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Traverse City Beach Bums
Team logo Cap insignia
Information
LeagueFrontier League
LocationBlair Township, Michigan
BallparkWuerfel Park
Founded2006
Folded2018
League championships1 (2015)
Division championships1 (2012)
Former name(s)
ColorsNavy blue, gold, white
     

The Traverse City Beach Bums were a professional baseball team based in the Traverse City, Michigan suburb of Blair Township from 2006-2018. The Beach Bums played in the independent Frontier League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball.

The Beach Bums were established in 2006 when the Richmond Roosters franchise was purchased and moved from Richmond, Indiana. The Roosters had began play in the third season of the Frontier League and existed from 1995-2005. The Beach Bums played their home games at Wuerfel Park in Traverse City, named for then owners John and Leslye Weurful. The Roosters played at Don McBride Stadium in Richmond.

In 2018, the franchise was sold to the owners of the Midwest League West Michigan Whitecaps who folded the Frontier League affiliation and launched a new team in the Northwoods League, the Traverse City Pit Spitters.[1]

The franchise is represented in the Frontier League Hall of Fame by Richmond player-manager Fran Riordan, Richmond part-owner Duke Ward, along with Roosters players first-basemen Morgan Burkhart, pitcher Matt Schweitzer, outfielder Pete Pirman, pitcher Bobby Chandler, Beach Bums pitcher Scott Dunn and Traverse City 1B Chase Burch.[2][3]

Richmond Roosters

The Richmond Roosters returned professional baseball to Richmond, Indiana in 1995, the third season of the Frontier League, and played at the historic McBride Stadium, which opened in 1936.[4]

The Roosters were led in the 1995 season by Morgan Burkhart, who would become the second Frontier League player to make a Major League Baseball team when he joined the Boston Red Sox in 2000. Brian Tollberg of the Chillicothe Paints was the first league alumnus to make the majors, beating Burkhart by a week in the 2000 season.[5] Burkhart won three league Frontier League MVP awards (1995-1997) and the league MVP award is now named after him.[6] </ref>

Richmond won back-to-back Frontier League championships in 2001 and 2002, led by player-manager Fran Riordan. In 2001, the Roosters upset the league-best Paints 2-0 in the best-of-three championship series to capture their first Frontier League title.[7][8] The team repeated as Frontier League champions in 2002, again upsetting the league-best Washington Wild Things 3-1 in a best of five series for the title.[9][10][11]

Growth in the Frontier League challenged the small Richmond franchise and the ownership group elected to sell the franchise at the conclusion of the 2005 season.[12][13] The last home game for the Roosters was a 9-3 loss to the Evansville Otters on September 2, 2005 and the team finished the season on the road with the last Richmond game being a 9-8 road loss to the Florence Freedom on September 5, 2005.[14][15]

Traverse City Beach Bums

The Beach Bums were Traverse City's first professional baseball team since 1915. Predecessors included the semi-professional Traverse City Hustlers of the 1890s, and the professional Traverse City Resorters (1910-1915).[16] Following the 2004 season, the Frontier League granted a franchise for Traverse City, however the league was not sure whether to consider the team for expansion or relocation. Then, in 2005, the Richmond Roosters were purchased and the franchise moved to Traverse City.[17]

With the move and a slow start in Traverse City that led to a 7-year franchise absence from post-season play, the team then established consistency with players such 2012 Frontier League MVP Jose Vargas (.290 BA, 29 HR, 100 RBI). The Beach Bums then added to the franchise championship history in 2015, advancing from a play-in game to take the title in a best of five series sweep, defeating the River City Rascals 3-0.[18] [19]The 2015 Bums were led by pitchers Ian MacDougall (10-6, 2.51 ERA), Kramer Champlin (10-6, 2.05 ERA) and Andrew Brockett (3-0, 1.54 ERA, 21 saves), along with 3B Jose Vargas (.314 BA, 10 HR, 51 RBI) and OF Brandon Jacobs (.320 BA, 17 HR, 54 RBI).[20]

Declining attendance led to the team being sold at the conclusion of the 2018 season to owners of the West Michigan Whitecaps, the franchise left the Frontier League to join the summer collegiate baseball Northwoods League, and the team's name was changed to the Traverse City Pit Spitters.[21] The stadium was renamed to Turtle Creek Stadium after the sale.[22] The franchise's final Frontier League professional game was a 9-2 loss to the Windy City ThunderBolts, played at Wuerfel Park on August 31, 2018, before 3,142 spectators.[23]

