The Schaumburg Boomers are a professional baseball team, based in Schaumburg, Illinois, that began play in the independent Frontier League on May 18, 2012 with their first home game coming a week later on May 25. Home games are played at Boomers Stadium. The Boomers replaced the now defunct Schaumburg Flyers of the Northern League after the franchise was evicted for not paying almost $1 million in back rent. The "Boomers" nickname comes from a common nickname for males of the greater prairie chicken species, a bird which was once abundant in the Midwest but is now a vulnerable species. That bird's nickname comes from the dance these males do in order to attract females for mating purposes. The Boomers carry on the mascot's tradition by performing a reenactment of the prairie chicken's dance in between innings during games.
History
Originally, the team was set to play in the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball under the ownership of Joliet Slammers principal owner Alan Oremus; however, Oremus sold the team to Gary SouthShore RailCats owner Pat Salvi, who moved the team to the Frontier League because of his loyalty to the RailCats and lack of interest in setting up a conflict should the two teams play against each other. Under Oremus's ownership, the team had held a name-the-team contest, with the winner selecting "Mallers". After the ownership change, however, the Boomers name, logo, and colors were unveiled on October 18, 2011. The games are broadcast on WRMN by Boomers broadcaster Tim Calderwood. The first signed roster player was infielder Andrew Cohn of Emory University. Shortstop Gerard Hall recorded the first hit in Boomers history in a 4-0 shutout against the Lake Erie Crushers in Avon, Ohio in the franchise's first-ever regular season game. Outfielder Jereme Milons had the first extra-base hit in team history with a double to centerfield in the same game. The Boomers won their home debut with a 5-2 victory over the Florence Freedom in front of 6,067 fans at Boomers Stadium. Outfielder Nate Baumann hit the first home run at Boomers Stadium with a two-run blast to left in the five-run sixth inning. The Schaumburg Boomers won the 2013 Frontier League Championship in September 2013, becoming the first team in Frontier League history to finish the playoffs undefeated. They defeated the Lake Erie Crushers in the championship final. The Boomers again won the 2014 Frontier League Championship, winning back-to-back titles. They beat the Southern Illinois Miners 2 games to 1 in the Divisional round, and beat the River City Rascals 3 games to 1 to win the Title.
Inaugural season
The Boomers finished the first half of their inaugural season as the Frontier League West Division Leaders with a record of 29-19. The team had a total of 10 representatives appear in the 2012 Frontier League All-Star game in Normal. Manager Jamie Bennett managed the West Division squad and was joined by his coaching staff, Mike Kashirsky, Paul Kubon, C.J. Thieleke, and team trainer Scott Waehler. Schaumburg's Frank Pfister was selected as the West Division's starting third-baseman, and was joined by outfielders Sean Mahley and Chad Mozingo and pitchers Cameron Roth and Patrick Mincey.
Mascot
The mascot of the Schaumburg Boomers is Coop the boomer. Coop is portrayed by a person dressed in a prairie chicken costume.
