Tuesday night I went to a collegiate minor league game north of Milwaukee to support a long time friend who has helped me with my love of sports and works in sports marketing. In the last few years he has been part of a group that has started a summer collegiate team called the Lakeshore Chinooks that is playing in its first year. The team is partially owned by Milwaukee Brewers legend and Hall of Famer Robin Yount and longtime Brewers broadcaster Bob Uecker.
A few years ago I went to a planning session with my friend at Concordia College in Mequon, Wisconsin where the team is located on the shores of Lake Michigan. The team plays at Kapco Park and is very much a minor league atmosphere similar to the Beloit Snappers a professional minor league team where I have attended minor league games in Beloit, Wisconsin.
Minor League or Summer Collegiate baseball doesn’t have the same talent as the major leagues. But the love of the game is on the field and in the stands and they have promotional contests between innings that the fans can participate in. And its a lot cheaper to go to the games.
The Chinooks were a .500 team coming into the game Tuesday night and only have 5 games left. They lost this game 7-4. It was a 2-1 game going to the bottom of the seventh and they had the tying run on but couldn’t push it across. A five run inning by their opponent the Madison Mallards made it a 7-1 lead before the Chinooks made it a 7-4 final with three runs too late in the bottom of the ninth.
The Chinnoks are out of the playoff race but it was fun to watch. The players with college eligibility are unpaid unlike the professional minor leagues. They come from all over the country and different schools to play in a summer league like this. One of the Chinooks players is also the nephew of Robin Yount as well.
It was a fun and interesting evening to watch some different baseball. On the way home I listened to the major league Milwaukee Brewers defeat the NL Central leading Cincinatti Reds 3-1 for the second night in a row across town at Miller Park in Milwaukee. So it was a really good night for baseball and enjoyable as well to see something new. Best wishes always and talk soon. Bratman
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