Great Lakes Loons

Great Lakes Loons Founded in 1982 Springfield, Illinois Based in Midland since 2007
100px Team logo Cap insignia
Class-level
Current	A
Minor league affiliations
League	Midwest League
Division	Eastern Division
Major league affiliations
Current	Los Angeles Dodgers (2007–present)
Previous	Tampa Bay Devil Rays (2005–06) New York Yankees (2003–04) Houston Astros (1999–2002) Boston Red Sox (1995–98) St. Louis Cardinals (1982–94)
Minor league titles
League titles (1)	2000
Team data
Nickname	Great Lakes Loons (2007–present) Southwest Michigan Devil Rays (2005–06) Battle Creek Yankees (2003–04) Michigan Battle Cats (1995–02) Madison Hatters (1994) Springfield Cardinals (1982–93)
Ballpark	Dow Diamond (2007–present)
Previous parks	C.O. Brown Stadium (1995–2006) Warner Park (1994) Lanphier Park (1982–93)
Owner(s)/ Operator(s)	Michigan Baseball Foundation
Manager	Gil Velazquez
General Manager	Paul Barbeau

The Great Lakes Loons, based in Midland, Michigan, is a Low 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 opened in April 2007.

History

The Midwest League came to Battle Creek, in 1995 after the franchise formerly known as the Madison Hatters 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 field at C. O. Brown Stadium before a Southwest Michigan Devil Rays game

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 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 relocated was because of the lack of interest from the Battle Creek community. Reduced ticket prices (even a night when fans were actually offered a dollar to come to that night's game) also failed to pique the interest of local residents.

Naming rights for the Loons' stadium were purchased by Dow Chemical, which is headquartered in Midland. The company named the stadium "Dow Diamond." The name is a play on the company's logo, a red diamond.

In November 2006, The Loons named former Detroit Tiger Lance Parrish as the team's first manager since the move to Michigan's Tri-City Area. The first home game was played on April 13, 2007 which resulted in a loss to the Lansing Lugnuts.

The Loons hosted the 2008 Midwest League All-Star Game, in just their second season.

On August 10, 2013, the Loons hosted their biggest crowd ever at 6,189 people.

Mascot

Lou E. Loon is the team mascot and Ambassador of Fun for the team. He's an energetic bird who loves to dance at home games and make public appearances. The kids' play area at the diamond is named Lou E.'s Lookout in his honor. He often leads fans in his signature cheer, the "Funky Feather", which won "Best In-Game Promotion of the Year" in 2009 for Minor League Baseball.

"Rall E. Camel" was introduced as the team's second mascot in April 2012. He is an honorary deputy ambassador of mischief and is an ostensibly goofy addition to the staff of the Great Lakes Loons.

Alumni

Notable alumni of the Midwest League, Battle Creek franchise include Rafael Betancourt, Justin Duchscherer, Shea Hillenbrand, Matt Kinney, Jason Lane, Aaron Miles, Melky Cabrera, Roy Oswalt, Carl Pavano, Tim Redding, Chris Reitsma, and Johan Santana. Twenty-two former Loons have made it to the major leagues. Left handed pitcher Clayton Kershaw debuted in 2008 and is now in the Dodgers' starting rotation. Víctor Gárate, another southpaw who is a now a reliever in the Washington Nationals organization made it a year later in 2009. 2010 saw a trio of past Great Lakes players make it to the show. Cleveland Indians Catcher Carlos Santana, Orioles Third Baseman Josh Bell, and Pitcher Kenley Jansen of Los Angeles all spent time in the big leagues.

Former Loons in MLB

There are 19 Loons to play at least one game in the major leagues. They are: Josh Bell, Nathan Eovaldi, Dee Gordon, Javy Guerra, Kenley Jansen, Clayton Kershaw, Josh Lindblom, Rubby De La Rosa, Jerry Sands, Carlos Santana, Steven Rodriguez, Shawn Tolleson, Josh Wall, José Dominguez, Steven Johnson, Andrew Lambo, Matt Magill, Allen Webster, and Scott Van Slyke.

