The Southwest Michigan Devil Rays were an affiliate of the

Tampa Bay Devil Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since its inception, the team's home venu ...

in the

Midwest League The Midwest League is a Minor League Baseball league established in 1947 and based in the Midwestern United States. A Class A league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganizat ...

in 2005 and 2006. The club began play in 1995 and was previously known as the

Michigan Battle Cats The Michigan Battle Cats were a Minor League Baseball team which began playing in the Midwest League in 1995 and called C.O. Brown Stadium in Battle Creek, Michigan, home. The franchise had previously been located in Madison, Wisconsin, in 1994 ...

and the

Battle Creek Yankees The Michigan Battle Cats of the Midwest League became the Battle Creek Yankees for the 2003 season. In 2005, their affiliation with the New York Yankees ended. They became an affiliate of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays known as the Southwest Michigan D ...

. They played their home games at C.O. Brown Stadium in

Battle Creek Battle Creek is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan, in northwest Calhoun County, at the confluence of the Kalamazoo and Battle Creek rivers. It is the principal city of the Battle Creek, Michigan Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), which en ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

. Following the 2006 season, the team moved to Midland,

and became known as the

Great Lakes Loons The Great Lakes Loons are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers. They are located in Midland, Michigan, and play their home games at Dow Diamond, which opened in April 2007. Histor ...

Team history

In September 2004, the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

announced a four-year player development contract with the

Charleston RiverDogs The Charleston RiverDogs are a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League. They are located in Charleston, South Carolina, and are the Single-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. The RiverDogs' home stadium is Joseph P. Riley Jr. Park. Hi ...

of the

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its ...

, dropping their contract with the Battle Creek Yankees. A few days later, Battle Creek signed a two-year player development contract with the

; the Devil Rays' previous low-A affiliate had been Charleston. With the announcement, it was obvious that the team's name would need to change. In December, Fun Entertainment, LLC announced that it had purchased the Battle Creek team and renamed it as the Southwest Michigan Devil Rays. In 2005, the Midwest League comprised 14 teams in two divisions. Its championship was determined by a three-round playoff among eight teams, including the first- and second-half leaders from each division and several wild card teams. In the first half, the Devil Rays finished in fourth place of the six teams in the Eastern Division with a 33–36 record. In the second half they improved to third place with a 39–31 records, four games behind. They qualified for the playoffs, where they lost to the

South Bend Silver Hawks South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz' ...

, two games to none. Pitcher

Andy Sonnanstine Andrew Michael Sonnanstine (born March 18, 1983) is an American former professional baseball starting pitcher in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays / Rays. Sonnanstine is a graduate of Wadsworth High School in ...

went 10–4 with a 2.55 earned run average and 103 strikeouts. In January 2006, the owners of the Devil Rays announced a deal to sell the team to an investment group in Midland, Michigan, with plans to relocate the team there for the 2007 season. A foundation was formed in Midland to build a new stadium with 80 percent private funding. In the first half of 2006, the Devil Rays tied for fifth place in the Eastern Division with a 32—37 record. In the second half they had last place to themselves, as their record fell to 30–40. Their strength was pitching;

Jake McGee Jacob Daniel McGee (born August 6, 1986) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is currently a free agent. McGee was selected by Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the fifth round of the 2004 MLB draft. He made his MLB debut in 2008. He previou ...

went 7–9 with a 2.96 earned run average and led the league in strikeouts with 171, and Wade Davis went 7–12 with a 3.02 earned run average and 165 strikeouts. Reliever Greg Dupas 4–2 with a 1.93 earned run average and 59 strikeouts in 56 innings. McGee and Dupas were named to the league's post-season all-star team.

Year-by-year record

References

{{Midwest League Sports in Battle Creek, Michigan Defunct Midwest League teams Tampa Bay Devil Rays minor league affiliates Defunct baseball teams in Michigan Baseball teams disestablished in 2006 Baseball teams established in 2005