The Southern Illinois Miners were a professional baseball team based in Marion, Illinois. The Miners were members of the West Division of the independent Frontier League. From 2007 to 2021, the Miners played their home games at Rent One Park.
The "Miners" name refers to the Southern Illinois region's history of coal mining.
The Miners won their first and only Frontier League championship in 2012.
Following the 2021 season, the team owners announced their retirement would also come with the folding of the franchise.
History
The city of Marion had 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.
John Simmons, an Illinois lawyer, proposed the Marion ballpark originally for an affiliated professional Minor League Baseball 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 to existing teams made Southern Illinois a natural fit for the Frontier League.
2007 inaugural season
The Miners began their inaugural season on May 23, 2007, on the road against the Gateway Grizzlies, with the franchise's first home run hit by Tim Dorn that same night. Six days later, they played their first home game against the Evansville Otters, winning 9–6 in front of a crowd of 6,251. The team set a new Frontier League attendance record by hosting 259,392 fans (the prior record was 217,500 set by Gateway 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). In addition, Southern Illinois Miners fans contributed heavily to supporting their lead mascot, Big John, to become the record-setting overall winner of the Best Logo in Minor League Baseball, awarded April 2, 2008, by CNBC following their largest online poll ever.
2008 season: first playoff appearance
After going 49–47 in their first season, the Miners made their first playoff appearance in 2008. Led by postseason all-star outfielder Joey Metropoulos (who hit .315 with 20 home runs and 66 RBIs) and Frontier League Pitcher of the Year Ryan Bird (who went 13–3 with a 2.48 ERA and league-best 152 strikeouts), Southern Illinois went 58–38, making the postseason as a wild card entrant. On September 8, they won their first playoff game in team history, defeating the Windy City ThunderBolts 4–2 at home. They ultimately fell in the division series to the eventual league champion ThunderBolts in four games.
2010 season: record-setting win streak, All-Star Game, first division title
The 2010 Season was historic season for the Miners as they set a Frontier League record with a 20-game winning streak from June 9 – June 28, and with 64 total wins tied the record for second-most wins in a season in league history. That year, Rent One Park hosted its first-ever Frontier League All-Star Game, with the Miners sending 10 players to the midseason showcase while sporting a 39–9 record at the All-Star break. Thanks to a league-best 64–32 overall record, they also claimed their first-ever division title and made their second playoff appearance, falling in a hotly contested five-game series to the River City Rascals three games to two.