Peoria Chiefs
Encyclopedia
The Peoria Chiefs are a Class A minor league baseball
Minor league baseball
Minor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in the Americas that compete at levels below Major League Baseball and provide opportunities for player development. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses...

 team, affiliated with the Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...

, from Peoria, Illinois
Peoria, Illinois
Peoria is the largest city on the Illinois River and the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, in the United States. It is named after the Peoria tribe. As of the 2010 census, the city was the seventh-most populated in Illinois, with a population of 115,007, and is the third-most populated...

. They play in the Midwest League
Midwest League
The Midwest League is a Class-A minor league baseball league which operates in the Midwestern United States.-History:Six teams – the Belleville Stags, the Centralia Cubs, the Marion Indians, the Mattoon Indians or East Frankfort White Sox, the Mount Vernon Braves, and the West Frankfort...

.

The team's inaugural year in Peoria was 1983, as the Peoria Suns, a California Angels farm team that replaced the Angels' previous Midwest League farm team, the Danville
Danville, Illinois
Danville is a city in Vermilion County, Illinois, United States. It is the principal city of the'Danville, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area' which encompasses all of Danville and Vermilion County. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 32,467. It is the county seat of...

 Suns. The following year, the team was given the more traditional name "Chiefs", in reference to the Peoria
Peoria (tribe)
The Peoria people are a Native American tribe. Today they are enrolled in the federally recognized Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma. Historically, they were part of the Illinois Confederation.-History:...

 tribe for which the city was named.

The Chiefs' first home park was Meinen Field
Shea Stadium (Peoria, Illinois)
Shea Stadium is a privately owned and managed facility located in Peoria, Illinois, less than a mile north of Bradley University and just to the west of the USDA National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research...

 near the Bradley University
Bradley University
Bradley University, founded in 1897, is a private, co-educational university located in Peoria, Illinois. It is a small institution with an enrollment of approximately 6,100 undergraduate and postgraduate students and a full-time faculty of approximately 350....

 campus, built in 1968; it was renovated before the 1992 season and renamed Pete Vonachen Stadium in honor of the Chiefs' owner. The team moved to a new park in downtown Peoria, O'Brien Field
O'Brien Field
O'Brien Field is a baseball field located in downtown Peoria, Illinois. It is the home of the Peoria Chiefs, the Class A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs; the Chiefs previously played at Meinen Field. The college baseball team of Bradley University also uses the field. The first game scheduled for...

, on May 24, 2002; they set a franchise attendance record of 254,407 in the new park's first year and also won the midwest league championship. The team then broke the attendance record in 2005 with 256,612 fans in their first season back with the Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...

 since 1994.

Former players include Wally Joyner
Wally Joyner
Wallace Keith "Wally" Joyner is a former first baseman and hitting coach in Major League Baseball. He played for four major league teams during a 16-year career, most notably for the California Angels, for whom he was an All-Star...

, Devon White, Mark McLemore
Mark McLemore
Mark Tremell McLemore is a former second baseman and utility player in Major League Baseball....

, Mark Grace, Greg Maddux
Greg Maddux
Gregory Alan Maddux , nicknamed "Mad Dog" and "The Professor", is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He was the first pitcher in major league history to win the Cy Young Award for four consecutive years , a feat matched only by Randy Johnson...

, Joe Girardi
Joe Girardi
Joseph Elliott Girardi is a former Major League Baseball catcher and current manager of the New York Yankees. During a 15-year playing career, he played from 1989–2003 for the Chicago Cubs, the Colorado Rockies, the New York Yankees, and St. Louis Cardinals...

, Plácido Polanco
Plácido Polanco
Plácido Enrique Polanco is a Major League Baseball player who plays for the Philadelphia Phillies and has also played for the St. Louis Cardinals and Detroit Tigers. He is a third baseman, but in the past has played second base and shortstop...

, Coco Crisp
Coco Crisp
Covelli Loyce "Coco" Crisp is an American professional baseball center fielder. Crisp is a switch-hitter and throws right-handed...

, Sam Fuld
Sam Fuld
Samuel Babson "Sam" Fuld is an American professional baseball outfielder with the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball....

, Eric Patterson
Eric Patterson
Eric Scott Patterson is an American professional baseball outfielder for the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball. He has also played second base in the majors, which he predominantly played in the minor leagues...

, Rafael Palmeiro
Rafael Palmeiro
Rafael Palmeiro Corrales is a former Major League Baseball first baseman and left fielder. Palmeiro was an All-American at Mississippi State University before being drafted by the Chicago Cubs in 1985...

