Midwest League 1997

Summary

• Midwest League Champion: Lansing Lugnuts (Royals)
• Team with Best Won/Lost Record: West Michigan Whitecaps (Tigers) 92-39, .702

• Most Valuable Player: Robert Fick (West Michigan/Tigers)
• Prospect of the Year: Brent Butler (Peoria/Cardinals)
• Manager of the Year: Bruce Fields (West Michigan/Tigers)
• Executive of the Year: Jim Weigel (General Manager, Lansing)

• League Attendance: 2,953,277
  • 14 teams in three divisions played a 140 game, split-season schedule.
  • The MWL had teams in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

• Best Big League Career: Robert Fick (West Michigan/Tigers) or Ramon Ortiz (Cedar Rapids/Angels)

Overview

Composite Record for Each Team

                Nickname        Affiliate    Won Lost  Pct (Rank)
Beloit          Snappers        Brewers      60  73   .451 (11)
Burlington      Bees            Reds         72  68   .514  (3)
Cedar Rapids    Kernels         Angels       62  76   .449 (12)
Clinton         LumberKings     Padres       65  71   .478 (10)
Fort Wayne      Wizards         Twins        68  67   .504  (6)
Kane County     Cougars         Marlins      70  68   .507  (5)
Lansing         Lugnuts         Royals       69  68   .504  (7)
Michigan        Battle Cats     Red Sox      70  67   .511  (4)
Peoria          Chiefs          Cardinals    70  69   .504  (8)
Quad City       River Bandits   Astros       59  75   .440 (13)
Rockford        Cubbies         Cubs         66  66   .500  (9)
South Bend      Silver Hawks    Diamondbacks 54  83   .394 (14)
West Michigan   Whitecaps       Tigers       92  39   .702  (1)
Wisconsin       Timber Rattlers Mariners     76  63   .547  (2)

First Half

Burlington   39 31 .557  --- Wisconsin   40 29 .580  --- West Michigan 46 17 .730  ---
Clinton      33 34 .493  4.5 Rockford    32 32 .500  5.5 Michigan      38 31 .551 11.0
Quad City    26 38 .406 10.0 Beloit      32 32 .500  5.5 Lansing       34 34 .500 14.5
Cedar Rapids 26 43 .377 12.5 Peoria      34 35 .493  6.0 Fort Wayne    32 33 .492 15.0
                             Kane County 33 37 .471  7.5 South Bend    24 43 .358 24.0

Second Half

Cedar Rapids 36 33 .522  --- Kane County 37 31 .544  --- West Michigan 46 22 .676  ---
Quad City    33 37 .471  3.5 Wisconsin   36 34 .514  2.0 Fort Wayne    36 34 .514 11.0
Burlington   33 37 .471  3.5 Peoria      36 34 .514  2.0 Lansing       35 34 .507 11.5
Clinton      32 37 .464  4.0 Rockford    34 34 .500  3.0 Michigan      32 36 .471 14.0
                             Beloit      28 41 .406  9.5 South Bend    30 40 .429 17.0

1997 Post Season

Round 1:
 Cedar Rapids d. Burlington, 2-0
 Kane County d. Wisconsin, 2-0
 Fort Wayne d. West Michigan, 2-0
 Lansing d. Michigan, 2-1
Round 2:
 Lansing d. Fort Wayne, 2-0
 Kane County d. Cedar Rapids, 2-0
Championship:
 Lansing d. Kane County, 3-2

1997 All-Star Game at Lansing

June 17 at Oldsmobile Park.
Eastern Teams, 6-5
WP: Dennis Stark, Wisconsin; LP: Martin Sanchez, Kane County
MVP: John Barnes, Michigan (4-2-3-2; and a great outfield catch)

1997 Individual Achievements

Batting

Games           Scott Podsednik   Kane County    135
At Bats         Scott Podsednik   Kane County    531
Runs            Jim Chamblee      Michigan       112
Hits            Robert Fick       West Michigan  158
Home Runs       Joe Freitas       Peoria          33
Runs Batted In  Darron Ingram     Burlington      97
Stolen Bases    Rodney Lindsey    Clinton         70
On Base Pct     Tyrone Horne      Kane County   .434
Slugging Pct    Robert Fick       West Michigan .566
Batting Avg     Robert Fick       West Michigan .341

Pitching

Games           Adam West         Peoria          62
Complete Games  Ramon Ortiz       Cedar Rapids     8
Shutouts        Ramon Ortiz       Cedar Rapids     4
Innings Pitched Tommy Darrell     Cedar Rapids   192
Strikeouts      Ramon Ortiz       Cedar Rapids   225
Saves           Francisco Cordero West Michigan   35
Won             Clayton Bruner    West Michigan   15
                Dave Borkowski    West Michigan   15
Earned Run Avg  Craig Quintal     West Michigan  1.96

