By Ellington Smith, WKTV Intern
With opening day a little less than a month away — with their first game May 4 and first home game May 11 — the West Michigan Whitecaps are gearing up for a season that is bound to be unlike any they have had in the past.
Due to the pandemic, the fan experience will still be fun, but will be slightly different, according to Steve VanWagoner, director of marketing, for the Whitecaps and the now-named LMCU (Lake Michigan Credit Union) Ballpark.
The current capacity for the stadium is at 2,000, which is 20 percent of their normal capacity. Initially, the organization sold multi-game ticket plans to make it easier to comply with health and safety guidelines such as seating groups in pods at the stadium. But a “very limited” number of single game tickets for May and June games are on sale starting Wednesday, April 21.)
“The Whitecaps will be fun and entertaining and be a great experience this summer,” VanWagoner recently said to WKTV. “In the meantime go to our website (milb.com/west-michigan), find the safety and information page, and know that when you come to the ballpark we are serious about being family friendly and safe.”
After the Whitecaps open the season May 4 at the Fort Wayne Tin Cups, then open the home season on May 11 with a six-game homestead starting with the Great Lakes Loons.
VanWagoner said ticketed fans should be expecting an email outlining the team’s plan for how to administer all the necessary safety protocols, such as social distancing, wearing masks, continuing checking bags as in the past, and regulations regarding concession and where you are allowed to eat. Fans will be “recommended” to get tested prior to coming to a game, but it is not a requirement.
However safety precautions are not the only thing that is new for the Whitecaps this upcoming season as they were officially named a High A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers.
This decision came during December 2020 and VanWagoner spoke to how this will change the overall fan experience.
“For the fans, (it will be) a better experience, because the players that they are watching are higher caliber with more experience and higher skill level then West Michigan fans are used to seeing, so we expect to see plays that fans haven’t seen before from the Whitecaps, and just a better experience overall,” he said.
Another change for the team came in February when the stadium name was changed from Fifth Third Ballpark to LMCU (Lake Michigan Credit Union) Ballpark in a new 10-year deal. Van Wagoner went into further detail about what this change actually means for the Whitecaps organization and the fans.
“Many huge signs and things inside the ballpark will look different, but to be clear it is a name change and not an ownership change” VanWagoner said. “We are family owned and privately held, as we always have been.”
For more information visit milb.com/west-michigan.
