June 21, 2023
LMCU Stadium (Capacity: 7,642)
Comstock Park, MI
West Michigan Whitecaps vs Great Lakes Loons
Final Score: 3 – 8
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On a vacation to Michigan, we explored the western part of the state and that included a visit to the local baseball team on one of the nights. Comstock Park is a community of 10,000 within the north side of the Grand Rapids metro area. Downtown is about 8 miles to the south and that city of 200,000 once known for producing furniture, has become famous for their beer scene. As long time members of the Single-A Midwest League, the West Michigan Whitecaps began in 1994, the same year that their ballpark opened. It is a stadium that frequently has evolved and more changes/improvements are on the way. LMCU Ballpark is also one of the very few in MiLB that was privately funded, so yay for that. The Whitecaps are often a good team as they are frequent visitors to the postseason and they have taken 6 Midwest League championships (their last one coming in 2015). They are affiliates of the Detroit Tigers and have a pretty good minor league set-up.
Prestige Ranking: 3 out of 5
Location
If you travel into Grand Rapids (10-15 minutes away), it’s a nice city with the Gerald Ford Museum, the Frederik Meijer Gardens and plenty of craft breweries down there for things to check out. Nothing to go out of your way for, but options nonetheless. Towards Lake Michigan, there are some attractive places to see like Holland, Grand Haven and Saugatuck. The ballpark is on the east side of Comstock Park and nearby River Drive has an assortment of suburban-y stuff, including a few restaurants. There is a Family Fun Center before you enter the stadium grounds, otherwise there isn’t much reason to head to this area.
Location Ranking: 5.5 out of 10
Accessibility / Parking
We were staying in Holland and on our way to the stadium, both construction and weekday rush hour traffic delayed us a good 15 minutes. Nearby I-96 travels west to east across the state, while the four-lane highway of US-131 runs north-south, going right by the stadium. Exit 91 leads to the complex and you’ll want to be in the middle lane when getting off at the exit. It can back up at the exit as many people will be coming from this direction. Plenty of personnel direct you to paved parking lots as they have behind and in front of the stadium. The lots seemed large, but I was surprised at how full they were given the crowd size inside the park. Leaving stadium grounds wasn’t as bad as I feared. They could use directional signs as to what lane to get into (the 2 left ones for south on 131 and the middle one to go north). Cars were accommodating though as people weaved in to get to the correct lane.
Accessibility / Parking Ranking: 6.5 out of 8
Exterior
The front entrance and the actual ballpark was built much higher than ground level to minimize flood risk from a nearby river. Trees in front of the entry staircase block any kind of initial introduction and after climbing the stairs, you’ll see a rather mundane entry that is a mix of brick color and siding. Coming from the back, outfield buildings provide a slightly better arrival as team logos are placed on a beige brick wall.
Exterior Ranking: 3.5 out of 10
Concourse
The covered concourse behind the infield looks pretty good thanks to an overhead ceiling that resembles a wood finish on a living room floor. Walls are made of beige tiles and a full view of the field is available throughout. The problem is that it is crowded as several portable carts make a congested walkthrough the area. The concourse goes towards a picnic area on the third base side, while down the first base line, a ramp leads down to other group seating. With grass to the left and flowers to the right, it’s a pleasant walk. A small playground is found before this walkway ends around centerfield.
Concourse Ranking: 3.5 out of 5
Food
The regular concession stands had typical offerings and they tried to spruce up the Chicken Sandwich by calling it “Crispy” and putting bacon on. In spite of the flabby bacon, it was at least a pretty good size and tasted decent. The portable carts were what offered the variation and these mainly featured Tex-Mex, Gyros and Steak Sandwiches. At the end of the concourse is the Kingdom Bowl, where you can put any fried/fatty thing in a bowl with various cheese toppings. This is also the stand where new items are featured like Corn Ribs and Pena’s Poutine. For sweets, they have a pretty “sweet” Ice Cream Sundae area with tons of toppings. Beer options are impressive too, especially from the Mitten Brewing Company. You’ll also find popular Founders on tap as well, in addition to other beers from around the state.
One neat thing that the Whitecaps do is each winter, they have a Fan Food Submission contest. The winner gets a slew of prizes and their unique food idea is served at the ballpark that coming season. This is the 14th year they have done it. Sadly, the most famous food item here (and in possibly all of minor league baseball), the Fifth Third Burger, no longer exists.
