Updated: July 16, 2016 at noon – The Kalamazoo Growlers released a statement regarding their game schedule for Tuesday and Wednesday against the Kokomo JackRabbits:
“Due to severe flooding at Homer Stryker Field, Tuesday's doubleheader and Wednesday's game between the Kalamazoo Growlers and Kokomo Jackrabbits have been postponed.
The Growlers will travel to Kokomo tomorrow (Wednesday) for Tuesday's scheduled doubleheader. Game 1 will begin at 4:35 p.m. ET and will resume in the top of the fourth inning, a make-up for a rain-missed game on June 8. The second game will begin 30 minutes after the end of the first game, but no earlier than 7:05 p.m.
The game scheduled for Wednesday at Homer Stryker Field will be moved to Friday, Aug. 9, with a doubleheader in Kokomo. Both games will be seven-inning games, with Game 1 beginning at 5 p.m., with Kokomo hosting Game 1 and Kalamazoo hosting Game 2.
Original Story – It's a price you sometimes pay when your ballpark is actually in a flood plain, but it usually works out pretty well.
But unless the Kalamazoo Growlers (and their opponents) If you want to canoe and play baseball over the next few days, a game at Homer Stryker Field is out of the question because the Kalamazoo River has officially “hit” the field.
Early Tuesday morning, Growler crews began receiving notifications of rising water levels in the Kalamazoo River that could jeopardize fields. When the sun came out, almost the entire field was “submerged” by the river water. By 10 a.m., the entire field was knee-deep in water.
The last time a river flooded Homer Stryker Stadium was in 2022, but the last time that happened during the season was in 2019.
Homer Stryker site flooded – 2024
How does this affect growlers?
The Growlers are expected to play a pair of games against the Kokomo Jackrabbits on Tuesday and a home game on Wednesday night. Now, Growlers staff say those games are definitely not going to happen.
Unfortunately, tickets to these games are non-refundable, but staff said Tickets for Tuesday and Wednesday games (July 16-17) Can be redeemed for another home game later in the season.
Kalamazoo is working on a new schedule for those games, whether they are rescheduled or moved. League officials and team owners will announce any decision once an agreement is reached. To get these updates, you can visit all of their social media platform, Their websiteor send an email to tickets@growlersbaseball.com.
Now, the team is waiting for mother nature to show up after two heavy rainstorms within a few days resulted in multiple severe thunderstorm warnings and flood warnings across southwestern Michigan.