, Albert Pujols
Albert Pujols
José Alberto Pujols Alcántara , better known as Albert Pujols , is a Dominican-American professional baseball player, who is currently a free agent...

, Sean Gallagher
Sean Gallagher (baseball)
Sean Patrick Gallagher is a Major League Baseball relief pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates.-Chicago Cubs:...

, Carmen Cali
Carmen Cali
Carmen Salvatore Cali is a Major League Baseball relief pitcher, who is currently a free agent.Cali graduated in 1997 from Naples High School after lettering and starring four years in both football and baseball. He went on to graduate, and letter in baseball, at Florida Atlantic University.He...

, Dan Haren
Dan Haren
Daniel John Haren is a Major League Baseball starting pitcher for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.- High-school and college career :...

, Yadier Molina
Yadier Molina
Yadier Benjamin Molina known affectionately by fans as "Yadi", is a Major League Baseball catcher who plays for the St. Louis Cardinals.Molina was the third catcher to play in two World Series before age 25, along with Johnny Bench and Yogi Berra. He is considered one of the best defensive...

, and Chris Duncan
Chris Duncan
Christopher Edwin Duncan is a Major League Baseball outfielder and first baseman who is currently a free agent.He is the youngest son of Dave Duncan, a former catcher and current pitching coach for the St. Louis Cardinals...

. Rehab appearances have included J. D. Drew
J. D. Drew
David Jonathan "J. D." Drew is an American professional baseball right fielder who is a free agent. He is a left-handed hitter, and began his major league career in with the St. Louis Cardinals...

, Rick Sutcliffe, Kerry Wood
Kerry Wood
Kerry Lee Wood is a National Major League Baseball relief pitcher. Wood recorded over 200 strikeouts in four out of his first five seasons, with a high of 266 in 2003....

, Steve Kline, Mark Prior
Mark Prior
Mark William Prior is an American professional baseball pitcher in the New York Yankees organization. He pitched for the Chicago Cubs from 2002-2006. His repertoire of pitches includes a low to mid 90s fastball, a curveball, a slurve, and a changeup.-Amateur career:Prior graduated from the...

, Nomar Garciaparra
Nomar Garciaparra
Anthony Nomar Garciaparra is a former Major League Baseball player. After playing parts of 9 seasons as an All-Star shortstop for the Boston Red Sox, he played third base, first base, and designated hitter for the Oakland Athletics, first base and third base for the Los Angeles Dodgers, and...

, Henry Blanco
Henry Blanco
Henry Ramón Blanco is a Venezuelan professional baseball player. He currently plays in Major League Baseball as a catcher and is currently a free agent...

, Wade Miller
Wade Miller
Wade Thomas Miller is a former Major League Baseball starting pitcher for the Houston Astros from through the Boston Red Sox in and the Chicago Cubs in and . He bats and throws right-handed...

, Ángel Guzmán
Ángel Guzmán
Ángel Moisés Guzmán is a professional baseball pitcher. Listed at 6-3 , 195 pounds , Guzmán bats and throws right-handed. He made his major league debut on April 26, .-Career:...

, Reed Johnson
Reed Johnson
Reed Cameron Johnson is an American professional baseball outfielder. He was born in Riverside, California-College career:...

, Aramis Ramírez
Aramis Ramírez
Aramis Nin Ramírez is an All-Star Major League Baseball third baseman for the Chicago Cubs.He started his professional career with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1998, before being traded to the Cubs in 2003. On November 12, 2006, Ramírez signed a five-year deal with the Cubs...

, Ted Lilly
Ted Lilly
Theodore Roosevelt "Ted" Lilly III , is a Major League Baseball starting pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers. He bats and throws left-handed...

, and most recently Randy Wells
Randy Wells
Randy David Wells is a Major League Baseball pitcher for the Chicago Cubs.Wells was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 38th Round of the 2002 amateur entry draft as a catcher. He spent his career in the Chicago Cubs farm system from to before being claimed in the Rule 5 Draft by the Toronto...

.

Former Chicago Cubs catcher Jody Davis managed the team during the 2006 season before moving to the Single A Daytona Cubs.

