"Fran the Man" back in FL

Fran Riordan, pictured, is back in the Frontier League.

The winningest manager in Frontier League history, Riordan has been hired as manager of the Florence Freedom. Riordan replaces Toby Rumfield, who had an 87-105 record in two seasons with Florence.

This will be the fourth Frontier League team for Riordan, who has won three championships.

“I’m very excited to join the Freedom organization. The Frontier League has been a huge part of my life since 1997," Riordan said. "I’ve seen the league grow from its infancy and it’s been a great ride for the league. I’m very excited to be back."

Riordan was a player/manager for the DuBois County Dragons and the Richmond Roosters, guiding the latter to back-to-back championships in 2001 and 2002. After playing one season in the independent Can-Am League, Riordan returned to the Frontier League as manager of the Kalamazoo Kings in 2004. He guided the Kings through the 2008 season and won a league title in 2005.

Riordan has a 435-341 career record in the Frontier League.

Last year, Riordan managed the expansion Lake County Fielders of the independent Northern League. The Fielders had a 41-59 record.

Frontier League commissioner Bill Lee said, "It is fabulous to have Fran back in the league. He has been a great influence in the Frontier League, both as a player and as a manager."

More manager talk

- The Wild Things currently do not have a manager under contract for the 2011 season. Darin Everson had a one-year contract, but Wild Things executive director Todd Marlin said he's hopeful that Everson will return to Washington next season. Like most Frontier League managers, Everson has expressed a desire to return to affiliated ball. Whoever is running the Wild Things' baseball operations has until Dec. 22 to offer contracts to returning players.

- Former National League Manager of the Year Hal Lanier will return for a second season as the Normal CornBelters' manager. Normal had a 44-52 record and finished in fourth place in the West Division last year.

Latest on FL in 2011

Don't expect to see the Rockford RiverHawks returning to Consol Energy Park next year.

The RiverHawks, Joliet JackHammers, Schaumburg Flyers and Lake County Fielders appear headed to a new independent league, to be called the North American League, with about 18 teams throughout the country.

The North American League is actually the scraps left from the Golden League, United League and Northern League. Each league has lost teams in the offseason.

All four Northern League franchises recently applied for membership in the Frontier League, but their applications were never accepted or denied. There are issues with each franchise that has made the Frontier League wary of taking on the four teams. Joliet and Schaumburg are deep in debt and in need of new ownership, Lake County has ballpark construction problems and Rockford apparently didn't leave the Frontier League last year in good graces.

An official announcement of the three-league merger is expected Wednesday.

Here's saying this unique setup is doomed to failure. Why would cash-strapped teams from Illinois and other places hook up with a league that has teams in far-flung places like Hawaii, Calgary and Texas? Sounds like a business plan for failure, if you ask me.

So what does this mean for the Frontier League in 2011? While it would have been nice to have a 16-team league with the quality ballparks in Joliet and Schaumburg, it's no great loss for the Frontier League. Other than Rockford, those teams were never in the league, and the RiverHawks bolted before last year.

The big question now for the FL is will the league be 10 or 12 teams? There are serious questions about whether Kalamazoo will return for another season because of its woeful attendance and financial situation. The Oakland County Cruisers still have no definite financing for their ballpark, and another year of selling home dates, playing on inadequate youth league fields or before empty seats at Eastern Michigan University is not appealing to anyone in the league.

The 2011 schedule will be drawn up soon, so final decisions must be made quickly about K-zoo and Oakland County.