The Bay City-Saginaw-Flint area has been described as the largest television market in the United States without a major or minor league baseball team

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Baseball Hit Homerun in Lansing, Could Do Same in Bay City, Says Hollister

Put Politics Aside and Join All Groups to Achieve Success, Ex-Mayor Says

August 26, 2004
By: Dave Rogers

      State Development Chief David Hollister was here recently with a couple of checks totaling about $800,000 that got alot of ink and air time, and some advice, that didn't make much news.

      Mr. Hollister told several members of the news media that baseball was a panacea for a rundown area of Lansing. The Lansing Lugnuts minor league team brought new vitality to downtown Lansing.

"Your problem in Bay City is not financing, it's politics," Mr. Hollister said. "All your organizations need to get on the same page and work together."

      Lansing made the baseball project work by gaining consensus and collaboration. Six Lansing banks put up the capital and thereby "bought into its success," Mr. Hollister said.

      Groups that joined together included unions that wound up with good jobs for their members in the ballpark, he said. The Lugnuts are described as "one of the most successful minor league teams in the nation."

      The Lugnuts play in the eastern division of the Midwest League against West Michigan, Battle Creek, Fort Wayne, South Bend and Dayton. The Lugnuts won the Midwest League last year and late in this season were tied for the lead heading for the playoffs beginning this week.

      On the verge of their 10th anniversary campaign, the Lansing Lugnuts still attract national media attention and fans from across the country. In a recently conducted online poll voters picked the Lugnuts as the team with the "best nickname in minor league baseball" according to USAToday.com.

      The poll was conducted as an online companion to the article that ran on the front page of the sports section in the June 22, issue of USA Today. The article about minor league team nicknames featured the Lansing Lugnuts, their sister team in Montgomery, Alabama, the Biscuits, and several other teams from across the country.

      The Bay City-Saginaw-Flint area has been described as the largest television market in the United States without a major or minor league baseball team. Bay City is being urged by Bay Area Chamber of Commerce president Mike Seward and Mark Pumford, chairman of the CHAMPS Committee, to embrace the idea of a minor league baseball team before it is grabbed by another community.

      Obviously, revenues from television broadcasts would bolster ticket and other sales revenues from the ballpark.

      The Lugnuts this year continued their broadcasting partnership with WILX-TV 10, serving Lansing and Jackson. Popular WILX sports director, Tim Staudt, and WILX sportscaster Ben Holden, handle the play-by-play at the Lugnuts games. Staudt is in his third season as announcer for the Lugnuts. WILX this year also aired four in-depth shows on all the behind-the-scenes action at Oldsmobile Park as Tim Staudt hosts "Staudt Goes Nuts".

      The Lugnuts are a Chicago Cubs affiliate playing out of Oldsmobile Park at 505 E. Michigan Avenue, Lansing.

On Saturday, July 13, 2002 the team welcomed their three-millionth fan to Oldsmobile Park for a Lugnut home game. Of the 100 Class "A" teams in minor league baseball, the Lugnuts continue to draw in the top six nationwide. The Lugnuts celebrated the three-million fan milestone in just their seventh season of operation.

      "It is truly remarkable," said Tom Dickson, Lugnuts co-owner and president.

      "This community and the surrounding area continue to show a level of support that we are proud to be a part of. The fact that we continue to set new attendance records in our seventh season of operation show us every day that the fans in this community are unique to all of baseball."

      There are many good-paying jobs with the regular organization and the team has an annual job fair to recruit seasonal workers for the ballpark. These jobs include food service, retail, janitorial and customer service. Pay ranges from $5.50 to $6.50 per hour and employees work flexible hours and are eligible for tickets to games and retail discounts.###