Windy City ThunderBolts

• Location: Crestwood, IL
• League: Frontier League 2004-present
• Affiliation: Independent
• Stadium: Hawkinson Ford Field

Team History

The Windy City ThunderBolts began play in the independent Frontier League in 1999 as the Cook County Cheetahs. In 2004, the team was sold, and the new owners adopted a new name for the club. The ThunderBolts play their home games in Hawkinson Ford Field in Crestwood, Illinois, just outside Chicago.

In its first season, 2004, the team finished the year with a 20-game losing streak. Manager Steve Maddock quit after 15 losses and was replaced by hitting coach Joe Charboneau who could not end the streak. Brent Bowers took over the team's reins in 2005 and 2006. The team finally broke through to respectability in 2007 under Andy Haines, a former coach with the Dubois County Dragons getting his first managerial experience. He capped an outstanding 68-28 season by leading the team all the way to the League Championship, defeating the Washington Wild Things in the finals.

In 2008, Brian Nelson took over as manager but was fired in mid-season, after a tirade against an umpire had led to a six-game suspension. He was replaced by former coach Mike Kashirsky who took the team, which was playing barely over .500 at that point, to a second consecutive league championship, beating the Kalamazoo Kings in the finals. Veteran minor league manager Tommy Thompson was then named skipper for 2009, then Kashirsky was named full-time manager in 2010 after Thompson was offered a job in the Chicago White Sox organization.

Year-by-Year Record

Year	Record	Finish	Manager	Playoffs
2004	37-57	10th	Steve Maddock (37-52) / Joe Charboneau (0-5)
2005	39-57	11th	Brent Bowers
2006	41-54	8th	Brent Bowers
2007	68-28	1st	Andy Haines	League Champs
2008	60-36	1st (t)	Brian Nelson (23-22) / Mike Kashirsky (37-14)	League Champs
2009	56-40	4th (t)	Tommy Thompson	Lost in 1st Round
2010	56-38	3rd	Mike Kashirsky	Lost in 1st Round
2011	48-48	6th	Mike Kashirsky
2012	54-42	5th (t)	Morgan Burkhart
2013	50-46	7th (t)	Ron Biga
2014	35-60	13th	Ron Biga
2015	41-55	11th	Ron Biga
2016	42-53	11th	Ron Biga
2017	51-45	5th	Ron Biga
2018	41-54	6th	Ron Biga
2019	42-54	5th	Brian Smith

Related Sites

• The official site of the Windy City ThunderBolts