The Peoria Chiefs are a Class A minor league baseball team, affiliated with the Chicago Cubs, from Peoria, Illinois. They play in the Midwest League.
The team's inaugural year in Peoria was 1983, as the Peoria Suns, a California Angels farm team that replaced the Angels' previous Midwest League farm team, the Danville Suns. The following year, the team was given the more traditional name "Chiefs", in reference to the Peoria tribe for which the city was named.
The Chiefs' first home park was Meinen Field near the Bradley University campus, built in 1968; it was renovated before the 1992 season and renamed Pete Vonachen Stadium in honor of the Chiefs' owner. The team moved to a new park in downtown Peoria, O'Brien Field, on May 24, 2002; they set a franchise attendance record of 254,407 in the new park's first year and also won the midwest league championship. The team then broke the attendance record in 2005 with 256,612 fans in their first season back with the Chicago Cubs since 1994.
Former players include Wally Joyner, Devon White, Mark McLemore, Mark Grace, Greg Maddux, Joe Girardi, Plácido Polanco, Coco Crisp, Sam Fuld, Eric Patterson, Rafael Palmeiro, Albert Pujols, Sean Gallagher, Dan Haren, Yadier Molina, and Chris Duncan. Rehab appearances have included J.D. Drew, Rick Sutcliffe, Kerry Wood, Steve Kline, Mark Prior, Nomar Garciaparra, Henry Blanco and Wade Miller
Former Chicago Cubs catcher Jody Davis managed the team during the 2006 season before moving to the Single A Daytona Cubs.
It was announced on December 5, 2006 that former Cub and hall of famer Ryne Sandberg would manage the Chiefs in 2007. The team went 71-68 and finished the second half 40-30 in a tie for the division title but missed the playoff on a tiebreaker. At the gate in 2007, the Chiefs broke their season attendance record with 259,794 fans and an average of 3800 per game. Sandberg will return to manage the Chiefs in 2008 with hitting coach Ricardo Medina and pitching coach Rich Bombard.
The 2008 schedule is available at www.peoriachiefs.com and all games are available online or locally on the radio at WOAM 1350-AM.
