MAKING THE DREAM A REALITY Familiarity seems to suit the West Michigan Whitecaps. Sure, the names on the back of the uniforms may have changed over the years, and Fifth Third Ballpark
has
enjoyed
a
number
of
renovations, expansions and technological improvements, but when the Whitecaps opened the 2018 Midwest League season, fans were treated to largely the same welcome sights, smells and sounds that have greeted crowds since Minor League Baseball finally returned to the area. Many of the faces also will be recognizable. Thousands of people – many of whom have grown up with the team, maybe attending games with their parents before taking children of their own – once again packed the concourse when the Whitecaps hosted the South Bend Silver Hawks (now the Cubs) in the home opener on April 5 and there, somewhere in the middle of that throng, were the two of the most familiar individuals associated with the Whitecaps and baseball in West Michigan. There’s a good chance you’ve already crossed paths– and perhaps exchanged
pleasantries – with Whitecaps owners and
existence. Of course, Grand Rapids is also
founders Denny Baxter and Lew Chamberlin.
well-known for the Chicks of the All-American
It’s not been unusual to see them strolling
Girls Professional Baseball League and “A
through the ballpark, munching on popcorn
League of Their Own” movie fame, but that
or a hot dog, during one of the Whitecaps’
league disbanded in 1954 and left West
more than 1,700 home games.
Michigan without a professional team for four long decades.
As the team celebrates its 25th season,
there isn’t much the duo hasn’t already
It might have stayed that way if not for a
seen. Sure, another championship would
series of columns written by Corky Meinecke
be nice and the fan experience is extremely
of The Grand Rapids Press in 1980 that
important, but the thing they were really
posited a simple question: If Minor League
hoping for on Opening Night was warm
Baseball can work in Evansville, Indiana
temperatures and maybe a little sunshine.
- then the home of the Detroit Tigers’
(As most everyone knows, spring in
AAA affiliate - then why couldn’t it here?
Michigan can be a tad unpredictable and
Chamberlin read those stories and had
recent experience is no exception.)
the same question. As it turned out, so did Baxter.
That request seems downright quaint compared to the hoops and hurdles Baxter
Over
and Chamberlin were forced to navigate
Chamberlin and Baxter separately began
the
next
couple
of
years,
more than 30 years ago just to bring the
pursuing the idea of bringing Minor League
franchise to life.
Baseball back to West Michigan. Neither one had a clue what the other was doing at
The Whitecaps may have made their
the time. They were working parallel tracks
home debut with a 5-2 win against the
with the same vision, but progress was
Burlington Bees on April 12, 1994, but
painfully slow and frequently frustrating.
the seeds for a franchise located in West
Their paths might have never crossed if
Michigan actually were planted way back in
not for another article in The Grand Rapids
1980 - if not before even then.
Press, this time written by Greg Johnson, who linked Baxter to efforts to bring a team
Professional baseball in Grand Rapids
to Wyoming near Lamar Park.
dates back to the 1880s, when a number of teams came and went during the turn
of the century with nicknames like the
his family’s business at Alro Steel, wasn’t
Furnituremakers and Ganzfelds, with the
exactly thrilled to learn someone else was
Great Depression generally wiping out their
Chamberlin, who was then working for
pursuing the same project at first. Rather
copying my notes. My jaw hit the table. He
a baseball stadium, they realized that
than dwell on the prospect, however, he
gets it, this guy gets it! He knows it all!”
another path would have to be found. For
took some sage advice from his then wife, Bettegail Shively.
the record, Chamberlin says the committee
Chamberlin will be the first to admit that
he doesn’t know it all, but he did quickly
was “absolutely right” to make those its top two priorities.
“When I saw the articles, I was
discover that the pair shared a vision for
crestfallen,” Chamberlin said. “Here it was,
a new team and his legal background
somebody doing exactly what I wanted to do.
complemented Baxter’s as a Certified
that if we really wanted to get it done in
But my wife said, ‘Before you give up, why
Public Accountant. “The classic tale of two
our lifetime we were going to have to do it
don’t you just call the guy and see what’s
heads are better than one,” Chamberlin
another way,” Chamberlin said. “That other
up?’ And that’s what I did; I called the guy.“I
said.
way was to go out and raise the money
didn’t even know what I was looking for.”
“We pretty quickly came to understand
from investors, get them to understand and Chamberlin then contacted a friend
share your vision. That’s what we did.”
Baxter, meanwhile, had performed a
from his law school days to draw up the
significant amount of initial work, investing
contract
Michigan
Eventually, they were able to secure
in preliminary architecture plans and a
Baseball Development, Inc. and “away we
26 limited business partners and together
couple marketing studies. He’d also made a
went.”
they purchased a vacant piece of land just
that
formed
West
few phone calls of his own, including one to
off highway U.S. 131 in Comstock Park,
Pacific Coast League President Bill Cutler,
There was only one issue: Without a
where one of the only professional baseball
who had ties to the Grand Rapids area and
stadium, they were having trouble finding a
stadiums constructed strictly with private
seemed legitimately excited by the prospect
team that could relocate to West Michigan.
funding now stands.
of baseball returning to the area.