It was announced on December 5, 2006 that former Cub and hall of famer Ryne Sandberg
Ryne Sandberg
Ryne Dee Sandberg , nicknamed "Ryno" is a former Major League Baseball second baseman. During a 16-year baseball career, he played from 1981–1994 and 1996–97, spending nearly his entire career with the Chicago Cubs. He was named after relief pitcher Ryne Duren, and is recognized as one of the best...

 would manage the Chiefs in 2007. The team went 71-68 and finished the second half 40-30 in a tie for the division title but missed the playoff on a tiebreaker. At the gate in 2007, the Chiefs broke their season attendance record with 259,794 fans and an average of 3800 per game. Sandberg returned to manage the Chiefs in 2008 with hitting coach Ricardo Medina and pitching coach Rich Bombard.

History

Peoria has had a long and somewhat spotty history of professional baseball. The earliest teams included the Peoria Reds, the Peoria Canaries and the Peoria Blackbirds, who played in several early leagues during parts of 1878-1895.

The first ballpark used by the early teams was reportedly called Sylvan Park and was located "approximately where the St. Augustine Manor is today" (Benson, p.293). That would put it at the corner of Northeast Glendale Avenue and Spring Street. In 1883, the club move a few blocks toward Peoria Lake
Peoria Lake
Peoria Lake is a section of the Illinois River between Peoria in Peoria County, Illinois and East Peoria in Tazewell County, Illinois. The oldest section of Peoria, the largest city on the river, lies at its shores....

, to a facility called Lake View Park, which would remain the home of various Peoria clubs for the next four decades.

The 1895 club was dubbed the Peoria Distillers, referencing the Hiram Walker
Hiram Walker
Hiram Walker was an American grocer and distiller, and the eponym of the famous distillery in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Walker was born in East Douglas, Massachusetts, and moved to Detroit in the mid-1830s...

 plant. That nickname would stick with the various Peoria clubs for the next couple of decades, including their first stretch with the Three-I League during 1905-1917. The Three-I suspended operations in 1918, as many minor leagues did during the peak of American involvement in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

.

When the Three-I resumed play in 1919, the name Peoria Tractors gained favor, with the growth of the nearby branch of the company later called Caterpillar Inc.
Caterpillar Inc.
Caterpillar Inc. , also known as "CAT", designs, manufactures, markets and sells machinery and engines and sells financial products and insurance to customers via a worldwide dealer network. Caterpillar is the world's largest manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas...



In 1923 the team opened a new ballpark called Woodruff Field, name in honor of a long-time mayor of Peoria. The new park was just across the street from Lake View Park.

The Tractors played in several leagues before folding after the 1937 season. The city was then without professional baseball for the next 15 years.

The name Peoria Chiefs first appeared with a new franchise in the Three-I League in 1953. This club disbanded after 1957, and Peoria was again without professional ball, for the next 25 years until the current Chiefs set up shop. Woodruff Field itself continued to be used for high school baseball. The stands were removed in the 1970s, but the playing field still exists, as Woodruff Park, which sits between Northeast Adams Street and Peoria Lake, southeast of where Abington Street T's into Adams. The teams's current logo featuring a fire station dog was developed by Valentine Design of Minneapolis, Minnesota.. See Peoria Chiefs Unveil New Logo at http://www.ssur.org/news/items/2004/200412/20041216_PeoriaChiefs.htm.

Chiefs' brawl on July 24th, 2008

During a game on July 24, 2008 against the Dayton Dragons
Dayton Dragons
The Dayton Dragons are a Class A minor league baseball team from Dayton, Ohio affiliated with the Cincinnati Reds. They play in the Midwest League at Fifth Third Field.The Dragons came to Dayton in 2000...

, Chiefs' pitcher Julio Castillo, during the first inning, hit a Dragons' batter in the head, accidentally hit one of his own players in a collision when chasing a ball, hit another Dragons' player in the arm, and just nearly hit another Dragons' player in the head. This got the Dragons' manager to start to argue with the umpire which brought out the Chiefs' manager. The two argued for a few minutes with the head umpire breaking it up. But apparently in anger Julio Castillo, the Chiefs pitcher who had hit three people before during a rampage, fired a ball at the Dayton Dragon's dugout.

The ball missed the dugout but struck a fan who had to be immediately taken to a hospital. At this both benches cleared and the game was delayed for 69 minutes. After the game Chiefs' pitcher Julio Castillo was arrested for felonious assault. The fan, Chris McCarthy, suffered a concussion but has since recovered. On August 8, 2009 Castillo was convicted of felonious assault causing serious physical injury and was sentenced to 30 days in jail. In April 2010 a judge released Castillo from probation "on the condition that he leave the United States and not return for a minimum of three years."

Team affiliations

Level Team League Location
Major League Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...

National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...

