Kane County Cougars

MiLB infobox
name = Kane County Cougars
founded = 1991
city = Geneva, Illinois
misc =

uniform
class level = Single-A
past class level=
current league = Midwest League
conference =
division = Western Division
past league =
majorleague = Oakland Athletics (2003-Present)
pastmajorleague = Florida Marlins (1993-2002)
*Baltimore Orioles (1991-1992)
uniform =
nickname = Kane County Cougars
pastnames =
ballpark = Philip B. Elfstrom Stadium
pastparks =
leaguechamps = 2001
divisionchamps = 2001, 2004
misc6 =
owner =
manager = Aaron Nieckula
gm = Jeff SedivyThe 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.

The stand-out contributor to the 2006 Cougars' offense was third baseman Jeff Baisley. The 6'3" Baisley was the league MVP in 2006, driving in 110 runs and hitting 22 homers. His most notable performance, however, was a game when he hit three home runs. His last was postponed during an umpire discussion on the legibility of the home run that hit the scoreboard. He was allowed the homer.

In 2007, the Cougars featured players such as Mike Massaro, Jermaine Mitchell, Sean Doolitle, Scott Deal, Henry Rodriguez, and former North Carolina Tar Heel, Andrew Carignan.

Notable former players

*Antonio Alfonseca
*Denny Bautista
*Josh Booty
*Joe Borowski
*Dallas Braden
*A.J. Burnett
*Miguel Cabrera
*Luis Castillo
*Ryan Dempster
*Jairo Garcia
*Adrian Gonzalez
*Álex González
*Felix Heredia
*Charles Johnson
*Mark Kotsay
*Scott McClain
*Kevin Millar
*Alex Ochoa
*Brad Pennington
*Scott Podsednik
*Danny Putnam
*Huston Street
*Edgar Rentería
*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

* [http://www.kccougars.com Kane County Cougars web site]
* [http://www.thebaseballcube.com/teams/team_10261.shtml The Baseball Cube] - Kane County Cougars Historical Statistics