West Michigan Whitecaps
- Location: Comstock Park, MI
- League: Midwest League 1994-2019; High-A Central 2021; Midwest League 2022-
- Affiliation: Oakland A's 1994-1996; Detroit Tigers 1997-present
- Ballpark: LMCU Ballpark
Team History[edit]
The West Michigan Whitecaps, of the Midwest League and briefly in High-A Central, resulted from a local newspaper columnist wondering in print why Grand Rapids, MI, could not have professional baseball. The Detroit Tigers farmhands play their home games at LMCU Ballpark in Comstock Park, MI - just outside Grand Rapids.
In 1980, the Grand Rapids Press published a piece inquiring why Grand Rapids could not have a minor league team. At that time, the Detroit Tigers Triple-A affiliate was the Evansville Triplets, who were located in Evansville, IN - which is just over half the size of Grand Rapids. This article sparked interest in creating a Grand Rapids team. In 1984, a group of West Michigan-based businessmen began pursuing a Minor League team for the city. In 1986, negotiations to bring a team to nearby Wyoming, MI, fell through, and the Grand Rapids area remained without a franchise. West Michigan Baseball Development, Inc., was formed in 1987 in an effort to more aggressively pursue a West Michigan franchise, and the following two years saw a surge in progress.
West Michigan Baseball Development began negotiations to build a 12,000 seat stadium in Wyoming and the company procured the Wausau Timbers of the Midwest League in partnership with a Chicago-based group. The Timbers were moved to a newly built 3,600 seat facility in Geneva, IL where they became the Kane County Cougars. The Geneva facility was meant to be a temporary home for the team as negotiations and construction were completed in the Grand Rapids area. However, the Cougars quickly became one of the top franchises in Minor League Baseball and their ownership abandoned their plan to move the franchise to Michigan.
In 1992, West Michigan Baseball Development began negotiations with the Madison Muskies. The following February it was announced that the Muskies would move into a new stadium in Comstock Park that would open as Old Kent Park. The Whitecaps played their first home game on April 12, 1994, defeating the Burlington Bees 5-2. That year the West Michigan Whitecaps broke the 1949 Denver Bears' Single A single-season attendance record of 463,039 with an attendance of 475,212 and made their way into the MwL playoffs. They continued to break the Single A attendance record for years to come.
Prior to the introduction of the Whitecaps, there had not been a professional baseball team in Grand Rapids since 1954, when the Grand Rapids Chicks of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League disbanded.
Originally the Single A franchise for the Oakland Athletics, the Whitecaps quickly found success in West Michigan. The nickname simultaneously refers to the importance of Lake Michigan to the economy and culture of West Michigan, and harkens back to the appearance-based team nicknames of baseball's earlier days. It also rekindles the tradition of the Michigan City White Caps, who played in the MwL in the 1950s.
In 1996, the Whitecaps won their first Midwest League title. The following year, Dave Borkowski threw the team's first no-hitter, a 6-0 victory over the Kane County Cougars. The Whitecaps finished that season with a record of 92-39, the best in all of Organized Baseball, but were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. 1997 was the first year of the Whitecaps' affiliation with the Detroit Tigers. The next year, they defeated the Rockford Cubbies to win their second Midwest League title. In 1999, the Tigers made their first appearance in West Michigan since 1953 in an exhibition game against their Single A affiliate. The Caps lost 5-2 in front of a record crowd of 11,006 fans. That year the Caps failed to make the post-season for the first time in team history, but were named Baseball America's Class A Team of the Decade.
On June 10, 2000, Tommy Marx threw the Caps' second no-hitter, defeating Kane County, 8-0. Four days later Calvin Chipperfield threw the third, also defeating the Cougars, 2-0. The West Michigan Whitecaps again won the Midwest League tile in 2004, 2006 and 2007.
MLB's 2021 Minor League Reorganization raised the 'Caps, and most of the MwL, one level.
The Whitecaps play Copa de la Diversión Hispanic biennial engagement campaign games as Calaveras de West Michigan (West Michigan Skulls).
Year-by-Year Record[edit]
Championships and Honors[edit]
- 1994: Broke Single A single season attendance record
- 1995: Broke Single A single season attendance record
- 1996: Broke Single A single season attendance record
- 1996: Midwest League Champions
- 1997: Best record in professional baseball
- 1997: Baseball America's Minor League Team of the Year
- 1998: Midwest League Champions
- 1999: Baseball America's Class A Team of the Decade
- 1999: Baseball America's Third Best Minor League Team of the Decade
- 1999: GM Scott Lane named Baseball America's General Manager of the Decade
- 2004: Midwest League Champions
- 2006: Midwest League Champions
- 2006: Cameron Maybin named Minor League Prospect of the Year
- 2006: Cameron Maybin named Tigers Minor League Player of the Year
- 2006: Burke Badenhop named Tigers Minor League Pitcher of the Year
- 2006: Matt Walbeck named Baseball America's Low Class A Manager of the Year
- 2006: Jim Jarecki named Midwest League Executive of the Year
- 2007: Midwest League Champions
- 2007: Duane Below named Tigers Minor League Pitcher of the Year
- 2007: Tom Brookens named Midwest League Manager of the Year
External Link[edit]
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