Great Lakes Loons

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Battle Creek Baseball R.I.P. (1995-2006) (created 1117 days ago) 11 votes 1 comment	Battle Creek Baseball R.I.P. (1995-2006) (created 1117 days ago) 11 votes 1 comment
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Team History

The Great Lakes Loons, based in Midland, Michigan, is a Class A minor league baseball team, affiliated with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The team plays in the Midwest League and their home park is Dow Diamond, which will open in April 2007.

The Loons played as the Southwest Michigan Devil Rays in the 2006 season at C.O. Brown Stadium in Battle Creek.

History

The Midwest League came to Battle Creek, in 1995 after a franchise previously based in Springfield, Illinois (1982-93) and Madison, Wisconsin (1994) moved. The team was first known as the Battle Creek Golden Kazoos. Due to a trademark dispute and general fan dissatisfaction with the name (which is a nickname for the nearby city of Kalamazoo), the name was changed to the Michigan Battle Cats on March 9, 1995.

The team was affiliated with the Boston Red Sox (1995-98) and Houston Astros (1999-2002). The team changed its name to the Battle Creek Yankees after becoming an affiliate of the New York Yankees in 2003. The Tampa Bay Devil Rays took over affiliation of the team in September 2004, changing the team name to Southwest Michigan Devil Rays. In September 2006, the team announced its affiliation with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

In January of 2006, it was confirmed that the Devil Rays would be sold to the non-profit Michigan Baseball Foundation and relocated to Midland, Michigan. The team has been renamed the Great Lakes Loons. The main reason the team is relocating is because of the lack of interest in the Battle Creek community. Even reduced tickets and a night when the fans actually were paid a dollar to come to that night's game failed to pique the interest of local residents.

Shortly after noon on October 2, 2006, at a private event for the company's employees, contractors, and their families, Andrew Liveris - chairman and CEO of Dow Chemical, which had purchased the naming rights for the Loons' Midland stadium - announced the name for the Loons' still-under-construction Midland stadium: the "Dow Diamond".

Notable Alumni

Standings

Roster

Midwest League Navigation