Midwest League 2006

Summary

• Midwest League Champion: West Michigan Whitecaps (Tigers)
• Team with Best Won/Lost Record: West Michigan Whitecaps (Tigers) 89-48; .650

• Most Valuable Player: Jeff Baisley (Kane County/Athletics)
• Prospect of the Year: Cameron Maybin (West Michigan/Tigers)
• Manager of the Year: Matt Walbeck (West Michigan/Tigers)
• Executive of the Year: Jim Jarecki (West Michigan)

• League Attendance: 3,298,095
  • 14 teams in two divisions played a 140 game, split-season schedule which began on April 6 and ended on September 4. A three-tier post-season playoff determined the league championship.
  • The MWL had teams in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin.

• Best Big League Career: It will be a few years....

Overview

Composite Record for Each Team

                   Nickname        Affiliate    Won Lost  Pct (Rank)
Beloit             Snappers        Twins        74  64   .536  (6)
Burlington         Bees            Royals       64  73   .467 (11)
Cedar Rapids       Kernels         Angels       65  74   .468 (10)
Clinton            LumberKings     Rangers      45  94   .324 (14)
Dayton             Dragons         Reds         67  73   .479  (9)
Fort Wayne         Wizards         Padres       71  66   .518  (8)
Kane County        Cougars         Athletics    79  60   .568  (2)
Lansing            Lugnuts         Blue Jays    72  65   .526  (7)
Peoria             Chiefs          Cubs         75  64   .540  (5)
Quad Cities        Swing           Cardinals    76  61   .555  (3)
South Bend         Silver Hawks    Diamondbacks 74  62   .544  (4)
Southwest Michigan Devil Rays      Devil Rays   62  77   .446 (12)
West Michigan      Whitecaps       Tigers       89  48   .650  (1)
Wisconsin          Timber Rattlers Mariners     54  86   .386 (13)

First Half

West           W  L   Pct   GB East                W  L   Pct   GB
Peoria         41 28 .594  --- West Michigan       41 26 .612  ---
Kane County    40 29 .580  1.0 Lansing             40 27 .597  1.0  
Burlington     35 32 .522  5.0 Dayton              35 35 .500  7.5
Beloit         35 33 .515  5.5 South Bend          33 33 .500  7.5 
Quad Cities    34 34 .500  6.5 Southwest Michigan  32 37 .464 10.0
Cedar Rapids   31 39 .443 10.5 Fort Wayne          31 36 .463 10.0
Wisconsin      27 43 .386 14.5
Clinton        23 46 .333 18.0  

First half ended on June 18.

Second Half

West           W  L   Pct   GB East                W  L   Pct   GB
Quad Cities    42 27 .609  --- West Michigan      48 22 .686  ---
Beloit         39 31 .557  3.5 South Bend         41 29 .586  7.0
Kane County    39 31 .557  3.5 Fort Wayne         40 30 .571  8.0
Cedar Rapids   34 35 .493  8.0 Dayton             32 38 .457 16.0
Peoria         34 36 .486  8.5 Lansing            32 38 .457 16.0
Burlington     29 41 .414 13.5 Southwest Michigan 30 40 .429 18.0
Wisconsin      27 43 .386 15.5                        
Clinton        22 48 .314 20.5                         

2006 Post-Season

 Round 1:
Lansing d. South Bend, 2-0
West Michigan d. Fort Wayne, 2-1
Beloit d. Peoria, 2-1
Kane County d. Quad Cities, 2-1
 Round 2:
West Michigan d. Lansing, 2-0
Kane County d. Beloit, 2-0
 Championship:
West Michigan d. Kane County, 3-1

2006 All Star Game

June 20 @ Davenport (Quad Cities), Iowa
East 7, West 1

         East    103 000 102 - 7 11 2
         West    100 000 000 - 1  5 0

WP: Jake McGee (Southwest Michigan/Devil Rays)
LP: Jaime Garcia (Quad Cities/Cardinals)
MVP: Jay Bruce (Dayton/Reds)
Outstanding Pitcher: Vincent Bongiovanni (South Bend/Diamondbacks)

Box Score and Details

2006 League Changes

Other Highlights

• West Michigan replaced the right-field bleachers with a stadium club and added external seats to the luxury boxes.
• Burlington has new dugouts, a refurbished concession stand, and other improvements.
• Lansing replaced the field turf.
• Clinton made substantial improvements to their facility, investing $3.7 million in virtually every part of the ballyard.

Sources

• Baseball America
• 2006 Baseball America Directory
• 2006 Baseball Blue Book
• 2007 Baseball America Almanac
• 2007 Emerald Guide to Baseball
• Team websites
• The Minor League Baseball website
• Assorted correspondents
• 2006 & 2007 Programs/Yearbooks:
  • 2006 & 2007 Lansing Lugnuts
  • 2006 Southwest Michigan Devil Rays
  • 2007 Great Lakes Loons