Peoria Chiefs

History

Earlier professional baseball in Peoria

The history of professional baseball in Peoria dates to the late 19th century. The Peoria Reds, Peoria Canaries, and Peoria Blackbirds played in several early leagues during parts of 1878 to 1895. The first ballpark used by these teams was reportedly called Sylvan Park and was located at the corner of Northeast Glendale Avenue and Spring Street on the location of the present-day St. Augustine Manor. In 1883, the club moved a few blocks toward Peoria Lake, to a facility called Lake View Park, on the southeast corner of Northeast Adams Street and Grant Street, which would remain the home of various Peoria clubs for the next four decades.

The 1895 club was dubbed the Peoria Distillers, referencing the Hiram Walker plant. From 1891 to 1911, Frank E. Murphy from Green Bay, Wisconsin, became involved with baseball, beginning with the purchase of the Peoria team of the Midwest League, which he later renamed the Peoria Hoosiers. That nickname would stick with the various Peoria clubs for the next couple of decades, including their first stretch with the Three-I League from 1905 to 1917. After the resumption of following the peak of American involvement in World War I, the Peoria Tractors name gained favor in 1919, with the growth of the nearby branch of the company later called Caterpillar Inc.

In 1923, the team opened a new ballpark called Woodruff Field in honor of a long-time mayor of Peoria. The new park was just across Grant Street from Lake View Park. The Tractors continued to play in several leagues before folding after the 1937 season. The city was then without professional baseball for the next 15 years. The name Peoria Chiefs first appeared with a new franchise in the Three-I League in 1953. This club disbanded after 1957, and Peoria was again without professional ball, for the next 25 years until the current Chiefs set up shop. The Woodruff Field site is now a softball facility called Woodruff Park.

Current franchise

The Peoria Suns began play in 1983 when the Danville Suns relocated to Peoria from Danville, Illinois. They played their home games at Meinen Field, built in 1968, near the Bradley University campus. The team's name was changed to the Chiefs in 1984. The 1984 team was managed by future Major League Baseball manager Joe Maddon.

The 1988 team, managed by future major league manager Jim Tracy, was the subject of Joseph Bosco's book The Boys Who Would Be Cubs.

Meinen Field was renovated before the 1992 season and renamed Vonachen Stadium in honor of Chiefs owner Pete Vonachen. The team moved to Dozer Park in downtown Peoria on May 24, 2002. During the new park's first year, the team set a franchise attendance record of 254,407 and won the Midwest League championship.

Former Cubs catcher Jody Davis managed the 2006 team.

Baseball Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg was hired to manage the 2007 Chiefs, which went 71–68 and finished the second half 40–30 in a tie for the division title, but missed the playoff on a tiebreaker. The team set a new season attendance record of 259,794, an average of 3,800 per game. Sandberg returned to manage the Chiefs in 2008. The team set a Midwest League single-game attendance record on July 29, 2008, when the Chiefs drew a crowd of 32,103 to Wrigley Field in Chicago for a game against the Kane County Cougars.

The Chiefs' affiliation with the Cubs ended after the 2012 season, and they entered into a player-development contract with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Under Major League Baseball's restructuring of Minor League Baseball in 2021, the Chiefs were organized into the High-A Central. In 2022, the High-A Central became known as the Midwest League, the name used by the regional circuit before the 2021 reorganization.

The team is owned by Peoria Chiefs Community Baseball LLC.

2008 brawl

During a game on July 23, 2008, Dayton Dragons hit three Chiefs batters. The teams played again the following day, and in the first inning, Chiefs pitcher Julio Castillo hit Dragons batter Zack Cozart in the head. Two batters later, Castillo hit Angel Cabrera in the arm, and nearly hit another Dragon player in the head after that. Cabrera then spiked the Chiefs shortstop at second base on a slide. At that point, Chiefs fill-in manager Carmelo Martinez began arguing with the umpire. This brought out the Dragons manager, Donnie Scott, and the two argued for a few minutes before the umpires broke it up.

During the coaches' argument, pitcher Castillo fired a ball at the Dragons' dugout. The ball struck a fan, who was taken to the hospital. Brandon Menchaca proceeded to tackle Castillo from behind as both benches cleared, delaying the game for 69 minutes. After the game, Castillo was arrested for felonious assault. The injured fan, Chris McCarthy, suffered a concussion but recovered.

On August 8, 2009, Castillo was convicted of felonious assault causing serious physical injury and was sentenced to 30 days in jail. In April 2010, a judge released Castillo from probation "on the condition that he leave the United States and not return for a minimum of three years."

Season-by-season records

Roster

Notable alumni

Baseball Hall of Fame alumni

• Greg Maddux (1985) Inducted, 2013
• Ryne Sandberg (2007–08, MGR) Inducted, 2005

Notable award winning alumni

• Jerome Walton (1987) 1989 NL Rookie of the Year
• Rick Sutcliffe (1991) 1979 NL Rookie of the Year; 1984 NL Cy Young Award (Peoria Chiefs MLB rehab)
• Albert Pujols (2000) 2001 NL Rookie of the Year; 3× NL Most Valuable Player (2005, 2008–2009)
• Yadier Molina (2002) 9× Gold Glove; 10× MLB All-Star
• Nomar Garciaparra (2005) 1997 AL Rookie of the Year (Peoria Chiefs MLB Rehab)
• Kerry Wood (2005, 2007) 1998 NL Rookie of the Year (Peoria Chiefs MLB Rehab)
• Scott Williamson (2006) 1999 NL Rookie of the Year (Peoria Chiefs MLB Rehab)
• Josh Donaldson (2008) 2015 AL Most Valuable Player

