Massachusetts Mad Dogs

North Atlantic League (1996)
Northeast League (1997-1998)
Northern League East (1999)

Tombstone

Born: 1996
Folded: October 1999 – The Mad Dogs leave Lynn and go on a two-year hiatus

First Game:
Last Game:

North Atlantic League Championships: None
Northeast League Championships: None

Stadium

Fraser Field
Opened: 1940

Ownership & Affiliation

Owner: Jonathan Fleisig

Major League Affiliation: Independent

Attendance

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Print Download

Source: The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (3rd ed.), Lloyd Johnson & Miles Wolff, 2007

Trophy Case

North Atlantic League Most Valuable Player

1996: Roy Marsh

North Atlantic League Manager-of-the-Year

1996: George Scott

Background

The Massachusetts Mad Dogs were a low-level independent baseball club based out of Fraser Field in Lynn, Massachusetts from 1996 to 1999. Popular former Boston Red Sox star George “Boomer” Scott was the team’s field manager. The Mad Dogs attracted minor attention from Red Sox Nation in 1997 by signing the 37-year old former Red Sox pitcher and noted eccentric Dennis “Oil Can” Boyd.

The Mad Dogs were the first pro sports investment for Jonathan Fleisig, a Wall Street commodities trader and long-time minor league baseball and hockey investor. He bought the franchise for a reported $150,000 in 1995.

North Atlantic League Debut

The Mad Dogs played their first season in the North Atlantic League (1995-1996), a wobbly independent circuit with teams in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.

The Mad Dogs’ posted a 56-21 record topping the 2nd place Catskill Cougars by 13.5 games in the standings. But the Dogs lost the championship series to the Cougars, a team that advanced to the league playoffs only after winning a protest filed over the use of ineligible players by the league’s Newark franchise.

Doug Spofford led the circuit in hitting (.380). Teammate Roy Marsh was right on his heels at .364 and took home the North Atlantic League’s Most Valuable Player award. Boomer Scott was named Manager of the Year.

The Mad Dogs led the North Atlantic League in attendance with a season total of 52,384, or slightly over 1,000 fans per game. Following the 1996 season, the North Atlantic League disbanded and the Mad Dogs jumped to the more stable Northeast League.

Ballpark Blues

Attendance plummeted over the next three years as the perilous condition of Fraser Field continued to deteriorate. The clam shell roof of the park was condemned prior to the Mad Dogs third season in 1998 and propped up by makeshift beams. There were no permanent concessions facilities. In late 1998, owner Jonathan Fleisig hinted at leaving Lynn due to low season ticket sales and the decrepit state of the ballpark, but elected to return for a fourth and final season in the summer of 1999.

The Mad Dogs pulled some publicity during their final season by signing 25-year old Tammy Holmes. The former member of the Silver Bullets barnstorming team was thought to be the first female position player to play professional baseball for a men’s team. Holmes appeared in two games, going hitless in nine at-bats with five strikeouts.

Departure & Aftermath

In October 1999, league officials approved a move of the Mad Dogs to Hartford, Connecticut. A planned $10 – $15 million renovation of Dillon Stadium would create a new home for the team. The Hartford deal later fell apart and the ball club was mothballed for two full seasons.

In 2002, Fleisig reactivated the franchise at Wahconah Park in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Boomer Scott returned as manager of the renamed Berkshire Black Bears. The Black Bears lasted only two seasons in Pittsfield. The team moved again the New Haven’s Yale Field in 2004 and became the New Haven County Cutters, still under Fleisig’s ownership.

The Cutters folded after the 2007 season, finally closing the book on the original franchise started three cities and three leagues earlier in 1996.

After the demise of the Mad Dogs, a fan purchased the team’s Spike The Bulldog mascot costume at a storage unit sale. He periodically dressed up in the costume to attend minor league games around New England. For several years in the early 2000’s, it was not unusual to see Spike quietly sitting alongside human fans in various ballpark grandstands around the region quietly keeping score in his game program.