| After playing one season at Mahaney Diamond, the Lumberjacks moved into the brand new John Winkin Complex in 2004. While the location (in Bangor rather than Orono) may have been an improvement, the ballpark was not. Essentially they moved from one metal collegiate ballpark to another. The "Wink" is located on the campus of Husson College which is situated in a residential section of Bangor, several miles from the downtown. For a new professional ballpark, it is about as basic as you'll see. The seating is made up mostly of metal bleachers (without backs), though there are three small sections of box seats behind home plate. Concessions are housed in a small building behind the first base grandstand which only has two windows to serve fans. Only the most basic ballpark fare was offered (hot dogs, hamburgs, peanuts, cracker jacks, ice cream), though prices were very reasonable. A small souvenir stand is located on the backside of the ticket office. As of June 2004, the ballpark was not 100% complete, so it was a bit strange to see one of the completed features was an arcade room down the first base line. Do parents really need to spend $5 admission to have their kids play video games all night ? Another minor complaint is the location of the rest rooms - they are in an adjacent building and not actually within the confines of the ballpark. The area underneath the stands is mostly unused right now, so possibly this will be used for rest rooms or additional concession stands in the future. The atmosphere at The Wink was pretty close to what it was at Mahaney - lots of sounds effects and the typical between inning contests (dizzy, sumo wrestling, race the mascot etc.) Ushers were very friendly and allowed fans to sit almost anywhere they wanted. One other interesting aspect of the ballpark is the presence of artificial turf, which is becoming quite prevalent in the northeast (Fraser Field and Gill Stadium also have it). The rug doesn't look too bad, but I would still prefer to see baseball played on real grass. While Winkin Complex is a nice collegiate ballpark, it really does not measure up to the professional parks that have been built in recent years. This combined with lackluster attendance spelled doom for the Lumberjacks franchise as they folded just prior to the 2005 season. Having struck out twice with professional baseball, it is doubtful that Bangor will get another chance.
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