Final Project | June 6, 2018
Chicago Dogs
Rosemont, IL. — Baseball is deeply ingrained in the culture of Chicago.
The Cubs are one of the two longest-running baseball teams in history, having played in the National League since 1876. Their field, the 100+-year-old Wrigley Field, is one of the meccas of the sport. The White Sox have played on the south side of Chicago since 1901.
Despite the grand amounts of love for America’s pastime in Chicagoland, one group is trying to figure out if there is room for a third team to occupy the greater Chicago baseball scene.
Chicago is a huge sports town--They love their sports here and that makes it unique and a lot of fun.
Butch Hobson, Chicago Dogs manager
The Chicago Dogs are an expansion team in the American Association of Professional Baseball Clubs, an independent league with 12 teams across the Midwest and Great Plains. Founded in 2016, the team has started play this past May in a brand-new stadium.
The stadium, named Impact Field, is located right near O’Hare Airport in Rosemont, Rosemont’s shopping district as well as other sports facilities as well. These facilities include The Dome at the Ballpark — home of the Chicago Bandits of the National Fastpitch Softball League — and Allstate Arena — home of Northwestern basketball while Welsh-Ryan Arena underwent construction this past winter and the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League.
With an ownership team led by Shawn Hunter — former president of the Phoenix Coyotes of the NHL and Chivas USA of the MLS — and Steven Gluckstern— former owner of the Coyotes and the New York Islanders of the NHL — the front office is well prepared for the struggles faced by professional teams, especially when first starting up.
“It’s a lot of work,” Matt Rigby said. “I think that it was way more work than I ever anticipated. Thankfully we have a good organization, good group in the front office that has done this before. They have started major league franchises before, NHL franchises as well. They know what they are doing.”
*****Hot Dog Michael
Named the Dogs due to the prominence of hot dogs in both baseball and the city of Chicago, the team has fully embraced the identity. The team’s uniforms feature hot dog hats and hot dogs on the uniforms. The Weiner Circle, a famous Chicago hot dog stand, sells hot dogs at Impact Field. The team’s two mascots are Ketchup and Mustard after the condiments commonly found on the food.
As with all American Association teams, there is a mixture of rookies and experienced veterans on the squad. Two players on team played in the Major Leagues: pitcher Scott Barnes and outfielder Joe Benson. Barnes pitched in 22 games over two seasons with the Cleveland Indians and spent the 2016 season in Triple-A Iowa. Benson, who was the No. 100 overall prospect before the 2011 season by Baseball America, played 21 games with the Minnesota Twins during that 2011 season.
Those two are not the only players on the squad with notable names. Outfielder Shawn Dunston Jr. is son of former MLB All-Star and Chicago Cub Shawn Dunston. Outfielder Kyle Gaedele is related to Eddie Gaedel, a dwarf who had a single plate appearance with the St. Louis Browns as a promotional stunt in 1951.
Hobson said that going after players with ties to the Windy City was a priority heading into the season.
“I tried to go after as many Chicago native players as I could and we got about 7 or 8 Chicago native players,” Hobson said.
The start to the season has not been great for the Dogs on the field. As of June 4, the team is only 2-13 with a team batting average of .255. The offense scores about four runs a game, while the pitching staff is giving up more than six.
Team success, however, is not the main goal for the Dogs. Instead it is getting the players back to organized baseball is the number one goal for the team.
“We have two jobs here.” Hobson said. “Number one is to help these players get back to organization so they can fulfill their dream of going to the majors. That’s number one. Number two is to win a championship.”
