Despite the coronavirus pandemic, baseball is coming back to northern Michigan this summer. On Monday the Traverse City Pit Spitters announced the creation of two brand new teams – the Great Lakes Resorters and the Northern Michigan Dune Bears.
To eliminate travel during the COVID-19 pandemic, all three will play against each other at Turtle Creek Stadium in Traverse City this summer.
“Trying to put 35-40 guys on a bus with the current climate ... is probably not the socially responsible thing to be doing,” says Pit Spitters General Manager Mickey Graham. “So this plan eliminates travel for us. It allows us to have multiple games, especially with the limited capacities that we’re at.”
The regular season will last 57 games and begins on July 1st. Only 500 tickets will be sold for each game. Fans must maintain a social distance when possible, and seating will also be spaced out. There will be a more limited food and drink menu.
“There’s something about going to the ballpark on a good summer night – eating a hotdog, drinking a beverage – that makes life somewhat normal. And in these times that’s important for us to provide,” says Graham.
The Great Lakes Resorters and the Northern Michigan Dune Bears are expected to only exist for this year.
