Kane County Cougars Information & Kane County Cougars Links at HealthHaven.com

	Kane County Cougars; Founded in 1991; Geneva, Illinois;
; Team Logo	; Cap Insignia
	Class-level
	Single-A;
	Minor league affiliations
	Midwest League Western Division; ;
	Major league affiliations
	Oakland Athletics (2003-Present); Florida Marlins (1993-2002); Baltimore Orioles (1991-1992);
	Name
	Kane County Cougars;
	Ballpark
	Philip B. Elfstrom Stadium;
	Minor league titles
League titles	2001
Division titles	2001, 2004
	Owner(s)/Operated by:
	Manager: Aaron Nieckula
	General Manager: Jeff Sedivy

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 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.

[edit] Roster

Kane County Cougars roster

Players

Coaches/Other

Pitchers

38 Anthony Capra
15 Scott Deal
27 Leonardo Espinal
17 Justin Friend
11 Scott Hodsdon
25 Ben Hornbeck
34 Brett Hunter
16 Chad Kerfoot
29 Brent Lysander
23 Jamie Richmond
33 Lance Sewell
10 Nick Walters

Catchers

19 Jonathan Johnston
21 Petey Paramore
-- Matt Smith

Infielders

7 Jason Christian
18 Larry Cobb
28 Greg Dowling
14 Justin Frash
2 Matt Ray
4 Michael Richard
13 Jake Smith
-- Christian Vitters
-- Jemile Weeks

Outfielders

6 Todd Johnson
24 Shane Keough
12 Adam Klein

Manager

-- Steve Scarsone

Coaches

20 Haas Pratt (batting)
-- Jimmy Escalante (pitching)

† Disabled list
* On Oakland Athletics 40-man roster
∞ Reserve list
§ Suspended list
‡ Restricted list
# Rehab assignment
Roster updated 2009-03-31
Transactions

[edit] References

Dinda, J. (2003), "Geneva, Illinois, in the Midwest League," http://www.mwlguide.com/cities/geneva/index.html

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Kane County Cougars

Kane County Cougars web site
The Baseball Cube - Kane County Cougars Historical Statistics