Sunday, May 19, 2013
Peanuts, beer, hotdogs and summer sun — it's baseball season in Illinois and we want to hear all about the our Batavia, Geneva and St. Charles high school teams, the Kane County Cougars and of course the Cubs and the Sox!
Calling all sports fanatics, Patch wants you! Are you passionate about the Kane County Cougars? How about the Cubs or Sox? Are you wild about Batavia, Geneva and St. Charles high school baseball or softball? A local league? Attend every Little League game? Then we want hear all about it! Part of the Patch mission is to strengthen communities and improve the lives of their residents, but we can't do it without you. Our Local Voices section allows members of the community — from cooking enthusiasts to local politicians and everyone in between—to interact and post directly to the site. These posts then appear on the homepage, in the daily newsletter and are shared by editors via Facebook and Twitter. The best thing about sharing your stuff …
Saturday, February 23, 2013
Remember the Aug. 4 storm that caused so much damage, including students at Fifth Third Bank Ballpark? Now three people are suing the Kane County Cougars and a catering company for injuries, the Daily Herald reports.
The Kane County Cougars and a catering business are being sued for injuries incurred by two St. Charles East students and a Northern Illinois University grad at a volunteer event last August at Fifth Third Bank Ballpark, the Daily Herald reports. On Aug. 4, a Patch reader initially said a tent went down at the ballpark campus, injuring two people. The storm knocked down trees and power lines. The Kane County Chronicle later that day reported that Mary Gaffney, then a Northern Illinois University student, was one of two people injured. Gaffney's father, Kevin, told the paper at the time that she suffered a fractured skull after a pole or 2-by-4 knocked her unconscious. Weather spotters reported wind gusts of up to 60 mph that Saturday, …
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Kane County Events & Cultural Center
33w848 Cherry Ln, Geneva, IL
/articles/kane-county-cougars-caterers-sued-by-students-injured-in-august-storm
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Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Dec. 15 event at the ballpark includes ornament and cookie decorating stations. Bring a coat or sweatshirt and get four free Cougars ticket vouchers.
The Kane County Cougars will host a Christmas Meet and Greet event, featuring Santa Claus and Ozzie T. Cougar, from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, Dec. 15, inside the upper deck level at Fifth Third Bank Ballpark. Children can meet Santa and Ozzie, pose for photos, as well as take part in numerous holiday activities inside the upper deck level. Those activities include a coloring station, ornament decorating station and a cookie decorating station. The event is free, although there is a nominal cost for participating in the ornament and cookie decorating activities. A portion of proceeds will benefit Ozzie’s Outreach, the Cougars’ charitable foundation. Fans are also asked to bring a gently used coat or sweatshirt. All collected items will be …
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
The Kane County Cougars have signed a two-year player-development deal with the Chicago Cubs.
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Wednesday, September 19, 2012
The Fifth Third Bank Ballpark in Geneva is now the home of the Class A Chicago Cubs affiliate: the Kane County Cougars. The Cougars announced Wednesday the signing of a two-year player development contract (PDC) with the Chicago Cubs. Effective today, the agreement does not affect the ownership, management or front office staff of the Kane County Cougars in any manner as the Cougars organization looks toward Thursday, April 4 — Opening Night at Fifth Third Bank Ballpark, and the first home game featuring the Cougars' new affiliation with the Cubs. Fans can call the Cougars at (630) 232-8811 to inquire about season ticket, partial-season ticket packages and catered event group outings, as well as corporate sponsorship opportunities. "We are…
Monday, September 3, 2012
The Kane County Cougars present a plaque honoring former Kane County Board President Phil Elfstrom for his role in bringing a minor league baseball stadium.
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Monday, September 3, 2012
Back in the day, Phil Elfstrom ran Kane County like a business. As Kane County Board chairman and president of the Forest Perserve District for many years in the 1970s and '80s, Elfstrom was the driving force behind the creation of Settler's Hill Landfill, the environmental monitoring laboratory and a partnership with Waste Management that allowed for a ballpark to be built on Kirk Road. For the better part of 20 years, the stadium that serves as home of the Kane County Cougars bore Elfstrom's name. That changed this year, when the ballpark was rechristened Fifth Third Bank Ballpark. On Saturday, Sept. 1, Elfstrom was honored with the unveiling of a special bronze stadium plaque during a dedication at Fifth Third Bank Ballpark, during the …
41.878939
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Kane County Events & Cultural Center
33w848 Cherry Ln, Geneva, IL
/articles/cougars-honor-phil-elfstrom-for-bringing-baseball-to-geneva
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Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Announcements in several major publications say the Cubs are going to move their Class A affiliate from Peoria to Geneva!
