The West Michigan Whitecaps ended their season this week. Despite missing out on the playoffs and losing the final game of the season 7-3 to the Dayton Dragons, they did end up with a winning record, and a lot of high points. They did end up in third place in the Midwest League‘s Eastern Division, and were the fifth best team overall this season. Their final record was 72-68, going 36-34 in both halves of the season.

The Whitecaps meet their fans at the gate in the final game of the 2012 season!

“We came up a bit short, but if you look at the big picture, we had a very successful year,” second baseman Brandon Loy told the Grand Rapids Press. “We didn’t make the playoffs, it goes by halves, but if you look at the full year perspective, I think we had one of the better teams. We have some mixed emotions because we wanted to be in the playoffs, but it was a fun year for us and we had great guys on this team.”

Before their last game, the Whitecaps players greeted their fans as they entered the stadium, thanking them for their support and taking the time to come watch them play. This is a pretty classy move, and find it a great way to continue the great fan support that they get. After the game, the crowd gave the team and standing ovation, as they once again gave thanks. The praise is well deserved for both fans and players. This team played hard, but was struck with injuries and promotions that prevented the team from a real hot streak. That’s baseball, however, especially in the minors. The Whitecaps had 74 roster moves and placed a player on the disabled list 14 times, 11 of those since June. A total of 357 games were missed by players on the DL. Manager Ernie Young is proud of his team and their competitiveness, despite all of the setbacks.

“We dealt with a lot of injuries early, and we had a lot of injuries late, but we still were able to compete,” Young told the Grand Rapids Press. “Although short-handed, we were competitive and we gave ourselves an opportunity to be successful, which for me was a success. We have the fifth-best record in the Midwest League and third best in our division and we didn’t make the playoffs. They system’s not fair but it’s in place for a reason. The changes we made we were able to compete, but we just weren’t able to get on a big enough roll to separate ourselves from the middle of the pack.”

Young was also asked what grade he’d give the season and he stated a ‘B’. He was impressed with the pitching staff who had the second-best ERA  in the MWL at 3.45. Four West Michigan starters made 23 or more starts, and Tommy Collier’s 2.74 was fourth overall in the league. On another positive note, Marcelo Carreno was named the MWL Pitcher of the Week for his two performances against the Dragons. The last outing he only allowed four hits and struck out 13 batters. Relief pitcher Jade Todd was also named the Detroit Tigers Minor League Pitcher of the Month, along with Adam Wilk. Todd struck out 21 hitters in 15 2/3 innings in August, earning two wins and a save for the Whitecaps. Well, there’s always next year, and for me April can’t come soon enough.

Photos courtesy of the West Michigan Whitecaps/Grand Rapids Press/MLive.com/Sally Finneran