Kane County Cougars
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Kane County Cougars | ||
|
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| League | Midwest League | |
| Division | Western | |
| Year founded | 1991 | |
| Major League affiliation | Oakland Athletics | |
| Home ballpark | Elfstrom Stadium | |
| Previous home ballparks | ||
| City | Geneva, Illinois | |
| Current uniform colors | Green, White | |
| Previous uniform colors | ||
| Logo design | ||
| Division titles | 2001, 2004 | |
| League titles | 2001 | |
| Manager | Aaron Nieckula | |
| Owner | ||
The Kane County Cougars are a Class A minor league baseball team, affiliated with the Oakland Athletics, that plays in the Midwest League. Their home games are played in Geneva, Illinois, about 35 miles west of Chicago.
The Midwest League came to Kane County in 1991 after a franchise that was previously based in Decatur, Illinois (1952-74) and Wausau, Wisconsin (1975-90) relocated there. While they've always been known as the Cougars since moving to Kane County, they were affiliated with the Baltimore Orioles in 1991 and 1992 and with the Florida Marlins from 1993 to 2002 before joining the A's for the 2003 season. As a Marlins farm team some key contributors to the 2003 World Series championship team played in Kane County on their way to the big leagues. Series MVP Josh Beckett played for the Cougars in 2000, while Dontrelle Willis had the league's best winning percentage and earned run average in 2002.
The Cougars play their home games at Philip B. Elfstrom Stadium, built in 1991. The franchise attendance record of 523,222 was set in 2001. The Cougars are perennially among the league leaders in attendance.
[edit] Notable former players
- Chris Aguila
- Antonio Alfonseca
- Denny Bautista
- Josh Beckett
- Joe Borowski
- A.J. Burnett
- Miguel Cabrera
- Luis Castillo
- Ryan Dempster
- Alex Gonzalez
- Felix Heredia
- Charles Johnson
- Mark Kotsay
- Scott McClain
- Kevin Millar
- Alex Ochoa
- Brad Pennington
- Scott Podsednik
- Edgar Renteria
- Matt Treanor
- Claudio Vargas
- Josh Willingham
- Dontrelle Willis
- Josh Wilson
- Randy Winn
- Gregg Zaun
[edit] References
- Dinda, J. (2003), "Geneva, Illinois, in the Midwest League," http://www.mwlguide.com/cities/geneva/index.html
[edit] External links
- Kane County Cougars web site
- The Baseball Cube - Kane County Cougars Historical Statistics
| Oakland Athletics Franchise | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| AAA | AA | A | Rookie |
| Sacramento River Cats | Midland RockHounds |
Stockton Ports Kane County Cougars Vancouver Canadians |
Phoenix Athletics |
| Midwest League | ||
| Eastern Division | Western Division | |
|---|---|---|
| Dayton Dragons | Fort Wayne Wizards | Great Lakes Loons | Lansing Lugnuts | South Bend Silver Hawks | West Michigan Whitecaps | Beloit Snappers | Burlington Bees | Cedar Rapids Kernels | Clinton LumberKings | Kane County Cougars | Peoria Chiefs | Swing of the Quad Cities | Wisconsin Timber Rattlers | |
