The landscape of professional baseball is cluttered with transient teams. Perhaps the most famous of these is the Dodgers, who broke the hearts of Brooklyn fans when they left for Los Angeles in 1958. But there have been numerous other moves, in big, medium and small-sized markets over the years.
That footloose tradition continued this year in the Heartland League, when the Cheetahs, an independent minor league team that was organized in 1995 and began playing games in 1996, departed from its home of two years at Romeoville’s Lewis University in Will County for the promise of a new, multimillion-dollar facility located in Crestwood in southern Cook County.
It’s not exactly like the Dodgers’ move of 3,000 miles — Romeoville is only 26 miles from Crestwood, but the Cheetahs averaged only a few hundred fans per game during their first two years, and management felt that a change in surroundings would be needed to keep the organization operating.
There is still more moving on the agenda. The Cheetahs are now playing at Howie Minas Field in Midlothian, a tiny facility for amateur leagues, while they await the completion of the new Crestwood stadium. The Crestwood facility was projected to open in early August, but that has been delayed, most likely until the start of the 1999 season. Crestwood Mayor Chester Stranczek said the architectural firm that designed the stadium made the original projection and underestimated the cost for the facility.
“It was supposed to cost around $3.5 million, but it will end up costing around $6.6 million,” Stranczek said. “But it will get done correctly. And who knows, it could be ready for the Cheetahs if they get into the playoffs (after the regular season ends on Aug. 11).”
Even with the delays in getting into their new stadium, Cheetahs officials said they’ve already made inroads into southern Cook County, which they say has a population of around 1.3 million people.
“The thing that intrigues me about the South Side of Chicago and the Crestwood area was the proximity to large businesses and the metropolitan area,” said Cheetahs vice president and general manager Gerald Clarke.
Officials in Will County understand the Cheetahs’ move, even though some felt they weren’t given a fair chance at keeping the team. After playing for a year at refurbished Brennan Field at Lewis University in Romeoville, Cheetahs officials began looking for a new home within the county. Brennan Field is on Illinois Highway 53 in Romeoville, but other than Lewis, there isn’t much development in the immediate area.
“The (Lewis University) campus was in an isolated area, and that did not bode well for the organization,” Clarke said. “You have to be around people.”
Will County officials had attempted to organize a deal for a new stadium in downtown Joliet in conjunction with the Empress River Casino, but before the deal could get off the ground, Stranczek had offered the Cheetahs a brand new facility designed by the some of the same architects who in the early ’90s created Camden Yards in Baltimore, where the Orioles play.
“They were talking last year about moving because they weren’t getting enough fans, and these things were a negative for attendance at Will County,” said Will County Board executive Charles Adelman. “I thought if they stuck it out for one more year, it would have worked, but they got a better deal, so we wish them the best.”
It won’t be an easy task. The Cheetahs still face competition from the Cubs and the White Sox, from the Class A Kane County Cougars in Geneva and from the Class A Rockford Cubbies. By 1999, there may be an independent Northern League team playing in Schaumburg.
But Cheetahs management said the south suburbs are far enough from this competition to succeed. Officials — including Clarke, manager Brian Dayett (a member of the Cubs in the late 1980s) and former Sox players and present Cheetahs assistant coaches Jerry Hairston and Carlos May — attended a south suburban caravan in May meant to whip up interest in the team, which drew more than 300 people. The Cheetahs also organized a 32-member advisory board of south suburbanites to provide input on improving promotions and getting businesses involved with the club.
Early in the season, fans seemed enthusiastic about the Cheetahs. During the team’s first three games in Midlothian on a warm, summerlike weekend in late May, attendance averaged about 500. That may not seem impressive, but fans filled tiny Howie Minas Field and were vocal throughout the games.
“It’s a lot of fun, but there needs to be more advertising,” said Mike Weibel of Midlothian, who attended a game with his wife, Lynn. “I haven’t even seen a schedule for the team. But this is right in our own back yard. And forget about the Sox. By the time we parked the car and got to our seats and had a few drinks and some nachos, we had paid 70 bucks.”
To keep the fans’ interest piqued, Clarke has planned promotional events for almost every game. This year, in addition to the usual T-shirt and beach towel giveaways, there are Harry Caray impersonators, days honoring veterans, baseball clinics for children, and an autograph day. The promotions continue during the games: Between innings at a recent Cheetahs outing, there were events such as pizza giveaways for the fans who made the most noise, fans plucked from the stands to race around the diamond (the winner got a free Pepsi) and even a Cleanest Car in the Parking Lot competition.
“Baseball is, of all the sports, the toughest to market,” Clarke said. “You have so many dates, like a lot of Monday and Tuesday games. You have to work harder.”
Clarke, a Streamwood resident, learned his promotional skills by working in the sales and marketing departments for just about every Chicago pro sports franchise. He started out in 1982 with the Chicago Blitz in the now-defunct United States Football League. Clarke then moved to the pre-Michael Jordan Chicago Bulls, then to the Chicago Cubs, the Chicago White Sox, the Rockford Cubbies and the Kane County Cougars.
It was his time with the Cougars that influenced his marketing schemes for the Cheetahs. The Cougars — a Class A farm team of the Florida Marlins — were the 14th-highest-drawing minor league team in the country last year, with just over 436,000 people at the 66 regular season games. Fans are drawn by a combination of the attractive far west suburban facility, family-friendly promotions, inexpensive tickets and the accessibility of the players.
Clarke said the Cougars are the model for his club.
“They do a wonderful job,” Clarke said. “I worked with them for about a year and a half and learned a lot. We all model ourselves after Kane County because of the success they garnered.”
