Kalamazoo Growlers

Kalamazoo Growlers
Logo
Information
League	Northwoods League  (Great Lakes East Division 2019, 2021-Present) (Michigan South Division 2020) (South Division 2014-2018)
Location	Kalamazoo, Michigan
Ballpark	Homer Stryker Field
Founded	2013
Nickname(s)	The Blues, The 64s
League championships	2 (2022, 2024)
Division championships	2 (2022, 2024)
Colors	Navy, Teal and Gold
Mascot	Porter
Retired numbers	2
Ownership	Brian Colopy
Coach	Cody Piechocki
Media	http://mixlr.com/kzoo-growlers/
Website	growlersbaseball.com

The Kalamazoo Growlers are a baseball team based in Kalamazoo, Michigan, that plays in the Northwoods League, a summer collegiate baseball league. The Growlers were founded in 2013 and played their first game on May 28, 2014, losing to the then defending league champion Madison Mallards 6-2. The Growlers played their first home game on May 30, 2014, beating the Battle Creek Bombers 13-3. The team plays its home games at Homer Stryker Field.

History

On June 3, 2013, the Kalamazoo City Commission approved a contract with Kalamazoo Baseball, LLC to bring a team back to the city. Kalamazoo had been without a baseball team since the Kalamazoo Kings of the Frontier League disbanded in 2011. The contract stipulated that the Northwoods League would pay expenses associated with the team's home games, practice and the maintenance of Homer Stryker Field. On Nov. 15 of that year, the team was formally introduced as the Kalamazoo Growlers, a tribute to the city's brewing tradition and the black bears that can be heard "growling" in the forests of Michigan.

Seasons

Year	W-L-T	WPCT	Place	I-94 Rivalry Cup	Postseason
2014	29-43	.403	8th NWL South	Won: 5-3	Did not qualify
2015	17-55	.236	9th NWL South	Lost: 0-8	Did not qualify
2016	33-39	.458	5th NWL South	Lost: 2-6	Did not qualify
2017	28-44	.389	6th NWL South	Lost: 1-7	Did not qualify
2018	41-31	.569	2nd NWL South	Won: 5-3	Wild Card: Beat the Kenosha Kingfish 5-3. Division Championship: Lost to the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders 3-1.
2019	37-35	.514	2nd NWL GLE	Won: 8-4	Subdivision Championship: Lost to the Traverse City Pit Spitters 2 games to 0.
2020	40-25-6	.597	1st NWL MIS	Won: 19-13-3	Lost to the Kalamazoo Mac Daddies 4-2
2021	26-46	.361	6th NWL GLE	Won: 6-6 (Retained, tiebreaker goes to previous winner)	Did not qualify
2022	36-35	.507	3rd NWL GLE	Won: 9-3	Subdivision Championship: Beat the Traverse City Pit Spitters 2 games to 0. Division Championship: Beat the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters 8-6 League Championship: Beat the Duluth Huskies 8-3
2023	46-24	.657	1st NWL GLE	Won: 10-2	Subdivision Championship: Lost to the Traverse City Pit Spitters 2 games to 1.
2024	42-30	.583	2nd NWL GLE	Won: 10-2	Subdivision Championship: Beat the Rockford Rivets 2 games to 1. Division Championship: Beat the Madison Mallards 3-2 League Championship: Beat the La Crosse Loggers 8-7 in 14 innings.
2025	37-35	.514	2nd NWL GLE	Lost: 5-7	Subdivision Championship: Lost to the Traverse City Pit Spitters 2 games to 0.
Overall (Regular Season)	412-442-6	.479

Rivalry

The Growlers compete for the I-94 Rivalry Cup with the Battle Creek Battle Jacks (previously known as the Bombers, changing their name in 2022). The rivalry began in 2014 when the Growlers entered the Northwoods League, ending the Battle Jacks reign as the only team in the league from Michigan. The Growlers lead in the yearly series 8-4 and in the all-time series 80 games to 61, with 3 ties.

