Traverse City Beach Bums

The Traverse City Beach Bums were a professional baseball team based in the Traverse City, Michigan, suburb of Blair Township, in the United States. The Beach Bums played in the East Division of the Frontier League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball. Since their establishment in 2006, the Beach Bums played their home games at Wuerfel Park.

Traverse City Beach Bums
Team logo Cap insignia
Information
League	Frontier League (East)
Location	Blair Township, Michigan
Ballpark	Wuerfel Park
Year founded	1995
Year folded	2018
Nickname(s)	The Bums
League championships	3 (2001, 2002, 2015)
Division championships	2 (1996, 2012)
Former name(s)	Traverse City Beach Bums (2006–2018) Richmond Roosters (1995–2005)
Colors	Navy blue, gold, white
Ownership	John Wuerfel & Leslye Wuerfel
General Manager	Leslye Wuerfel
Media	Traverse City Record-Eagle

The "Beach Bums" name referred to the residents and visitors who come to Michigan's most popular resort town, to spend time on the beach. Traverse City lies on the Grand Traverse Bay, a branch of Lake Michigan. The team's colors of navy blue and gold represent the region's bays and bright summer sunshine.[1]

Wuerfel Park averaged well over 200,000 fans per season for Beach Bums home games, ranking near the top of attendance lists in independent baseball. In their first three seasons, the Beach Bums drew over 600,000 fans with a mix of loyal, local fans, tourists, and regional baseball fans.

John and Leslye Wuerfel were the managing members of the Beach Bums; their last name is the namesake of the Beach Bums' home ballpark. Their son, Jason, was the Beach Bums' Vice President and Director of Baseball Operations. Jason Wuerfel lettered four times with the University of Michigan varsity baseball team, and also won the 2003 Wolverine Award for Spirit and Leadership. He played professionally with the Elmira Pioneers, the Mid-Missouri Mavericks, and the Ohio Valley Redcoats. Jason also owns and operates the Beach Bums Baseball Academy, an organization that instructs young baseball players in the Traverse City area.[2]

In November 2008, the Beach Bums named two new coaches, with Gregg Langbehn being hired as the manager and Roger Mason accepting the position of pitching coach. Langbehn had previously spent 10 seasons as a coach and manager in the Houston Astros minor league system, while Mason, a Northern Michigan native, spent nine seasons as a pitcher in major league baseball, including a World Series appearance with the 1993 Philadelphia Phillies.

In 2018, the team was sold to the owners of the Midwest League West Michigan Whitecaps who folded the Frontier League franchise and launched a new team in the Northwoods League, the Traverse City Pit Spitters.[3]