I'm a native of Michigan, and published a sports newspaper and sports magazine while living there. So I know that aside from Michigan State University, located in East Lansing, nearby Lansing isn't your most inviting getaway. That’s why my younger brother Jim's offer last summer to come up for a baseball game involving the Lansing Lugnuts didn't sound appealing.

"Who?" I asked. "Lugnuts," my brother explained. "You know, our baseball team."

Oh, sure, those Lugnuts. How clumsy. But because I'm a baseball fan, and because I wanted to keep peace in the family I journeyed to Lansing. On a warm summer Saturday evening, under a star-studded sky, I was pleasantly surprised by my new baseball experience. It was not only good family entertainment, but for minor-league play it was an enjoyable well-played game.

Based on my impressions from the Lansing trip, baseball looks like a good deal for Dayton. For a Saturday, the downtown Lansing area was rocking before and after the game. Dayton seems to be far ahead of Lansing when it comes to existing and possibly new eating and entertainment spots. This alone will be a real shot in the arm for reviving downtown.

On that Saturday, I mingled with over 8,000 people who were thoroughly enjoying themselves. It reminded me of one big picnic. Maybe that was due to the picnic green area behind the centerfield fence. And even between innings, lively contests and other fun stuff kept the place jumping.

Outside the stadium before and after the game, folks were spending money on dining spots that lit up an area where empty, broken-down buildings once stood. Even though it was early evening, there were vendors, kids and fun in the air. It was a magical time. One of the nearby pubs that I carefully checked out after the game was jammed with a great rock group supplying plenty of energy and decibels.

I know spring is close, and even though we are still a year away, I'm excited about baseball in Dayton. While the economic benefits to the area have already been well-chronicled, once you experience minor-league baseball, you don't need statistics or reports to convince you that baseball is good for business and the psyche of Dayton.

It's estimated that a baseball team here could draw as many as 400,000 fans. A Downtown Dayton Partnership study says that while a serious theater-goer probably would not forego a trip to the Victoria Theater for baseball, the purchaser of baseball tickets is much more likely to eat dinner and spend entertainment dollars within the stadium area.

What's also economically interesting is the probability of new spending by people outside the area who don't now come downtown. My brother, who lives in a suburban area outside Lansing, said that he has attended several concerts and has taken his kids ice skating at the stadium.

"Without the stadium, how many times do you normally travel downtown?" was my question. "Without the stadium," he said, "why would I ever want to go downtown?"

Seems like I've heard that line before. But now we have a chance -- a great, exciting chance -- to smile at the cynics and doomsayers in this city and remind them that baseball really is coming to Dayton.

Piecuch, a media consultant and Dale Carnegie course instructor, was chief public relations officer for two Fortune 500 companies before starting Dayton-based Northstar Consulting Group, an organizational and marketing consulting firm.