The Portland Pilots were a Class-B minor league baseball

Minor league baseball

Minor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in the Americas that compete at levels below Major League Baseball and provide opportunities for player development. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses...

 team in Portland, Maine

Portland, Maine

Portland is the largest city in Maine and is the county seat of Cumberland County. The 2010 city population was 66,194, growing 3 percent since the census of 2000...

 out of the New England League

New England League

The New England League was a mid-level league in American minor league baseball that played sporadically in five of the six New England states between 1886 and 1949. After 1901, it existed in the shadow of two Major League Baseball clubs in Boston and alongside stronger, higher-classification...

. Created in 1946 as the Portland Gulls, the Pilots lasted until 1949, when the New England League collapsed. The Pilots were affiliated with the Philadelphia Phillies

Philadelphia Phillies

The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883. The Phillies are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League...

 in 1948-49.

Until the Portland Sea Dogs

Portland Sea Dogs

The Portland Sea Dogs are the Double-A minor league affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. Established in 1994 and based in Portland, Maine, the Sea Dogs play in the Northern Division of the Eastern League....

 expanded into the minor league Eastern League as the Florida Marlins

Florida Marlins

The Miami Marlins are a professional baseball team based in Miami, Florida, United States. Established in 1993 as an expansion franchise called the Florida Marlins, the Marlins are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League. The Marlins played their home games at...

' AA affiliate, the Pilots were the last professional baseball team in Portland.

Notable people

• Del Bissonette
  Del Bissonette
  Adelphia Louis Bissonette was an American first baseman, manager and coach in Major League Baseball.Born in Winthrop, Maine, Bissonette attended Westbrook Seminary, the University of New Hampshire and Georgetown University before signing a professional baseball contract with Valleyfield-Cap de la...
  
   managed the squad from 1947-48
• Skeeter Newsome
  Skeeter Newsome
  Lamar Ashby "Skeeter" Newsome was an American shortstop in Major League Baseball who played for the Philadelphia Athletics , Boston Red Sox and Philadelphia Phillies ....
  
  managed the 1949 squad