Sunday night’s episode of “Battle Creek” did not have any shots that showed the real Battle Creek, but I still found connections. I not only found connections to the city but to the state of Michigan as a whole. Here is what I noticed about Episode 3:
Michigan Sports
In this episode there were a lot of mentions of different Michigan sports teams. Being a native Michigander, I know there is nothing bigger to residents than Michigan/Detroit sports. In the beginning, while Milt, Russ, and Fontanelle are at the school, they are showing hand drawn pictures. One of the last pictures is of a Detroit Red Wings hockey player. It is also says Jason Abdelkader, who is one of the Red Wings players. People in Michigan are proud of their hockey team and this shows.
Later on Milt is introducing his secret informant to Russ, who is a Detroit Pistons cheerleader. The Pistons may not be the greatest team this year but people still love them!
Baseball
Kal Penn’s character, Fontanelle, seems to love baseball. In a scene where he is sitting at his desk talking about the case with Aaron and Holly, he is wearing a baseball mitt and on his desk there is a baseball trophy. Kal Penn has admitted that he got the idea from one of the real Battle Creek police officers.
The real Battle Creek has a rich baseball history. The Bailey Park complex has 3 full size baseball stadiums and 8 softball diamonds. All summer long, there are youth baseball tournaments going on. Battle Creek is also home to the Battle Creek Bombers of the Northwoods League, a premiere summer league for college players. They play in C.O. Brown Stadium in the Bailey Park Complex.
Over the years the city has been hosts for multiple Minor League teams with the most recent being the Southwest Michigan Devil Rays.