Conversely, minus a team willing to move
to West Michigan, building a new baseball
“We literally went out and found it brick-
Baxter had plenty of conversations with
stadium was going to be a tricky proposition.
by-brick. We stuck our necks out there,
curious individuals on the topic, but the
“We’ve always described it as a chicken
reputation-wise,” Baxter said. “It’s not like
project seemed to be spinning its wheels.
and egg issue,” Chamberlin said. “How
it was two guys dropping a million dollars
Nothing clicked until he answered the
could you get the county or the state or
each into this project.”
phone and Chamberlin was on the other
whoever to build you a stadium if you can’t
end.
guarantee them a team that will play here?
Of course, there was still the matter
That hour-long phone conversation led
And how can we go out and find investors
of finding an actual team to play in this
to another, which eventually led to a sit-
or somebody who’s willing to sell us a team
new facility. Fortunately, in the fall of
down meeting at a restaurant in Hudsonville
unless we can honestly say we have a place
1992, Baxter and Chamberlin had started
where the fantasy of Grand Rapids Minor
to for them to play? We were stuck. We had
negotiations with the Madison Muskies of
League Baseball started to take shape.
to pick either the chicken or the egg. “So we
the Midwest League. Finally, in February
picked the egg, which was the facility, and
1993, it was announced that the Muskies
went to work on it.”
would relocate to West Michigan and
“It was thrilling. I knew from the beginning that not many people knew me
construction of a 5,700-seat stadium that
and I meant nothing in this town,” Baxter
said. “I didn’t have money, I don’t have a
countless time and energy toward finding
For the next six years, the pair devoted
would originally be known as Old Kent Park
business reputation. I’m not (local baseball
a way to publicly finance a stadium, which
legend) Bob Sullivan, I’m not Fred Meijer,
is what the overwhelming majority of minor
I’m not Rich DeVos. Who was going to listen
league franchises did at the time. They also
selling air and in some sense perhaps so
to me? I was desirous of connecting with
worked with the not-for-profit Grand Vision
because we didn’t have the stadium and we
some people.
Committee, which was founded in 1991
didn’t have the team,” Baxter said. “But we
and is now known as Grand Action, to find
had a pretty good case to talk about what
“But nobody really came across as
a way to construct a stadium, perhaps in
Minor League Baseball in West Michigan
someone who would really dive in and do
Wyoming or Byron Township. Unfortunately,
could look like and mean to this community.
this. When I got the call from Lew, I was
when the committee chose to prioritize an
Fortunately, we were able to sell that.”
really looking for that. I needed someone to
arena – which eventually would become
help me get this off the ground. So he came
Van Andel Arena - and convention center -
out and we talked and it was like he was
DeVos Place – for public dollar use before
began that spring. “I always joked that we were out there
“What we learned over the course of those six or seven years is that we didn’t have a lot of credibility. We had a great idea, we had the numbers to back it up, we had a plan, but we didn’t have much credibility,” Chamberlin said. “The reason we’re here now is because that was the plan all along. Our vision was that it would always become a tradition in West Michigan and a part of
Looking back, it’s hard to believe it took this long for Minor League Baseball to find its way back to West Michigan. If not for an out-of-the-blue phone call from Chamberlin to Baxter, it may still be only a pipedream instead of an annual destination for hundreds of fans located throughout the state.
the fabric of our community.”
talking to fans, sharing memories and,
once again walking along the concourse,
That tradition now includes six Midwest
League championships, 9 million fans – and counting - and a successful long-term relationship as the Class A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers.
naturally, cheering for the Whitecaps. “The passion remains,” Baxter said. “We’re as big of baseball fans now as we were back then. It hasn’t gone away. The vision lives on.”
Through it all, Baxter and Chamberlin have
As a result, it won’t be hard to find them
maintained
a
partnership
and
friendship built on a mutual love of the sport. Their personalities may differ slightly – Baxter describes himself as being a little brasher, while Chamberlin is more methodical – but the foundation of trust has never wavered. “There’s not a better
“It’s one thing to have a dream. It’s quite another thing to turn that into reality,” Chamberlin said. “We still haven’t seen enough baseball games. I’m not done watching baseball. “I probably never will be.”
person on the planet,” Baxter said. “It’s been the biggest blessing of my life.” Said Chamberlin: “We’ve never been at crosshairs. Ever.” A
mutual
leap
of
faith,
a
little
stubbornness and a firm belief that they had the right plan has led to what is now inarguably one of the most successful franchises in all of baseball.
“We always said, going back all the way
to the early 80s, that this was not a bad idea, it was a good idea, just bad execution,” Chamberlin said. “If it’s a good idea, then it’s worth pursuing until somebody actually drives a nail through the coffin. And nobody could ever do that.” “Believe me, working through this project, there were a lot of folks who would literally say to my face, ‘You’re crazy.’ ” Baxter said. “People did not think that this was going to work. People look at it today, after 25 years, and think it makes perfect sense. Not so much in 1984, 85, 86 ...”
Top: Crash the River Rascal 1994 Middle: Line for Opening Day tickets downtown Grand Rapids in March1994 Bottom: Old Kent Park1994