The Frontier League, based in Sauget, Illinois, is a professional, independent baseball organization located in the Midwestern United States, Western Pennsylvania, and Southern Ontario. It operates mostly in cities not served by Major or Minor League Baseball teams and is not affiliated with either. Though not part of the official minor league system, its level of play is considered to be comparable to low A-level. The league was formed in 1993, and is the oldest currently running independent league.

Description and history[link]

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,^[1] 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. His story was a "feel good" human interest story for part of the summer. 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.^[2]

Franchises[link]

Former franchises[link]

• Ashland, Kentucky - Tri-State Tomahawks (1993)
• Canton, Ohio - Canton Crocodiles/Canton Coyotes (1997–2002)
• Chillicothe, Ohio - Chillicothe Paints (1993–2008)
• Columbia, Missouri - Mid-Missouri Mavericks (2003–2005)
• Erie, Pennsylvania - Erie Sailors (1994)
• Huntingburg, Indiana - Dubois County Dragons (2000–2002)
• Johnstown, Pennsylvania - Johnstown Steal/Johnstown Johnnies (1995–2002)
• Kalamazoo, Michigan - Kalamazoo Kodiaks (1996–1998); Kalamazoo Kings (2001-2010)
• Kenosha, Wisconsin - Kenosha Mammoths (2003)
• Lancaster, Ohio - Lancaster Scouts (1993–1994)
• London, Ontario - London Werewolves (1999–2001)
• Newark, Ohio - Newark Buffalos/Newark Bison (1994–1995)
• Ozark, Missouri - Springfield-Ozark Ducks (2004)
• Paintsville, Kentucky/Pikeville, Kentucky - Kentucky Rifles (1993–1994)
• Parkersburg, West Virginia - Ohio Valley Redcoats (1993–1998)
• Portsmouth, Ohio - Portsmouth Explorers (1993–1995)
• Richmond, Indiana - Richmond Roosters (1995–2005)
• Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania - Slippery Rock Sliders (2007)
• Springfield, Illinois - Springfield Capitals (1996–2001)
• Waterford Township, Michigan - Oakland County Cruisers (2008–2010)
• Wayne, West Virginia - West Virginia Coal Sox (1993)
• Zanesville, Ohio - Zanesville Greys (1993–1996)

Franchise timeline[link]

<timeline> DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy ImageSize = width:750 height:auto barincrement:20 Period = from:1993 till:2021 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal PlotArea = right:30 left:0 bottom:50 top:5

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 width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s

 bar:1  color:orange from:05/15/1993 till:09/20/2008 text:Chillicothe Paints (1993-2008)
 bar:2  color:orange from:05/15/1993 till:09/20/1994 text:Kentucky Rifles (1993-1994)
 bar:3  color:orange from:05/15/1993 till:end text:Lancaster Scouts (1993-1994), Evansville Otters (1995-present)
 bar:4  color:orange from:05/15/1993 till:09/20/2005 text:Ohio Valley Redcoats (1993-1998, 2005), Dubois County Dragons (1999-2002), Kenosha Mammoths (2003), Springfield-Ozark Ducks (2004)
 bar:5  color:orange from:05/15/1993 till:end text:Portsmouth Explorers (1993-1995), Springfield Capitals (1996-2001), Rockford RiverHawks (2002-2009), (2011-present)
 bar:5  color:orange from:05/15/2011 till:end
 bar:6  color:orange from:05/15/1993 till:07/10/1993 text:Tri-State Tomahawks (1993)
 bar:7  color:orange from:05/15/1993 till:06/30/1993 text:West Virginia Coal Sox (1993)
 bar:8  color:orange from:05/15/1993 till:09/20/1996 text:Zanesville Greys (1993-1996)
 bar:8  color:orange from:05/15/1999 till:end text:River City Rascals (1999-present)
 bar:9  color:orange from:05/15/1994 till:end text:Erie Sailors (1994), Johnstown Steal (1995-1998), Johnstown Johnnies (1999-2002), Florence Freedom (2003-present)
 bar:10 color:orange from:05/15/1994 till:09/20/2005 text:Newark Buffaloes/Bison (1994-1995), Kalamazoo Kodiaks (1996-1998), London Werewolves (1999-2001), Canton Coyotes (2002), Mid-Missouri Mavericks (2003-2005)
 bar:11 color:orange from:05/15/1995 till:end text:Richmond Roosters (1995-2005), Traverse City Beach Bums (2006-present)
 bar:12 color:orange from:05/15/1997 till:end text:Canton Crocodiles (1997–2001), Washington Wild Things (2002-present)
 bar:13 color:orange from:05/15/1999 till:end text:Cook County Cheetahs (1999-2003), Windy City ThunderBolts (2004-present)
 bar:14 color:orange from:05/15/2001 till:end text:Gateway Grizzlies (2001-present)
 bar:15 color:orange from:05/15/2001 till:09/20/2008 text:Kalamazoo Kings (2001-2010)
 bar:16 color:orange from:05/15/2007 till:end text:Slippery Rock Sliders (2007), Midwest Sliders (2008), Midwest Sliders of Ypsilanti (2009), Oakland County Cruisers (2010), London Rippers (2012-present)
 bar:17 color:orange from:05/15/2007 till:end text:Southern Illinois Miners (2007-present)
 bar:18 color:orange from:05/15/2009 till:end text:Lake Erie Crushers (2009-present)
 bar:19 color:orange from:05/15/2010 till:end text:Normal CornBelters (2010-present)
 bar:20 color:orange from:05/15/2011 till:end text:Joliet Slammers (2011-present)
 bar:21 color:orange from:05/15/2012 till:end text:Schaumburg Boomers (2012-present)

