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Main Game in Kane

Official Review by Paul Swaney, Stadium Journey Co-Founder

Forty-three miles from Chicago, in the small suburban town of Geneva, waits a nice baseball experience. Philip B. Elfstrom Stadium is an unremarkable stadium, but filled with great food and drink, so the sum experience leaves fans feeling like they experienced a great minor league park.

The Kane County Cougars have been a continuous minor league franchise since 1952. The team originated in Decatur, Illinois, and moved to Wausau, Wisconsin in the mid-1970's. In 1991, the Cougars found their current home in Geneva, Illinois. Since that time they have been affiliated with the Baltimore Orioles, Florida Marlins, and Oakland Athletics (their current parent team). Beginning in 2011, the team will be an affiliate of the Kansas City Royals.

Food & Beverage    5

The most impressive part of the concessions at Elfstrom Stadium is the selection of beers. Most notably there are the Two Brothers Brewery selections from nearby Warrenville, Illinois.

Skip the traditional hot dog and go for a souped up sausage. The Italian Beef smells great, but it turns out to be large, but rather dry and void of personality. Don't miss the elephant ear stand down the left field line, made fresh with either cinnamon or powdered sugar.

Atmosphere    3

There is a good baseball atmosphere at Elfstrom Stadium, with just the right mix of minor league shenanigans and a focus on the game action. Only the first eight rows have actual seats, with metal bleachers filling out the rest of the seating area. This makes the effort for good tickets well worth the extra cost.

There's a great family feeling to the park with a playground and moonwalk located in right center field.

Neighborhood    4

There's a nice little downtown area within a mile or so from the park. The River Lane Pub is good if you want to grab a drink, and Atwater's is nice if you want something a little bit fancier.

My recommendation goes to The Little Owl Restaurant. They have a real good beer selection with 10 served on tap and 25 more in bottles. They also have just about every fried food you could hope for with a sampler platter of jalapeno poppers, calamari, potato skins, onion rings, and mozzarella sticks available.

Fans    2

It was a cold and slightly rainy day when I visited so it was hard to tell if the fan output was affected by the weather. With that caveat in mind, the fans were a bit of a disappointment with very few seemingly watching the game.

Access    5

There is a large, free parking lot that is an easy walk away from the gates, and bathrooms are clean and plentiful. The concourses are wide enough to make for a pleasurable walk from foul pole to foul pole.

Return on Investment    3

Box seats go for $12, and while I would recommend paying the extra $2 to get a seat rather than a bleacher spot, it is pushing it as far as the price. Free parking helps to make up for this slightly inflated price. Food feels a little expensive as well, so while you can expect a pretty good baseball experience, I still feel as though you'll pay just a little too much for that experience.

Extras    1

One extra point awarded for the really friendly and helpful staff, a sign of good management of the franchise.

one of my son\'s favorite things about going to a cougars game is getting to run the bases after the

one of my son's favorite things about going to a cougars game is getting to run the bases after the game. they also have pretty nice firework displays after certain games (we have even been known to drive down by the stadium just to watch them).

by susieq | Oct 01, 2010 03:57 AM

Big fan of the Cougars,not so much of Elfstrom.They have such a huge advantage over the other minor league teams in the Chicago area,being that there affiiated,but most of those Independent teams have a nicer stadium.Elfstrom is a decent place to watch a game.But I'm a big fan of outfield concourses,which Elfstrom does not have. It has 2 party decks in the corners which are closed most of the time. I often said I which the Cougars had Joliets park.It is better baseball so all in all thats what matters.

by mattyb | Feb 09, 2011 04:41 AM

RE: Kane County

I think being affiliated with Kansas City rather than Oakland is also a positive for the Cougars moving forward. I agree that Joliet's ballpark is much better than Kane, but I appreciate the food and beverage options at Elfstrom Stadium.

by paul | Feb 09, 2011 05:03 AM

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