Going, going, gone

The first phase of switching Consol Energy Park from a grass field to a synthetic playing surface began Thursday afternoon when a bulldozer began stripping topsoil from the field. The installation process for the ProGrass surface is expected to be two months, according to Wild Things managing director Todd Marlin.

Report: Rockford, Joliet to Frontier League

According to the website ballparkdigest.com, the Rockford RiverHawks will be returning to the Frontier League in 2011 and will be bringing the up-for-sale Joliet JackHammers with them.

Rockford and Joliet were two of the four teams remaining in the Northern League earlier this month after half of that league switched to the American Association. The idea of the Northern League continuing as a four-team circuit appears to be dead.

These moves would leave two former Northern teams, the Schaumburg Flyers and Lake County Fielders, without a home.

Rockford's return to the Frontier League would seem easy, considering the RiverHawks spent eight years in the FL before switching to the Northern League for the 2010 season. Joliet's move is more complicated. The JackHammers are up for sale. Joliet City Manager Tom Thanas, who is working on the sale as the lease holder of the ballpark, has been in contact with two potential buyers. Thanas told WJOL Radio there will be a Frontier League team in Joliet next year.

One group that is reportedly interested in buying the Joliet franchise is headed by former Chicago Cubs pitcher Milt Pappas. My guess is whoever buys the team won't pay the JackHammers' debt to the city but will pay off vendors who are owed money. Thus, the Frontier League team in Joliet won't be named the JackHammers.

The chances of Schaumburg and Lake County joining the Frontier League appear to be slim. According to the Chicago Tribune, the Flyers owe the city of Schaumburg more than $903,000 for use of its stadium and tens of thousands more to vendors.

The fate of Lake County remains a mystery. The Fielders, who were a Northern League expansion team last season and are partly owned by actor Kevin Costner, had problems with the construction of their ballpark and began the year as a traveling team. The Fielders are managed by former Frontier League player and manager Fran Riordan.

The report by ballparkdigest.com conflicts a report by Schaumburg TribLocal that quoted Northern League commissioner Clark Griffith as saying "We're not going to be four teams. We’re going to be six or eight."

Four turn down Frontier League

According to ballparkdigest.com, the eight-team Northern League split today with four teams joining the American Association and four others (Joliet, Lake County, Rockford and Schaumburg) turning down an offer to join the Frontier League. The remaining four teams also spurned an offer to join their former rivals in the American Association.

The four remaining teams -- each located in Illinois -- will comprise the new Northern League and the its commissioner will seek expansion opportunities. According to the website, there are financial reasons for the two teams to remain in the Northern League -- it's seen by some owners as the best way to preserve franchise values at a time when Joliet and Schaumburg are up for sale -- and some logistical arguments to running a league in which all four teams are in close proximity, which cuts travel costs. As mentioned in an earlier post, Joliet and Schaumburg are deep in debt.

I'm not sure how you can run a league with only four teams. Four teams is not a league. Heck, it's not even a division.

So, for now, a 16-team Frontier League in 2011 is not a possibility. It will be interesting to see if the four-team Northern League even makes it to opening day, and you can be sure the Frontier League will be watching.

A larger Frontier League?

There's a hot rumor making its way around the independent baseball circuit that the Northern League will be no more by as early as next week.

What does that have to do with the Frontier League? Well, several scenarios have Northern League teams joining the FL.

The background on the situation:

The Northern League consists of eight teams, including five in the Chicago area: Gary in Indiana and Lake County, Joliet, Schaumburg and Rockford in Illinois. The others are Winnipeg, Fargo-Moorhead and Kansas City (Kan.). At least four of those teams are mulling jumping to the American Association, which was formed in 2005 when several Northern League teams left that circuit.

If the four teams that are rumored to be defecting do indeed leave, then Joliet, Schaumburg, Lake County and our old friends in Rockford will be without a league to call home.

According to ballparkdigest.com, there are two realignment possibilities that could result from the Northern League's meetings Sunday and Monday in Chicago:

1. The Chicagoland teams -- Lake County, Rockford, Joliet and Schaumburg -- going to the Frontier League. The remaining teams -- Winnipeg, Fargo-Moorhead, Gary-SouthShore and Kansas City -- would go to the Northern League.

2. Under the second, the four Chicagoland teams go to the Frontier League, where they'll join with other Frontier League teams, including Gateway, Southern Illinois, River City and potentially more. (One variation of this has the four teams remaining as the Northern League and playing an inter-league schedule against the Frontier League without formally joining that circuit.) Potentially this could be called the new Northern League, though there's also talk of selling naming rights to the circuit. That would make for a very compact little league, to be sure, while also trimming the Frontier League footprint.

If four NL teams join the Frontier, several would come with financial baggage. According to several reports, the Joliet Jackhammers are up for sale and owe $150,000 to vendors and $220,000 to the city for use of Silver Cross Field. Construction of the permanent stadium of the expansion Lake County Fielders in Zion, Ill., – co-owned by actor Kevin Costner – has endured several delays.

Schaumburg also is up for sale. According to the website of Brian Costin, who is running for mayor of Schaumburg, the town agreed to settle with the Flyers over delinquent unpaid rent for 2007-2009, for $580,000 at the time of a sale of the club. An investigation by Costin showed the Flyers actually owed taxpayers more than double the settlement amount, almost $1.2 million.

If the Frontier League takes the four Northern teams, that would give the FL 16 teams. It appears, at least at this point, that Oakland County will be back in 2011. We should know more about Kalamazoo's future when the Frontier League holds its owners meetings (I think they're also this week in Chicago).

Whatever happens with the Northern shakedown, you have to like the Frontier League's position. There will be four teams out there that need a place to play and you're their best option. You can take two, four or even none. There have been rumors for years about some Northern League teams shifting to the Frontier, but the stumbling block has always been the FL's age-limitation. There is no such rule in the Northern League. Now, it seems those teams would have to play by the Frontier's rules or not play at all.

Mike Arbinger, Hall of Famer

Former Wild Things outfielder Mike Arbinger, who played here for three seasons (2004-06), has been chosen for induction into the Ohio University Athletics Hall of Fame. He will be recognized recognized at the Bobcats' football game Oct. 16 against Akron. Arbinger is one of four inductees in this year's class.

According to the press release from the school, Arbinger was a consensus first-team All-American, first-team All-Mid-American Conference and All-Mideast Region selection in 2002, was a four-year starter for the Bobcats and one of the best hitters in Ohio history. Upon completion of his collegiate career, he held most of Ohio's season and career hitting records and was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates. He played five seasons of professional baseball and was named to the Gulf Coast All-Stars in 2002 and was MVP of the 2005 Frontier League All-Star Game.

Arbinger still holds the Wild Things' record for career doubles with 78.

Currently a physical education teacher with the Toledo Public Schools, Arbinger is pursuing a Master's degree in Education from the University of Toledo. He also serves as the baseball coach for Toledo Start High School.