When it comes to sports, you cannot go wrong with the city of Chicago.  We are a city filled with opportunities for sports fans.  We have two major league baseball teams, one on each end of town.  We have a professional (although an argument against that could be made) hockey team.  We have an NFL team.  We have an NBA team.  We even have an MLS team and a professional indoor soccer team.  Recently we added a professional Lacrosse team and a professional indoor Lacrosse team.

Of course, the problem with most of these teams, is how expensive it is to visit these teams, especially when you want to bring an entire family.  Gone are the days when you can easily take your son or daughter to a Chicago Cubs game.  Sure, you can still do it, but you had better take out a small loan, plan the entire day in advance like Ike did for D-Day and be prepared to continue paying for things throughout the entire game.

So, what’s the alternative?  Minor league sports also exist in and around the Chicago area.  From Gary Indiana to Rockford Illinois, there are minor league teams that play and they play with the firm idea of attracting the family dollar.  In each case, these teams make it their job to provide a quality product for reasonable prices.  Since the nature of minor league sports is fleeting, with team players moving up or moving down regularly, it is the experience that is sold at these places.

Baseball

When it comes to baseball, the Chicago area is an abundant place.  Depending on how far you want to drive, as well, the Chicago area is nearly saturated with professional, but minor league baseball teams.  Most of these teams play in independent leagues, which means they are not affiliated with any major league team.  However, the difference between leagues and teams will be explained in greater detail here later.

The Kane County Cougars

Out in Kane County is a team known as the Kane County Cougars.  When it comes to minor league baseball, this is often the team that most people remember.  For many, it may be the first team in minor league baseball that they ever went to.  This is because, for this area, this was one of the first minor league teams around, especially during this latest minor league boom.

The Cougars are the only affiliated team in the area.  They started as an affiliate, or farm team,  for the Baltimore Orioles.  Then they were a farm team for the Florida Marlins.  These days they are the farm team for the Oakland Athletics.

The Cougars play at Elfstrom Stadium, which is right next door to a landfill.  It has lawn seats and an outfield where there is a picnic area.  There are also red plastic seats and all of them are reasonably priced.  The stadium is located at the intersection of Kirk and Roosevelt Road, just east of the town of Geneva.

The Cougars even won a championship in 2001.  They also have routinely made it into the post-season.  These are players who have been recruited by a major league team, and any could become the next major league superstar.

If you’d like to know more, you can visit them at www.kccougars.com

The Schaumburg Flyers

The Flyers are a team in the independent Northern League.  This is a league where none of the teams are affiliated with major league baseball teams.  The players play here because they love the game.  They make, maybe $800 a month, and they only earn the money during the season.  This means they often get regular jobs during the off season.

The Flyers came into existence just off of the Elgin-O’Hare Expressway in 1998.  For me, this was the first minor league baseball team I had ever seen play.  They also have lawn seats, bleacher seats and a stadium loosely based on Wrigley Field.  It has a manual scoreboard, the same dimensions as Wrigley, bullpens on the field, green seats and bleachers.

They play at Alexian Field on Springinsguth Road, just off of the expressway.  You can see it from the road.  The team has done well, routinely making it into the post-season.  Check out www.flyersbaseball.com for more details.

The Joliet Jackhammers

Shortly after the Flyers came into existence, and with the success of that team, other communities began looking to have their own minor league team.  The Northern League also looked to expand.  The community of Joliet was looking to renovate the downtown area.

The team plays a Silver Cross Field which is right in downtown Joliet.  The stadium itself is located at 1 Mayor Art Schultz Drive.  For more information about their team, visit www.jackhammersbaseball.com.

Gary Southshore Railcats

The Northern League looked to expand further, with two successful teams in the area.  Once again, a downtown area was looking to improve things.  Gary had become one of the most-impoverished areas in the Chicago metropolitan area.  So, a stadium was built and the Northern League agreed to put a team here.

The Railcats actually took off almost immediately.  They won their entire league championship just a couple of seasons ago.  The stadium and success of the team has helped bring some help to downtown Gary.  Restaurants have opened up around the stadium.

The Railcats play at the U.S. SteelYard.  It is right off of the Indiana Toll Road and I-65.  For more information, you can visit their site at www.railcatsbaseball.com.

The Windy City Thunderbolts

There is another league with teams all over the midwest known as the Frontier League.  The city of Crestwood built a stadium and got the Cook County Cheetahs to play there for the Frontier League.  They were the Cheetahs for some time and then, recently, asked the fans to help them rename and revamp the team.  They became the Windy City Thunderbolts.

The stadium is one of the only ones in the area for minor league baseball with an upper-deck.  It also has some very hardcore fans.  The field is smaller than the Northern League teams, but that could be due to the larger amounts of money in general that the Northern League has.

They lay at what was known as Hawkinson-Ford Field, but now seems to be called Hawk Ford Field.  They are on Kenton Ave. right in Crestwood.  It’s a long drive, but it’s worth it.  For more information you can visit them at www.wcthunderbolts.com

The Rockford Riverhawks

The city of Rockford sits about ninety miles from downtown Chicago.  They have had a long history of having minor league baseball.  They have had many affiliated teams over the years, but the most-successful seems to be the Rockford Riverhawks of the Frontier League (the same league as the Thunderbolts).

The team has made it into the post-season many teams and won their league championship in 2005.  They just had a brand new stadium built a couple of years ago, and rumor has it, it’s a great place to see a ball game.

They play at Road Ranger Stadium, which is located at 4503 Interstate Blvd. in Loves Park.  This is right off of the tollway.  For more information you can visit their team website at www.rockfordriverhawks.com

There is more than just minor league baseball in the Chicago area, of course.  There is, if you look for it, minor league sports available for a reasonable dollar for all sports tastes.  Yes, there are even football games you can watch for a fraction of the cost of going to see the Chicago Bears.

I will be writing about those teams later this week.

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