Kane County Cougars Class A Affiliate of the Oakland A's

Elfstrom Stadium – Geneva, IL

Opened: 1991 with renovations completed in 2009

Capacity: 7,100

Ticket Prices: Kane County has a tiered ticket pricing system with regular, prime, and premium dates ranging from $8 to $14 depending on the type of seat and date.

Parking: Free and ample parking next to stadium on a beautiful brick paved lot

Dates Visited:
June 18 vs. Wisconsin Timber Rattlers – Box Score & Summary

Overview
As any baseball fan can tell you, when you attend a game, the stadium itself is only a small part of the ballpark experience. It’s the fans that give a park personality and make it an enjoyable place to see a game.

With this in mind, I stepped into Elfstrom Stadium with a certain degree of trepidation. Elfstrom Stadium, home to the Class ‘A’ Kane County Cougars of the Midwest League, is just a short car ride from Wrigley Field.

View of Centerfield at Elfstrom Stadium

Having spent many summer evenings at the Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati watching the Cubs beat up on the Redlegs, I have, to put it politely, developed a dislike for the boys in blue – and their fans.

Although Kane County is an affiliate of the Oakland A’s, I fully expected to spend my time at The Elf surrounded by Cubs fans.

And I was.

But, something weird happen. Take the actual Cubs team out of the equation, and people wearing Cubs jerseys, hats, and shirts magically become a fun group of people to watch a game with.

Ballpark Features

Elfstrom Stadium received a $10.5 million face-lift in 2009 that added a covered concourse, skybox suites, and a second-level seating area to the 18 year old ballpark. Not that a lack of these amenities were keeping fans away. For the past 10 seasons, the Cougars have averaged more than 7,000 fans a game, making them one of the best draws in Minor League Baseball.

Elfstrom Park Prior to Renovations in 2009

Elfstrom Field Following 2009 Renovations

The eight million plus fans that have made their way through the gates at Elfstrom Stadium over the years have seen an impressive array of future big leaguers including Josh Beckett, A.J. Burnett, Dontrelle Willis, Miguel Cabrera, Adrian Gonzalez, and most recently, Oakland rookie Trevor Cahill. The Cougars have paid homage to these stars by placing their likeness up on the front gates and on various signs throughout the park.

The park itself is your typical Minor League yard. The outfield wall is a symmetrical fence plastered with advertisements. Behind the wall are three covered picnic areas, each of which has a rusting façade, giving fans sitting underneath the new multi-million dollar grandstand the impression that more work is left to be done.

There are three scoreboards located in left-centerfield. All are small, and one –the board displaying the line score – wasn’t functioning at all during my visit. The two remaining boards display prerecorded video/graphics and game totals (R, H, E), respectively.

Scoreboards at Elfstrom Stadium

Trees line the area beyond the outfield wall and picnic areas, providing a backdrop that is common among Midwest League stadiums.

Fans at The Elf have three seating options in the lower-level of the stadium. Box seats make up roughly the first ten rows of every seating section at ground level. Directly behind each section of box seats are another 12-15 rows of reserved seating in the form of metal bleachers.  The box/reserved seating area is flanked on either side by a grassy berm area.

Thanks to the renovations, the ballpark also contains fifteen new luxury suites, which, according to the Kane County Cougars’ website feature “indoor and outdoor seating, climate control, satellite television, stadium audio and a top notch menu.”

Concourses at The Elf are clean and wide enough not to feel crowded, even when 7,000 people are at the park.

Stadium Atmosphere

The atmosphere at the Elf can best be described as a cross between the county fair and a baseball game. Throughout the stadium the smell of two of the Cougars’ signature concession items, Elephant Ears and Roasted Corn-on-the-Cob, fills the air.

General Manager Jeff Sedivy makes sure there are plenty of things going on to keep fans entertained. On the night I was in town, Myron Noodleman – a modern day Max Patkin – was performing his shtick at the stadium. And in true county fair fashion, the Cougars and Noodleman were followed by a fireworks show.

