Kane County Cougars' manager Aaron Nieckula has spent much of his offseason working for a friend's tree trimming company, but it's starting to get to that time where he starts thinking about his summer job -- and much warmer climates.
"We were working in some weather that was cold and windy the other day, and my boss said 'I bet this makes you want to go back to Phoenix,'" he said. "I enjoy what I do, but I'm looking forward to seeing 70 and 80-degree days on a consistent basis."
The 31-year-old Nieckula, who also runs his own baseball academy called Big League Dreams in the off-season, will get his wish soon when he heads to the parent club Oakland Athletics' Arizona complex in a few weeks to start preparations for the 2008 season. He will be joined once again by pitching coach Don Schulze and hitting coach Benny Winslow, who each start their second seasons as coaches in the Oakland organization.
Nieckula is hoping for a little momentum carryover from 2007.
He's also ready to get back in hopes of continuing the momentum of the Cougars' finish last season, where they went 39-31 in the season's second half and were in a four-way playoff hunt with Quad Cities, Peoria and Cedar Rapids until the second-to-last day of the season.
That was a complete turnaround to the disastrous first half where the Cougars finished seventh in the Midwest League's eight-team Western Division with a 24-45 record. After getting off to another slow start after the All-Star break, Kane County roared back with a league-best 21-9 record in August, with the pitching staff holding opponents to an ERA of less than 3.00, also a MWL best.
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