Michigan\'s other Midwest League teams

The State of Michigan has two other teams competing in the Class A Midwest League in professional baseball.   I recently caught up with the two at the Thomas Cooley Law Stadium in downtown Lansing during a midweek game.   It was an extremely hot day on July 7 and I didn't expect a large turnout for this game. 

The Lansing Lugnuts have owned the Whitecaps this year leading the series before the game with an 8-1 advantage.  The West Michigan Whitecaps are based in Grand Rapids and have been in the Midwest League since 1994.   The Lansing Lugnuts followed into the League the in 1996.  Both of the teams have won the Midwest League since they have been playing in their respective cities.  Both have hosted Midwest League All-Star games and they have sent numerous players up to their professional teams.  The West Michigan team has been affiliated with the Detroit Tigers since 1994 and the Lugnuts have had ties with 3 different organizations over the years.  They currently send their players on in the Toronto Blue Jays organization. 

This game was no contest from the start with the Lugnuts jumping out to a 5-0 after 3 innings.  Starter Casey Lawrence went 8 2/3 innings for the Lugnuts to get the victory.  The final score was 11-0 before an announced attendance of 1,388 which to this reporter looked quite a bit smaller.  The Lugnuts offer many special nights through out the course of the season with the most popular being the "Thirsty Thursday" night promotion which involves 2 dollar draft beers.