Midwest League 2000

Kane County Cougars

Season Summary

• Second Half: 38-32, .543, 2nd place tie, 2.0 behind
• First Half: 36-33, .522, 4th place, 6.0 behind
• Pitching: 74-65, 3.70, 38 saves, 942 strikeouts
• Hitting: .241, 586 runs, 85 HR, 120 steals (66% success)
• Errors: 134 (0.96 per game)
• April: 11-9 (.550)
• May: 17-14 (.548)
• June: 12-15 (.444)
• July: 15-14 (.517)
• August: 18-10 (.643)
• September: 1-3 (.250)

Pre-Season Profile

Manager

This is Russ Morman's first managerial assignment.

First Round Draft Selections

• Josh Beckett (1999; 2nd selection)
• Chip Ambres (1998; 27th selection)

Team Age Information

• Average Team Age: 21.7
• Pitchers: 21.9
• Hitters: 21.5

• Oldest Player on the Team: Matt Frick (born 1/2/76)
• Youngest Player on the Team: Marc Sauer (born 6/30/80)

The average player in the Midwest League is 21.6 years old. Average ages were calculated from the opening day roster; age as of July 1, 2000.

This website has more information about team ages.

Where they played last season

This is a brief portrait of how the team was put together. These summaries are based on the team's opening day roster and will not be revised to reflect roster changes.

The Marlins have built the new Cougars squad around the core of last year's Utica Blue Sox, which is a good place to begin. The remaining players came from throughout the lower reaches of the Florida farm system.

Team           League             W/L   Place    Hitters Pitchers
                                       (Teams)
Brevard County Florida State (A+) 61/74 12(14)      4       2
Kane County    Midwest (A)        78/59  1(14)      5       4
Utica          New York-Penn (A-) 42/33  2(14)      8      10
Marlins        Gulf Coast (R)     25/35 12(14)      4       3

There was lots of movement in the Marlins system last season, particularly for young pitchers, so many of these players played for at least two teams in 1999 and are counted here for both squads. One of these players did not play professional ball last summer; another played for over a month at the Double-A level.