The Kansas City Royals announced that Brian Buchanan will be the Kane County Cougars manager for the 2012 season. Buchanan moves up from Rookie affiliate Idaho Falls to take over the Illinois baseball club.
Buchanan was a first round pick by the New York Yankees in 1994 and played in the bigs from 2002 through 2005.
The Cougars will open their 2012 baseball season on April 5th, 2012 in the Quad Cities and open their home schedule on Apirl 9th, 2012 against Beloit. The Kane County Cougars play their games at Elfstrom Stadium in Geneva Illinois.
The Schaumburg Boomers announced the hiring of Jamie Bennett as their field manager for their first season. Bennett recently stepped down as pitching coach for the Gary SouthShore RailCats in 2010 after five seasons.
Bennett also began his career with RailCat Manager Greg Tagert back in 2002 with the DuBois County Dragons and stayed with Tagert as a player and a coach through 2010.
Bennett was a 22nd round draft pick in 2000 by the Phillies and spent two seasons in the New York Penn League.
The Windy City ThunderBolts announced that Morgan Burkhart will take over as Field Manager for the 2012 season. Burkhart takes over for Mike Kashirsky who managed the Bolts the last two seasons.
Burkhart spent the last three seasons managing the Calgary Vipers of the new North American Baseball League.
The Windy City ThunderBolts are an independent baseball team that is located in Crestwood Illinois.
The Normal CornBelters announced that they will not be renewing the contract of field manger Hal Lanier after a 46-50 finish in the 2011 season. In two seasons Lanier led the CornBelters to a 90-102 record.
General Manager Steve Mallet based his decision on much higher expectations and believes the talent pool of players grew significantly this season.
Baseball in Illinois does not have information on who within the organization is responsible for drafting and signing players.
The CornBelters are an independent professional baseball team that plays in Normal, Illinois.
The Springfield Sliders announced that former St. Louis Cardinal Pitcher Danny Cox will be the Sliders Field Manager for the 2011 summer season.
Cox takes over for Curt Ford who managed the Sliders last season and was offered a bench coach position but Curt declined.
Cox served as the Sliders pitching coach in 2009 under manager Jack Clark for the Sliders first season in the Prospect League. Cox spent 11 seasons in the Majors and was with the Cardinals from 1993-1998.
