It isn’t often that you see a 220-pound catcher/first baseman diving headfirst into home plate.

But there was Andy Dominique belly-flopping in ahead of the tag of Trenton pitcher Bryan Grace to score on a wild pitch during the final game of the Portland Sea Dogs recently completed homestand.

While he won’t get any points for grace and style, it’s the type of play that Sea Dogs manager Ron Johnson has come to expect from the 27-year-old Eastern League veteran.

“He does things the right way,” said Johnson. “I would hope guys would look at the way he goes about his business on a day-to-day basis and learn from it.

“He brings a lot of intangibles, not only on the field, but in the clubhouse. There’s no question he’s a leader on this team.”

Not a bad endorsement for a guy who the Philadelphia Phillies had given up on just a year ago, sending him to the Red Sox for no considerations on April 26.

Assigned to Boston’s Double-A affiliate in Trenton, Dominique had a solid but unspectacular season (.271, 8 homers, 51 RBIs).

Dominique’s numbers may have been a lot better had he not been recovering from knee surgery.

“He had put on some weight because he couldn’t do anything for a while,” said Johnson. “But he never made any excuses.”

Trying to play through injuries is what may have done Dominique in with the Phillies, who drafted the slugger in the 26th round in 1997 out of the University of Nevada.

While at Nevada, Dominique set Big West Conference records for home runs, total bases and RBIs, breaking the marks set by former Sea Dog Mark Kotsay.

The production continued at each level in the Phillies’ system, including a 24-home-run, 102-RBI season for Piedmont of the South Atlantic League in 1998.

Then, while with Reading in 2000, Dominique injured his right knee.

A year later at Triple-A Scranton-Wilkes Barre it was his left knee, an injury that he tried to rehabilitate, but eventually ended up having surgery for.

“It kind of worked against me,” Dominique said of his decisions to ignore the injuries. “(The Phillies) kept saying, ‘Your numbers dropped,’ and then they’d use the weight as an excuse. If you look at my numbers before I got hurt, they were fine.”

Dominique’s performance in Trenton was good enough that when Kelly Shoppach, Boston’s No. 2 rated prospect, had to pull out of the Arizona Fall League to have shoulder surgery, Dominique took his place.

“For them to think that highly of me was good,” said Dominique. “It was a great experience.”

Now close to 100 percent healthy (he did miss a week with a groin strain), Dominique has shown signs he might be ready to have a breakout year. The California native is among the Top 10 hitters in the Eastern League.

He has a place every day in the Sea Dogs’ line-up, whether it’s behind the plate, at first base, as the designated hitter or even at third base, where he has played on a few occasions in his career.

“I start with his spot and create around him,” said Johnson.

Dominique was the first to hit a ball over the new left field wall at Hadlock Field, the Maine Monster, doing it in the home opener. In fact, all three of his home runs have been to left field and come at home.

“I just happened to get good swings on them,” said Dominique.

“I’m not trying to do anything in particular because of the wall. It just happens.”

When the temperatures climb and balls start flying around hitter-friendly Hadlock, it’s a sight Sea Dogs’ fans might see on a regular basis, as is the headfirst slide into home plate.

“That’s the way (Johnson) wants us to play,” said Dominique. “I think we respect him enough to try to go out there and not let him down.”

Owens on fire

Just how hot has Jeremy Owens been?

The Sea Dogs center fielder was hitting just .196 on April 27 with 25 strikeouts in 51 at-bats.

In the 20 games heading into Saturday’s doubleheader in New Britain, Owens went 33-for-75 (.440) to raise his average to .328.

In the aforementioned five-game series with Trenton alone, Owens went 10-for-15 with three homers and knocked in 11 runs.

Not too bad for a guy who has hit in the No. 9 spot in the order the majority of the time.

“I think it’s given him a confidence that he never really had before,” Johnson said of Owens, who had career .248 average in five previous minor league seasons.

Cashing in

Not only has Owens’ hot streak helped the Sea Dogs vault to the best record in the Eastern League, but it has also fattened some wallets.

The two-run shot Owens hit off of the Sullivan Tire sign on top of the left field wall Tuesday night was worth $1,900, which he split with a lucky fan.

Owens also made winners of four fans during the Home Run Inning promotion.

All totaled, Owens cost sponsors $2,160 in an 11-day span.

White out

Don’t expect to see pitcher Matt White when the Sea Dogs return home for an eight game homestand beginning Monday.

The left-hander is scheduled to move up to Triple-A Pawtucket after making his third appearance with Portland this weekend.

White, a Rule 5 draft selection from the Cleveland Indians, could join the Red Sox by the end of the month.

Around the minor leagues

Despite losing 100 dates to inclement weather in the Eastern, Midwest and International leagues alone, Minor League Baseball drew 5.7 million fans in April, the highest total in the 102-year history of the organization.The New Haven Ravens continue to tear up Eastern League pitching. The Ravens were hitting .310 as a team heading into the weekend, tops in all of minor league baseball.Former Sea Dog pitcher Will Cunnane has been released by the Chicago Cubs. Cunnane was at Triple-A Iowa.Another former Sea Dog hurler, Claudio Vargas, picked up his first big league win when the Montreal Expos beat San Francisco Giants Wednesday.

Bill Foley is assistant sports editor. He can be reached by e-mail at [email protected].