Cubs Winter Caravan

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Cubs Caravan returning to Peoria Jan. 17
Peoria Chiefs

PEORIA, IL -- The Chicago Cubs and Peoria Chiefs have announced that the Cubs Caravan is returning to Peoria on Wednesday, January 17, 2006 at the RiverPlex and will be highlighted by Cubs General Manager Jim Hendry along with former Chiefs Rich Hill and Eric Patterson.
Hendry has appeared at the Caravan in 2005 and 2006 and returns along with Cubs Pitching Coach Larry Rothschild, new Hitting Coach Alan Trammell, pitchers Rich Hill and Neal Cotts and infielders Ryan Theriot and Eric Patterson.

Hendry has had a great offseason so far signing a premiere free agent in Alfonso Soriano while also retaining All-Star Aramis Ramirez. Hendry also added Mark DeRosa, hired Lou Pinella and a new coaching staff and dealt for reliever Neal Cotts. Pitching Coach Larry Rothschild is the lone holdover from the 2005 coaching staff and joins 1984 World Series Champion Alan Trammell on the Caravan.

Hill had a great second half to the 2006 season after making his MLB debut in 2005. Also in 2005, he made one appearance for the Chiefs when a AAA Iowa game was cancelled in New Orleans due to a hurricane. In that one Chiefs outing at O'Brien Field he struck out 12 Cedar Rapids Kernels over eight innings in a win. Hill finished 2006 with a 6-7 record and a 4.17 ERA. In the minors, the 26 year old is 26-20 with 626 strikeouts in 415 innings.

Cotts, a Belleville, IL native, was drafted by the Chicago White Sox out of Illinois State University and was instrumental in the 2005 Championship season as a left-handed reliever. Cotts was called up late in the 2003 season as a starter and is 10-7 with a 4.52 ERA in his MLB career. In 2006, the 26 year old was 1-2 with a 5.17 ERA.

Theriot was drafted out of Louisiana State by the Cubs and made his MLB debut in 2005 after four full seasons in the minors. This season, the 26 year old hit .328 in 53 games in Chicago with three homers, 11 doubles, 16 RBI and 34 runs scored. Ryan played in the MWL with Lansing in 2002 batting .252 with 37 RBI and 19 doubles.

Patterson, a former Chiefs MVP, split the 2006 season between AA and AAA and then led the Arizona Fall League in stolen bases while finishing in the top 10 in batting. In 121 games for AA West Tenn, Eric batted .263 with eight homers, nine triples, 22 doubles and 38 stolen bases. He was promoted to AAA Iowa in August and batted .358 with eight steals, two homers and 12 RBI in 17 games.

Patterson played in 110 games for the Chiefs in 2005 as the team MVP. He led the MWL with a .333 batting average to go along with 13 homers, 26 doubles, 11 triples, 71 RBI, 90 runs scored, 40 steals and a .535 slugging mark.

The event at the RiverPlex will begin at 5:45 PM with doors opening at 4:30 PM. All Cubs personnel will sign ONLY 200 autographs each. Each person attending the Caravan will be given a lottery ticket, chosen at random, entering the facility. This ticket will indicate the line they should enter to receive an autograph. This policy has been set by the Chicago Cubs and will be strictly enforced.

Following the 45-minute autograph session, the program will begin promptly at 6:30 PM. The program will include a question and answer segment with the Cubs players and front office members, videos highlighting the Cubs and Chiefs 2006 seasons, ticket information for the Cubs and Chiefs, information on the Cubs and Chiefs Booster Clubs and a dinner. Tickets are available at O'Brien Field, Bergners locations at Sheridan Village and Pekin, Sports Corner in Peoria Heights, Brunk's Sports Center in Washington, Bartonville Bank, and Morton Community Bank for $15.00 each. No tickets will be sold at the door. All proceeds from the event go to the Cubs Boosters benefiting local Little League programs. Hot dogs, chips, beer and soda will be served at the RiverPlex.

Parking for the event at the RiverPlex will be limited. Event goers are encouraged to use the A2 CAT lot located on the corner of Hamilton and Water after 5:00 PM or the Riverfront parking lots. The Chiefs will provide shuttle transportation to and from the parking lot to the RiverPlex.

The media press conference for the Caravan will be held at O'Brien Field on January 17th beginning at 4:00 PM. According to the Cubs wishes, all members of the Caravan will be available at the press conference for one-on-one interviews with any accredited media.. Any questions should be directed to Nathan Baliva at nathanb@chiefsnet.com or 309-680-4018.



http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/...1204&content_id=147207&vkey=pr_milb&fext=.jsp
 
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