Goin' to the Slammer

In case you missed it on the Frontier League's homepage, the new Joliet franchise will be known as the Slammers.

Steel City Baseball officials said the name is a nod to both baseball, as in a grand slam, and Joliet’s history as being the home of the infamous Joliet and Stateville prisons.

“The obvious double entendre posed by the word Slammers was deemed a perfect fit for the team,” general manager John Dittrich said a press release.

Slammers, however, wasn't the most popular nickname suggested in a name-the-team contest. More than 1,000 people submitted suggestions and the most popular name was Jailbirds. The new ownership group decided against it because it drew the most negative feedback.

Also getting the thumbs up from fans was the Joliet Jakes, based on John Belushi's character in the film "The Blues Brothers." The only problem with that name is it's copyrighted.

The Wild Things open their 10th season May 19 at Joliet.

FL subject of documentary

According to the Zanesville (Ohio) Times Record, the Frontier League is the subject of a documentary being shot by Chip Rosetti, of Evansville, Ind.

"I used to live near Marietta, and I just think the story of an independent baseball league is a great story. Players who weren't playing for star power or money, but for the love of the game," Rossetti todl the newspaper. "There was a certain amount of uncertainty with starting a league and trying to build it up and bringing it to towns like Zanesville, Chillicothe and Evansville."

The Zanesville Greys played in the Frontier League from its inaugural season of 1993 to 1997. For many years after that, Zanesville remained the home of the league's office.

Rossetti said he's scheduled to receive taped interviews from at least 40 former Frontier League players.

And what started out as a plan for a 1 to 1 1/2-hour film has grown steadily.

"I was hoping I could have something done by the beginning of this season (in May) but it looks like I will be lucky to have it completed by the 20th anniversary season next year," Rossetti said. "I'm looking at having two DVDs and a companion book to go along with it."

This has worked on eight short films, several of those sports-related. He did a short piece on the Southern Illinois Miners.

Hot Stove news

Here's some news that came out of the Wild Things' Hot Stove Banquet, which drew approximately 240 people Thursday night at the Holiday Inn Meadow Lands:

* Pitcher Justin Edwards had shoulder surgery in November. After experiencing pain after his last start of the 2010 season in Traverse City, a scan of his shoulder revealed a cyst on his lambrum that had caused a tear. Edwards was told he's at least a month ahead of schedule in his rehabilitation. He plans to start throwing in a couple of months and is hoping to be ready sometime in May. Here's thinking you won't see Edwards in a game until July. It's better not to rush a return from shoulder surgery.

* Only one player who had the option in their contract picked up last month has decided not to return to Washington. Eryk McConnell, who was the Wild Things' closer last year, has retired.

* The final phase of installing the ProGrass playing surface at Consol Energy Park will be begin when the weather breaks. There will be no dirt on the playing field. Both the mound and home-plate area will be turf.

* The Wild Things debuted their 10th anniversary logo (shown above).

* The Frontier League changed their roster classifications.

Previously, players were classified as Rookie-1, Rookie-2, L1, L2, Vet and Super Vet. Rookies had the equivalent of less than 1 full year of pro experience, L1 had 1+ years, L2 had 2+, Vets had at least 3 years of pro experience and the Super Vet (also known as the Vet-2) was a player older than 27, with at least 3 years of pro experience and had played at least one year with his FL team.

Now, the classifications are Rookie-1, Rookie-2, Experienced and Super Vet.

On a 24-man roster, each club must carry a minimum of 11 rookies (combination of R1 and R2 players) and a maximum of 13 players with unlimited professional experience. The rookie minimum will be 10 for a 23-man roster and 9 for a 22-man roster. All players with the equivalent of at least one year of pro experience will be classified as Experienced. The 21-year old rule will remain.

The parameters to qualify as a Super Vet have been modified so that he has played 100 games on an active roster over the previous two seasons within the Frontier League as opposed to with one specific team.

The advantage of this setup is obvious. No longer will teams have to dump as many guys from a previous season just to meet the roster rules. In the past, if you had seven L1s who were productive, you had to get rid of at least four of them in the next offseason because you could carry only three L2s - unless you went under the limit on veterans.

As I understand it, FL teams can, if they prefer, put together clubs with 10-12 rookies, a Super Vet and 11 guys who were classified in previous seasons as Veterans.

* If there is one Wild Things player who benefits from the roster classification change it's outfielder Luis Rivera. As a Veteran, his roster spot might have been shaky at best. Now, he seems much more likely to be here on opening day.

* The Wild Things will play two home exhibition games, May 12 and 13. That's a Thursday and Friday.

Option plays

The Wild Things recently made their first moves toward putting a roster together for 2011 by picking up the contract options on 20 players. Some of the 20 didn't play in a game last year for Washington but were on the Wild Things' retired list. The players whose rights the Wild Things retained are:

OF Chris Sidick, RHP Billy Muldowney, RHP Chris Bennett, LHP Kevin Hammons, RHP Eryk McConnell, catcher Billy O'Conner, UT Wilson Matos, OF Luis Rivera, 1B Eric Stephens, RHP Jeff Sonnenberg, RHP Sean Keeler, OF Joel Hartman, RHP Steve MacFarland, RHP Zach Groh, RHP Justin Edwards, LHP Jason Neitz, OF Matt Cotellese, catcher Alan Robbins, INF Jacob Dempsey, and INF Paul Chmiel.

Options were not picked up on 3B John Delaney, OF Mark McGonigle, RHP Tim Smith, SS Denny Duron, RHP Zach Rosenbaum, RHP Matt Rossignol, catcher Matt Rigoli, catcher Scott Clement, catcher Jared Dyer, RHP Ben Rodewald, and RHP Quinn Bright. These players are now free agents.

Second baseman Michael Parker did not have an option in his 2010 contract.

The players the Wild Things retained do not have to be signed by Washington. The Wild Things simply have their rights and can either release, re-sign or trade the player, or they can put him on the retired list.

None of the moves were major surprises, though I expected Duron to be retained because he seemed to be a favorite of manager Darin Everson. Also, despite his 1-9 record, Rosenbaum is one player I would have retained because he pitched much better than his record indicates. Rosenbaum finished 2010 strong (two earned runs allowed in his last 18 2/3 innings) and he was the victim of bad luck as the Wild Things scored two runs or less in 11 of his 16 starts. The thinking here is there would be a market for Rosenbaum, either in this league or another indy circuit.