Every year, BDO Seidman treats its employees to a free Whitecaps game. The West Michigan Whitecaps are a minor league affiliate of the Detroit Tigers.
This year, we sat in the Pepsi Stadium Club, which includes indoor seating for 200, plus an outdoor deck for those who prefer sunshine to A/C. We also got parking passes and free food. Dinner started at 6:30, and the first pitch was at 7.
Between innings, they did all sorts of contests and promotions, to keep the crowd entertained. Our favorite was a race between (men in) giant inflated eyeballs, running along the outfield to advertise some eye clinic or other. The red eye kept tripping, which was fun to watch.
Around the 4th inning or so, we walked across the parking lot to AJ's Family Fun Center, where we had a buy-one-attraction-get-one-free coupon, and we went for the Go-Karts. I drove a single, and James drove a double, with Christopher riding shotgun. We had a blast! James let me pass him for the last lap, but he stayed ahead of me most of the time. It was fun waving to them across the turns, and we had the entire track to ourselves.
After Go-Karts, we walked the miniature golf course. They have a really neat course, with water running throughout, plus an "underground" hole, and another way up in the air, at the top of a waterfall. Next time we have a hankering for mini golf (or Goony Golf), we'll know where to go. We also played a couple of arcade games: air hockey (I lost) and Smack an Alien, like Whack-a-Mole, but with aliens popping out of a dead astronaut's chest. Good times!
When we returned to the stadium, it was the top of the 9th inning, and everyone who was left from BDO had moved outside to the patio. The temperature had dropped about ten degrees (from 83 to 73, just to rub it in for our southern relatives), and it was perfect.
The game was 6-1, with the Whitecaps ahead against the Wisconsin Timber Rattlesnakes, and after we struck them out at the top of the 9th, the game was declared a win for the Whitecaps.
After the game, 6 spectators went up in turn to try to hit balls out of the park. After 2 practice swings, they each had 15 tries to hit a slow-pitch softball 327' over the fence and into the crowd. The winner hit an astounding 5 balls over the wall! None of the balls sailed in our direction, but plenty of kids (and grown-ups, too) had brought their mitts along, just in case.
After that, the fireworks were scheduled to begin. The stadium employees told us that we'd see them better out in the parking lot, and boy, were they right! On our way out of the park, we each received a free bottle of vitamin water from Spartan Foods (a local grocery chain), and when the fireworks started, it was almost directly over our heads!
The fireworks display was beautiful, and more than made up for the 4th of July disappointment (we watched fireworks from the roof of a hotel, but the big downtown display was miles away in a valley, and we could barely see it behind the trees). It was a thrilling (and loud) end to a fun evening.
Best time we've spent at the ballpark!