Another unique aspect of Elfstrom Stadium is the amount of interaction the Cougar players have with fans. While it is

Members of the Cougar Bullpen Clown Around with Myron Noodleman Between Innings

not uncommon to see Minor Leaguers signing autographs, Kane County seems to take the fan-player experience one step further. Prior to the start of the game Kane County players gather up armfuls of Cougar Logo Baseballs and toss them into the stands at eager fans. And get this: they actually looked like they enjoyed doing it!

Just before the home half of the fourth inning, the bullpen for the Cougars assembled in right field to join Myron Noodleman as he danced to the tune “Shout.” The level of energy, not to mention the smiles, displayed by the Cougars gave me the impression that they were having just as much fun on the field as the fans were in the stands.

And what about those Cubs fans that I was sure would wreck my entire Elfstrom experience? They ended up being the icing on the cake (or in this case the powdered sugar on a piping hot Elephant Ear). By the time I left the stadium I had met nearly everyone with three seats of my own. All were huge baseball fans (not just Cubs), and all were the kind of Midwestern friendly that you don’t find anywhere else. It only took about three innings before I felt like I was in a baseball version of the show Cheers, sitting in the section where “everybody knows your name and they’re always glad you came.”

Thanks to my time at The Elf, the next time I am at the GABP in Cincy and the Cubs are in town, I may just reach over and shake the hands of those Cubs fans sitting next to me.

Especially if the Reds are winning.

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With so many teams in such a small area, it would be easy to see how a small Minor League franchise like the Cougars, a class ‘A’ affiliate of the Oakland A’s, could get lost in the shuffle.

Instead, the Cougars are navigating their way through the crowded Chicago sports scene just fine.

Kane County General Manager Jeff Sedivy has been going head-to-head with the big boys for 18 seasons – and succeeding. “When you’re going up against them (White Sox, Cubs, Fire),” Sedivy said, “you’ve got to have your pencil sharpened and be ready to go.”

Fans Line the Berm at Elfstrom Stadium

Based on the numbers, the Cougars are more than ready to go. Last season, the team averaged 7,160 fans a night, placing them second in attendance in the Midwest League (behind the Dayton Dragons), and 17^th among all of Minor League Baseball.

Although Sedivy doesn’t have the marketing budget of the Chicago White Sox or the brand equity of the Chicago Cubs, he does have one formidable weapon at his disposal – one of the best atmospheres in all of minor league baseball.

Fans that find their way to Elfstrom Stadium, located in the West Chicago Suburb of Geneva, are treated to the sight of big league hopefuls playing in front of near-capacity crowds of knowledgeable fans while the smell of Elephant Ears and Roasted Corn-on-the-Cob fills the air.

It’s an environment that is equal parts county fair and baseball.

And then there are the promotions.

Sedivy has packed the Kane County home schedule with a variety of events, including a Jimmy Buffet theme night, 30 postgame fireworks shows, and in-game performances from acts like Myron Noodleman, the Zoopsters, and Rubber Boy. According to Sedivy, the effectiveness of Kane County’s promotional schedule is due, in part, to the amount of variety that it offers. “We try to create promotions that everyone can take part in, so there’s something for everyone – mom, dad, and the kids.”

Cougar Players Toss Logo-Balls to Fans Prior to the Game

This “something for everyone” approach led to a World Record in 2008 as the Cougars set the Guinness mark for World’s Largest Pillow Fight, a 3,800 person, feather-infused melee.

Kane County Cougar Fans Participate in the World's Biggest Pillow Fight

Despite being one of the best draws in the Minors, Sedivy has no plans to rest on his accomplishments, especially in a down economy. “A lot of people say that Minor League Baseball is recession-proof, but I don’t believe that,” Sedivy explained, “We do a lot of group sales, and right now, groups are hurting.”

For those groups that are feeling the pain of a recession, the Cougars have the perfect cure: an affordable nine-inning vacation to the county fair that is Kane County Baseball.

Young Cougars Fans Getting Autographs

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