Clayton Kershaw

Main article: Clayton Kershaw

Kershaw was born March 19, 1988, in Dallas, Texas. He did not attend college and was drafted 7th overall in the 2006 MLB draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers. He is 6'3", 215 lbs. and bats and throws left-handedly. His MLB debut came on May 25, 2008 against the Cardinals, pitching 6 innings, allowing two earned runs on 5 hits, while fanning 7. He has pitched in 113 games in the majors, starting all but 2, has had 6 complete games, 3 shutouts, and has thrown 681.2 innings. He has allowed 238 runs, 14 unearned, on 540 hits, 44 being home runs. He has fanned 709 batters, almost three times his 249 bases on balls. He is 43-28. On average, he throws 101 pitches per start, has a WHIP ((walks+hits)/innings pitched) of 1.19, and an ERA of 2.96, allowing a batting average of .218. This season, he became the fourth pitcher in the divisional era (since 1969) to have consecutive seasons of 200 strikeouts before the age of 24, behind only Dwight Gooden, Frank Tanana, and Bert Blyleven. He is first in the National League in wins, strikeouts, and innings pitched, and second in ERA, WHIP, win percentage, and complete games, this season.

Josh Lindblom

Main article: Josh Lindblom

Lindblom was born June 15, 1987, in Lafayette, Indiana. He went to college at Purdue and was drafted 61st overall in the 2008 MLB draft. He is 6'4", 239 lbs. and bats and throws right-handed. His MLB debut was on June 1, 2011, against the Colorado Rockies. He threw one inning, allowing no earned runs on two hits. He has pitched in 17 games, zero starts, complete games, or shutouts, and 20.1 innings. He has allowed 5 runs, all are earned, on 13 hits, with zero home runs allowed. He has a 2:1 ratio of strikeouts to bases on balls, being 14 to 7. He is 1-0, with zero saves, one hold, and one blown save. He has a WHIP of 0.98 and an ERA of 2.21.

Dee Gordon

Main article: Dee Gordon

Current roster

Great Lakes Loons roster
Players				Coaches/Other
Pitchers 33 Imani Abdullah  7 Isaac Anderson 10px 41 Brian Bass 11 Michael Boyle 36 Adam Bray 30 Kevin Brown 51 Marcus Crescentini 22 Victor Gonzalez  8 Garrett Harrison 44 Wes Helsabeck 10px 23 Alexander Hermeling 52 Nolan Long 45 Gavin Pittore 16 Chris Powell -- Bernardo Reyes 10px 19 Dennis Santana -- Derrick Sylvester 10px -- J. D. Underwood ‡ 43 Ivan Vieitez 10px		Catchers 37 Jake Henson 10px 35 Garrett Hope  1 Brant Whiting Infielders  3 Brendon Davis 10 Nick Dean  6 Omar Estevez  5 Cristian Gomez 40 Matt Jones 28 Edwin Rios Outfielders 24 Deivy Castillo 14 Gage Green  9 Logan Landon 15 Ariel Sandoval		Manager 21 Gil Velazquez Coaches 25 Bobby Cuellar (pitching) 31 Fumi Ishibashi (coach) 13 John Valentin (hitting) 10px 7-day disabled list * On Los Angeles Dodgers 40-man roster # Rehab assignment ∞ Reserve list ‡ Restricted list § Suspended list † Temporary inactive list Roster updated May 31, 2016 Transactions → More MiLB rosters → Los Angeles Dodgers minor league players

Year-by-year record

• Michigan Battle Cats (1995–2002)
• Battle Creek Yankees (2003–2004)
• Southwest Michigan Devil Rays (2005–2006)
• Great Lakes Loons (2007 – present)

Year	Record	Finish	Manager	Playoffs
1995	75–62	4th	DeMarlo Hale	Lost League Finals
1996	60–78	11th	Tom Barrett
1997	70–67	4th	Billy Gardner, Jr.	Lost in 1st round
1998	79–61	2nd (t)	Billy Gardner, Jr.	Lost in 1st round
1999	76–62	3rd	Al Pedrique	Lost in 1st round
2000	82–56	2nd	Al Pedrique	League Champs
2001	82–55	3rd	John Massarelli	Lost in 1st round
2002	79–61	4th	John Massarelli	Lost in 1st round
2003	73–64	3rd	Mitch Seoane	Lost in 2nd round
2004	71–68	9th	Mitch Seoane (13–18) / Bill Mosiello (58–50)
2005	72–67	4th (t)	Joe Szekely	Lost in 1st round
2006	62–77	12th	Skeeter Barnes
2007	57–82	12th	Lance Parrish
2008	54–85	Last	Juan Bustabad
2009	81–59	2nd (t)	Juan Bustabad	Lost in 2nd round
2010	90–49	1st	Juan Bustabad	Lost in 2nd round
2011	72-67	4th	John Shoemaker
2012	67-73	6th	John Shoemaker
2013	67-72	5th	Razor Shines

See also

• WLUN (sports radio station owned by the Loons)

External links

• Great Lakes Loons official website