Mascot

Porter

The mascot of the team is an anthropomorphic black bear named Porter. He was named after a dark style of beer and wears jersey number 64 (number of ounces held in a Growler), which pays homage to Kalamazoo's microbreweries. The original mascot was named Barlee, but the team lost the rights of the name to the Hillsboro Hops of the Northwest League.

Nicknames

The unofficial nickname of the team is "The Blues" which refers to the color of the team's away uniforms as well as two of their alternate uniforms. Another unofficial nickname is "The 64s" because 64 is the number of fluid ounces held in a Growler. The team mascot, Porter, wears jersey number 64 for this reason, and many fan jerseys are sold with the number.

Recognition & Promotions

The Growlers were recognized as a finalist for Ballpark Digest's 2014 Logo/Branding of the Year ^[1] and the team took home the top prize as the 2014 Summer-Collegiate Promotion of the Year for their "Salute to Selfie" Night ^{[ permanent dead link ]} which featured a collage of selfies on the player's jerseys which were submitted by Growlers fans.

The team name was chosen in a #NameTheTeam contest. Finalists included "Growlers", "Kraken", "Cabbies", "Kangaroos" and "Clutch". On June 20, 2015, the team saluted the contest by holding a "What If" night where the team changed their name to the Kraken for one game, losing to the La Crosse Loggers 9-7. Similarly on June 4, 2016, the team held a "What Would Have Been" night where they changed the team name to the Cabbies for one game, beating the Battle Creek Bombers 9-0.

In the 2015 season, the Growlers were 5th in the nation in attendance for summer collegiate baseball.

One of the feature items on the concessions menu was the Bear Claw Burger ^{[ permanent dead link ]}. The Bear Claw Burger was a 2/3 pound Angus hamburger topped with barbeque pulled pork, macaroni and cheese and coleslaw between two Sweetwater’s Donut Mill bear claw shaped donuts. This towering burger was originally sold with a drink and chips for an estimated total of 3,000 calories. It was available at Growlers games during the 2014 and 2015 seasons.

On August 13, 2016, the team wore "Emojerseys" covered in 25 different fan-favorite emojis. ^[2]

On July 24, 2018, the team hosted the Northwoods League All Star Game as well as a celebration for the league's 25th anniversary. Three Growlers players represented the South Division in the game, which was a victory over the North Division 2-1. Three Growlers also competed in the Home Run Derby, which was won by Growlers Player Zach Daniels who hit three home runs.

Notable MLB alumni

On August 9, 2019, John Schreiber became the first former Growler to reach the major leagues when he made his major league debut pitching in relief for the Detroit Tigers.

Name	MLB Teams Played For	Years with Growlers	MLB Debut
John Schreiber	Detroit Tigers, Boston Red Sox, Kansas City Royals	2014	August 9, 2019
Caleb Baragar	San Francisco Giants	2014	July 25, 2020
Brandon Hughes	Chicago Cubs, Arizona Diamondbacks	2015	May 17, 2022
Charles Leblanc	Miami Marlins, Los Angeles Angels	2015	July 30, 2022
David Hensley	Houston Astros, Miami Marlins	2016	August 27, 2022
Matt Mervis	Chicago Cubs, Miami Marlins	2018	May 5, 2023
Zack Gelof	Oakland Athletics, Athletics	2019	July 14, 2023
Joe Boyle	Oakland Athletics, Tampa Bay Rays	2018	September 17, 2023
Joey Loperfido	Houston Astros, Toronto Blue Jays	2018	April 20, 2024
Blake Dunn	Cincinnati Reds	2020–2021	June 4, 2024
Niko Kavadas	Los Angeles Angels	2018	August 16, 2024
Grant Wolfram	Baltimore Orioles	2016	April 26, 2025

External links

• Kalamazoo Growlers official site
• Kalamazoo Growlers roster
• Northwoods League official site

References

1. Reichard, Kevin. "2014 Logo/Branding of the Year: Akron RubberDucks". Ballpark Digest. Retrieved 2016-02-04.
2. Manzullo, Brian (15 February 2016). "Kalamazoo baseball team to wear jerseys covered in emojis". freep.com. Detroit Free Press. Retrieved 17 February 2016.