Kane_County_Cougars

Kane County Cougars

Kane County Cougars

American baseball team

The Kane County Cougars are a professional baseball team located in Geneva, Illinois, and are members of the American Association of Professional Baseball, an official Partner League of Major League Baseball (MLB).[1] They play their home games at Northwestern Medicine Field. From 1991 to 2020, they were members of Minor League Baseball's Midwest League.

Quick Facts Team logo, Cap insignia ...
Kane County Cougars, playing the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers at Fox Cities Stadium on June 9, 2006
Kane County Cougars (white), playing the Kansas City Monarchs (red) at Northwestern Medicine Field on August 6, 2022

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 (1952–1974).[2] 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, the Kansas City Royals for the 2011 and 2012 seasons, and the Chicago Cubs for the 2013 and 2014 seasons before affiliating with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2015.[3]

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.

In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Cougars' season was cancelled along with the rest of Minor League Baseball.[6] Later that year, the team was cut from the Midwest League and affiliated baseball as part of Major League Baseball's reorganization of the minor leagues.[7] The team considered becoming a member of the MLB Draft League before joining the American Association, an independent MLB Partner League.[8][9][10]

The team has led the American Association in attendance since joining in 2021,[11][12][13] and led all MLB Partner Leagues in 2022.[14]

Playoffs

More information Midwest League, Season ...

Mascots

The team's mascots are Ozzie T. Cougar and his sister Annie T. Cougar.[15][16]

Roster

Kane County Cougars roster
Active roster Coaches/Other

Pitchers

  • 16 Nick Belzer
  • -- Mike Brewer
  • 12 Jack Fox
  • 18 AJ Jones
  • -- Jordan Martinson
  • 32 Westin Muir
  • 30 Logan Nissen
  • 13 Ryan Richardson
  • -- Tommy Sommer



  

Catchers

  • -- Claudio Finol
  • -- Simon Reid

Infielders

  •  7 Josh Allen
  •  1 Galli Cribbs Jr.
  • 17 Ernny Ordóñez
  •  4 Harrison Smith

Outfielders

  • -- Randy Bednar
  • 14 Jonah Davis
  • 33 Todd Lott
  •  8 Armond Upshaw
  

Manager

Coaches

  •    Scott Ellis (trainer)
  • 20 Matt Passerelle (hitting)

Disabled list
‡ Inactive list
§ Suspended list

Roster updated April 15, 2024
 Transactions

Notable alumni

Notable franchise alumni include:[17]

More information Name, Years Played for Cougars ...

Also see Category: Kane County Cougars players.

References

  1. [1]
    Reichard, Kevin (September 24, 2020). "American Association, Frontier League now MLB Partner Leagues". Ballpark Digest. Retrieved February 18, 2021.
  2. [2]
    "Register Team Encyclopedia".
  3. [3]
    "Cougars History". MiLB.com. Archived from the original on November 17, 2019.
  4. [4]
    "Kane County Cougars".
  5. [5]
    "Cougars hits attendance milestone - Chicago Tribune". articles.chicagotribune.com. Archived from the original on July 23, 2013.
  6. [6]
    Kane County Cougars. "Cougars' 2020 Season Canceled". KCCougars.
  7. [7]
    "Kane County Cougars Not Invited to Remain MiLB Affiliate, Aim to Join MLB Partner League". NBC Chicago. December 9, 2020.
  8. [8]
    Gregor, Scot (December 9, 2020). "Some major changes are coming for the Kane County Cougars. Here's what they are". Daily Herald.
  9. [9]
    "AMERICAN ASSOCIATION WELCOMES KANE COUNTY COUGARS AS NEW LEAGUE MEMBER". American Association of Professional Baseball (Press release). February 4, 2021.
  10. [10]
    Johnson, Paul (December 9, 2020). "Kane County Cougars lose their MLB affiliation". Chicago Tribune. Aurora Beacon-News.
  11. [11]
    "American Association - 2023 Attendance". Pointstreak Sports Technologies. Retrieved August 18, 2023.
  12. [12]
    "American Association - 2022 Attendance". Pointstreak Sports Technologies. Retrieved August 18, 2023.
  13. [13]
    "American Association - 2021 Attendance". Pointstreak Sports Technologies. Retrieved August 18, 2023.
  14. [14]
    Reichard, Kevin (September 20, 2022). "2022 MLB Partner League attendance by league - Ballpark Digest". Retrieved August 18, 2023.
  15. [15]
    "New-Look Ozzie T. Cougar – 'Coolest Cougar' in Kane County?". Kane County Connects. February 18, 2016. Retrieved December 2, 2016.
  16. [16]
    "Annie T. Cougar Is Baseball Team's Newest Mascot". Suburban Chronicle. June 2, 2016. Retrieved December 1, 2016.
  17. [17]
    "Cougars in the MLB". Kane County Cougars. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
  18. [18]
    "Records & Awards". Kane County Cougars. Retrieved August 18, 2023.
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