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The Southwest Michigan Devil Rays, based in Battle Creek, Michigan, are a Class A minor league baseball team, affiliated with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. The team plays in the Midwest League and their home park is the C. O. Brown Stadium, built in 1989. The franchise attendance record of 171,794 was set in 1995.
From 2002-2004, the team was affiliated with the New York Yankees and was known as the Battle Creek Yankees. In September 2004, the Yankees announced that the Charleston RiverDogs (South Carolina) of the South Atlantic League will become their low-A team affiliate. The Devil Rays announced that the Battle Creek franchise would become their affiliate, marking the first association of the Devil Rays with the Midwest League.
The Midwest League came to Battle Creek, Michigan, in 1995 after a franchise previously based in Springfield, Illinois (1982-93) and Madison, Wisconsin (1994) moved here. The team was first known as the Battle Creek Golden Kazoos. However, due to a trademark dispute and general fan dissatisfaction with the name (which is a nickname for the nearby city of Kalamazoo), the name was changed to the Michigan Battle Cats on March 9, 1995. The team was affiliated with the Boston Red Sox (1995-98) and Houston Astros (1999-2002). The team changed its name upon becoming an affiliate of the New York Yankees in 2002.
Battle Cat/Yankees alumni to have spent significant time in the Major Leagues include Rafael Betancourt, Justin Duchscherer, David Eckstein, Shea Hillenbrand, Matt Kinney, Jason Lane, Aaron Miles, Roy Oswalt, Carl Pavano, Tim Redding,
Chris Reitsma, Donnie Sadler, Johan Santana, and Wilton Veras
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