BUSH LEAGUES

Dave Chamberlain finds there's baseball in them thar 'burbs


It is a game. Nothing more.

But over the course of its 150-year evolution, baseball has grown into America's great-summer-pastime. Though other sports during other seasons may have used the 1994-95 strike to vault over baseball in terms of viewership and advertising dollars, (specifically, basketball and football), baseball is as much a part of the typical American family's summer as trips to the beach and amusement parks. Like hockey in Canada, it's a cultural distinction.

And also like hockey in Canada, baseball's talent development system reaches much further than basketball and football's high school-college-pro succession. Baseball's minor leagues, more than 300 teams playing in every city from Rochester, NY to Spokane, Washington, provide young baseball players -- right out of high school or college -- a chance to play at whatever level they're deemed ready. Every American-born player, whether highly touted youngster like J.D. Drew or journeyman middle reliever like Eric Plunk, starts in America's minor league baseball system.

But regardless of comparison sports, modern-day baseball has become an expensive proposition. Salaries for incoming players have broken the million dollar mark -- before a player has played an inning -- and superstars of the Major League game now command tens of millions, even with declining careers. And for every million dollar bust, Major League baseball expects the fans to pick up the tab. In the nineties, mom, dad, bro and sis are paying for Mel Rojas and Kevin Orie.

A family of four venturing to Wrigley Field for a weekend game will pay at least $100 dollars for seats, hotdogs and beverages. Add another $10-15 for parking if necessary. With Wrigley one of the least expensive baseball experiences in the country, fans are finding alternatives. Primarily, minor league baseball.

It is with this in mind that Newcity introduces you to the newest entry into Chicagolands growing ranks of minor league baseball: the Cook County Cheetahs.

Sick of watching the Cubs blow leads and sure those kids can't play? Chicagoland is crisscrossed with baseball options. For roughly one-third the price of a day at Wrigley or Comiskey a Chicagoan can travel north to watch the Kane County Cougars, west to see the Schaumburg Flyers, and south for the newest entry into the local diamond pantheon, the Cook County Cheetahs.

And they started out last year in class. Hawkinson Ford Field (named after a primary sponsor, Bob Hawkinson, of Bob Hawkinson Ford car dealership fame) is a beautifully sculpted microbe of any major league park. Cement cast with an upper deck, Hawkinson Ford Field sparks memories of old Comiskey Park -- without bleachers. Designed by the Devine deFlon Yaeger architecture firm and costing $9 million, the field rises out of nowhere in the south suburban emptiness of Crestwood, just over the border to Midlothian. The stadium can hold 3,400 fans, and -- in the spirit of modern-day baseball -- even has two luxury suites. With expanses of open space around it, Hawkinson Ford Field has alotted growing space, Malar says, just in case the team's popularity necessitates growth.

And popularity is the only thing likely to stimulate growth. Unlike both the Cougars and the Flyers, the Cheetahs -- playing for the first year in the Frontier League and in its third year of existence -- are unaffiliated. In the words of head scout Larry Malar, the bottom line difference is such: "Affiliated teams get their money from the Major Leagues, independent teams get their money from the fans."

As a member of the Frontier League (the Cougars and Flyers are part of the Midwest and Northern League, respectively), the Cheetahs play a shortened, 84-game schedule. The Cheetahs are joined in the League's Western division by the Springfield Capitals, Dubois County Dragons, Evansville Otters and River City Rascals. The Eastern division consists of the Canton Crocodiles, Chillicothe Paints, Johnstown Johnnies, Richmond Roosters and London (Kentucky) Werewolves. Although the Cheetahs played in the now-defunct Heartland League last year, they are considered an expansion team by the Frontier League.

As an independent league, the 6-year-old Frontier League is not a member of the National Association of Professional Baseball, the 99-year-old organization designed to regulate and moderate contract disputes between teams. (Formed because, in 1900 with the inception of the then-new American League, players under contract with National League teams signed American League contracts. A star of the time, Nap Lajoie, was banned from playing in the city of Philadelphia after jumping the team he was bound to, the Philadephia Phillies, and signing with the American League's Philadelphia Atheletics.)

By virtue of a shortened season, players' statistics can be both underwhelming and exaggerated. But the superior players will stand out.

Under restrictions imposed by the Frontier League, the Cheetahs are limited to having three veteran players on its twenty-four man roster. A veteran is defined by either two years experience at the professional (i.e., paid -- semi-pro experience does not apply) level or more than 160 at bats. Additionally, no player can be older than 27 years on opening day.

Understanding that local interest is the only way to grow, The Cheetahs have made moves pique baseball fans' memories. The team manager is Chico Walker, former utility man for Boston, California, the Mets and, Northsiders already know it, the Cubs. Assistant coach Ron LeFlore carries more name recognition, having starred in the mid-seventies for Detroit, Montreal and, Southsiders already know it, the White Sox. (LeFlore also holds the distinction of being the only player to lead both the American and National League in stolen bases.)

And in the tradition of minor league baseball, ticket prices lure fan away from the major financial investment that is Wrigley Field or Comiskey Park. A single season ticket located in the lower deck of Hawkinson Ford Field, will run between $292-308, for forty-four home games. For the upper deck, $250-264. Single game tickets run accordingly, between $4 and $7.

Copyright Newcity Communications, Inc.

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