In the winter of 1992-1993 several men got together to start an independent professional baseball league to serve West Virginia, eastern Kentucky and southeast Ohio. These men believed they could bring professional baseball to the areas that would never have a chance of affiliated professional baseball coming to their communities. The seed was planted, and they named their project the Frontier League.
The founders approached business people and interested individuals in a variety of cities to own and operate and franchises. In late June of 1993, eight cities began play in high school, college, and municipal park stadiums. College players quickly heard of the fledgling league. They came from the Midwest and east coast to chase their dreams of playing professional baseball. Two weeks into the inaugural season, two teams folder their operations and the remaining six owners, led by current Frontier League President Chris Hanners of Chillicothe, fought to keep the league above water. They made it through the first year with six teams and immediately began to make plans for the 1994 by adding teams in Newark, Ohio and Erie, Pennsylvania.
The Zanesville Greys were the league's first championship team.
Prior to the 1994 season the owners of the League made a commitment to move forward and they hired Bill Lee as the first Commissioner of the League. Lee has been the only commissioner of the league. Prior to his association with the Frontier League, Lee had been in the professional sports business since 1980. The owners hoped he could help grow the league so it would flourish.
The league completed the 1994 season with all eight teams in tact. The Erie Sailors won the championship, and the future of the Frontier League was looking brighter. The 1994 season was marked with the league selling its first player contracts to Major League organizations.
During the off-season between 1994 -1995, the league experienced several more changes. Teams were relocated to Richmond and to Evansville, Indiana as well as to Johnstown, Pennsylvania. The stadiums were great improvements compared to the caliber of fields that were in existence. The markets were larger, and as a result, the crowds attending games were larger. The Johnstown Steal won the 1995 title and Evansville's attendance was greater than the entire league attendance in 1993. The moves to Richmond and Evansville ultimately opened the door to western expansion of the league.
Two more cities were added in 1996. Springfield, Illinois and Kalamazoo, Michigan became part of the league. Again with bigger markets and better stadiums, the League attendance took a major leap forward. The caliber of play improved and geographics from which the players came to the league also continued to expand.
The Springfield Capitals won the championship in their first season. But it was the third consecutive championship for Manager Mal Fichman.
Several major changes took place in the league's rules in 1997. These changes led to a stronger level of competition. First the league went to an 80 game schedule. Second the league allowed older players with more experience to play in the league, allowing popular players (in their respective cities) to play longer. The Canton Crocodiles, who had replaced the Zanesville Greys' franchise, won the league championship in their inaugural season. The Evansville Otters were the first Frontier League franchise to draw over 100,000 fans in a season (including their playoff games).
1998 saw the greatest level of overall talent of any year in the league's history. Richmond's Morgan Burkhart established nearly every season hitting record, including 36 homeruns in 80 games. Chillicothe's Gator McBride, Scott Pinoni, and Mitch House - Springfield's Joe Ronca and Jason Simontacchi made the league extremely exciting. The Springfield Capitals became the first franchise to win two championships.
The winter of 1999 saw the league's greatest changes. The league expanded by two teams, adding the River City Rascals and the Cook County Cheetahs. These additions added two major metropolitan areas (St. Louis and Chicago) to the mix, and both teams were building new faciliti4es - the first build specifically for Frontier League franchises. The league's schedule expanded to 84 games and the River City Rascals in O'Fallon, Missouri led the way in attendance with 151,000 during the season. The league's attendance exceeded 711,000 fans, more than 10 times the draw of 1993.
The Dubois County Dragons entered the league in 1999 when they purchased the Ohio Valley Redcoats - leaving only the Chillicothe Paints from the original eight franchises. The league also became international in 1999 when they moved from Kalamazoo to London, Ontario, Canada. The Werewolves set numerous team records on their way to becoming the 1999 champs.
The 2000 season propelled the league to even greater heights in publicity and notoriety. Former Chillicothe Paint, Brian Tollberg was called to the Majors with the San Diego Padres. Tollberg responded by winning the National League Player of the Week honors in his first week in the big leagues. Six days later, Frontier League legend Morgan Burkhart received his call to the Boston Red Sox. Burkhart singled in his first at bat off Baltimore's Mike Mussina. London's Brett Gray struck out a league record 25 batters on opening night. This almost unheard of feat drew national attention and some memorabilia even went to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. The Cincinnati Reds signed Gray two days later. The Johnstown Johnnies slugged their way to the championship, and the Rascals eclipsed their own league attendance recorded by attracting more than 157,000 fans.
