BATTLE CREEK – With a tattoo on his arm, Russ Byers was planning on being a Battle Creek Bombers fan for life.
Now, thanks to the efforts of team owner Scott Miles, Byers might just be a Battle Jacks for life. No tattoo this time, but with his lifetime tickets restored for his favorite Battle Creek baseball team.
In a unique team promotion in 2018 by the Battle Creek Bombers, the franchise announced that the first 12 people to stop in to Cereal City Tattoo and Piercing in Battle Creek to get a free Bombers tattoo would receive two general admission tickets for life to Battle Creek Bombers games in celebration of the team’s 12th year in town.
A few years later, when the team changed its name to the Battle Creek Battle Jacks, the franchise rescinded that promise.
“I was surprised when they told us,” Byers said. “This tattoo is on my arm permanently. It will be here the rest of my life. I thought I was going to be a Bombers fans for the rest of my life, too. But that changed when they took our tickets away.
“When this new owner called and said they were going to give them back, I was surprised once again. It’s great.”
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The current owner gathered as many of that group of Moe Skeeter tattoo-wearing Bombers fans as he could find and on Saturday, May 30 Miles presented them with their tickets back.
Miles was excited to shake the hands of each of those loyal fans and hand them a medallion that represented their new tickets.
“The story just kind of knocked my socks off. Fans got a tattoo for a town and a team that they loved and then they got their tickets revoked. It just didn’t sit right,” Miles said. “So it turned into a hunt to find these people and I realized I had to get these people back here. A lot of them said they would never come back. But to me, it’s about an appreciation for baseball and this city and I’m glad they are coming back.”
Miles said he gave the entire group lifetime tickets to the Battle Jacks. A handful of those people attended the Battle Jacks game on Saturday, and were all smiles.
“When they changed the name, they didn’t let us use the tickets again,” Trent Griner said. “It was disheartening and it felt like getting stabbed in the back. So when the Battle Jacks called around and looked for those people to come back, it was really cool. It will definitely bring me back to games again.”
I-94 Cup
As part of the first Saturday night festivities of the new season, the Battle Jacks celebrating last year’s I-94 Rivalry Cup championship as Battle Creek edged Kalamazoo in the season series.
In a game against the Kalamazoo Growlers on Saturday, Battle Creek Mayor Mark Behnke came out of the home dugout in a Battle Jacks jersey and raised the cup in front of the home fans before throwing out the first pitch.
Miles was looking to celebrate the winning performance from last year while trying to get his fans excited for this year.
“This is about representing the city and building a narrative around getting people excited about this team,” Miles said. “This is a baseball town and I want to give this city get back the love for the game and celebrating the I-94 Cup is part of that.”
Battle Jacks Update
Battle Creek had a successful opening week and entered Saturday’s game against rival Kalamazoo in first place in the Great Lakes East Division of the Northwoods League.
However, the loss to Kalamazoo on Friday gave the Growlers and early 2-1 edge in this series this season after the teams split a doubleheader on Friday.
Following another loss on Sunday, Battle Creek finished the first week of the season at 4-4.
Battle Creek will be playing home games from Tuesday-Friday this week at MCCU Field at C.O. Brown Stadium. The Battle Jacks host Traverse City Tuesday-Wednesday with Wisconsin coming to town on Thursday-Friday. Battle Creek will have another game against rival Kalamazoo next Saturday on the road before being off on Sunday.
This week will again feature the Battle Jacks theme nights with Tuesday being Salute to Service, honoring the military; Wednesday being Silver Sluggers, with promotions for ‘fans of certain age’; Thursday being Throwback Thursday with 70s Night; Friday being Food Truck Friday, plus Teacher Appreciation Night.
Bill Broderick can be reached at bbroderi@battlecreekenquirer.com. Follow him on X/Twitter: @billbroderick
This article originally appeared on Battle Creek Enquirer: Battle Jacks give tattoo-wearing ‘Bombers fans’ tickets for life
Reporting by Bill Broderick, Battle Creek Enquirer / Battle Creek Enquirer
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