Costner to bring Northern League baseball to Lake County
Get ready Lake County, "Crash" Davis is preparing to crash the Chicago baseball scene, and he's coming your way.
With help from the city of Zion, Academy Award winner Kevin Costner has joined an ownership group that will field a Northern League baseball team in May 2010.
Costner, whose roles in the movies "Field of Dreams" and "Bull Durham" have forever linked him with the game, is part of a group that has been working with the City of Zion and real estate developers to put an expansion team in a new stadium.
"I've seen many opportunities over the years to be involved in baseball projects, but this one is really special," Costner said in statement released Tuesday morning. "The location, the people involved, and the chance to offer families in Zion and the surrounding communities a quaint and affordable setting for minor league baseball means everything."
Speaking by phone on the WGN-TV Morning News show earlier today, Costner didn't say what the name of the team would be, but he did say that the project represents "a way to be associated with baseball other than being a washed up catcher," the role he played in "Bull Durham" as catcher Crash Davis.
The stadium would be built on city property in the Trumpet Park business development, just minutes north of the Gurnee Mills shopping center and Six Flags amusement park.
"This project is shovel ready, will provide 300 permanent jobs, and will be a catalyst to attract and maintain even more jobs in this part of Illinois," said state Sen. Michael Bond (D-Grayslake).
The baseball team will be owned and operated by Grand Slam Sports Entertainment, LLC of Deerfield, which is directed by Rich Ehrenreich, one of the founders and principal owners of the Schaumburg Flyers.
In addition to the Schaumburg Flyers, the Northern League currently has teams in Joliet and Gary, Ind.
Details of the stadium location, design, and financing will be provided by the Zion city officials and its partners in the weeks to follow, but tickets are expected to go on sale next month and the team has a Web site with additional information at www.LakeCountyBaseball.com.