Kane County Cougars mark 25 years of family fun
As Curtis Haug walked to his office, he had to make one quick stop.
A fan and his son stopped him on the concourse at Fifth Third Bank Ballpark.
"What's the quickest way to get to the wrestlers?" the fan asked the Kane County Cougars general manager.
On "Professional Wrestling Night," fans were flocking to the center-field deck to get autographs with "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase and Sgt. Slaughter. Haug proved to be just as helpful as any other usher would be.
That's what the Kane County Cougars are all about.
"Whoever comes up to us, whether it's myself or an usher or a security person, we're going to take care of them, just like we would want to be taken care of," Haug said. "That's the ultimate goal, putting smiles on their faces, creating memories."
The Cougars have been doing that for 25 years - throughout this season, the Cougars have been celebrating the franchise's 25th anniversary.
The organization started in 1991 after the struggling Wausau Timbers left Wisconsin and settled in Geneva.
Since then, the success has been unmatched. The franchise welcomed their 10 millionth fan in 2013 and last season captured their second Midwest League championship. Their first came in 2001.
"The fan support in this area has been overwhelming. You got to give a lot of credit to the community, they've been real supportive," Haug said. "It was special to win a championship here. Every fan likes to win and to have a winning team, it helps."
That's helped the Cougars be consistently near the top in attendance in the Midwest League. Through the 2014 season, the Cougars have had 10,575,322 fans in attendance.
And they also hold a pair of attendance records. The Cougars have the record for most fans in a Midwest League stadium, when they had 14,872 in 2009. They also hold the Midwest League single-game attendance record, when they had 32,103 attend a game at Wrigley Field in 2008 against the Peoria Chiefs.
The Cougars also played at Wrigley Field in 2010.
"In a single-A team like this, we have to entertain people," Haug said. "There's just a lot of things that we do that it's more of an entertainment thing than anything."
They also have the ability to try and tell fans the next big-league star might be on this roster.
Since 1991, 136 former Cougars players have reached the majors. Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera, Adrian Gonzalez, Nelson Cruz and Huston Street are some big-name stars of today that have played in Geneva.
Past MLB stars like Dontrelle Willis, Josh Beckett, Edgar Renteria, Ryan Dempster and Scott Podsednik have all featured for Kane County. Current Cubs rookie Kyle Schwarber played 23 games for the Cougars last season.
"They played here and they started their careers here," Haug said. "I think fans start to recognize that, 'Hey, I can come here and not only have a great time with (my) family, but also see the stars of the future.'"
And that will help the fans leave with the smile Haug wants them to have.
"It's a great family outing and there's not many places where you could go as a family and have a great time, collectively together," Haug said. "The food is good, the beer is cold, the entertainment's great, it's affordable and convenient."