Schaumburg Flyers
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| Schaumburg Flyers Founded in 1993 Schaumburg, Illinois |
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| Owner(s)/Operated By: Richard Ehrenreich John E. Hughes Mike Conley |
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| General Manager: Ben Burke | |||
| Manager: Steve Maddock | |||
Media: Schaumburg Review
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| Website: www.flyersbaseball.com | |||
The Schaumburg Flyers are a Northern League baseball team based in Schaumburg, Illinois. The Flyers are not affiliated with any Major League Baseball team. They play their home games at Alexian Field, formerly known as Schaumburg Baseball Stadium, off The Elgin O'Hare Expressway. The team was created in 1999 when the Thunder Bay (Ontario) Whiskey Jacks were sold and moved to Schaumburg.
In 1999, the flyers hired their first manager, Ron Kittle. Kittle is most famous for his playing days with the White Sox, and former Cub Greg Hibbard was the pitching coach. During the early years of the franchise, Kittle did a series of TV commercials to promote the team, using the gimmick "Ma Kittle." where he played both himself and his "Ma." The ads were successful at sparking some initial interest in the team as the Flyers hoped to steal away fans from the nearby Kane County Cougars. The ad mimmicked the highly successful Nike ads where Larry Johnson starred as both himself and "Gramama." At the end of the 2001 season, however, Kittle resigned from his managerial position, and Jim Boynewicz was hired to replace him.
In 2004, the Flyers made it to the Northern League Championship Series against the St. Paul Saints. Despite leading the five-game series 2-1, Schaumburg eventually lost the series. In Game 5, Flyers relief pitcher Lyle Prempas allowed a game winning grand slam by St. Paul infielder Marc Mirizzi in the ninth inning.
The Flyers have appeared in the Northern League Playoffs four times (1999, 2003, 2004, 2006) but have never won the championship. Some famous players who have played for the Flyers are former Oakland A's outfielder Ozzie Canseco and former Chicago Cubs outfielder Dwight Smith.
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[edit] Year-by-year record
| First Half | Second Half | Overall | ||||||||||||
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| Season | Division | W-L | Finish | W-L | Finish | W-L | Win% | Playoffs | ||||||
| 1999 | East | 19-24 | 1st | 25-18 | 1st | 44-42 | .512 | Lost Central semi-final | ||||||
| 2000 | East | 18-25 | 4th | 20-23 | 4th | 38-48 | .442 | Did not qualify | ||||||
| 2001 | North | 18-27 | 3rd | 19-26 | 3rd | 37-53 | .411 | Did not qualify | ||||||
| 2002 | South | 19-24 | 4th | 16-29 | 5th | 35-53 | .398 | Did not qualify | ||||||
| 2003 | East | 25-19 | 3rd | 22-22 | 2nd | 47-41 | .534 | Lost semi-final | ||||||
| 2004 | South | 31-17 | 1st | 27-21 | 2nd | 58-38 | .604 | Lost championship series | ||||||
| 2005 | South | 16-32 | 6th | 22-26 | 4th | 38-58 | .396 | Did not qualify | ||||||
| 2006 | South | 31-17 | 1st | 15-33 | 4th | 46-50 | .479 | Lost division final | ||||||
| 2007 | South | 20-28 | 3rd | 19-29 | 4th | 39-57 | .406 | Did not qualify | ||||||
[edit] "Leon" is a Flyer
The actor who plays "Leon" in a Budweiser advertising campaign, Nigel Thatch, became a Flyer in 2005. This brought national attention to the Flyers, with mentions on ESPN's Pardon the Interruption and SportsCenter. Nigel brought many fans to Alexian Field, but on May 1st, 2006 Nigel was traded to Fullerton of the Golden League for 60 cases of Budweiser beer.
[edit] 2006 and 2007 seasons
For the second half of the 2006 season, the Flyers and MSN have partnered to let fans choose the Flyers lineups online. This program is called "Fan Club: Reality Baseball"[1]. Players and the team manager are upset by this development, and changes mandated by the online voting have seemingly caused several on-field errors.[2] Attendance has declined severely during the 2007 season, probably due to a dramatic weakening of Schaumburg's economy, which relied on shopping and a rising real estate market. Shopping revenue has decreased dramatically in the Woodfield area, and many homes in the area have lost close to 15% in value recently, resulting in the current decline. Also most of the team went with former manager Andy McCauley to the Kansas City T-Bones, which left only one player from th '06 team on the '07. The Schaumburg Flyers plan on having the infamous William Hung,American Idol Star, sing at one of their games in 08 and on June 24 host dog day, where fans are allowed to bring their dogs to watch the game. The 08 season looks promising as the Flyers have acquired many new players with some major league experience, such as Bo Hart who was a fan favorite in St.Louis when he batted well in the 2003 and in 2004 and played AAA ball with the Cubs farm team in Iowa.
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- nlfan.com - yearly league standings & awards
- Goldeyes official website
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