The Sea Dogs made the playoffs for the third consecutive year in only their fourth season of existence as Manager Fredi Gonzalez led the team (79-63) to its third straight Northern Division title.
Kevin Millar was named the Eastern League MVP and paced the offense with a stunning batting average of .342, with 32 home runs and 131 RBI – the second highest RBI total in the Eastern League’s 75-year history. He led the league in hits (175), total bases (309), on-base percentage (.423), extra base hits (68), and tied Chan E. Perry of the Akron Aeros with 34 doubles.
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The Sea Dogs had five players who hit 20 or more homers for the season and hit 191 home runs as a team, the second most in Eastern League history.
Sea Dogs fans also got a rare opportunity to see one of the great Major League pitchers come to Portland. On May 28, Dwight Gooden made a rehabilitation start for Norwich. He threw 94 pitches and his only two mistakes were giving up home runs to Millar and Ryan Jackson. Norwich won, 10-5.
Again, the Harrisburg Senators stood in the way of the Sea Dogs and an Eastern League championship. The Senators, like the year before, beat the Sea Dogs, 3-1, in a best-of-five series.
However, the parent club Florida Marlins had much more success in the postseason. The Marlins won the World Series over the Cleveland Indians in seven games with some Sea Dogs alumni providing some of the punch. Charles Johnson handled the catching flawlessly. Livan Hernandez was named the World Series MVP and Edgar Renteria had the Series-winning hit in the 11th inning of Game 7.
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