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05/24/2006Beach Bums season preview
Opening dayFans gear up for the game
Kevin Wells, 13, says his favorite ball team is the Detroit Tigers, but he plans to be at Wuerfel Park tonight for the first pitch.
See our Beach Bums in the news page. Click here, or click "Beach Bums" under "Sports" in the green navigation bar at left. TRAVERSE CITY — What a Beach Bums rush. Fans of the Beach Bums, Traverse City's new minor league team, are in a frenzy over tonight's inaugural home opener at Wuerfel Park. They've checked out the Frontier League Web site, talked up the team to friends, bought season tickets and gone loco for logo apparel with a sunglass-sporting bear. Beach Bums: Meet your new best chums. They're self-described "sports junkies," "huge baseball fans" and "baseball freaks" And they're starved for a little baseball action Up North. "We have never really had anything like that around here," said Christopher Strickland of Traverse City. He has two season tickets to Wuerfel Park and a passion for the sport. Strickland also is on a "conquest" to take his son to every major league baseball park by the time he graduates from high school. But he's thrilled about the local team that begins its season tonight against the Kalamazoo Kings, the league's defending champions. "It's phenomenal...," Strickland said of the newly built stadium in Blair Township. "I have been to a lot of minor league parks, a few in Florida, and it is the best that I have ever seen, from what I hear, it is the best thing going." Strickland is hardly alone. Contrary to their team's nickname, Beach Bum fans are anything but lackadaisical with their support. "I am excited to death," said Christopher Warner, who nabbed four opening night tickets after waiting in line for more than two hours the day they went on sale. He's already scoped out the Frontier League Web site and measured the distances to other cities with teams. "I have always liked minor league sports, and I just think we are the perfect size town for a minor league to do well in," Warner said. Jason Myers and Scott Daley of East Jordan were awed by the stadium, which they checked out Monday when they purchased season tickets on the first base line in "foul ball territory." It was a sky blue day, and delivery trucks rolled up to unload cases of beer as workers scurried to make final preparations. Both reported that Beach Bum fever has caught on outside of Traverse City. "We needed this," said Myers. "My friends are the ones who turned me onto it. Traverse City has got to come out and make this work." The two bemoaned the lack of family activities in the region, saying there isn't much to offer in the way of affordable, non-tourist entertainment north of Grand Rapids. But the baseball team fits that bill, they said. "This is America's pastime," said Daley. Liz Anderson left the stadium souvenir shop on Monday with a few ball caps. She paused to look at a board that listed ticket prices and pronounced the ballpark "beautiful." "It's the prettiest I've ever seen," said the Traverse City woman. She said the city is buzzing about the team. "You hear everyone talking about it," Anderson said. Across town, on a much more modest diamond, the Beach Bums have already won the hearts of the sport's youngest players. West 
Jacob Longstreet, 14, is anticipating the season that “everyone” is talking about. “I love baseball,” he said while playing catch at the Civic Center. Junior High School students Kevin Wells, 13, and Jacob Longstreet, 14, were at the Civic Center warming up and playing catch. The Tarras Construction teammates confirmed the Beach Bums were popular amongst their peers. Kevin said his favorite team is the Detroit Tigers. But tonight, he plans to be among the Beach Bum fans with tickets to see the first pitch from Wuerfel Park. Jacob is also anticipating a season that "everyone" is talking about and that he expects to be "sweet." "I love baseball," he said.
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