Southern Illinois Miners

Independent baseball team
name = Southern Illinois Miners
founded = 2007
city = Marion, Illinois

cap
current league = Frontier League
current division= West
past league =
currentname = Southern Illinois Miners (2007-present)
pastname =
colors = Black, Silver, White, Gold
color box|black color box|silver color box|white color box|#B8860B
ballpark = Rent One Park
leaguechamps = 0
divisionchamps = 0
owner = Jayne Simmons
manager =Mike "Baldy" Pinto
gm = Tim Arseneau
media = WQUL 97.7 FM, Marion Daily Republican, The Southern Illinoisan
website = http://www.southernillinoisminers.com southernillinoisminers.com

The Southern Illinois Miners are a professional baseball team based in Marion, Illinois, in the United States. The Miners are a member of the West Division of the Frontier League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball. From the 2007 season to the present, the Miners have played their home games at Rent One Park.

The "Miners" name refers to the Southern Illinois region's history of coal mining. [ [http://www.wsiltv.com/p/news_details.php?newsID=1293&type=local WSIL TV • "Southern Illinois Miners" ] ]

History

The city of Marion has not hosted any professional baseball team since the departure of the Marion Indians after the 1948 season. The Indians played for only two seasons in the class D Illinois State League. [ [http://flhistory.garmurdesign.com/history/Miners.htm Indians and Miners: history of Marion baseball] ]

John Simmons, an Illinois lawyer, proposed the Marion ballpark originally for a relocated Major League-affiliated team, but that request was rejected by the Midwest League. However, Simmons remained interested in bringing professional baseball to Marion, so he petitioned several independent leagues for membership. In August 2006, Marion was officially announced as an expansion franchise of the Frontier League, to begin play in 2007. The region's close proximity near existing teams made Southern Illinois a natural fit for the Frontier League. [ [http://flhistory.garmurdesign.com/SouthernIllinoisMiners.htm Miners join Frontier League] ]

The team set a new Frontier League attendance record in 2007 by hosting 259,392 fans (the prior record was 217,500 set by the Gateway Grizzlies in 2004). The Miners also became the first team in Frontier League history to average over 5,000 fans per game for a season (5,086).

The Miners games are broadcasted on the radio at FM 97.7. The Miners radio broadcaster is Scott Gierman who is assisted by his intern Gary Martin for home games.

easons

Notable Miners

*Danny Almonte

References

Official websites

* [http://www.southernillinoisminers.com/ Southern Illinois Miners]
* [http://www.frontierleague.com/ Frontier League]

Official websites

* [http://www.oursportscentral.com/sports/?t_id=1943 Miners page at OurSports Central]