Tagged: Franklin Navarro

July 6, 2015

Back To The Loons

Great Lakes Loons vs. West Michigan Whitecaps (Midwest League)

Dow Diamond-Midland, MI: This month is the 30th anniversary of one of my favorite films of all time, Back To The Future. When we found out that the Great Lakes Loons were hosting a BTTF night, Brian and I jumped in the van and drove 88 mph downstate to take in the game. As soon as we entered the gate, we found what we were looking for: the BTTF car; the time machine; the DeLorean. Just to be able to see the car that was in he movie was amazing, but Brian got a special treat. By making a donation to the Michael J. Fox Foundation, he was able to get into the car. ‘Future boy’ hammed it up a bit, and we got some great photos!

Flux capacitor…fluxing:

Bri earned his DeLorean drivers license, too:

Also a little video of Brian in the time machine. I would love to take him on a trip back to 1985:

Great Scott!!!! Three generations of baseball fans:

After we were done checking the car out, we headed down to the visitor’s dugout to try for some Whitecaps autographs. Brian really wanted to get Joey Pankake to sign his card, but he didn’t play this game. He did get his hat signed by Zach Shepherd and Franklin Navarro, though, and they were both very nice to him.As for the actual baseball game that took place, the Loons jumped out to a 1-0 lead when first baseman Justin Chigbogu hit a bomb over the right field fence that hasn’t landed yet. He went 2-4 on the night. Great Lakes then went up 2-0 on a Jimmy Allen RBI that scored Federico Celli. Allen was 1-3 for the game, and Celli 2-4.

We also spent some time at Lou E’s Lookout, playing on the playground and hanging out with mascots Lou E. Loon and Ral E. Camel.

Whoa, this is heavy, but while we were in the Lookout, the Whitecaps started their comeback. The ‘Caps scored five unanswered runs, and needed only two RBI’s to do it. Michael Gerber got West Michigan on the board, when he scored on a wild pitch after hitting a triple. Gerber went 1-3 with an RBI, while Derek Hill led the way offensively, going 2-4 with the other RBI. David Gonzalez also went 2-4 with two runs scored.

A view from out seats. There simply is no bad seat at Dow Diamond, it’s such a great ballpark. And this moon was amazing, too!

On the mound, Artie Lewicki earned the win for West Michigan, allowing two runs on seven hits. Gabe Hemmer and Johan Belisario picked up the hold and save, throwing just over three scoreless innings. Kevin Guzman took the loss for the Loons. Another fun game, and feeling very blessed to be able to experience this with my son and dad. With a long drive ahead of us, ‘future boy’ and I made like a tree and got out of there. We have another game planned soon, but we’ll see how the weather holds up. Final: Loons 2, Whitecaps 5.