TEAM HISTORY - Southern Illinois Miners

In August, 2006 it was announced that Marion, IL would be joining the Frontier League for the 2007 season. Illinois lawyer John Simmons originally intended to place an affiliated team in the city but was rejected by the Midwest League. Several independent leagues were attracted to the area but Marion's location near both Evansville and St. Louis made it a natural fit for the Frontier League. Read the article about the announcement from the Southern Illinoisan.

In November, 2006 the team was christened the Southern Illinois Miners, in tribute to the area's coal mining past. Former Sioux Falls Canaries manager Mike Pinto was named the team's first manager. At the same time the Miners announced the signing of their first two players, outfielder Jose Torres and third baseman Chris Hall. Later that month the Miners chose seven players in the expansion draft.

The Miners were a huge hit from the beginning, drawing a record 259,000 fans to Rent One Stadium, an average of over 5,000 per game. They were treated to some entertaining baseball, as the Miners remained in contention for the wild card playoff spot until the season's final week and finished above .500.

Defense was the Miners' strong point as third baseman Hall and shortstop Mike Scanzano led the league in fielding at their resepctive positions and second baseman Ralph Santana was brilliant at times. It dudn't hurt that these same guys could hit. Santana (.342, 25 steals) and Hall (.318-13-55) both finished in the top ten in hitting. Scanzano just missed with a .309 mark.

Big first baseman Tim Dorn was the story early in the season. He hit .349-12-35 in only 32 games before the St. Louis Cardinals snatched him up in June. At one point he homered in five consecutive games. Joey Metropolous replaced Dorn and had similar numbers, hitting .326-9-32 in 39 games. Outfielder Ryan Kane stole 14 bases, and catcher Rob Wirth made the all star team before suffering a season ending injury.

The pitching was decent if not as attention-getting as the hitting and defense. Nick Tisone was the ace at 8-3, 3.82. Rob Wooley won four before being traded to the Northern League, Brian Blomquist won four more, and so did Chris Little after coming over from Gateway. Danny Almonte made headlines with his signing but was released after six starts and an 0-1, 5.28 mark. Marion native and home town hero Travis Hope won the closer's role. The former Met prospect went 5-3, 1.61 with 14 saves. The bullpen was rounded out by Rick Hummel (1-1, 1.84), Brian Logan (2-1, 3.26), Jon Qualls and Brian Wilburn. Logan was actually traded to Gateway for Little but reacquired later in the season.

Offense was again the name of the game in 2008. Dorn returned to hit .299-23-83, and Metropolous also returned to hit .315-20-66 and was named to the postseason all star team. Third baseman Brandon Jones (.276-18-75) was solid and catcher Brandon Akasian hit .302, while Willie Keene hit .287 with 12 homers before being dealt to Gateway for Manny Paula in August. Outfielder Eric Suttle (.285) and shortstop Mike Scanzano (.256) both returned for a second season, and Brad Miller hit .310 after joining the Miners from the Diamondbacks organization.

The Miners' pitching staff struggled early. Nick Tisone missed the entire seaosn while various others, including Travis Hope, missed substantial time. Ryan Bird (13-3, 2.53) was a bona fide ace, winning Pitcher Of the Year honors, leeading the league in wins and strikeouts and losing the ERA title by a single point. Chris Little (9-4, 2.90), Brent Scarpetta (9-3, 3.81) and Chris Allen (6-2, 3.39) rounded out what developed into a solid rotation. Clay Zavada began the season as the closer but was signed by Arizona in June after posting a 1.72 ERA with 22 Ks in 15 2/3 innings for the Miners. There was no single closer after Zavada's departure, as Armando Carrasco and Griffin Bailey each saved six games with ERAs under 3.00. Mike Phelps joined the club at the end of July and was amazing: in 22 2/3 innings he allowed only 13 hits and one run, while fanning 39 (versus seven walks). Jake McMurran (4-3, 2.82) also was a factor in the bullpen's success.

Overall, the Miners tied for the league lead in club batting, were second in pitching, and third in fielding. As expected, these factors made for a successful season as the club finished second in the West Division, only two games away from tying for the best record in the league. Although the Miners lost thier first playoff series, fans didn't seem to mind as the team drew in excess of 200,000 fans for the second consecutive season.

As expected, the Miners' offense put up big numbers again in 2009, led by league MVP Joey Metropolous (.317-31-82), who became only the third player in league history to hit 30 homers in a season. "Metro" certainly wasn't the only source of power: 1B Brad Miller (.296-13-74), OF Adam Hale (10 HR) and multi-tool OF Jereme Milons (.285-15-72, 38 steals) all homered in double figures. Infielder Tony Roth (.302-9-41, 15 steals) provided a spark in the order as well as solid defense. Several players who had been all-stars also made appearances for the Miners in 2009, including SS Gered Mochizuki, infielder Justin Randall, and outfielder Stephen Holdren.

Bird (9-7, 3.48) again led the staff in wins. Scarpetta (7-4, 3.86), Joe Augustine (7-5, 3.50), and Danny Zeffiro (6-4, 4.69) made up the rest of a solid rotation. There was no single closer, but several effective relievers sombined to give the Miners one of the league's best bullpens, including Chris Wiman (3-1, 3.20, six saves), Mike Damchuk (5-4, 2.63, six saves), Adam Revelette (3.71) and returnees Phelps (2-1, 4.76, five saves) and McMurran (5-2, 1.76, three saves).

The club's defense was often overlooked, but the Miners ranked second in that catgory, and Miller and catcher Andrew Sweet lead in fielding at their respective positions.

Again leading the league in attendance, the only down side to Southern Illinos' 2009 season was the end: the Miners missed the playoffs by the barest of margins: had Windy City lost on the last day of the season, the Miners and not the ThunderBolts would have made the playoffs.

(below) Rent One Stadium, home of the Southern Illinois Miners, opened in May, 2007.

Year	Won	Lost	GB	Finish	Attendance	Manager	Playoffs First Round	Playoffs Second Round

2007	49	47	16.5	2W	259,392	Mike Pinto
2008	58	38	2	2W	218,191	Mike Pinto	Lost to Windy City 3-1
2009	56	40	1	2W(tie)	209,477	Mike Pinto

RHP Ryan Bird (2008-2009) was the FL's pitcher of the year in 2008, and ran off a 15-game winning streak over two seasons.

Miners in the Majors: P Clay Zavada (2008) joined the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2009.


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