Notable alumni

• Wally Joyner (1983) 4× MLB All-Star
• Mark McLemore (1983)
• Devon White (1983) 7× Gold Glove; 3× MLB All-Star
• Joe Maddon (MGR: 1984) 3× Manager of the Year (2008, 2011, 2015); Manager: 2016 World Series Champion Chicago Cubs
• Rafael Palmeiro (1985) 3× Gold Glove; 4× MLB All-Star
• Mark Grace (1986) 3× MLB All-Star
• Joe Girardi (1986) MLB All-Star; Manager: 2009 World Series Champion New York Yankees
• Dwight Smith (1986)
• Derrick May (1987)
• Heathcliff Slocumb (1987, 1989) MLB All-Star
• Steve Trout (1987) (Peoria Chiefs MLB Rehab)
• Rick Wilkins (1988)
• Scott Sanderson (1988) MLB All-Star
• Plácido Polanco (1995) 3× Gold Glove; 2× MLB All-Star
• Cliff Politte (1996)
• Tom Pagnozzi (1998) 2× MLB All-Star (Peoria Chiefs MLB Rehab)
• Rick Ankiel (1998)
• Coco Crisp (2000) 2011 AL Stolen Base Leader
• Jesse Orosco (2000) 2× MLB All-Star; (Peoria Chiefs MLB Rehab)
• JD Drew (2001) MLB All-Star (Peoria Chiefs MLB Rehab)
• Dan Haren (2002) 3× MLB All-Star
• Steve Kline (2002) (Peoria Chiefs MLB Rehab)
• Jason Motte (2003) 2012 NL Saves Leader
• Brendan Ryan (2003)
• Sam Fuld (2005)
• Rich Hill (2005)
• Jody Davis (MGR: 2006) 2× MLB All-Star
• Mark Prior (2006) MLB All-Star (Peoria Chiefs MLB Rehab)
• Jeff Samardzija (2006) MLB All-Star
• Darwin Barney (2007)
• Henry Blanco (2007) (Peoria Chiefs MLB Rehab)
• Welington Castillo (2007)
• Wade Miller (2007) (Peoria Chiefs MLB Rehab)
• Scott Eyre (2008) (Peoria Chiefs MLB Rehab)
• Josh Harrison (2008) 2× MLB All-Star
• Jon Lieber (2008) MLB All-Star
• Chris Archer (2009) 2× MLB All-Star
• Reed Johnson (2009) (Peoria Chiefs MLB Rehab)
• DJ LeMahieu (2009) 3× Gold Glove; 3 MLB All-Star
• Ted Lilly (2009–10) 2× MLB All-Star (Peoria Chiefs MLB Rehab)
• Aramis Ramírez (2009) 3× MLB All-Star (Peoria Chiefs MLB Rehab)
• Carlos Zambrano (2009) 3× MLB All-Star (Peoria Chiefs MLB Rehab)
• Carlos Silva (2010) (Peoria Chiefs MLB Rehab)
• Jake Westbrook (2013) MLB All-Star (Peoria Chiefs MLB Rehab)
• Jon Jay (2015) (Peoria Chiefs MLB Rehab)
• Javier Baez (2012) 2× MLB All-Star
• Patrick Wisdom (2013)
• Alex Reyes (2014) MLB All-Star
• Carson Kelly (2013–14)
• Harrison Bader (2015) Gold Glove Award winner
• Paul DeJong (2015) MLB All-Star
• Jack Flaherty (2015)
• Sandy Alcantara (2016) 2× MLB All-Star, NL Cy Young Award
• Ryan Helsley (2016) MLB All-Star
• Jhonny Peralta (2016) 3× MLB All-Star (Peoria Chiefs MLB Rehab)
• Jordan Hicks (2017)
• Andrew Knizner (2017)
• Dylan Carlson (2017)
• Juan Yepez (2017)
• Tommy Edman (2017) Gold Glove Award winner
• Nolan Gorman (2018–19)
• Lars Nootbaar (2019)
• Brendan Donovan (2019) Gold Glove Award winner
• Alec Burleson (2021)
• Jordan Walker (2021)
• Miles Mikolas (2021) 2× MLB All-Star (Peoria Chiefs MLB Rehab)
• Iván Herrera (2021)

References

Sources

References

1. "How the Peoria Chiefs long ago moved away from Native American imagery".
2. "Through logo evolution, Chiefs endure in Midwest".
3. "Story of Baseball in Peoria".
4. [https://www.chicagotribune.com/1990/07/27/crying-foul-over-the-inside-story-of-would-be-cubs/ Crying Foul! Over The Inside Story Of Would-be Cubs – tribunedigital-chicagotribune]
5. "Chiefs to return to Wrigley on July 7".
6. [http://www.pjstar.com/free/x912153883/Report-Chiefs-losing-Cubs-affiliation-to-Kane-County Report: Chiefs losing Cubs affiliation to Kane County]
7. Baliva, Nathan. (September 18, 2012). "Chiefs Sign Affiliation Agreement with St. Louis Cardinals". Peoria Chiefs.
8. Mayo, Jonathan. (February 12, 2021). "MLB Announces New Minors Teams, Leagues".
9. (March 16, 2022). "Historical League Names to Return in 2022".
10. "Peoria Chiefs Community Baseball Club LLC".
11. [http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080724&content_id=3191085&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb "Arrest made after Minor League fracas" MLB.com July 25, 2008]
12. [[Associated Press]], "[https://www.espn.com/minorlbb/news/story?id=4381593 Castillo gets jail, probation]", ''[[ESPN]]'', August 6, 2009.
13. [https://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/2010-04-14-minor-league-brawl_N.htm "No jail time for minor league pitcher in brawl"] [[USA Today]] Retrieved May 7, 2010
14. "Peoria's Castillo arrested in brawl game".