Tag Archives: lansing lugnuts

Bought a 2020 Lugnuts Season Ticket

I’d been thinking about a Lansing season ticket for this year since sometime in December. So I bought one.
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Joel’s Lansing Lugnut Notes: an introduction

Although blogs hadn’t yet been invented, seventeen years ago I kept a Lansing Lugnuts weblog, which I called Joel’s Lansing Lugnut Notes. The 1996 Luggies were a new team. I began keeping the online journal because I’d been watching Midwest League (MWL) play for several summers and figured I had something to contribute to the Lansing discussion. As things worked out I did a writeup after each series, and composed a few other pages as inspiration struck. I plan to repost all of the weblog entries, and most of the other pages, to this journal over the next few months. Most will be posted 17 years to the day after they were originally written.

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The Baseball Thesaurus by Jesse Goldberg-Strassler: a short review

For a book that’s basically a long list, this one is surprisingly readable. Goldberg-Strassler, who’s the radio voice of the Lansing Lugnuts, tells us he began compiling this book when he noticed he kept repeating the same phrases to describe the action on the field. That he’s shared the list with us is a delight.

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A Fan’s Guide Farewell

Emails often made my day. I heard from fans, from past and present players, from team radio voices, from former and would-be player girlfriends, from executives, from prospective team owners, from newspaper reporters. Over the years I received thousands of notes on a vast array of topics. A Danville fan told me about watching Butch McCord. One writer told about his mother boarding black players in Decatur. Another filled me in on a former player’s troubled life after baseball. A batboy told about his continuing friendships with players who’d shared the Dubuque dugout. Pat Neshek wrote me a delightful note after his MWL summer. Bob Sprout thanked me for writing up his remarkable season, as did Bob Lawrence; both were reminded of lost friends. In the best email I ever received, a kind lady from Williamsport, Pennsylvania, told me in detail how her family became unintentional hosts to a gentle giant named Juan Salazar, and fell in love.

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Cooley Stadium!

My preferred name for Lansing’s ballyard would be The REO Diamond. But it’s not gonna happen.

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Ballgame

West Michigan’s 5/3 BP is not what I’d call a charming yard–really it’s just a big bowl–but it’s a comfortable place.  Kinda like an old sofa.  The Caps don’t really do things differently from the other successful minor league organizations, but they work harder on the ballpark ambiance.  Lansing, in a more interesting ballyard and with a similarly excellent staff, produces a harder-edged experience that’s more exciting but less cozy.  In Battle Creek, the ballpark layout and the small crowds force a focus on the game, which works well for me but less well for the business.  That I think all three are worthwhile should be pretty obvious.

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Opening Day

Battle Creek’s Chase Wright pitched well, and looks impressive, but threw too many pitches and was visibly tired by the fifth.  Regardless, Sean Marshall, a lanky guy with some apparent potential, pitched a better game.  The most interesting thing seen was Lansing’s Clay Rapada, who is a radical sidewinder; don’t remember seeing a southpaw throw like that before.  Lansing’s Kyle Boyer had a fine day at the plate.

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Lugnuts Notes: Series at South Bend Silver Hawks

Tuesday’s was the fourth consecutive excellent game; Wednesday, while less than perfect, was an easy win. Thorn’s CG was 99 pitches, according to pitch chart (I sat behind the gun again).

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Lugnuts Notes: Series at home against Burlington Bees

Since the Royals have Beltran and Blosser pegged as potential big-league stars, they want them someplace they’ll play every day. They don’t think of Schafer that way, so every day isn’t a concern. Filling the Lugnut roster is a concern; he stays. (As always: I’m guessing. But this isn’t a difficult situation to decipher.) Continue reading

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Lugnuts Notes: Series at Quad City River Bandits

Lots of roster switches lately, and almost certainly more to come. We get to learn some new players, and see how the team starts to fit together. In some ways, this is the most interesting time to watch the Midwest League; entire teams change character, and sometimes the reason is obvious. It can be glorious. Or it can be frustrating.

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