is radio, I could do that job in a lot of places, but you can’t always meet people who will be friends for life.
To our fans! What can I say? The passion you have for Sea Dogs Baseball is something I’ll always treasure. New England is a special place for baseball. The amount of feedback and questions I received from Sea Dogs fans was some of my favorite times. Your knowledge of the game, who is in the system, always surprised me.
I’m glad to be staying in the Red Sox system and look forward to getting rolling at some point in 2020. This pandemic puts a lot of things in perspective. We are all going through the loss of work, and some are really struggling financially. I feel for the elderly and people with pre-existing conditions that have a tough time fighting off this virus. I’m very fortunate to work in baseball for a living. I know it will be there down the road. Stay positive! We are dealing with adversity, similar to a pitcher having a tough inning. How do we handle that?
On Monday, the Sea Dogs made Emma Tiedemann their new voice of the team. I wish her the best of luck! I know she’ll be great.
I will continue this blog in Pawtucket! I would love to hear from you. Reach out at mantonellis@pawsox.com
