LANSING - Kelli Trantham can’t wait to once again walk the 145 steps or so from Oldsmobile Park to Rum Runners Dueling Piano Bar and Grill after cheering on the Lansing Lugnuts.
Oldsmobile Park, 505 E. Michigan Ave., home of the Chicago Cubs’ minor league affiliate, is located in what business owners call Lansing’s entertainment district - a strip full of restaurants and bars.
Although Trantham, a Lansing resident, hasn’t attended a Lugnuts game this season, which began Thursday, she’s getting ready to once again break out the summer clothes and the beer money.
And she said after the game her favorite place to go is Rum Runners, 601 E. Michigan Ave.
“We were downstairs dancing and drinking all night,” she said, recalling one of last year’s after-game get-togethers. “The people there were so rowdy.”
With baseball season now underway, customers like Trantham are assuring Lansing nightlife will be hopping once again this spring and summer.
Most bar employees say they expect the postgame excitement downtown to continue.
Tom Bramson, managing partner of Nuthouse Sports Grill, 420 E. Michigan Ave., said Lansing nightlife thrives once the Lugnuts begin playing ball.
“There is a lot going on and they do a lot inside the park and outside,” he said. “Anytime they put that many people in the downtown area, it is bound to create excitement.”
Bramson said people come into the sports bar before the game to eat dinner, and others stroll in after the game to relax with friends.
And the bars are also a lot of fun, with everyone in a great mood after the game, Trantham said.
Lansing Community College journalism junior Lindsey Neal also heads across the street to Rum Runners after the game.
The close proximity to Oldsmobile Park simply can’t be beat, she says.
“The bars are right here, the sporting events are right here,” she said before the Lugnuts’ season-opener Thursday. “It is a short walking distance.”
Other downtown businesses, or those not as close to Lugnuts action, don’t get the same effect as bars such as Rum Runners or the Nuthouse.
Michael Moriarty, owner of Moriarty’s Pub, 802 E. Michigan Ave., said he expected to get a lot more business from the Lugnuts than he’s actually seen.
However, he will add a patio to the pub, which is located about three blocks from Oldsmobile Park, in hopes of attracting more people after home games.
“It is more visible,” he said of the patio that will be added this week. “It’s a place where people can sit outside and enjoy themselves.”
But some bar owners say proximity rather than appearance may have to do with their lack of business from baseball season.
“There are a lot of bars that get the business, but they are closer to the stadium,” said Linda Stober, owner of Stobers Cocktail Lounge, 812 E. Michigan Ave. “I guess I am just far enough on the edge that they don’t come here.”
But she also said Lugnuts games tend to be a family event, so people are less inclined to visit the bars with their children.
However, some family restaurants also say they aren’t seeing big business boosts from the Lugnuts.
Scott Jubeck, general manager of Clara’s Restaurant, 637 E. Michigan Ave., said it doesn’t get a big rush before or after the game.
“The only time we see people after the game is when there is a rain-out or a rain delay,” he said. “We aren’t a bar so we don’t see a lot of that business.”
Jubeck said although the restaurant may not get much business from the game, the downtown nightlife is certainly different once the season starts.
“It’s a lot busier downtown,” he said. “Anytime you bring 5,000 to 7,000 people downtown at one time, you have to feel the effect.”
State News staff writer Brandi Lewandowski contributed to this report.
Shannon Murphy can be reached at murphy78@msu.edu.
