COMSTOCK PARK, Mich. — Ten years ago at LMCU Ballpark, it was out with the old and in with the...even older?
When the Whitecaps updated their outfield video board in 2012, they also decided to update their scoreboard. However, they wanted to make it unique, giving fans a free ticket into baseball's history.
So, they landed on creating a manual scoreboard.
According to Pro Baseball Reference, out of 120 minor league stadiums, only eight have a manual scoreboard. The Whitecaps, who are the Detroit Tigers' High-A affiliate, are proud to be one of those teams.
“Old school baseball fans, they love that," said Jim Jarecki, the team's Vice President and General Manager. "Traditional's love that thing because that's how it used to be. So we gave him the best of the new and we gave him the best of the old.”
The man racing to update the scoreboard almost every game is Jeff Cortright. If you ever go to a game, you can see his head popping out of the 10th inning window. That's been his view for nine seasons now. He said he has the best seat in the house.
“It's a lot of fun," said Cortright. "I mean, I've been to Wrigley and I've been to Fenway but I've never done their manual scoreboard tours. But having done this, it feels really cool to be a part of that baseball history.”
Cortright might not be a Whitecaps player, but he still serves an important role with the team. It's one the fans appreciate, and one he does not take for granted.
“It would be very difficult," he said. "Although my daughter, my nine-year-old daughter said as soon as she's old enough to do it, she's gonna kick me out of it.”