In 2001 the league added the Gateway Grizzlies and the Kalamazoo Kings, giving the league 12 teams. Gateway based in Sauget, Illinois - a suburb of St. Louis. They played in a temporary setting in 2001, and in 2002, they opened in a brand new ballpark ($6.5 million). Local businessmen in Kalamazoo brought baseball back to Michigan. The Kings drew more than 103,000 people on their way to being named the third Frontier League's Organization of the Year.
The 2002 season saw even more changes within the league. Rockford, Illinois replaced Springfield. The Riverhawks call the second largest city in Illinois home. The Wild Things opened their inaugural season in Washington, Pennsylvania (formerly the Crocodiles of Canton, Ohio). The Wild Things opened Falconi Field with a bang, establishing a league record for wins in a single season, as they took the East Division crown. The London Franchise moved to Canton and Thurman Munson Stadium where they assumed the name Coyotes. The Richmond Roosters won their second consecutive Frontier League title-the first franchise to ever do that. The league set a record for attendance by drawing more than 950,000 fans. More Frontier League alumni made it to the Major Leagues - more than 230 players, coaches, managers and trainers moved to Major League organizations.
In 2003 the league underwent more changes. The Canton franchise was sold and moved to Columbia Missouri where they played at the University of Missouri. The Dubois County Dragons relocated to Kenosha, Wisconsin. The Johnstown Johnnies were sold to a group from Florence Kentucky. 2003 was also a record year for the League at the turnstiles. It was the first time in League history that the League attracted more than 1.1 million fans.
In 2004, the League again took a dramatic jump in attendance. Nearly 1.3 million fans entered the turnstiles of Frontier League stadiums. The Gateway Grizzlies led the charge, being the first team to draw over 200,000 fans in a single season and average more than 4000 fans per night. The League expanded its schedule to 96 games with the majority of those games as intra-divisional play. Also, the first round of playoffs was expanded to a best-of-five game series. The Rockford RiverHawks claimed their first League title, sweeping the Evansville Otters 3 games to 0. Rockford’s Richard Austin was named the League’s MVP. Plans for new Frontier League stadiums were announced in Chillicothe, OH, Rockford, IL, and Traverse City, Mi.
The 2005 season brought more changes to the League. Due to tremendous fan reaction, the League featured a return to inter-divisional play format. Rockford opened its new stadium. The Florence Freedom had new ownership and management.
In 2006 the Richmond Rosters moved to Traverse City, MI and became the Traverse City Beach Bums. The League will also continue to look to expand its number of teams, but it will also be working diligently to grow its national marketing efforts to companies across the country. The League continues to grow in stature and recognition, as it was the host league for the 2005 Association of Independent Professional Baseball Leagues Convention, held in St. Louis.
In 2007 the Frontier League was once again a 12-team league. The Southern Illinois Miners played in a beautiful new stadium in Marion, Illinois. And The Slippery Rock Sliders played at Jack Critchfield Park on the campus of Slippery Rock University. The Sliders were a part of a unique scenario for professional baseball with several of the university’s departments assisting in the operation of the club.
The 2007 All-Star Game was played at Champion Window Field in Florence Kentucky in July.
Award winners for the 2007 season included:
Chillicothe Paints’ shortstop Travis Garcia – Most Valuable Player;
Aaron Ledbetter of the Washington Wild Things – Brian Tollberg Award as the League’s Most Valuable Pitcher;
Windy City Manager, Andy Haines – Roger Hanners Award for Manager of the Year;
Ryan Basham outfielder for the Florence Freedom – Jason Simontacchi Award for the League’s Rookie of the Year;
River City Rascal’s pitcher Steve Brook—Fran Riordan Citizenship Award
The Frontier League is an ever-growing, ever-changing, vibrant organization. Stay tuned as they move through another year in professional baseball. |