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Tuesday, August 21, 2012
According to reports in the Chicago Sun-Times, the Chicago Tribune and numerous other papers, the Cubs are in negotiations with the Kane County Cougars to move the Peoria franchise to Geneva. The Sun-Times article does not list the source, but the word is that the Cubs are ready to make the move, which would dissolve the relationship with the Peoria Chiefs, the Cubs present Class A affiliate. That's a relationship that stretches back some three decades, according to the Sun-Times story. Obviously, that's a "Wow" for Cubs fans who happen to be from this area. The notion of a Cubs-Cougars relationship has been a dream of many fans in these parts for a long time. The Cougars presently are affiliated with the Kansas City Royals. The Cougars' …
41.878939
-88.278764
Kane County Events & Cultural Center
33w848 Cherry Ln, Geneva, IL
/articles/reports-cubs-plan-to-move-class-a-team-from-peoria-to-geneva
319890
/locations/7648573
Thursday, May 3, 2012
With the ribbon-cutting Thursday, May 3, the Kane County Cougars' home stadium is now, officially, Fifth Third Bank Ballpark.
With the trumpeting theme song from Jurassic Park blaring and Ozzie the Cougar wielding the scissors, the blue ribbon was cut along the first-base line just before the 6 p.m. start of Thursday's ballgame between the Kane County Cougars and the Peoria Chiefs—officially the first-ever game at Fifth Third Bank Ballpark. Geneva Mayor Kevin Burns, U.S. Congressman Randy Hultgren and more than a dozen other local dignitaries from Fifth Third Bank and the Cougars front-office took part in the ribbon-cutting ceremony. Although fans didn't flock to the stadium, they enjoyed the usual, fantastic Cougars amenities, took advantage of the special $5.50 price per seat, dodged the raindrops and saw a terrific baseball game. The only thing that could have…
41.878939
-88.278764
Kane County Events & Cultural Center
33w848 Cherry Ln, Geneva, IL
/articles/photo-gallery-welcome-to-fifth-third-bank-ballpark
319890
/locations/6934541
Saturday, April 21, 2012
The alumni news for the Kane County Cougars includes the American League Player of the Week.
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Saturday, April 21, 2012
Kane County Cougars alumns are off to a great start in Major League Baseball so far in this early season. Minnesota outfielder Josh Willingham (’01) was named American League Player of the Week on Monday after hitting .455 with three home runs. His .419 average is tops in the AL. Arizona pitcher Trevor Cahill (’07) won his first game as a Diamondback on Sunday, a game that featured 45 MPH wind gusts and a wind chill of 33 degrees in Colorad Boston pitcher Josh Beckett (’00) opened the 100th anniversary of Fenway Park in fine fashion on Friday, picking up the win while scattering six hits over eight inning Milwaukee shortstop Alex Gonzalez (‘96) smacked a home run in his return to Atlanta last Frida Philadelphia pitcher Joe Blanton (’04) …
41.878939
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Kane County Events & Cultural Center
33w848 Cherry Ln, Geneva, IL
/articles/cougars-players-tearing-up-the-big-league
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Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Plainfield resident Brian Czupryn won the Kane County Cougars' essay contest, with the prize being dinner at the Cougars stadium served by Ozzie T. Cougar
Romance will be the main course tonight for one Plainfield couple—or at least as much romance as you can conjure up in an empty baseball stadium with dinner served by an 8-foot-tall mascot named Ozzie. Brian Czupryn was the winner of the Kane County Cougars' "Valentine's Day Dinner with Ozzie" contest in which participants were asked to submit a 400-word essay on "Who is the special sweetheart in your life, and why?" Fittingly, Brian's sweetheart is wife Kristen, with whom he had his first date at a Cougars' game on April 12, 2002, the day after their high school prom. They married five years later, and now have a 1-year-old daughter. "It's going to be an interesting experience, to be by ourselves (at the empty Geneva stadium); it's like a…
41.878939
-88.278764
Kane County Events & Cultural Center
33w848 Cherry Ln, Geneva, IL
/articles/valentine-s-dinner-for-two-at-an-empty-baseball-stadium-2f18f4a2
319890
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Tuesday, December 20, 2011
The Kane County Cougars, in conjunction with Fifth Third Bank, have announced a five-year sponsorship agreement that will rename Elfstrom Stadium.
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Tuesday, December 20, 2011
The Kane County Cougars, in conjunction with Fifth Third Bank, have announced a five-year sponsorship agreement that will rename Elfstrom Stadium. Philip B. Elfstrom Stadium, as it was originally named when opening as the home of the Cougars in 1991, will now be officially known as Fifth Third Bank Ballpark. As part of the renaming process, the Kane County Events Center will be officially renamed as the Philip B. Elfstrom Events Center to honor the man who was instrumental in bringing minor league baseball to Kane County. Elfstrom, the former Kane County Forest Preserve president and chairman of the Kane County Board, is regarded as a baseball visionary for building a minor league baseball stadium in the shadows of two Major League clubs …
41.878939
-88.278764
Kane County Events & Cultural Center
33w848 Cherry Ln, Geneva, IL
/articles/elfstrom-stadium-to-be-renamed-fifth-third-bank-ballpark
319890
/locations/6049401
Anthony
1:50 pm on Sunday, February 24, 2013
Somebody smells money more ›