Marion is in!!!

[vojg]

It's official... The new owner of the Marion baseball team, Jayne Simmons, and representatives made the official announcement today, Marion will be a part of the Frontier League. It will be an expansion team, which means it will now be a 12 team league. Just wanted to get everybody's reaction.
Thanks

[Paintsfan]

Marion is going to be a nice fit in the FL. The new team would make rivalries with the Rascals, Grizzlies, and/or the Otters. As for the team nickname, well, I hope the team thinks that through. You don't want to have a name that doesn't make sense. Welcome Marion!

I still wonder if there will be 12 or 14 teams in the 2007 season. I heard that Point Stadium in Johnstown is near completion with their renovations (only thing that will be left to do is installing FieldTurf next year). I expect the Mid-Missouri Mavericks to be back next year, with the new stadium built and all. There have been 2 cities that have claimed to be working on getting a FL team come 2008 (Owensboro, KY and Huntington, WV). So yeah, I have no idea at this point. And I still wonder if the rumor of the merger of the Frontier and Northern Leagues is true or not. By the way, there's your update on that.

[vojg]

I wonder about the 12 or 14 team league as well. Bill Lee has been quoted as saying with the addition of Marion, the FL will look for an expansion team in one of the eastern states, to balance out the divisions, so Johnstown does make sense. He also said that announcement will be made in the next 30-45 days. So, now it's just a waiting (and speculation) game.
As far as the team name goes... my friend wants to know if it's allright to name them the "Marion Cousins".

[BumsTC]

Great to see the announcement on Marion. So many rumors of them going to a couple other leagues. Heres my opinion for 2007:

14 Teams:

West - Marion, Mid Missouri
East - Johnstown, Butler (PA)

That would balance things out. I really think it will jump to 14 because it sounds like mid missouri will be back and you would really have to have 2 teams new in the east. I guess we will just have to wait and see. Im gueesing mid to late September.

GO BUMS

[Battra]

Hmm....providing the Mavericks return...do you suppose we could call our division the Missouri River Division? hahahaha

I'm glad to see the FL is being smart when it comes to whom they give franchies to....keeping a very tight geographic footprint is the way to go.

Mid-Missouri is 2 hours from River City, which is 90 minutes from Gateway, which is 2 hours from Marion. That is so smart!

Keep the teams somewhat close...travel costs will be down and everybody will have their own team to follow.

[Bill Leeds]

Marion was named for Francis Marion, the "Swamp Fox" in the Revolutionary War. I think this would be a cool way to represent how the city got it's name sake. Rebutals?

[Battra]

Marion was named for Francis Marion, the "Swamp Fox" in the Revolutionary War. I think this would be a cool way to represent how the city got it's name sake. Rebutals?

I think that's absolutely brilliant!!! That's a way better name than the Gateway Grizzlies...we don't have any Grizzlie Bears. ><; Also...Gateway is NOT a city. Sauget is!

[vojg]

wow. Bill, I was thinking of the same thing. I think the 'Swamp Foxes' would be a pretty cool name. I'm sure that one has crossed the owners minds as well, since us two have already thought of it. Also, Marion's slogan is "Marion: Hub of the Universe". What about a team named "The Marion Universe". It's got a lot of potential behind it with the 'UFO theme' that can be used. Maybe that one will get thrown into the hat as well. Actually, I'm just a big fan of team names that don't end in 's'. I don't know why; just think they sound cooler.

[Paintsfan]

To be honest, no, I don't like "Universe." It sounds too stretched and exagerrated to me. However, I agree with Bill, I wouldn't mind "Swamp Foxes" at all myself. I can already picture the mascot being a fox and the "swamp" theme can be added onto that. What about a swamp buggy he can ride? :D

Now what about the team colors? The Frontier League is loaded with teams that have navy blue in their team colors, so what about a different mixture? Red and Maroon? (I know, the Otters have maroon, but there's room for a second maroon team) Red and Orange? Maroon and Brown? I'm just throwing it out there.

[go_rascals]

I heard a rumor that the team wouldn't be known as "Marion" but rather "Southern Illinois". That kind of makes sense- Marion has about 16,000 residents, but nearby Herrin has 11,000, Harrisburg is about 25 miles away with 10K and the biggest city in the area is actually Carbondale, about 15 miles west, with 25K. I can see where they'd want to market to the whole area. But, Marion is the town located right on the interstate (I-57).

The area is know as "Little Egypt" so they could call the team the "Pharoahs" or something. There were also once a lot of coal mines in the area so "Miners" could be a possibility.

[Bill Leeds]

Now what about the team colors? The Frontier League is loaded with teams that have navy blue in their team colors, so what about a different mixture? Red and Maroon? (I know, the Otters have maroon, but there's room for a second maroon team) Red and Orange? Maroon and Brown? I'm just throwing it out there.[/QUOTE]


I think Maroon and brown would be great. Of course there would have to be some white and probably black. Most foxes are a maroon type color and if not that a brown of some kind. I think though they would have to find a way to incorporate the patriotic colors into the everyday uni' if they use the name sake angle.

Go Wild Things, now just 2 games behind the Paints!

[Bill Leeds]

Playing apon the Hub of the Universe moniker how about the Marion Quasars
A quasar is an astronomical source of electromagnetic energy, including light, that dwarfs the energy output of the brightest stars. A quasar may readily release energy in levels equal to the output of hundreds of average galaxies combined. In optical telescopes, a quasar looks like a very faint star (i.e. it is a point source), and has a very high redshift. The general consensus is that this high redshift is cosmological, the result of Hubble's law, which implies that quasars must be very distant and hence very luminous.

Herrin Miners-Herrin was the site of the 1922 Herrin massacre, which left 21 dead. Two union miners, Jordie Henderson and Joe Pitkewicius, were killed as well as 19 strike-breakers. This would be a way to honor those who parrished in this horrific event. If they use Herrin as a site name.

Harrisburg Miners/ Coal mining was one of the city's biggest industries. BOOTLEGGERS-Harrisburg was home to prohibition-era bootlegger Charles Birger, and for a time the gangster's prized tommy gun was displayed in a glass case in the City Hall. These could work if they use Harrisburg.

Carbondale- I have nothing, Miners work here as well, the Little Egypt angle may work so go from there.

[vojg]

I've heard 'The Miners' being tossed around a lot. Believe me, I agree that honoring the coal miners of the past is a great way to go. But for me personally, 'The Miners' doesn't have that typical "Minor League Baseball" feel to it, ya know? Perhaps a play off of the mining industry would be pretty cool. Something like 'The Diamond Cutters' or 'The Rail Cars' or something to that affect. 'The Miners' just sounds kind of basic and generic, and not that unique. For example, I love 'Beach Bums', 'Wild Things', and even 'Paints'. The Frontier League has some great names and hopefully 'The Southern Illinois Whatevers' will follow suit.