Minor league baseball season started this week for the Kane County Cougars. But if you have been to Elfstrom Stadium in Geneva, you know there is a lot more going on than just the game. On the diamond and off, this season promises to be no exception to that, with a full slate of activities slated for the team's 70 home dates.
In fact, there will be fireworks after half of those games, said Cougars Assistant General Manager Jeff Ney.
12 date. And with four of those displays there will be bands playing, too. The acts provide "background music during the fireworks show, and then play for a full hour afterward," said Cougars media relations coordinator Shawn Touney.
The Willie Arthur Smith Marching Cobras, an extraordinary drum, dance and drill team from Kansas City, will step out on July 21.
"This is a major step we're taking in terms of our postgame music series. We've gotten great feedback from our fans and have wanted to offer more variety in terms of the music offered, as well as how we showcase the bands," Touney said.
It only takes about four minutes to set up a band after a ball game ends, said Ney, and fans are allowed on the field to dance. Sets typically last 45 minutes to an hour, with a last call made halfway into a performance.
"It was a very enthusiastic crowd," recalled Jim "Ringo" Martin, drummer with the Beatles tribute act British Export, of the group's appearance last year at Elfstrom.
This upcoming performance will be the band's third time playing on a ball field. At a 2005 White Sox game, they re-enacted the Fab Four's 1965 appearance at Comiskey Park (viewable online at www.britishexport.
com).
For that show, the band did not get to play just off second base as the real Beatles did back in the day. However that will be (and was) the set up after the Cougars game.
And the group will be wearing black suits just like the real deal did in the 1960s.
Along with baseball, more music is just one of the things to look forward to at the park. Ney said during games a new promotion will be an American Idol spoof, "Sing For Your Supper," where a few chosen fans will croon in order to win restaurant gift certificates.
And back after a season-long absence is the video-screen version of the old carnival shell game, with fans having to guess under which spinning baseball hat the ball is hiding.
On May 27, the Cougars host their first family campout, where clans can set up tents on the field after the game, watch a movie, spend a night under the stars and get breakfast in the morning, all for just $10 above the regular admission price.
On Father's Day, June 17, dads and kids can play catch on the field before the game, feast on a special brunch during play then run it off afterward on the base path.
The park is available again for game day birthday parties and corporate and civic group outings. Last year, the Cougars hosted about 1,000 deck parties and between 300 to 400 birthday packages, Ney said.
The Cougars also drew more than 500,000 fans for the sixth year in a row and expect big attendance again.
Helping draw people through the gate will be the appearance of Chicago Cubs Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg in his new role as manager of the Peoria Chiefs, a Cubs farm team. Tickets are selling well for those games, Ney said. Those dates are: April 21, 22; July 3, 4, 5, 6; and Aug.
11 and 12.
Baseball, of course, remains the main attraction, and the Cougars, who won the Midwest League's Western Division last season, host the league's All Star game June 19. The last time that game came to Elfstrom one of the future stars on the roster was superstar St.
Louis Cardinal in-the-making Albert Pujols, Ney noted.
The Cougars are affiliated with the Oakland Athletics, and several of their top prospects are expected to play for Kane County this year, Ney said. In the past one of those was pitcher Huston Street.
Other former Cougars dotting major league rosters include Dontrelle Willis, Josh Beckett, Ryan Dempster, Edgar Renteria and Scott Podsednik.
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