Come along on a visit to a Dodgers affiliate during 'The Office' Night
Benjamin Hill
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The following ballpark road trip recap is presented by Wyndham, proud sponsor of Minor League Ballpark Guides. Start planning your 2025 road trips today!
The next time someone asks you ¡°What do Midland, Mich., and Los Angeles have in common?¡± you won¡¯t be stumped. No, not this time. This time you¡¯ll have a ready answer: The Dodgers.
The Dodgers¡¯ connection to Los Angeles is obvious. As for Midland? This small city, nestled in the webbing between the thumb and fingers in the mitten that is Michigan, is home to the Dodgers¡¯ High-A affiliate: The Great Lakes Loons. For Dodgers prospects, the path to Los Angeles runs through Midland.
The Loons, a Midwest League entity that came into existence in 2007, play at Dow Diamond.
Dow is a huge name in Midland. Dow Chemical is headquartered there, and the company is (by far) the city¡¯s largest employer. I visited the Dow Diamond on Aug. 24, the second stop of my final ballpark road trip of the 2024 season and my first time there since 2013. During that first visit, I wore pantyhose over my head and tried to knock a baseball off a small cone. As one does.
The Loons are owned by the Michigan Baseball Foundation, a non-profit organization founded by Dow Chemical¡¯s then-chairman. Dow Chemical donated the land on which the ballpark was built and, of course, purchased the naming rights. You could say that this place is well en-Dow-ed.
Dow Diamond¡¯s capacity is a relatively modest 5,500, but it is impeccably clean and luxuriously spacious. Again, well endowed. Everything, from the concourses to the suite-level club to the broadcast booth to the front offices to the parking lot, seems at least 60 percent more expansive than what you¡¯d find at other Minor League parks at this level.
Most teams would kill (probably not literally, but perhaps) to have a storage area like this:
Walk up the stairs to the suite level, and you¡¯ll enter a vast expanse of open space.
Even the team store is spread out over two floors, for crying out loud. This is a shot of the lower level, taken from the upper.
I happened to be in Midland for the Loons¡¯ iteration of ¡°Office Night,¡± a common Minor League promotion over the past decade, staged in honor of the NBC sitcom. The actors who played Kevin, Stanley and Meredith on the show have commonly been booked at these events, but the Loons went in a different direction. Their special guest was David ¡°Todd Packer¡± Koechner, also known for playing sportscaster Champ Kind in Anchorman.
I took the below photo in the area where the Loons staged their pregame David Koechner meet-and-greet. If you get the references, great!
During the game, fans lined up to meet Koechner at this concourse booth. The birthday d¨¦cor was a reference to "The Office," yes. But it was more than that, because it really was Koechner¡¯s birthday!
And here I am with the birthday boy himself. Happy 62nd birthday, pal. Neither of us look a day over 61.
I like "The Office," but I¡¯m not a big fan. I was, though, a big fan of this Loons¡¯ promo, because it was well executed from start to finish. David Koechner was a great celebrity guest, warm and enthusiastic toward everyone he met. Little details were everywhere. The theme song was playing when gates opened; the videoboard graphics utilized visual elements from the show; the Dunder-Mifflin logo was emblazoned in the grass behind home plate. I could go on, but it's time for a taste of Dow Diamond's concessions.
Meet Georges Geddes, my Designated Eater on this lovely evening. George is a Cleveland-based attorney, and a Loons semi-regular because his work often brings him to Saginaw (just 30 miles southeast of Midland). But note that this is a man wearing a Jamestown Tarp Skunks T-shirt. George is a dedicated ballpark traveler, who, he said, ¡°schedules summers around games.¡± He does this in honor of his late wife, who loved visiting Minor League stadiums.
George began with a Philly Cheesesteak, served up approximately 700 miles away from the City of Brotherly Love.
¡°The meat quality is good, the bread good, the cheese melty,¡± said George. ¡°I¡¯m a happy camper with this one.¡±
Next up was a pulled pork sandwich, with a side of mac and cheese, from the Smokehouse BBQ stand.
¡°Carolina gold [sauce] was the right choice, unlike the usual tomato-based sauce,¡± said George. ¡°The meat¡¯s good and juicy and holds up well. The bun could be better, more substantial. It¡¯s a little gummy.¡±
George will make a return appearance in this missive, but would you believe that the game hadn¡¯t even started yet? Let¡¯s return to the field.
That¡¯s Lou E. Loon, a native of Lake Huron¡¯s Tawas Point State Park. Lou E., as always, was ready to cheer on his ballpark officemates. On this evening the Loons were pitted against a squad of venomous Appletonians: the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers.
Soon after the game began, George and I competed in an on-field cheeseball contest (yes, an "Office" reference). I was the tosser, he was the chomper. We lost to a pair of whippersnappers.
George then went off on his own solo Designated Eater expedition, later emailing me a forlorn hot dog report that bemoaned a lack of ¡°casing snap¡± but also awarded points for ¡°presentation and excellent condiment bar.¡±
I, meanwhile, snappily cased the joint. The Loons have a live organist on the concourse, and the organ¡¯s name is Shirley (the name of the woman who sold it to the team).
Louis, a ¡°section leader¡± stationed on the first-base side of the concourse, is one of the Loons¡¯ longest-serving (and best-loved) gameday employees.
Another beloved ballpark mainstay is Mary Machelski, who pours beers from a cart behind home plate. Her name tag says ¡°MeeMaw,¡± and that¡¯s what everyone calls her. When I asked to take her picture, MeeMaw self-deprecatingly said, ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t want to break your camera.¡± And to that I say, ¡°Stop it, MeeMaw. You look wonderful.¡±
Loons games are broadcast locally on 100.9 The Mitt. That station is owned by the Michigan Baseball Foundation and operates out of the ballpark. A unique setup.
Loons broadcaster Brad Tunney is also the The Mitt¡¯s general manager. I had the pleasure of spending an inning on the air with Brad (pictured) and his partner John Vicari.
As evening gave way to night, the baseball sky took on a purple haze. Michigan baseball skies are uniformly impeccable.
The Loons cruised to a 7-0 win, and pyrotechnics followed. For players and fans alike, it was a beautiful day at "The Office."