MLB Can’t Be Forgiven Forgetting Maine Guides Minor League Stadium In Old Orchard Beach

A retrospective published by Major League Baseball officials of iconic former minor-league parks swung and missed on Maine.

MLB officials are circulating online a story excerpted from the Baseball Traveler newsletter by writer Benjamin Hill headlined “Six Ballparks Live On In The Hearts Of Minor League Baseball Fans.”

But the brain teaser is how Hill, who promotional material says “travels the nation collecting stories about what makes Minor League Baseball unique,” didn’t include the park in Old Orchard Beach, Maine in his top-six list, let alone the Top One.

The park, once coined by the nation’s leading sports magazine as “the most beautiful ballpark in the country,” was the home of the triple-A Maine Guides.

Not just double-A, which is the ranking of the Red-Sox affiliated Portland Sea Dogs since 1984 in Maine’s largest city.

But yes, AAA, the highest division in minor-league ball.

The Maine Guides played in Old Orchard’s top-class stadium – built especially for them – from 1984 to 1988.

The team was affiliated first with the Cleveland Indians and then with the Philadelphia Phillies for the final two years.

Jordan Kobritz bought the Charleston (West Virginia) Charlies in 1982 and brought them to Old Orchard ahead of the 1984 season.

Kobritz oversaw the construction of a stadium, called The Ball Park, on the outskirts of town.

Jerome Plante, the town manager at the time, became the ballpark’s No. 1 cheerleader – spending so much time at the stadium he built that his bosses suspended him for neglecting town business.

Plante argued he was going to the baseball games to support baseball and his town, not to try to escape the constant pressures of his office. In fact, he saw cheering on the Maine Guides from the bleachers as part of his job.

The Guides, the top farm team of the Indians, drew 183,300 fans in their maiden season – fourth overall in the International League. They finished second in the standings and the runners-up in the playoffs.

But attendance began dwindling along with the team’s winning record as they transitioned to the Phillies.

Fans complained of rampant mosquitos and the ballplayers of the incessant fog. The team ended up moving out of state after five seasons.

But the Ball Park, perched within eyeshot of the Atlantic Ocean, was a jewel of a stadium – mosquitoes and fog be damned.

Sports Illustrated once called Old Orchard Beach’s professional baseball stadium “the most beautiful ballpark in America.”

So take that MLB.

The abandoned park fell into disrepair after the Guides left but local volunteers eventually grabbed rakes and weed wackers and began cleaning it up for future use.

Since the Guides left it has been used for concerts and other public sporting events.

“The Most Beautiful Ballpark In America.” – Sports Illustrated