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 | |||
| General Manager: Ben Burke | |||
| Manager: Mike Busch | |||
Media: Schaumburg Review
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| Website: www.flyersbaseball.com | |||
The Schaumburg Flyers are a professional baseball team based in Schaumburg, Illinois, in the United States. The Flyers are a member of the Northern League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball. From the 1999 season to the present, the Flyers have played their home games at Alexian Field, near the Elgin O'Hare Expressway. The team formerly played in Thunder Bay, Ontario, where they were known as the Thunder Bay Whiskey Jacks.
On July 27, 2009, the Flyers played host to Battle of the Sexes II, which pitted the Flyers against the National Pro Fastpitch Softball Champions, the Chicago Bandits. Played by official softball rules, the game was seen by an overflow record crowd of 8,918, and was won by the Bandits 4-2. Covered by over 20 media outlets, the game goes down in Chicagoland and professional sports history as one of the most successful and innovative special events ever orchestrated.
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 Converse 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 | ||||||
| 2008 | N/A | 30-66 | 6th | N/A | N/A | 30-66 | .313 | Did not qualify | ||||||
| 2009 | N/A | 43-53 | 5th | N/A | N/A | 43-53 | .448 | 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 partnered to let fans choose the Flyers lineups online. This program is called "Fan Club: Reality Baseball"[1]. The program also included online video segments that took fans through the season alongside the team with behind-the-scenes access.
The 2007 season saw the Flyers undergo some changes, most notably with the departure of '06 manager Andy McCauley to the Kansas City T-Bones. Steve Maddock became the fourth manager in Flyers history after McCauley left for Kansas City, and he quickly worked to build a team that had only one member carry over from the 2006 campaign. The road for Schaumburg that year proved to be difficult, as the Flyers could manage no more than 20 wins in either half of the season and failed to make the playoffs.
[edit] 2008 season
The Flyers struggled mightily through the 2008 season, dropping their final 14 contests and winning just 30 games. Manager Steve Maddock will not return for the following season, and only six players will don Flyers uniforms on Opening Day 2009. The Flyers did set attendance records on Bearon's Birthday, with 8,636 fans attending the Flyers game with the JackHammers on July 23.
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- nlfan.com - yearly league standings & awards
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