A tourist league, the Lake Michigan Circuit thrives in small cities and towns surrounding the big lake they call Michigan. Civic pride more than revenue drives the continued existence of these franchises. "We've had a team for I don't know how many years," says Benton Harbor mayor Fred Taylor. "It's just a natural part of summer around here. Ice cream, tourists, mosquitos that could kill a cat, and the shaggy fellows on the ball diamond."
Many of the residents of these small towns maintain homes in southern states during the winter. But come summer, in the days after the June amateur draft, they trickle into the ballparks of the league, chatting with neighbors, reuniting with other summer residents, paying some attention to baseball along the way. As in the Big River Alliance many of the freshly minted minor leaguers of the Lake Michigan Circuit live with townspeople. In most cases, relations between landfolk and tenants are cordial if not quite warm, unless the players are from the region.
WESTERN DIVISION |
EASTERN DIVISION |
Algoma Moderates | Benton Harbor Davids |
Manitowoc Shipbuilders | Holland Reformers |
Port Washington Stevedores | Ludington Fruit Farmers |
Racine Waxers | Michigan City Moundsmen |
Sheboygan Cheese Curds | Muskegon Dead Indians |
Waukegan Machinists | Traverse City Roadsters |