There will be no Frontier League baseball this year. The league announced Wednesday that “the 2020 championship season has been suspended due to the ongoing gathering and travel restrictions in many of [their] locations. the League’s Board of Directors unanimously voted to suspend the entire 2020 championship season.”
“We all want to play Frontier League baseball in 2020,” stated Rich Sauget, Sr., President of the Frontier League. “However, with the continuing limitations on social gatherings in our markets plus travel restrictions impacting our Canadian teams we had to make the tough decision that without availability to play in many of our 14 ballparks that a 2020 championship season was no longer realistic.”
The suspension of the championship season allows individual teams to pursue baseball and other activities in their facilities as state and local restrictions allow.
“We fully understand and respect the seriousness of the COVID-19 epidemic,” said commissioner Bill Lee. “With all of the excitement surrounding the addition of the five former Can-Am League teams for 2020 everybody was primed for our best season ever. That being said our league-wide focus now shifts to carrying this momentum into 2021.
“We appreciate the passion, support, and understanding of our fans. Activities such as the virtual Opening Day game simulations by Schaumburg and Southern Illinois, the virtual championship ring ceremony by New Jersey, and the virtual 105th anniversary celebration of Evansville’s Bosse Field demonstrate the creativity of our staffs and our desire to remain connected with our fan bases even if we cannot do so in person.”
In a statement released shortly after the Frontier League’s, the Miners themselves announced they would be suspending their 2020 season.
“As disappointed as we are to not have a baseball season in Marion for the first time in 14 years, we also feel for all our players, fans, host families, and gameday employees who have called Rent One Park their summer home,” Miners COO and Skipper Mike Pinto said. “We very much wanted to play baseball in 2020 and we had built what we thought would be another outstanding, championship-caliber team.”
