Great Lakes Loons open 2012 season

The Los Angeles Dodgers Class A Midwest League affiliate the Great Lakes Loons open the 2012 season at the Dow Diamond on a sour note losing to the Lake County Captains 8-0.  The Loons have started the season on 0-4 losing streak.  They lost the opening series to the Lansing Lugnuts 0-3 over the holiday weekend. 

The Loons only return 2 players off the 2011 roster.  This should be a rebuilding season for the Loons with team only having 3 higher round draft picks from 2011.   Ryan O'Sullivan, Pratt Maynard and James Baldwin should be the most promising players for the Loons in 2012.  

The day started off with a great parade through downtown Midland that lasted over 30 minutes and featured all of the 2012 Great Lakes Loon team.  This parade drew over 1,500 people to the downtown area on this windy cooler afternoon.  Then the fans poured into Dow Diamond to watch the 6th year team start the Home Season. 

The Lake County Captains jumped all over Loons starter Gustavo Gomez to get a commanding lead that Captains would not give up.  The Loons looked a little shaky in the Opener and never really mounted any threat to the Cleveland Indians affiliate.  Manager John Shoemaker returns for his second season at the helm of the Loons. 

Team President Paul Barbeau was beaming up in the Suite Level showing off the newly renovated area that includes a bar and several suite area tables for viewing right behind home plate.  This was the first major renovation in Dow Diamond history and one could tell that the President was excited about the results of it.  This might be a long season for the Loons on the field however with all of the off field promotions that the team does it provides again a great entertainment value for your dollar in the Great Lakes Bay Region.