KALAMAZOO, Mich. – A banquet honoring the All-Star players will be held the evening of Monday, July 23 at the Radisson Plaza Hotel to kick off the 2018 Northwoods League All-Star events. Former New York Mets Manager, Terry Collins, will give the keynote address.
Born and raised in Midland, Michigan, Collins became manager of the Mets in 2010 and took the team to the World Series in 2015. He retired from managing in October last year, and moved into the role of special assistant to the General Manager of the New York Mets. Collins also holds a special connection to the Northwoods League.
“I am honored and thrilled to attend the Northwoods League All-Star Game. I had the pleasure of coaching the Duluth Huskies for part of a summer. It was a great experience and also a pleasure to work with young players whose goal was to get better,” said Collins.
Dick Jonckowski, voice of the Minnesota Gophers baseball and basketball, will preside over the event as emcee. The banquet is presented by Discover Kalamazoo, and president, Greg Ayers, will be in attendance to welcome the players, coaches, umpires, and league guests.
Following the banquet, the Northwoods League will continue the celebration of its 25th anniversary at the Chenery Auditorium with a comedy show featuring Orny Adams. A seasoned vet with a fresh voice, Adams has performed on Conan, The Tonight Show With Jay Leno and The Late Show With David Letterman multiple times, hosted his own shows for Travel Channel and TBS and has written and performed on two Emmy broadcasts. To younger audiences, though, Adams is best known as “Coach Finstock” on the hit MTV show Teen Wolf – one of the most popular series for teens in the past decade. His third stand up special, More Than Loud, premiered on Showtime in December.
The show will start at 9 PM on July 23 at the Chenery Auditorium and tickets are on sale now to the public for $25.
Previously the Kalamazoo Growlers announced that the 2018 Northwoods League All-Star Game would be hosted in Kalamazoo on Tuesday, July 24 at Homer Stryker Field. The Northwoods League All-Star Game brings together the top talent from across the League as voted on by League coaches and media, with the best of the South Division facing off against the best of the North Division, and will be preceded by a Home Run Derby.
Information and tickets for all events can be found at GrowlersBaseball.com.
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The Kalamazoo Growlers are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Entering its 25th anniversary season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 20 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff, 190 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET) and Curtis Granderson (TOR). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit www.growlersbaseball.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Growlers as your favorite team.