Windy City ThunderBolts
| Windy City ThunderBolts | |||||
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| League | Frontier League (1999–present) (West) | ||||
| Location | Crestwood, Illinois | ||||
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| Year founded | 1995 | ||||
| Nickname(s) | The Bolts | ||||
| League championships | 1998, 2007, 2008 | ||||
| Division championships | 2007, 2008, 2010 | ||||
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| Colors | Blue, Black, White |
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| Ownership | Alan Oremus | ||||
| Manager | Ron Biga | ||||
| General Manager | Mike Lucas | ||||
| Media | WXAV, Daily Southtown | ||||
| Website | www |
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The Windy City ThunderBolts are a professional baseball team based in the Chicago suburb of Crestwood, Illinois, in the United States. The ThunderBolts are a member of the Frontier League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball. From the 1999 season to the present, the ThunderBolts have played their home games at Standard Bank Stadium.
The franchise known as the Windy City ThunderBolts started as the Will County Claws in 1995 and called their home at Lewis University’s Brennan Field in Romeoville, Illinois. The Claws played in the struggling North Central League which started in 1994 with six teams, but only fielded four in 1995. The North Central League folded 18 games into its second season with the Claws finishing at 8–10. In 1996, the Will County Cheetahs joined the new four-team Heartland League.
In the winter of 1997, the Cheetahs and the city of Crestwood, Illinois, made a deal for Crestwood to build and own a brand new, state-of-the-art ballpark for the Cheetahs. Despite the high hopes for baseball in Crestwood for the 1998 season, it was quickly obvious that because of construction delays, the new park would not be ready. The Cheetahs needed a home field and with Romeoville not an option, neighboring Midlothian would be the solution to the Cheetahs’ home field problem as they would play their 1998 season at tiny Howie Minas Field. In Midlothian, the Cheetahs would have one of their best seasons finishing in 2nd place with a 37–29 record in the first half and earn a playoff spot for the first time in franchise history. In the Heartland League Championship, the Cheetahs would sweep the heavily favored Tennessee Tomahawks 2 games to 0 to gain the franchises first title.
The Heartland League started the 1998 season with six teams and finished with only four teams. The Cheetahs, now known as the Cook County Cheetahs, won the last ever Heartland League Championship as the league folded after three seasons.
In 1999, the Cheetahs joined the stable Frontier League and have been members since. The team changed their name to the current Windy City ThunderBolts. An ownership change instigated the name change.
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