By Jim Fryar
jfryar@joplinglobe.com
It’s out with the old and in with the new for summer baseball in Joplin.
The Joplin Slashers are defunct. In their place will be the Joplin Outlaws.
The collegiate summer league team will have new leadership both in the front office and on the field. And the field will be different, too, with games to be played at the new Joplin Sports Complex instead of venerable Joe Becker Stadium.
Changes don’t end there. The Outlaws have joined the 10-team MINK League with the expressed intent of cutting down on travel.
One thing which won’t be altered, said General Manager Mark Rains, is the continued rivalry with the Nevada Griffons. The Griffons will make the same move, from the Jayhawk League to the MINK.
The Outlaws and the Griffons were formally accepted into the MINK League during a mid-October meeting in St. Joseph. Two more new teams — the St. Joseph Mustangs and the Sedalia Sluggers — were also accepted.
Joplin, Nevada, and Sedalia will join a pair of holdover MINK members — the Ozark Generals and Kansas City Mac-n-Seitz — in the South Division. Teams in the North Division are St. Joseph, Chillicothe, Clarinda (Iowa), Beatrice (Neb.) and Topeka (Kan.)
Beatrice is the defending MINK League champion.
Teams will play 34 league games, beginning with three-game home-and-home series against division opponents. They will also play two games against each of the five non-division teams.
The format remains basically the same, with the summer teams drawing mostly pre-draft age players from college teams. Games will begin in late May, after most college teams have completed their seasons.
A primary goal for the new Joplin franchise will to become more fan friendly, Rains said.
“We’re going on a new angle,” Rains said. “We want to get the community involved with the team. For that reason, there will be no admission charge for the first season.”
A pair of former Pittsburg State pitchers will guide on-field operations. Chris Reddout, assistant coach at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M;, will be the manager. Andy Davis, an assistant at Peru (Neb.) State, will be the assistant.
“We’re starting to get players (commitments for next summer),” Rains said. “Actually, because we’re a new team, we got a late start in that process.”
The Outlaws plan to add some Missouri Southern players to their roster, with early commitments from Joplin third baseman Shayne Hoke and Carl Junction left-hander Zak Porath.
The new mascot was chosen in an attempt to find something besides the Miners that represents the Joplin area, Rains said.
“Jesse James and Bonnie and Clyde have some history here,” Rains said.
Work continues on the design of team logo, which will be incorporated onto a new-look uniform. Team colors will be either red and black or orange and black.
Joining Rains on the Outlaws’ board are Randy Steele, Darren Hall, Ryan Jackson, Jim Morgan and secretary Edwina Rains.
Sports
Collegiate summer league baseball in Joplin getting new look
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