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  text:"Frontier League Franchise History"

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Champions[link]

• 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

See also[link]

• Baseball awards#Independent professional leagues

Notes[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Frontier League History
• Beach Bums official website
• Frontier League Encyclopedia and History at Baseball Reference

Barton Wallace Zeller (born July 22, 1941) is a former catcher who played one game in Major League Baseball. That game was on May 21, 1970 for the St. Louis Cardinals against the Philadelphia Phillies; Zeller was inserted to catch the bottom of the ninth inning. Zeller never had an at bat. He was credited with one put out, on Billy McCool's strikeout of Jim Hutto. Zeller batted and threw right-handed. His jersey number was 29. At the time of play he was 6'1" tall and weighed 185 lb.

Zeller was released as an active player by the Cardinals on June 8, but stayed on as a coach for the balance of the 1970 season. He played in the minors in 1971 in the Milwaukee Brewers and New York Yankees organizations.

Zeller was the hitting coach/third base coach for the Southern Illinois Miners of the Frontier League, an Independent baseball league. Zeller began working for the Miners in their inaugural 2007 season.

Before coming to the Miners, Zeller spent two seasons with the Sioux Falls Canaries as a bench coach.

Zeller was named as the first manager of the Joliet Slammers of the Frontier League in January 2011.

External links[link]

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)

[[Category:Minor league baseball managers]

This biographical article relating to a United States baseball catcher born in the 1940s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Carmen Peter Pignatiello (born September 12, 1982 in Hammond, Indiana) was a Major League Baseball relief pitcher who is currently a pitching coach for the Joliet Slammers of the Frontier League. He is a graduate of Providence Catholic High School in New Lenox, Illinois.

Professional career[link]

Minor league career[link]

Drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 20th round of the 2000 MLB amateur draft, Pignatiello would spend seven seasons in various ranks within the farm system before being promoted in 2007, his eighth season in professional baseball. In 2003, he led the Florida State League with a career-high 140 strikeouts in 156.1 innings for the Daytona Cubs.^[1]

Major league career[link]

Pignatiello was called up by the Cubs on August 14, 2007, due to the need for left-handed relievers in the bullpen. Two days later, he made his major league debut against the Cincinnati Reds and pitched one scoreless inning of relief of a 12-4 victory.^[2] In March, 2009 Carmen was signed to a minor league contract with the Minnesota Twins. Then released by the Twins, Pignatiello signed with the Schaumburg Flyers for the 2009 season as a starter, which saw him have a less-than-stellar season, going 6-9 in 20 starts with a 5.87 ERA. Following the season, Pignatiello retired.

Coaching career[link]

On February 16, 2011, Pignatiello signed a contract with the Joliet Slammers to be their pitching coach.

References[link]

1. ^ Carmen Pignatiello Bio, 2007 Chicago Cubs Media Guide, page 135.
2. ^ Gano, Rick, Chi Cubs 12 Cincinnati 4, Yahoo! Sports, Retrieved on August 16, 2007

External links[link]

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or Baseball-Reference, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• Joliet Slammers Official Website