Carlos Tosca led the Sea Dogs (83-58) to their second consecutive Northern Division title with a solid blend of youth and experience. After a slow start, Portland won 56 of its final 86 games to take the Northern Division by 7½ games over second-place Binghamton.
The pitching staff was the strength of this team. Tony Saunders led Portland with a 13-4 record to go with an ERA of 2.63, and also topped the league in strikeouts with 156. Top prospect Livan Hernandez won nine out of his 11 starts in the second half, while Felix Heredia had eight wins in nine decisions with a 1.50 ERA before getting called up by the Marlins on Aug. 8. Closer Bill Hurst had 30 saves, and Will Cunnane rebounded from a 2-8 start to win 10 games.
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Center fielder Todd Dunwoody (.277, 24 homers and 93 RBI) paced the offense along with future Red Sox star and first baseman Kevin Millar (.318 average, 18 homers and 86 RBI). Dave Berg stabilized the defense by moving to shortstop and also hit .302. Luis Castillo was batting .317 and had stolen a team-record and league-leading 51 bases when he was called up to the big leagues on Aug. 8 with Heredia.
The Sea Dogs faced Binghamton in the first round of the playoffs to determine who would move on for the chance to play for the Eastern League championship. The five-game series went the distance with Portland advancing.
Next came the Harrisburg Senators. The Sea Dogs quickly dropped the first two games – 15-3 and 3-2 – before returning to Portland for an 8-5 victory.
There was no victory for Portland in Game 4, but some still consider it one of the most memorable games in Sea Dogs history. The Sea Dogs were training 6-1 in the ninth and facing elimination. After the third out in top of the ninth inning, the thousands of fans rose to their feet and began to applaud the efforts of the Sea Dogs. The fans remained on their feet and applauding throughout the entire bottom of the ninth and continued until the inning, game and season were over.
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