Kane County Cougars

Kane County Cougars
Founded in 1991
Geneva, Illinois
Team logoCap insignia
Class-level
Current Class-A[1]
Minor league affiliations
League Midwest League (1991–present)
Division Western Division
Major league affiliations
Current Arizona Diamondbacks (2015–present)
Previous
Minor league titles
League titles (2)
  • 2001
  • 2014
Division titles (4)
  • 2001
  • 2004
  • 2006
  • 2014
Team data
Nickname Kane County Cougars
Previous names
 Wausau Timbers (1975–1990)
Decatur Commodores (1952–1974)
Ballpark Northwestern Medicine Field
Previous parks
 Athletic Park (Wausau, WI)
Fans Field (Decatur, IL)
Manager Mike Benjamin
General Manager Curtis Haug
Kane County Cougars, playing the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers at Fox Cities Stadium on June 9, 2006.

The Kane County Cougars are a Class A minor league baseball team, affiliated with the Arizona Diamondbacks,[2] that plays in the Midwest League. Their home games are played at Northwestern Medicine Field in Geneva, Illinois, about 35 miles west of Chicago.

Team History

The Midwest League came to Kane County in 1991 when the Wausau Timbers relocated to Geneva, IL. The Wausau (1975-1990) Midwest League franchise was previously based in Decatur, Illinois (1952–74).[3] The team has been known as the Cougars since moving to Kane County. They were affiliated with the Baltimore Orioles in 1991 and 1992, with the Florida Marlins from 1993 to 2002, the Oakland Athletics from 2003 until 2010, and with the Kansas City Royals for the 2011 and 2012 seasons before joining the Chicago Cubs for the 2013 and 2014 seasons.

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. Miguel Cabrera has had a notable career and 2003 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 Northwestern Medicine Field,[4] built in 1991. The franchise attendance record of 523,222 was set in 2001. The Cougars are perennially among the league leaders in attendance. On July 20, 2013 the Cougars became the first Class A team to attract 10 million fans.[5] Nancy Faust, after 40 years with the Chicago White Sox, was the stadium organist for selected Cougar home games until her retirement after the 2015 season.

Mascots

The team's mascots are Ozzie T. Cougar and his sister Annie T. Cougar.[6][7]

Roster

Kane County Cougars roster
Players Coaches/Other

Pitchers

  • 33 Jose Almonte
  • 23 Kirby Bellow
  • 45 Ryan Burr
  • 44 Cody Clark
  • 18 Junior Garcia
  • 26 Carlos Hernandez
  • 30 Hector Hernandez
  • 21 Keegan Long
  • 15 Jose Martinez
  •  9 Austin Mason
  • 38 Mason McCullough
  • 40 Sam McWilliams
  • 22 Julio Perez
  • 32 Bo Takahasi
  • 29 Emilio Vargas

Catchers

  • 16 Franceis Christy
  •    Eduardo de Oleo
  •    B. J. Lopez

Infielders

  • 11 Luis Alejandro Basabe
  • 14 Austin Byler
  •  1 Galli Cribbs
  •  2 Raymel Flores
  • 36 Trevor Mitsui
  •  3 Fernery Ozuna

Outfielders

  • 17 Joey Armstrong
  • 12 Colin Bray
  • 10 Gerard Hernandez
  •  6 Matt Railey

Manager

Coaches

  •  5 Jon Mathews (hitting)
  • 10 Shawn Roof (coach)
  • 13 Rich Sauveur (pitching)



7-day disabled list
* On Arizona Diamondbacks 40-man roster
# Rehab assignment
∞ Reserve list
‡ Restricted list
§ Suspended list
† Temporary inactive list
Roster updated July 10, 2014
Transactions
→ More MiLB rosters
→ Arizona Diamondbacks minor league players

Team affiliations

Level Team League Location
Major League Arizona Diamondbacks National League Phoenix, Arizona
AAA Reno Aces Pacific Coast League Reno, Nevada
AA Mobile BayBears Southern League Mobile, Alabama
Advanced A Visalia Rawhide California League Visalia, California
A Kane County Cougars Midwest League Geneva, Illinois
Short Season A Hillsboro Hops Northwest League Hillsboro, Oregon
Rookie Missoula Osprey Pioneer League Missoula, Montana

Notable Kane County Alumni

Other franchise alumni with the Decatur Commodores and the Wausau Timbers had MLB careers. Many future Major Leaguers have played with the Cougars before playing in the Majors. Some notable Cougars alumni include:[8]

Alumni: Most Valuable Player Award

  • Miguel Cabrera (2001) 10 x MLB All-Star; 4 × AL Batting Champion (2011–2013, 2015);2 × AL Home Run Leader (2008, 2012);2 × AL RBI Leader (2010, 2012);2 × AL MVP (2012, 2013); AL Triple Crown (2012)


Alumni: Rookie of the Year Award

  • Dontrelle Willis (2002) 2 x MLB All-Star; 2003 NL Rookie of the Year; 2005 NL Wins Leader
  • Huston Street (2004) 2 x MLB All-Star; 2005 AL Rookie of the Year
  • Andrew Bailey (2007) 2 x MLB All-Star; 2009 AL Rookie of the Year


Notable Alumni

References

  1. ↑ http://www.milb.com/milb/info/classifications.jsp
  2. ↑ "Cougars Announce Affiliation With Arizona Diamondbacks". Kane County Cougars. September 24, 2014. Retrieved September 24, 2014.
  3. ↑ http://www.baseball-reference.com/register/team.cgi
  4. ↑ http://atmilb.com/2f0ZmkD
  5. ↑ http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-07-22/news/ct-tl-geneva-10-millionth-cougar-20130725_1_elfstrom-general-manager-curtis-haug-minor-league-baseball
  6. ↑ "New-Look Ozzie T. Cougar – 'Coolest Cougar' in Kane County?". Kane County Connects. February 18, 2016. Retrieved December 2, 2016.
  7. ↑ "Annie T. Cougar Is Baseball Team's Newest Mascot". Suburban Chronicle. June 2, 2016. Retrieved December 1, 2016.
  8. ↑ "Major League Cougars | Kane County Cougars Roster". Kane County Cougars. Retrieved 2015-10-15.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kane County Cougars.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/3/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.