Sanford Mainers (New England Collegiate Baseball League) @ Goodall Park (Sanford, ME)
All the information is in the team's name
SUMMER OF BASEBALL 2023: STOP 30
You’ll probably never guess how the Sanford Mainers got their name, but they were founded in 2002. They’ve won three league championships (with the third being this past year), and while their average attendance seems a bit low, part of that is due to the relative “size” of Sanford vs. other cities in the NECBL as well as their stadium, as it’s the smallest one in the league at under 1,000 seats.
Goodall Park was opened in 1915 (one year before the Chicago Cubs moved to Wrigley), and among other things, is apparently the site where one George Herman Ruth played his final game for the Boston Red Sox (an exhibition game against a local team). Outside of that, there's not a lot of information on teams that have played here (due to Sanford's size/location plus the low capacity), but apparently the old grandstand burned down in the 90s and had to be fully rebuilt (which is part of why I like this place quite a bit).
Instead of wooden (or even metal) benches, the seats here are actual individual seats (like the ones you’d find in a regular stadium), the stairwells feel “modern” enough (even as they approach 30 years old), and there’s some rather ornate details. Thanks to this rebuilt grandstand, I would say that Goodall Park is one of the more "comfortable" NECBL parks to watch a game (though the grandstand is covered with foul ball netting if you're concerned about obscured views). There's also a little statue of a baseball behind the grandstand, and while it doesn't really do much to impact the overall experience, it is still a neat touch.
Somewhat similar to Bristol, there’s a large concourse outside the grandstand, but it’s a bit different in layout and the fact that it’s basically a small lot instead of a sidewalk and almost exclusively down the right field line. Lines for parking spots can be seen in this area, but it's off limits to vehicles during games (plus parking right next to a foul line during a baseball game is just asking for trouble in SO MANY ways...)
Despite Sanford being fairly remote from Boston (as it's a fairly local route once you leave Interstate 95), I came here two times: once in 2022 on the FINAL day of the regular season as the end of a "suspended" game (which I mentioned back when I talked about the Winnipesaukee Muskrats), and another time for a "full" game in 2023. Coincidentally, the 2022 visit featured...the Keene Swamp Bats, who I saw START a game against Bristol that got suspended before it went official.
MERCH
Wikipedia implies that at some point, merchandise was sold from the concession stand under the grandstand. The reason I bring it up here is because when I visited, merch was instead sold from a “shed” in the plaza across from the grandstand.
As my first visit was on the absolute last day of the 2022 season, the team was running out of items to sell, but I was able to get a jacket (and a hat that’s too big for my head). Prior to my second visit, I ordered a hat from the team (Sanford having probably the most robust online store in the NECBL), but it was not mailed properly, so it arrived pretty beat up (I ended up exchanging it at the game).
One thing I found interesting about Sanford: while most teams in the NECBL and Futures League use flexfit hats, a few do use fitteds (such as the two Rhode Island teams). Sanford, on the other hand, sold BOTH fitted and flexfit hats (at least they did in 2023) - something only one other team did when I was going around the New England leagues (though my recent visit to Danbury1 indicated that they had fitted hats for at least a year or so before switching back to flexfit hats).
ON DECK
I'M ON A BOAT - to get to the final team I visited back in 2023.
Coincidentally, they're the other team that sold both fitted and flexfit hats!
Footnotes
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Who, it should be noted, lost to Sanford in the 2026 NECBL Championship series. ↩