That Opening Day loss for the Detroit Tigers leave a bad taste in your mouth? Tonight offers a new opportunity to savor America's pastime.
The MSU baseball team will face the Lansing Lugnuts, a Class-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays, at 6:05 p.m. in what's being billed as the "Crosstown Showdown." The exhibition game is the Lugnuts' first ever against a collegiate team and will be played on their home field, Oldsmobile Park, 505 E. Michigan Ave. in Lansing.
"This is something that (the players) have been looking forward to ever since we finalized it," said MSU head coach David Grewe, who came up with the idea for the game last season.
"It's going to be a neat day for our guys and a great experience for Michigan State baseball."
Tickets can still be purchased for $5 at the Oldsmobile Park box office, by calling (517) 485-4500 or by going online at www.lansinglugnuts.com. Almost 3,000 tickets had been sold as of a week ago, and barring meteorological problems (tonight's forecast calls for temperatures in the 60s with a chance of rain), the game likely will near a sellout.
"If we get out there, and it's a good environment, I think the people are going to go nuts," Grewe said.
MSU is no stranger to Oldsmobile Park. The Spartans played in the stadium's first game — an Apr. 3, 1996, tilt with Michigan — and have played several contests a season there in recent years.
But a few things will be different for this game. The Spartans will use wooden bats instead of the aluminum ones they use in collegiate games, and they'll wear throwback jerseys featuring a Michigan Agricultural College logo.
Of course, the opponents in the other dugout also will be of a slightly higher caliber than MSU is used to.
"It's a challenge to play against guys at that level, but it's not David and Goliath as a lot of people might think," senior pitcher Craig Brookes said. "These guys are, if not our age, maybe a couple years older. We've played at the same level with them.
"It's a place we want to get to, and it'll give us a good opportunity to see exactly what it takes to play baseball for a living."
The Spartans (11-9) have won five of their last six games, including three of four against Indiana last weekend in their Big Ten-opening series. The Lugnuts will be playing their first game of the season.
Gamesmanship has been high leading up to the exhibition.
East Lansing Mayor Sam Singh and his Lansing counterpart, Virg Bernero, have a friendly wager on the game, with the losing city's mayor agreeing to wear the winning city's jersey around the office Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Grewe's looking for any edge he can get.
"We have to come up with a little bit of a secret weapon because we aren't professional players," Grewe said. "So what I'm going to do is I'm going to hire a couple special, secret first-base coaches for us to try and get a leg up on the Lugnuts."
Grewe wouldn't elaborate on potential candidates, but hinted they might come from within the MSU sports community.
It sounds a lot more serious than it is. The final score of the game will be a lot less important than the atmosphere surrounding it.
"I'm not going to be calling many signs or doing things like that," Grewe said. "I just want them to go out there, have fun and enjoy the night."
