Frontier League

Frontier League

File:Frontier League.png Frontier League logo
Sport	Baseball
Founded	1993
No. of teams	14
Country(ies)	USA
Most recent champion(s)	Southern Illinois Miners
Official website	www.frontierleague.com

The Frontier League, based in Sauget, Illinois, is a professional, independent baseball organization located in the Midwestern United States. It operates mostly in cities not served by Major or Minor League Baseball teams and is not affiliated with either. The league was formed in 1993, and is the oldest currently running independent league.

Description and history

Teams in the Frontier League must recruit and sign their own players, which usually consist of undrafted college players or one-time prospects who have been released by their teams. Frontier League rules limit teams to three "veterans" (those with three or more years of professional experience), two two-year players and seven one-year players (those with at least 150 professional at-bats or 50 innings pitched). The other half of the 24-man roster is confined to rookies. Players cannot be older than 27 as of January 1.

Pay in the Frontier League is minimal, as each team has a salary cap of $72,000, and the league minimum is set at $600 per month. Due to the low pay, players typically live with host families.

The first league champions were the Zanesville Greys. Only four teams have won more than one championship: Springfield in 1996 and 1998, Johnstown in 1995 (as the Steal) and in 2000 (as the Johnnies), Richmond (now Traverse City) in 2001 and 2002, and Windy City in 2007 and 2008. The Florence Freedom (including years as Erie and Johnstown) and the Rockford RiverHawks (including years as Portsmouth and Springfield) are currently tied for the most league championships with each franchise winning three.

On June 20, 2000 Brian Tollberg debuted with the San Diego Padres, becoming the first player from the Frontier League to make it to the Majors. A week later Morgan Burkhart made his debut with the Boston Red Sox.

Although the league does not have any teams located in the same city as Major League teams, it does nonetheless have teams located within the markets of Major League teams. Chicago (Joliet Slammers, Schaumburg Boomers and Windy City ThunderBolts) has 3 teams and St. Louis (Gateway Grizzlies & River City Rascals) has 2 teams while Cleveland (Lake Erie Crushers), Cincinnati (Florence Freedom) and Pittsburgh (Washington Wild Things) each have one. The Wild Things in particular have been able to market themselves as a successful alternative to the Pittsburgh Pirates due to the latter franchise's long stretch of losing seasons, which currently dates to the Frontier League's founding in 1993.

Franchises

Frontier League
Division	Team	Founded	City	Stadium	Capacity
East	Evansville Otters	1993	Evansville, Indiana	Bosse Field	5,181
	Florence Freedom	1994	Florence, Kentucky	UC Health Stadium	4,500
	Frontier Greys	2013	Traveling team	None	None
	Lake Erie Crushers	2009	Avon, Ohio	All Pro Freight Stadium	5,000
	Southern Illinois Miners	2007	Marion, Illinois	Rent One Park	7,000
	Traverse City Beach Bums	1995	Blair Township, Michigan	Wuerfel Park	4,660
	Washington Wild Things	1997	North Franklin Township, Pennsylvania	CONSOL Energy Park	5,000
Division	Team	Founded	City	Stadium	Capacity
West	Gateway Grizzlies	2001	Sauget, Illinois	GCS Ballpark	6,000
	Joliet Slammers	2011	Joliet, Illinois	Silver Cross Field	6,016
	Normal CornBelters	2010	Normal, Illinois	The Corn Crib	7,000
	River City Rascals	1993	O'Fallon, Missouri	T.R. Hughes Ballpark	5,150
	Rockford Aviators	1993	Loves Park, Illinois	Aviators Stadium	4,246
	Schaumburg Boomers	2011	Schaumburg, Illinois	Schaumburg Baseball Stadium	6,000
	Windy City ThunderBolts	1999	Crestwood, Illinois	Standard Bank Stadium	3,200

Former teams

• Tri-State Tomahawks (1993, folded)
• Canton Crocodiles (1997–02, became the Washington Wild Things)
• Canton Coyotes (2002, became the Mid-Missouri Mavericks)
• Chillicothe Paints (1993–08, joined the Prospect League)
• Mid-Missouri Mavericks (2003–05, folded)
• Erie Sailors (1994, became the Johnstown Steal)
• Ohio Valley Redcoats (1993–1998, became the Dubois County Dragons
• Dubois County Dragons (2000–02, became the Kenosha Mammoths)
• Johnstown Steal (1995–98, became the Johnstown Johnnies)
• Johnstown Johnnies (1998–02, became the Florence Freedom)
• Kalamazoo Kodiaks (1996–98, became the London Werewolves)
• Kalamazoo Kings (2001–10, folded)
• Kenosha Mammoths (2003, became the Springfield-Ozark Ducks)
• Springfield-Ozark Ducks (2004, became the Ohio Valley Redcoats)
• Ohio Valley Redcoats (2005, folded)
• Lancaster Scouts (1993–94, became the Evansville Otters)
• London Werewolves (1999–01, became the Canton Coyotes)
• London Rippers (2012, folded)
• Newark Bison (1994–95, became the Kalamazoo Kodiaks)
• Kentucky Rifles (1993–94, folded)
• Portsmouth Explorers (1993–95, became the Springfield Capitals)
• Richmond Roosters (1995–05, became the Traverse City Beach Bums)
• Slippery Rock Sliders (2007, became the Midwest Sliders]]
• Midwest Sliders (2008–09, became the Oakland County Cruisers)
• Springfield Capitals (1996–01, became the Rockford Riverhawks)
• West Virginia Coal Sox (1993, folded)
• Zanesville Greys (1993–96, became the River City Rascals)

Franchise timeline

Champions

• 1993 Zanesville Greys
• 1994 Erie Sailors
• 1995 Johnstown Steal
• 1996 Springfield Capitals
• 1997 Canton Crocodiles
• 1998 Springfield Capitals
• 1999 London Werewolves
• 2000 Johnstown Johnnies
• 2001 Richmond Roosters
• 2002 Richmond Roosters
• 2003 Gateway Grizzlies
• 2004 Rockford RiverHawks
• 2005 Kalamazoo Kings
• 2006 Evansville Otters
• 2007 Windy City ThunderBolts
• 2008 Windy City ThunderBolts
• 2009 Lake Erie Crushers
• 2010 River City Rascals
• 2011 Joliet Slammers
• 2012 Southern Illinois Miners

See also

• Baseball awards#Independent professional leagues

External links

• Official website
• Frontier League History
• Schaumburg Boomers Home page
• Frontier League Encyclopedia and History at Baseball Reference

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