Food Ranking: 6 out of 8
Interior
This is a ballpark that has frequently evolved since opening in 1994. You would think a different stadium sat here nearly 30 years ago as the shape is about the only thing that is consistent. Red seats are now two shades of aquatic blue, which goes well with the team logo and the chairs are even padded behind home plate. The rest of the chairs in the park aren’t that different as they are wide and comfortable enough (the exception are the three pointless bleacher sections in the upper corners). Row height is good enough. LMCU Ballpark is BIG for Single-A as this place has the size and feel of a Triple-A squad. Frankly, the Grand Rapids market and proximity to Detroit would support it, but Toledo is (and always has been) a fine place for the Tigers top affiliate. The seating bowl goes a little beyond the infield and it is split by a walkway two-thirds of the way down. The sharp angling of the bowl is odd because once you get beyond home plate seating, the adjacent sections face straight ahead looking down foul territory. Suites are above the concourse with the ballpark name and other team stuff on the façade. That is something done well here is keeping the color scheme to maintain character, as evidenced by the look of the building that houses the rooftop seating in the right corner. It’s almost overkill how many group/specialty areas there are as extending into the outfield and opposite corner are decks, clubs, patios and picnic areas. Something you wouldn’t even realize is that the Grand River floats very close by, yet there is not a glimpse of it from inside the stadium. It’s too bad they couldn’t take advantage of that feature.
The continual evolution of the Whitecaps’ home isn’t stopping as more renovation is to come after this season with suite level work and even more terraces. Big plans are in the works to really change the outside and inside of the place with some funding needed, so we’ll see if it comes to fruition in future years.
Interior Ranking: 9 out of 14
Scoreboard
A video screen in left-center is of decent size and during at-bats, they’ll use this to display plenty of player stats. Even though the picture is clear, there are some pixels that aren’t quite right. Game replays are also quite limited. At the top is a large ballpark logo. For score information, they use a hand-operated board in left-field and while it may not fit the vibe of the park, it does complement the video screen quite well.
Scoreboard Ranking: 3 out of 4
Displays
On both the front of the ballpark wall and the suite-level façade are numbers that represent the year the Whitecaps won the league title. A little more context would be nice as each banner only has two numbers (ex. ’15) and that’s it. In the concourse, there is a plaque about how baseball’s Reserve Clause was upheld in a Grand Rapids court.
Displays Ranking: 1.5 out of 6
Cost
Parking is $8 (Credit Card only), which is higher than it should be in my opinion. The ticket prices are on par for most of the minor leagues at this point and maybe a dollar or two higher than the average Midwest League team in the region. Seats are $19, $17 and $15 with a lawn ticket going for $10. In terms of food, same thing, a bit higher overall with a Hot Dog at $6, a Cheeseburger for $9 and a regular beer varying between $8.50 and $12.50.
Cost Ranking: 6.5 out of 8
Fan Support
This wasn’t a bad crowd for a Wednesday Night in summer with fireworks. They probably had a couple thousand in the house for this one. I did not see much in the way of Whitecaps gear as most sports-related stuff on people was for the Detroit Tigers. In terms of overall draw and attendance within the Midwest League, Dayton is in a class by itself and then I’d probably put West Michigan in the next tier with a few other teams. I feel this is more “entertainment option” related, than fan of the team given the atmosphere and wandering into different sections. It should be noted that West Michigan was long a top draw in the league and a reason for some early ballpark expansion. The last time the Whitecaps were in the playoffs (2018), they averaged 2,039 in two games. That was second best in the league that season (out of 8 teams), but behind the crowds of nearby Lansing, Great Lakes and South Bend when those teams recently made the playoffs.
Fan Support Ranking: 5 out of 8
Atmosphere
Fans were not particularly savvy as most of the crowd cheered anytime a Whitecaps bat was put on the ball. An immediate ground ball to shortstop or a routine pop fly got the same initial reaction as a home run ball. When runs were scored, the cheering was just ok. I also noticed that after every pitch, music or sound effects were played, which is annoying to me (just let the at-bat play out). They had an organist sitting in plain sight on the concourse, but she hardly ever played.
Atmosphere Ranking: 6 out of 14
Other Stuff
A “Name The Team” contest provided the Whitecaps moniker, which refers to what happens on Lake Michigan off to the west…..In 2014, a fire destroyed many suites and some of the concourse…..I appreciated how the bathroom doors were labelled “In” and “Out”. It’s the little things…..This was the first time I saw a “Storm Shelter” at a ballpark. It’s a good idea that more teams should consider if dangerous weather were to quickly arrive.
Game
West Michigan was in firm control as they had a 2-0 lead going into the 7th inning with Great Lakes only mustering two hits thus far. It was a dramatic change thereafter as the Loons tied it on a home run by Griffin Lockwood-Powell in the 7th. They jumped ahead in the 8th thanks in part by multiple wild pitches. Things then unraveled at the end as the Loons scored four in the 9th to put the game out of reach. It finished 8-3.
Stadium and Arena Visits 
