Midland, MI- The undefeated Great Lakes Loons dropped their Home Opener on Sunday, April 11^th, in front of a record crowd of 5,723 at the Dow Diamond.  The Loons fresh off a 3-0 start on the road with the South Bend Silverhawks were defeated by their in-state rivals the Lansing Lugnuts 10-8.  This was after jumping off to a 7-1 lead going into the seventh inning.  The newly labeled "Busty's Bombers" jumped all over the Lansing starter Chad Jenkins for a comfortable lead before falling apart in the late innings.

This best Opening Day in the Loons history saw a sell-out crowd enjoy the sunshine and 65 degree weather.  Manager Juan Bustabad sent out basically an entire new line-up from last year's playoff team.  The Los Angeles Dodgers affiliate are expecting big things again this summer in Midland.  One of the goals of Bustabad is to again make the Midwest League playoffs and advance to the Championship round.

The Loons have several new prospects on this year’s roster including Brian Cavazos-Galvez, Angelo Songco and Pedro Guerrero.  They also return a couple of pitchers from last season including Justin Miller and Steve Smith.  The Loons also added two new coaches for the 2010 season in Pitching Coach Chuck Crim and Hitting Coach Michael Boughton.  Most of the Loons this season moved up from the Rookie League team in Ogden and have played together for a season promising some good team chemistry for the summer.

There will be many promotions this summer at the Dow Diamond to keep the record crowds coming in.  One of the popular promotions that the Loons had in 2009 returns again this summer.  It features the Detroit Tigers with three bobble-head giveaways and three appearances by popular Detroit Tiger legends Mickey Lolich, Willie Horton and Darryl Evans.  They will also have popular fireworks after the weekend games in 2010.  The hard working staff keep the very clean Dow Diamond an attractive and great value for your entertainment dollars.

The popular Class A Midwest League added 2 teams over the winter to make the 14 team league a great place to see the up coming baseball talent a couple of years away from playing in the Major Leagues.  Many of the top stars in the MLB started their careers in the Midwest League.  Even though the Great Lakes Loons are an affiliate of the Dodgers many of us now follow the Dodgers to keep track of Clayton Keisha who made a stop in Midland in 2007.  

All in all it promises to be an enjoyable summer at Dow Diamond in Midland.