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Home Run

When???

Sunday 1st August 2004

Where???

Gill Stadium - game against the New Hampshire Fisher Cats

The at-bat

Second plate appearance of the game

Righthanded pitcher - Josh Banks -
About Josh Banks - Born - Jul 18,1982
Selected by Toronto Blue Jays in 2nd Round (50th Overall) of 2003 amateur draft
PROFESSIONAL CAREER - 2003 Highlights
Won three of first five professional starts for Auburn of the Class-A New York-Penn League , June 18-July 9
Struck out season high 10 batters over five hitless innings, August 29
Recorded a streak of 17 scoreless innings, August 17-September 2

Bases empty - two down

"And Brett jumps on that first pitch and it's driven very hard and very deep into rightfield ...... and there it goes!!!"
HOME RUN and 1 x RBI

Email from Brett

N/A

Notes and Comments

(1) Here is what the commentator said
(A) "And Roneberg has his thirteenth home run of the season"
(B) "That is Brett's first home run in two-hundred-and-eight plate appearances
over the last fifty-one games"
(C) "The wind is blowing out here at Gil Stadium
but that did not play a part in that as it was
a 'wicked' line drive which cleared the fence"

(2) "The Portland Sea Dogs reached Josh Banks for four home runs
in the first six innings and held off a late rally
to beat the New Hampshire Fisher Cats 7-5 in front of 3,725
at Gill Stadium Sunday afternoon
Former Nashua Pride infielder Joe Kilburg went 2-for-4 with a home run,
a double and two runs scored to pace the Sea Dogs' nine-hit attack
Losing pitcher Josh Banks (2-5) allowed Kilburg's two-run blast
with one out in the top of the second inning,
served up back-to-back homers to Mike Lockwood and Brett Roneberg in the third
and yielded a solo long ball to Stefan Bailie in the sixth
that gave Portland (50-57) a 5-1 lead"

(3) "Joe Kilburg, Mike Lockwood, Brett Roneberg and Stefan Bailie
hit home runs to lead the Portland Sea Dogs to a 7-5 win
over the New Hampshire Fisher Cats Sunday afternoon
A two-run homer by Kilburg gave Portland (50-57) a 2-0 lead in the second inning
Back-to-back homers by Lockwood and Roneberg with two outs in the third inning
made it 4-0 Sea Dogs
New Hampshire (61-46) got a run back in the third inning on Tyrell Godwin´s RBI single.
The Sea Dogs countered with Bailie´s solo homer in the sixth to go up 5-1"

(4) "Joe Kilburg gave Portland an early 2-0 lead by jacking
a two-run home run to right field in the second inning
The Sea Dogs extended their lead by two runs when Mike Lockwood
and Brett Roneberg hit back-to-back solo homers in the third
Stefan Bailie added another round-tripper in the sixth
to make the score 5-1 in favor of Portland"

(5) "Joe Kilburg, Mike Lockwood, Brett Roneberg and Stefan Bailie
each homered - Portland's first four-homer game since June 11, 2003"

(6) "Portland hit a season-high four home runs, all off Banks,
to beat the Fisher Cats 7-5 Sunday before a crowd of 3,725
Joe Kilburg, Mike Lockwood, Brett Roneberg and Stefan Bailie
all homered for Portland, the first time the Sea Dogs have hit four home runs
since June 2003
Roneberg's home run was his 13th, tying him for the team lead with Mike O'Keefe
Roneberg leads the Sea Dogs with 62 RBI"

(7) "Mike Lockwood, Brett Roneberg, Stefan Bailie and Joe Kilburg
each slugged a homer to lead the Sea Dogs 7-5 over the New Hampshire Fisher Cats
in Eastern League action before 3,725 fans at Gill Stadium
The onslaught started in the second inning when Bailie
reached on a infield error by third baseman Brad Hassey
and eventually trotted home on Kilburg’s second homer of the season
Things didn’t get better for Banks in the third inning
when Lockwood (7th) and Roneberg (13th) connected with back-to-back bombs
for a 4-0 cushion
Banks (2-5), who had allowed six homers in 54 innings over 11 starts before the game,
surrendered his fourth and last roundtripper of the afternoon
to Bailie (3rd) in the sixth that padded the lead to 5-1"

The Stadium

Gill Stadium is unique old ballpark.
It has a semicircular, covered grandstand with a nice brick exterior.

This park was used to host an Eastern League team as late as 1971, but has not hosted professional baseball since.
Apparently it still gets plenty of use as both a baseball and football field by local high schools.
This park is certainly suitable for an independent level team, but Manchester is unlikely to get one because of their proximity to Nashua.

But in 2004 it will serve as home to an Eastern League team once again.
The New Haven franchise is scheduled to move here and use a renovated Gill Stadium for one year while a new ballpark is being built.

Fans of old ballparks will certainly be in for a treat when pro ball returns here, even if for just one season.

Beginning July 14, 2003, a new era will begin for Historic Gill Stadium.
The architect firm of HNTB, out of Kansas City, MO, has designed a new look for Gill.
Over $4 million will be applied to update Gill's playing surfaces, locker rooms, concession stand, grandstands, concourse, etc.
New additions will include two new locker rooms and the installation of a synthetic playing field.

October 28, 2003 - photo of synthetic Field Turf being installed at Gill

DIMENSIONS
Leftfield - 312 feet
Left-centrefield - 370 feet
Centrefield - 400 feet
Right-centrefield - 370 feet
Rightfield - 312 feet
HEIGHT OF FENCE
The Outfield wall is 12 feet high and 4 feet high (in front of the bullpens) and is one single wall

The Outfield Wall
This is what Brett would have been looking at when he was in the batter's box

This aerial view shows the "huge foul ball areas"
that were necessary when fitting the field into this temporary facility