Kane County Cougars
From Sports Library
| 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.
Notable former players
- Chris Aguila
- Antonio Alfonseca
- Denny Bautista
- 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 Pottiesendick
- Edgar Renteria
- Nate Robertson
- Matt Treanor
- Claudio Vargas
- Josh Willingham
- Dontrelle Willis
- Josh Wilson
- Randy Winn
- Gregg Zaun
References
- Dinda, J. (2003), "Geneva, Illinois, in the Midwest League," http://www.mwlguide.com/cities/geneva/index.html
External links
- Kane County Cougars on Wikipedia
- Kane County Cougars web site
- The Baseball Cube - Kane County Cougars Historical Statistics
Template:MLB Team Oakland Athletics Template:Midwest League
