The Midwest League is a Minor League Baseball league established in 1947 and based in the Midwestern United States. A Class A league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganization of the minor leagues.
The Quad Cities River Bandits are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. Their home games are played at Modern Woodmen Park in Davenport, Iowa, one of the Quad Cities.
The Great Lakes Loons are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers. They are located in Midland, Michigan, and play their home games at Dow Diamond, which opened in April 2007.
The Michigan Battle Cats were a Minor League Baseball team which began playing in the Midwest League in 1995 and called C.O. Brown Stadium in Battle Creek, Michigan, home. The franchise had previously been located in Madison, Wisconsin, in 1994 where they were called the Madison Hatters. Prior to that the team was located in Springfield, Illinois, and was known as the Springfield Cardinals. Upon moving to Battle Creek the team initially sought the name Battle Creek Golden Kazoos to help create a regional tie-in with the city of Kalamazoo, Michigan, but legal disputes led to the adoption of the Battle Cats moniker. The team became known as the Battle Creek Yankees beginning with their affiliation with the New York Yankees in 2003, and again changed names and affiliations in 2005 and became the Southwest Michigan Devil Rays. In 2007, citing declining attendance, the team moved to Midland, Michigan and became the Great Lakes Loons.
Larry Alton Parrish is an American former professional baseball player, coach and manager. He played in Major League Baseball and the Nippon Professional Baseball league as a third baseman from 1974 to 1990, most prominently as a member of the Montreal Expos and the Texas Rangers.
LMCU Ballpark is a ballpark located in Comstock Park, Michigan, just north of Grand Rapids. Established as Old Kent Park in 1994, the stadium hosts a minor league baseball team, the West Michigan Whitecaps, and other sporting events. The ballpark's Fifth Third Burger was featured on an episode of Man v. Food. A fire damaged some of the first base side of the stadium on January 3, 2014, but the stadium re-opened in time to host the Whitecaps for the 2014 season.
Thomas Dale Brookens is an American former professional baseball third baseman. He played for the Detroit Tigers, New York Yankees and Cleveland Indians of the Major League Baseball (MLB). Brookens was on the Tigers' coaching staff from 2009 to 2013, serving as first base coach and later third base coach. He was replaced as third base coach prior to the 2014 season by Dave Clark.
Matthew Lovick Walbeck is an American former professional baseball catcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for five different teams, primarily in the American League, from 1993 to 2003. He served as third base coach for the Texas Rangers in 2008.
Bruce Alan Fields is an American former professional baseball outfielder and the former hitting coach of the Cleveland Indians of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played during three seasons in MLB for the Detroit Tigers and Seattle Mariners.
Michael T. Hollimon is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) second baseman and shortstop. After a collegiate baseball career at the University of Texas and Oral Roberts University, Hollimon entered professional baseball with the Detroit Tigers organization in 2005. He played professionally through 2012, including a short stint with the 2008 Tigers, during which he played 11 major-league games.
Below is a partial list of minor league baseball players in the Detroit Tigers system.
Gary Gillette is a baseball writer, author, and editor. He is co-editor of both the ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia and the ESPN Football Encyclopedia. For both series of books, he partnered with noted statistician Pete Palmer, as well as writers Sean Lahman and Matt Silverman.
Shane Timothy Heams is an American former professional baseball pitcher and Olympic gold medalist. His minor league baseball career spanned from 1996 to 2005.
The Rockford Expos was the initial moniker of the minor league baseball teams located in Rockford, Illinois, from 1988 to 1999. The Expos were Rockford's first entity in the Midwest League and Rockford teams were minor league affiliates of the Montreal Expos (1988–1992), Kansas City Royals (1993–1994), Chicago Cubs (1995–1998) and Cincinnati Reds (1999), hosting home games at Marinelli Field.
Jacob Keith Thompson is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Bravos de León of the Mexican League. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies and in the KBO League for the Lotte Giants.
Bryan Garcia is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Detroit Tigers.
Matthew Thomas Hall is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Kansas City Monarchs of the American Association of Professional Baseball. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Detroit Tigers and the Boston Red Sox. He played college baseball for Missouri State University. The Tigers selected Hall in the sixth round of the 2015 MLB draft. Listed at 6 feet 0 inches (1.83 m) and 200 pounds (91 kg), he throws and bats left-handed.