It’s a success — at least in terms of drawing fans — that has for the most part eluded the Cheetahs, although not for lack of trying. The organization is operated by two of its three original owners, David Arch of Hinsdale and Leon Steinberg of Riverdale, N.J. Arch, who is also the chairman of Oak Brook-based Blistex, teamed up with Steinberg and former commodities trader Gregg Slutsky and secured a $300,000 loan to start up the Cheetahs in 1995.
The team appeared around the same time the Heartland League was organized. The now six-team league is a group of independent organizations in the South and Midwest. In addition to the Cheetahs, there are teams in Dubois County, Ind.; Huntington, W.Va.; Lafayette, Ind.; Tupelo, Miss.; and Winchester, Tenn.
Independent minor league teams primarily consist of young men who were either cut or never picked up by a major league organization.
“You have a lot of kids who weren’t scouted because they’re too small,” said Paul Hoines, a Midwest scout for the Texas Rangers. “Or you have players (who had been injured or who had failed to make the grade in the majors) coming back for one more shot. It’s a long shot at best for them to move out of the independent league. But a long shot is better than no shot at all.”
In the last two years, the Cheetahs ended up moving 10 players to major league organizations, including Chicagoan Jeff Jackson, a former top draft choice for the Philadelphia Phillies who is now playing for a Pittsburgh Pirates farm club.
“That’s our main reason for existing,” Clarke said. “We’re here to develop ballplayers who can move on to a major league organization.”
But although they were successful resurrecting the career of baseball players, the Cheetahs were not so lucky at the gate. Slutsky, who was also the general manager and field manager for the Cheetahs during the team’s first year, persuaded his co-owners to refurbish Brennan Field at Lewis University, for a cost of about $380,000. The group added about 2,500 seats to a field that formerly held 50, upgraded the school’s lighting system and added a press box.
Fans, however, weren’t interested. Slutsky sold his interest in the team in 1997 to his partners. The Cheetahs then hired Clarke as general manager and Dayett as field manager.
Team officials praise Clarke for his sports marketing savvy.
“Once Gerry Clarke was brought aboard, he gave us a clear-cut direction on where to go,” said Steve Arch of Clarendon Hills, the assistant general manager for the team and the son of David Arch. “He’s been everywhere in Chicago sports, so he obviously knows what he’s doing. And we needed someone to lead us to a higher level of professionalism.”
The Cheetahs had started in Will County because of that area’s great baseball tradition. The Romeoville-Plainfield-Joliet area has long been known for its great high school baseball programs, and there are numerous amateur leagues in the area.
But poor attendance sent Clarke and David Arch searching for a new area in 1996.
“When I started looking to relocate the team, we were looking at Crystal Lake and Hoffman Estates,” Clarke recalled. “And we were also looking at Rockford because the Cubbies are leaving there (after this season for Dayton, Ohio) and they already had a stadium.”
It took Stranczek to persuade the Cheetahs to move to southern Cook County. Stranczek, now 68, has been the mayor of Crestwood for 29 years. But before he got into politics and formed his own business (he’s the principal owner of Cresco Lines Inc., a Harvey-based trucking firm), Stranczek was a pitcher who played primarily in the Phillies organization. He pitched in the minor leagues for six years, but his career ended in 1955 after he tore a ligament in his foot while playing for the Baton Rouge Red Sticks.
But Stranczek remained a baseball fan, and when he heard the Cheetahs were searching for a new home, he contacted State Sen. Patrick O’Malley (R-Palos Park). Together, the two men came up with the funding for the new Crestwood facility. The village of Crestwood is providing the majority of the funding, and O’Malley has secured a state grant for an additional $700,000. Stranczek said the village is paying for the stadium primarily with sales tax money. However, the Cheetahs will pay back half the city’s cost of construction within five years.
Stranczek said that the time is right for baseball in Cook County.
“I just feel that minor league baseball is on the upswing,” Stranczek said. “In a blue-collar area like southern Cook County, people can’t afford to spend money to see a major league team. The people here need an alternative to the major leagues, which is becoming a big business.”
The architectural firm of DeVine deFlon Yaeger of Kansas City, Mo., designed the new facility. In addition to working on Camden Yards, that firm also was responsible for the design of the Kane County Cougars’ home field, Elfstrom Stadium. Like those facilities, Cook County Cheetahs Stadium will be an intimate place to see a baseball game.
Clarke said the club had sold 400 season tickets to the Crestwood facility. That money has been refunded because the new stadium isn’t ready to open. “It’s to our dismay that we won’t get to play in Crestwood this year,” Clarke said. “But the city is doing the best it can.”
Tickets at the new stadium will be $6.50 for box seats, $4.50 for general admission. They are $5 for all seats at Howie Minas Field. Cheetahs officials said they aren’t looking to make a fortune during their first year in Cook County.
“We’d be real happy to break even,” David Arch said. “We just want to give people a chance to come down and check us out.”
Players and coaches who have returned to the Cheetahs from last year said they’ve already noticed the increased level of fan interest in Cook County.
“The South Side needs some excitement in baseball, and the White Sox aren’t drawing that well,” manager Dayett said. “Maybe we can fill that void.”
Meanwhile, in Will County, officials are working to fill the void left by the Cheetahs. At Lewis University, Brennan Field is being rented to senior leagues and semipro teams. University officials say they would be receptive to another minor league team moving into their facility.
“We’ve added parking and new lighting, so it’s a first-class facility that someone could move into for a minimal investment,” said Wayne Draudt, vice president of business and finance for Lewis University.
“We don’t have any regrets about the Cheetahs,” Draudt added. “They just got an offer they couldn’t refuse.”
