West Michigan Whitecaps

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West Michigan Whitecaps
Founded in 1994
Comstock Park, Michigan

Team Logo
Cap Insignia
Class-Level
  • Single-A (1994–present)
Minor League affiliations
Major League affiliations
Name
  • West Michigan Whitecaps (1994–present)
Ballpark
Minor League titles
League titles 1996, 1998, 2004, 2006, 2007
Division titles 1996, 1998, 2004, 2006, 2007
Owner(s)/Operated by: Lew Chamberlin and Denny Baxter
Manager: Joe DePastino
General Manager:

The West Michigan Whitecaps are a Class A minor league baseball team, affiliated with the Detroit Tigers, that plays in the Midwest League. Their home games are played in Comstock Park, Michigan, a suburb of Grand Rapids. They are currently the defending champions of the Midwest League.

Contents

[edit] Franchise history

The Midwest League came to the Grand Rapids area in 1994 upon the arrival of the former Madison Muskies. The Whitecaps were brought to West Michigan by local businessmen Lew Chamberlin and Dennis Baxter. The Whitecaps were affiliated with the Oakland Athletics before they joined the Tigers' farm system in 1997.

Their home ballpark is Fifth Third Ballpark in Comstock Park. Before the 2002 season it was known as Old Kent Park; the name was changed when the park's title sponsor, Old Kent Bank, was purchased by Fifth Third Bank. Fifth Third also sponsors ballparks in Dayton and Toledo, Ohio. The team's official mascots are Crash the River Rascal and Franky the Swimming Pig.

The franchise's attendance record of 547,401 was set in 1996.

Several league and team records were set during the 2006 season. The team posted the second best record in franchise history, going 89-48, including going 23-6 in July. Michael Hollimon hit 3 home runs in one game. Cameron Maybin hit 2 grand slams in the season. Michael Hernandez became the first person ever in the history of the Midwest League to hit for the cycle twice. The Whitecaps went on to defeat the Kane County Cougars in four games to win their fourth Midwest League Championship.

Whitecaps at home in Fifth Third Ballpark
Whitecaps at home in Fifth Third Ballpark

[edit] Regular season

Season W L Pct.
1994 74 65 .532
1995 67 69 .492
1996 77 61 .557 MWL Champions
1997 92 39 .702
1998 83 57 .593 MWL Champions
1999 68 72 .485
2000 88 52 .629
2001 65 72 .474
2002 83 57 .593
2003 67 73 .478
2004 69 70 .496 MWL Champions
2005 73 70 .510
2006 89 48 .649 MWL Champions
2007 83 57 .593 MWL Champions

[edit] Postseason success

The Whitecaps have won the best-of-5 Midwest League championship five times in five opportunities. They defeated the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers in 1996, the Rockford Cubbies in 1998, the Kane County Cougars twice (2004 and 2006), and the Beloit Snappers in 2007. West Michigan is 43-25 all time in playoff games. They’ve made the playoffs 11 times in 14 seasons.

[edit] Oakland Athletics affiliation

Year Record Results Opponents
1994 0–2 Lost in First Round Rockford (0–2)
1995 3–3 Lost in Second Round Kane County (2–1), Michigan (1–2)
1996 7–2 Won Championship Lansing (2–1), Rockford (2–0), Wisconsin (3–1)

[edit] Detroit Tigers affiliation

Year Record Results Opponents
1997 0–2 Lost in First Round Fort Wayne (0–2)
1998 7–2 Won Championship Michigan (2–1), Clinton (2–0), Rockford (3–1)
1999 Did not qualify for playoffs
2000 1–2 Lost in First Round Dayton (1–2)
2001 Did not qualify for playoffs
2002 3–2 Lost in Second Round Dayton (2–0), Lansing (1–2)
2003 Did not qualify for playoffs
2004 7–3 Won Championship Lansing (2–1), South Bend (2–0), Kane County (3–2)
2005 2–2 Lost in Second Round Fort Wayne (2–0), South Bend (0–2)
2006 7–2 Won Championship Fort Wayne (2–1), Lansing (2–0), Kane County (3–1)
2007 7–2 Won Championship Lansing (2–0), South Bend (2–0), Beloit (3–2)

[edit] Managers

Since 1994, the Whitecaps have had six managers. In 2007, former Tigers' third baseman Tom Brookens became the seventh manager in the history of the Whitecaps.

Listed here are each manager and their won/loss record:

[edit] Oakland Athletics affiliation

[edit] Detroit Tigers affiliation

[edit] Current roster

West Michigan Whitecaps roster
view • talk • edit
Players Coaches/Other
Pitchers
  • 18 Kelvin Cedano
  • 13 Rudy Darrow
  • 44 Alfredo Figaro
  • -- Charles Furbush †
  • 26 Wilton Garcia
  • 14 Brandon Hamilton
  • 29 Andrew Hess
  • 28 Matt Hoffman
  • 36 Jonathan Kibler
  • 21 Noah Krol
  • 35 Emmanuel Miguelez
  • 20 Paul Nardozzi
  • -- Zachary Piccola †
  • 32 Mauricio Robles
 Catchers
  • 12 Adrian Casanova
  • 27 Angel Flores
  • 24 Jordan Newton

Infielders

  • 23 Ron Bourquin
  • 33 Chris Carlson
  • 16 Audy Ciriaco
  • -- Joaquin Guzman
  • 17 Justin Henry
  •  9 Kody Kaiser
  • 25 Cory Middleton
  • -- Hayden Parrott
  •  7 Roger Tomas

Outfielders

  • 15 Kyle Peter
 Manager

Coaches


† Disabled list
* On Detroit Tigers 40-man roster
‡ Reserve list
§ Suspended list
Roster updated 2008-06-08
Transactions

[edit] Former Whitecaps in the majors

Below is a list of West Michigan Whitecaps who have played in the major leagues.

[edit] Oakland Athletics affiliation (1994–1996)

[edit] Detroit Tigers Affiliation (1997–present)

[edit] Sources

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:


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