Minor League Baseball

Forty minutes away from my house in the suburbs of Chicago, the Kane County Cougars are a highly-successful Midwest League franchise, a Class A farm team of the Oakland Athletics. Elfstrom Stadium in Geneva is a wonderful place to watch baseball and have a ton of fun. Since I am not an Oakland fan, I tend not to get out there very often.

But my spring training road trip in late March, logged here shortly thereafter, I enjoyed watching the four Cubs minor league teams work out, including the Peoria Chiefs. The Chiefs, the Cubs Midwest League entry, feature several young future Cubs, including former first-round draft choice Josh Vitters, a third baseman. In early April, this blog showed Vitters in Arizona in a standard photo as well as a polar coordinate semi-abstract shot. Liking the idea of seeing more of this young prospect, I went out to a Chiefs-Cougars game earlier this month.

The young future big-leaguer did not disappoint. For one thing, the size and scale of the stadium make it so much easier to see ballplayers than the bigger major league parks. For another, the atmosphere is more down-home, and several players spend more time on getting to talk to fans and signing autographs for kids. These photos, along with several others, will be favorites of mine, especially if Josh winds up manning third base for the Cubs in two or three years. Time will tell!

More Chiefs/Vitters images in the next post.

Future Cubs Up Close?

One of the highlights of my spring training experience was Fitch Park, known for years to me as the "minor league camp" but with no idea of how much could be learned and seen at the camp. Four teams -- Iowa (AAA), Tennessee (AA), Daytona (A) and Peoria (A) -- work out at 9:00 AM on four diamonds,with all the backstops together. Well over 120 players are there, sometimes staying on an assigned diamond and sometimes moving in groups from place to place as the practice runs through its schedule. Each diamond eventually moves into batting practice and then breaks for lunch after 11:30.

Most days the two fields to the north will then feature minor league games at 1:00. Basically, the AAA & AA stay home while the two A teams travel or vice-versa. On Thursday, the Cubs sent the older teams to the Angels complex and the two A teams hosted the Angels. For a fan used to major league games in major league parks, the ability to get up close is unprecedented. It is easy to see the great plays and the errors, the tough pitches and the candy pitches, the great swings and the awkward swings. From right up close.

I already have plans to go to see the Kane County Cougars when they host the Peoria Chiefs this summer. Two prospects I was quite impressed with should be playing here on their way to the major leagues. Trades happen and prospects sometimes don't work out, but I think these two will look great in Cub uniforms in two years. Everyone knows the name Josh Vitters, first round pick third baseman who was rumored to be headed to San Diego in a proposed Peavy trade. He looks to be the real thing and has a major league swing. Catcher Mike Brenly, son of color announcer Bob Brenly, is about 6'3" and looks solid behind the plate, strong throwing, and a major league potential batter. It was great to see these stars up close and playing hard. Best of luck to them and to their teammates.

Next post on a neat museum in Mesa, longtime spring home of the Cubs.