1997 League Information

Officers

President  George Spelius   Beloit, WI

Umpires

#     Name              Hometown
 2    Gregory Ayers     Vernon Hills, IL
 3    Robert Bainter    Galesburg, IL
 4    Damien Beal       Stone Mountain, GA
 5    Geoffrey Burr     San Diego, CA
 6    Adam Dowdy        Pontiac, IL
 7    Brian Hale        Trussville, AL
 8    Scott Hepinstall  Midland, MI
 8    Andrew Schultz    Millersville, PA
 9    Tyler Hoffman     Qualicum Beach, BC
10    Toby Hoy          Lomita, CA
11    Daryl Massa       Valencia, CA
12    Jason Moore       San Bernardino, CA
14    Todd Olinger      Galesburg, IL
15    Scott Packard     Horseheads, NY
16    Darwin Schiltz    Sergeant Bluff, IA
20    Scott Walendowski East China, MI
22    Mike Jost         Modesto, CA

Pairings:
   Ayers/Bainter
   Dowdy/Massa
   Burr/Hale
   Hoffman/Schiltz
   Moore/Olinger
   Packard/Hoy
   Beal/Hepinstall
   Beal/Schultz
   Olinger/Jost
   Walendowski/Hoy
   Jost/Dowdy
   Olinger/Massa

1997 Team Information

Leadership

                Joined
                MWL    President               GM
Beloit          1982   Tom Smith               Jeff Nelson
                                               Matt Harris
Burlington      1962   Dave Walker             Chuck Heeman
                                               Kent Harman
Cedar Rapids    1962   Wally Krouse            Jack Roeder
Clinton         1956   Wally Schilling         Alfredo Portela
Fort Wayne      1993   Eric Margenau           Bret Staehling
Kane County     1991   Al Gordon               Bill Larsen
Lansing         1996   Tom Dickson             Jim Weigel
                       Sherri Myers
Michigan        1995   William L. Collins, Jr. Jerry Burkot
Peoria          1983   Pete Vonachen           Rocky Vonachen
Quad City       1960   Rick Holtzman           Chris Holvoet
                                               Tim Bawmann
Rockford        1988   Mark McGuire            Mike Holmes
                                               Bruce Keiter
South Bend      1988   Alan Levin              Eric Haag
West Michigan   1994   Dennis Baxter           Scott Lane
Wisconsin       1962   John Wollner            Mike Birling

Coaching Staff

                Manager         Coaches
Beloit          Luis Salazar    Jaime Garcia*   John Mallee
Burlington      Phillip Wellman Derek Botelho*
Cedar Rapids    Mario Mendoza   Todd Claus      Rick Wise*
Clinton         Tom LeVasseur   Dan Simonds     Darrel Akerfelds*
Fort Wayne      Mike Boulanger  Jeff Carter     Stu Cliburn*
Kane County     Lynn Jones      Brian Peterson* Matt Winters
Lansing         Bob Herold      Mike Mason*     Curtis Wilkerson
Michigan        Billy Gardner   Gerald Perry    Dan Gakeler*
Peoria          Joe Cunningham  Gary Buckles*
Quad City       Manny Acta      Jorge Orta      Charley Taylor*
Rockford        Ruben Amaro     Moe Hill        Juan Pizarro*     Tack Wilson
South Bend      Dickie Scott    Jim Presley     Dennis Lewallyn*  Jim Reinebold
West Michigan   Bruce Fields    Skeeter Barnes  Steve McCatty*
Wisconsin       Gary Varsho     Omer Munoz      Pat Rice*

*pitching coaches

Ballparks

                             Stadium                   Capacity Attendance
Beloit                       Harry Pohlman Field        3,500     81,564
Burlington                   Community Field            6,000     52,152
Cedar Rapids                 Veterans Memorial Stadium  3,500    124,629
Clinton                      Riverview Stadium          3,000     50,597
Fort Wayne                   Memorial Stadium           7,100    230,210
Kane County (Geneva, IL)     Philip B Elfstrom Stadium  5,900    436,505
Lansing                      Oldsmobile Park           10,000    523,443
Michigan (Battle Creek)      C.O. Brown Stadium         6,200    126,947
Peoria                       Pete Vonachen Stadium      5,200    148,585
Quad City (Davenport, IA)    John O'Donnell Stadium     6,200    130,932
Rockford                     Marinelli Field            4,500     86,716
South Bend                   Stanley Coveleski Stadium  5,000    197,864
West Michigan (Grand Rapids) Old Kent Park              8,600    536,029
Wisconsin (Appleton)         Fox Cities Stadium         5,500    227,104

MWL changes during the 1996-97 off-season

Franchise changes

• The Burlington Bees changed affiliation (Giants to Reds).
• The South Bend Silver Hawks changed affiliation (White Sox to Diamondbacks) and adopted a new logo.
• The West Michigan Whitecaps changed affiliation (Athletics to Tigers).

Other highlights

Lansing's Olds Park and Michigan's C.O. Brown Stadium expanded their seating capacity.
Community Field in Burlington had its outfield fences moved out.

Sources:

• 1997 Yearbooks for Battle Cats, Lugnuts, Bees, Whitecaps
• 1997 NAPBL Orange Book
• The National Association's Baseball News
• USA Today Baseball Weekly
• Baseball America
• The Minor League Baseball website
• Assorted correspondents (especially Rich Hanson)