PLAINFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — “Beautiful” is the word that Brayan Peña uses to describe what the Detroit Tigers organization means to him.
When he joined the West Michigan Whitecaps as a manager on Nov. 12, 2019, he felt honored that the historic Detroit franchise trusted him with a key role in the development of younger players.
Peña and the Whitecaps added another milestone for the Tigers organization on Friday’s Opening Day. The Whitecaps defeated the Great Lakes Loons 5-1. It was the 2,000th win for the franchise.
To Peña, this one was for the fans and everyone behind the scenes.
“We see these fans fill the seats all summer and we hope we can get many more wins for them this season,” Peña said. “It’s all about the players, trainers and people in the organization working to get to a special mark like this.”
While the home fans at Lake Michigan Credit Union Ballpark didn’t get to witness it firsthand, more than 1,500 spectators at the Dow Diamond in Midland watched the Whitecaps earn number 2,000.
The Whitecaps struck out 14 batters in the four-run victory over the Loons, while Parker Meadows went deep for the teams lone home run in the game.
“I love playing in West Michigan and this is what makes this organization so cool to play for,” Meadows said. “I love the summer nights with our fans and hopefully we can keep giving them good baseball this summer.”
For the first time in seven years, the Detroit Tigers are spending money on players and starting to see their prospects play at the major league level, such as Spencer Torkelson who was in West Michigan last summer.
It has brought energy and excitement to this organization, and Peña loves to work with new players yearly.
“When our players get to Detroit, they are ready,” Peña said. “Obviously it’s not just me. It’s the front office, it’s our general manager, it’s our player development crew, we are all in this together. We want to help with the ultimate goal which is winning the World Series.”
