Dean Green played parts of two seasons in West Michigan, belting 14 home runs in a combined 86 games with the Whitecaps in 2012 and 2013.
"Everybody told me that West Michigan was the premiere place for the Tigers system," Green said. "And that is basically was where you wanted to be because of the stadium, the setup, the surroundings, the people, all the above and it definitely lived up to the hype."
In what has always been a pitcher's ballpark, Green's power brought excitement to fans every time he stepped into the batter's box.
"I'd be lying if I said that I didn't think the crowd could sense that every now and then," Green said. "With the lineup that we had, we had two, three, four guys in there that could really put it out of the yard at any point and time so it was always a fun time to be at the ballpark in 2012 just because you never knew what you were going to see."
Green was playing independent ball last year but once COVID hit he decided to go after his master's degree in business administration and is currently a graduate assistant coach with the Rogers State baseball team in Oklahoma not far from his hometown.
"As a player I was very fiery, and I was one of those guys that tried to lead by example and I have learned as a coach that I can't necessarily do it for the players," Green said about the adjustments he is making as a coach. "I have to let them be their own person and let them make the adjustments on their own because for me it came natural I was able to think from pitch-to-pitch and adjust on the fly and I have learned that some of the kids it takes some time to learn the adjustments."
Green would like to be a head coach someday.
