Freedom add Indy League Veteran Kunion to Front Office

January 25, 2008 - Frontier League (FL)
Oakland County Cruisers News Release


Florence, Ky. - The Florence Freedom has announced the addition of Jeff Kunion to the club's front office staff as the director of player procurement.

Kunion, who is based in New York, has been involved with independent professional baseball for the last 12 years, most recently with the Can-Am League's North Shore Spirit. As director of player personnel and in uniform as a coach with North Shore, Kunion helped the Spirit to three regular season championships in his four seasons with the team.

Manager Jamie Keefe is heading into his fourth season with the Freedom, and for the first time he'll be sharing the "player personnel" role. The addition of Kunion will give Keefe more of a chance to concentrate on managing the ball club on a day-to-day basis.

"There's no question, hiring Jeff is a key move for our franchise," Keefe said. "It shows a commitment by ownership and the front office to put together the best possible product we can for our fans. With Jeff as part of our organization we have another pair of eyes looking for talent and making a lot of contacts with people throughout baseball. He is a proven guy that has put championship caliber teams together from year to year since he's been in the game."

Kunion has a sports management background that he has put to full use since entering professional baseball over 20 years ago, first with the Mets organization and then as part owner and executive vice-president for the New Haven Ravens, then a Class AA affiliate of Major League Baseball's Colorado Rockies. Kunion entered independent professional baseball in 1995.

He even spent one season as league commissioner of the independent Northeast League, which consisted mainly of teams that are now included in the Can-Am League. This season will mark Kunion's first experience in the Frontier League.

"I'm very excited about this opportunity to work with the Freedom," Kunion said. "Having been in independent baseball for the last 12 years, I've watched how the Frontier League has grown by leaps and bounds since they hired Bill Lee (as commissioner). The league has developed a successful niche in independent ball by marketing the product as an entertaining brand of baseball with fun things happening at the ballpark."

Like Keefe, owner Clint Brown is in his fourth year at the helm of the Freedom. First-year general manager Kari Rumfield was brought on board in September to improve the sales and marketing aspects of the franchise. Rumfield has already put her imprint on the Freedom with the addition of a new logo and color scheme plus numerous other fan-friendly changes at the Freedom's home park, Champion Window Field.

The addition of Kunion is expected to enhance Keefe's chances of leading the Freedom to post-season play for the first time in the franchise's history.

"Jeff knows the ins and outs of independent baseball and he understands the challenges of finding quality players who can contribute at this level," Keefe said. "He'll be a great asset to our organization and also the Frontier League."

Kunion looks forward to working with Keefe to bring a winning ball club to Florence.

"My job is to help Jamie put together a club that is a winner on the field and off the field as well," Kunion said. "It's difficult for a manager to devote a lot of time to player personnel issues once the season starts and he's spending all his time on the road or at the ballpark. The season goes by very quickly, and when you lose players to injuries without being able to replace them with quality depth, it can be devastating to a ball club."

Kunion and his wife, Lydia, have two daughters: Lindsay (24) and Samantha (21). They will maintain their home in New York, though Jeff will make several trips to Florence. He will assist Keefe and his coaching staff with spring training, which begins in early May, and will pay frequent visits to watch the team play throughout the season.

"I'll be looking for players that fit in to our team," Kunion said. "Jamie and I will be in constant communication to find the best possible players we can find. We look forward to producing a winning ball club that the fans in Northern Kentucky will look forward to watching this season."

The Freedom begin the 2008 Frontier League season at home with an 11:05 a.m. EDT start on Wednesday, May 21 against the Kalamazoo Kings.

Season Tickets, group outings and ticket mini plans are on sale now! Call 859-594-HITS for more information or visit www.florencefreedom.com.

Florence Freedom is a member of the Frontier League, a 12-team Independent Professional Baseball League established in 1993. The Freedom play a 96 game schedule with 54 home games between late May and early September.



Frontier League Stories from January 25, 2008


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