The Peoria Chiefs will play at Wrigley Field for the second time in three years, this season against Chicagoland rival Kane County.The Chicago Cubs and Peoria Chiefs have announced that for the second time in three years the Chiefs will play a regular season game at Chicago’s Wrigley Field Wednesday, July 7, at 7:00 p.m. The Midwest League contest, which is a Chiefs home game, will also feature entertainment by the The Famous Chicken and tickets are currently available at cubs.com.
The Road to Wrigley presented by PNC, will include family-friendly priced tickets, an array of activities for children of all ages and a fun atmosphere filled with traditional minor league attractions within the Friendly Confines.
“This is a great day for the Chiefs, and we are thankful for the opportunity afforded to us by the Cubs to return to Wrigley Field,” said Rocky Vonachen, President of the Peoria Chiefs. “It was a great game and atmosphere there in 2008 and we look forward to another outstanding night in Chicago. The Cubs have been tremendous partners with us, and this is going to be an outstanding day for the Chiefs and (Kane County) Cougars players, staffs and fans.”
Tickets are available immediately at www.cubs.com. The Chiefs will announce special plans for current Chiefs season ticket holders, group ticket packages, and bus trips at a later date.
“We’re looking forward to welcoming back our inaugural Road to Wrigley participants,” said Crane Kenney, President, Chicago Cubs. “The fan response was impressive in 2008 and we’re hoping they return to see another great game.”
Fans attending the Road to Wrigley Game at Wrigley Field will have the opportunity to participate in a number of traditional minor league ballpark activities such as dizzy bat races, t-shirt tosses and the opportunity for all kids ages 14 and under to run the Wrigley Field bases at the end of the game.
“This is a great opportunity for our team and our players are extremely excited to play at Wrigley, the stadium they all are striving to get to in their careers,” said Casey Kopitzke, Manager of the Chiefs.
Fans will also be entertained during the game by The Famous Chicken, who has performed at more than 8,500 Major League and Minor League games since the 1970s. Voted by The Sporting News as one of the 100 most powerful people in sports for the 20th century, The Chicken regularly appears at Minor League Baseball games throughout the season. He entertained fans at the 2005 Midwest League All-Star game in Peoria and returned to O’Brien Field in 2006 and 2007. Midwest League umpires will be calling the game.
The Chiefs’ inaugural game at Wrigley Field set a Midwest League attendance record with 32,103 fans at the July 29, 2008 game which was also the first Minor League game in the stadium’s 96-year history. The contest finished the next day at O’Brien Field when rains came in the bottom of the ninth with the game tied at six. Peoria eventually beat Kane County 9-8 in 12 innings on a Luis Bautista single. Both Rebel Ridling and Brandon Guyer homered at Wrigley before the rains suspended the contest.
Last season the Chiefs lost to the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 5-3 on April 24 at Miller Park, home of the Milwaukee Brewers. That contest was played in front of 17,880 fans, the second largest crowd to ever see a Midwest League game. The Chiefs also played in the game with the third largest crowd ever on July 3, 2009 when Cubs rehabbers Aramis Ramirez and Reed Johnson brought in a crowd of 14,872 at Kane County in a 7-1 Chiefs win.
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