Chicago, Illinois
AAA Iowa Cubs
Iowa Cubs
The Iowa Cubs are a Triple-A minor league baseball team, affiliated with the Chicago Cubs, that plays in the Pacific Coast League. Their home games are played in Des Moines, Iowa, at Principal Park.-Franchise history:...

Pacific Coast League
Pacific Coast League
The Pacific Coast League is a minor-league baseball league operating in the Western, Midwestern and Southeastern United States. Along with the International League and the Mexican League, it is one of three leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one step below Major League Baseball.The...

Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines, Iowa
Des Moines is the capital and the most populous city in the US state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small portion of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines which was shortened to "Des Moines" in 1857...

AA Tennessee Smokies
Tennessee Smokies
The Tennessee Smokies are a Minor League Baseball team based in the Knoxville, Tennessee metropolitan area. The team, which plays in the Southern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball as of the 2011 season...

Southern League
Southern League (baseball)
The Southern League is a minor league baseball league which operates in the Southern United States. It is classified a Double-A league. The original league was formed in , and shut down in . A new league, the Southern Association, was formed in , consisting of twelve teams...

Sevierville, Tennessee
Sevierville, Tennessee
Sevierville is a city in Sevier County, Tennessee, located in the Southeastern United States. Its population was 11,757 at the 2000 United States Census; in 2004 the estimated population was 14,101. Sevierville is the county seat of Sevier County, Tennessee....

Advanced A Daytona Cubs
Daytona Cubs
The Daytona Cubs are a minor league baseball team based in Daytona Beach, Florida. The team plays in the Florida State League , and is the Class A-Advanced affiliate of the Chicago Cubs major league club. The Cubs play at Jackie Robinson Ballpark; opened in 1914, the park seats 5,100 fans.The...

Florida State League
Florida State League
The Florida State League is a Class A-Advanced minor league baseball league operating in the state of Florida. They are one of three leagues currently operating in Class A-Advanced, the third highest of six classifications of minor leagues...

Daytona Beach, Florida
Daytona Beach, Florida
Daytona Beach is a city in Volusia County, Florida, USA. According to 2008 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, the city has a population of 64,211. Daytona Beach is a principal city of the Deltona – Daytona Beach – Ormond Beach, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, which the census bureau estimated had...

A Peoria Chiefs
Peoria Chiefs
The Peoria Chiefs are a Class A minor league baseball team, affiliated with the Chicago Cubs, from Peoria, Illinois. They play in the Midwest League....

Midwest League
Midwest League
The Midwest League is a Class-A minor league baseball league which operates in the Midwestern United States.-History:Six teams – the Belleville Stags, the Centralia Cubs, the Marion Indians, the Mattoon Indians or East Frankfort White Sox, the Mount Vernon Braves, and the West Frankfort...

Peoria, Illinois
Peoria, Illinois
Peoria is the largest city on the Illinois River and the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, in the United States. It is named after the Peoria tribe. As of the 2010 census, the city was the seventh-most populated in Illinois, with a population of 115,007, and is the third-most populated...

Short Season A Boise Hawks
Boise Hawks
The Boise Hawks are a minor league baseball team, located in Boise, Idaho. The team is currently a farm team for the Chicago Cubs and play in the Short-Season Class A Northwest League.-History:...

Northwest League
Northwest League
The Northwest League of Professional Baseball is a Class A-Short Season minor baseball league. The league is the descendant of the Western International League which ran as a class B league from 1937-1951 and class A from 1952-1954...

Boise, Idaho
Boise, Idaho
Boise is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho, as well as the county seat of Ada County. Located on the Boise River, it anchors the Boise City-Nampa metropolitan area and is the largest city between Salt Lake City, Utah and Portland, Oregon.As of the 2010 Census Bureau,...

Rookie AZL Cubs Arizona League
Arizona League
The Arizona League is a minor league baseball league that operates in and around Phoenix, Arizona. It is a rookie-level professional baseball league run by Major League Baseball since 1989. Games are played at the spring training complexes of the team's parent organizations from mid-June until the...

Mesa, Arizona
Mesa, Arizona
According to the 2010 Census, the racial composition of Mesa was as follows:* White: 77.1% * Hispanic or Latino : 26.54%* Black or African American: 3.5%* Two or more races: 3.4%* Native American: 2.4%...


Sources

  • Dinda, J. (2003), "Peoria, Illinois, in the Midwest League," http://www.mwlguide.com/cities/peoria/index.html
  • Peter Filichia (1993), Professional Baseball Franchises, Facts on File Books, New York.
  • Michael Benson (1989), Baseball Parks of North America, McFarland & Co., Jefferson, North Carolina.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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