Season-by-season records

Richmond Roosters
Year W-L PCT Place Postseason
1995 38-32 .543 4th in FL
1996 39-35 .527 1st in FL West League Division Series: Lost vs. Springfield Capitals 2-1
1997 43-37 .538 2nd in FL West Frontier League Division Series: Lost vs. Evansville Otters 2-1
1998 49-31 .612 2nd in FL West
1999 40-43 .482 4th in FL East
2000 40-43 .482 4th in FL East
2001 49-35 .583 2nd in FL East League Division Series: Defeated the Dubois County Dragons 2-1
Frontier League Championship Series: Defeated the Chillicothe Paints 3-0
Frontier League Champions
2002 53-31 .631 2nd in FL East League Division Series: Defeated the Dubois County Dragons 2-1
Frontier League Championship Series: Defeated the Washington Wild Things 3-1
Frontier League Champions
2003 50-39 .562 4th in FL East
2004 43-53 .448 5th in FL East
2005 39-56 .415 6th in FL East
Totals 483-435 .526
Playoffs 12-7 .632 1 Division Title, 4 Playoff Appearances, 2 Championships
Traverse City Beach Bums
Year W-L PCT Place Postseason
2006 57-39 .594 3rd in FL East
2007 46-50 .479 4th in FL Central
2008 50-46 .521 2nd in FL East
2009 42-53 .442 5th in FL East
2010 55-41 .573 2nd in FL East League Division Series: Defeated the Windy City Thunderbolts 3-1.

Frontier League Championship Series: Lost vs. River City Rascals 1-3

2011 51-45 .531 3rd in FL East
2012 64-32 .667 1st in FL East League Division Series: Lost vs. Southern Illinois Miners 0-3
2013 55-41 .573 2nd in FL East League Division Series: Lost vs. Lake Erie 2-3
2014 38-58 .396 6th in FL East
2015 56-38 .596 2nd in FL East League Play-in Game: Won vs. Rockford 5-1
Frontier League Division Series: Won vs. Normal 2-0
Frontier League Championship Series: Won vs. River City 3-0
Frontier League Champions
2016 42-52 .447 4th in FL East
2017 37-59 .385 6th in FL East
2018 44-51 .463 5th in FL East
Totals 615-573 .518
Playoffs 12-9 .571 1 Division Title, 4 Playoff Appearances, 1 Championship

References

  1. ^ "Traverse City to Northwoods League". Ballpark Digest. August Publications. September 26, 2018. Retrieved September 30, 2018.
  2. ^ "Hall of Fame – Frontier League".
  3. ^ Jimenez, Jesus. "Former Richmond Roosters co-owner Duke Ward to enter Frontier League Hall of Fame". Palladium-Item.
  4. ^ Chapin, Josh. "McBride Stadium: 80 years of history". Palladium-Item. Richmond, Indiana.
  5. ^ Cooper, J. J. "Commissioner Bill Lee's Legacy Lives On In Frontier League After Retiring". Baseballamerica.com.
  6. ^ "League History". Frontier League.
  7. ^ "Clipped From Palladium-Item". September 8, 2001. p. 11 – via newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Clipped From Palladium-Item". September 8, 2001. p. 13 – via newspapers.com.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference auto1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ "Clipped From Palladium-Item". September 8, 2002. p. 23 – via newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Clipped From Palladium-Item". September 8, 2002. p. 26 – via newspapers.com.
  12. ^ Jimenez, Jesus. "The Rooster years: Frontier League team's 11-year home". Palladium-Item. Richmond, Indiana.
  13. ^ "Clipped From Palladium-Item". July 1, 2005. p. 1 – via newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "Clipped From Palladium-Item". September 6, 2005. p. 9 – via newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "Clipped From Palladium-Item". September 6, 2005. p. 11 – via newspapers.com.
  16. ^ Peek, Jeff (May 22, 2006). "Hustlers, Resorters, and Beach Bums". Traverse City Record-Eagle. Archived from the original on June 20, 2006.
  17. ^ "Clipped From Detroit Free Press". April 2, 2006. p. 41 – via newspapers.com.
  18. ^ "2015 Traverse City Beach Bums minor league baseball Roster on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com.
  19. ^ "Clipped From St. Louis Post-Dispatch". September 20, 2015. pp. C002 – via newspapers.com.
  20. ^ "2015 Traverse City Beach Bums - The Baseball Cube". www.thebaseballcube.com.
  21. ^ jcook@record-eagle.com, JAMES COOK. "Top 10: Beach Bums sold, change leagues (No. 6)". Traverse City Record-Eagle.
  22. ^ https://upnorthlive.com/news/local/pit-spitters-park-renamed-turtle-creek-stadium-with-new-partnership
  23. ^ "Windy City ThunderBolts vs Traverse City Beach Bums box score". Retrieved 27 March 2019.
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