Elsie - Doris Hyland only gave birth to two children, but 28 call her mom.
Doris, her husband, Jim Hyland, and their dog, Huey, are as much a part of the Lansing Lugnuts as the 26 athletes on the team’s roster.
The six-year season-ticket-holders make a 40-mile trip from their home in Elsie each game to provide the Lansing squad with a source of positive influence and an ever-optimistic fan base.
The Hylands have assumed the role of surrogate parents to a group of men that are sometimes farther away from home than they’ve ever been.
The couple even has set their own system of goals and rewards for the team - hit three home runs in the season or pitch a good game, and get a dinner on the Hylands.
Once, the Hylands took first baseman Brad Bouras and his girlfriend out for dinner as a reward for his achievements on the field and at the plate.
“They really are great people,” Bouras said. “It feels great having them around. They’re like a second family.”
And even though their set of souvenirs isn’t lacking, the Hylands say the best gift they get in return is seeing the team take the field each game.
After retiring from a 22-year career with the Air Force, Jim was diagnosed with a form of multiple sclerosis, which attacks the central nervous system.
Jim said the disease has put some limits on his mobility, so becoming Lugnuts fans seemed like a perfect way for the Vietnam veteran and his wife to stay active.
“The Lugnuts have certainly fit a real need in our lives,” Doris said. “And besides that, it’s good, clean, family fun - cheaper than a movie.”
But when it comes to baseball, Jim and Doris say they are fans of the players first and the game second. And although the couple has their own pair of tickets, they manage pick up an extra 100 to 200 each year to bring friends and family to the ball park.
Even Huey, Jim’s service dog, seems to have a case of Lugnuts fever.
The 10-year-old golden retriever accompanies the couple to most games, and has had his picture in the Lugnuts program the past two years.
“He even knows when we’re going to the baseball field,” Doris said.
“When Jim gets his Lugnuts hat out, Huey goes crazy and runs around. He loves going to games.”
The Hylands say they’ve made it their duty to let each individual player know there’s always someone in his corner, even if it means going out of their way to show support.
And it seems their message is being received.
Earlier this season, former Lansing pitcher B.J. Benik invited the Hylands to Comstock Park for an away game against the West Michigan White Caps.
“My daughter-in-law was expecting, but we headed to the ballgame anyway,” Doris said. “We got there and realized that B.J. was pitching, and that was his way of telling us he wanted us there to support him.”
Perhaps it was because of those two fans that Benik retired 14-consecutive batters that game. In seven innings he scattered two hits, allowing no runs and leading the Lugnuts to a 2-0 victory over the White Caps.
But statistics don’t matter much to the Hylands - a smile from one of their ‘kids’ is enough.
“When he saw us sitting there in the stands, he grinned from ear-to-ear,” Doris said. “And then he went out there and had a great game, that was a bonus.”
Even more self-contained players, like Mike Mallory, have grown to look up to the Hylands.
Jim gave the center fielder a few words of encouragement while he was battling a midseason hitting slump.
“I called him over before he got up (to bat) and said, ‘Hey, I want to be able to go and see you play at Wrigley one day,’” Jim said. “Then he went up to bat and hit a home run over the wall in left field.”
And if the Lugnuts aren’t enough, players from opposing teams have given way to the Hyland’s charm. The couple has a plethora of memorabilia, such as bats, balls and baseball cards - each autographed of course - from Lugnuts and other Midwest League players.
Before the 2002 season began, the Hylands traveled to Mesa, Ariz., for the Lugnuts’ spring training. Because the Chicago Cubs, along with all of their minor-league affiliates practice there, the Hylands went park-hopping to catch up with a few of their favorite former Lugnuts.
“I went around Mesa collecting hugs, not autographs,” Doris said. “It’s so nice to see how well they’re doing, moving up, it makes the trip worth it.
“Sometimes you just have to follow your ’Nuts.”
