2015 Baseball Cards: Southern Illinois Miners

We have been picking up baseball cards for the Southern Illinois Miners and cataloguing them for posterity and here is the 2015 set. 

We have listed them below in the order they came out of the pack. There is a checklist card at the end of this piece that shows the cards in a different order.

So that the article isn’t too heavy with images we will only add the photos of the card fronts.

However, if anyone wants a photo of the rear side then get in touch using the contact us page and we can email it out to you.

You can read more about the Miners in our main article here. But in summary they were a very successful Frontier League team that played from 2007 to 2021.

You can see the very last Miners 2021 Baseball card set in one of our earlier posts.

There were a total of 28 cards Southern Illinois miners 2015 baseball cards set. Along with this was a final card that displayed the complete checklist on the rear

The numbers on the back of these cards are the players jersey numbers. So, technically the cards in this set are #NNO, but we have recorded them by their designated player number.

Mike Pinto 2015 Baseball Card #3

2015 was Pinto’s ninth season as the Manager of the Southern Illinois Miners.

Pinto earned his 500^th career win as the manager of the Miners.

This was on July 19 against the Evansville Otters.

John Lakin, Card #37

2015 saw Lakin return for his sixth season on the Miners coaching staff.

Lakin’s primary role was that of an advanced scout.

A seasoned player and coach. Lakin was also very successful in his professional life. Having reached senior positions within law-enforcement.

Rick Teasley, baseball card #34

Teasley, who is a southpaw pitcher was signed to the minors on 12th of April 2014.

As well as pitching left-handed, Rick also bats left-handed.

Eric Strano, card #6

This was Strano’s first professional season, he was signed to the Miners as a catcher, he came as a free agent

Eric played previously at Rider University.

Jon Klein, card #21.

A great action shot in this baseball card of Klein showing him at full stretch about to release the ball.

This was Jon‘s first professional season, he came to the Miners as a free agent and previously pitched at Mercyhurst University.

Aaron Gates, card #7

Gates was an outfielder who signed to the Miners in January 2014 having previously played for Charleston.

Gates, who is a southpaw was drafted in the 33rd round of the 2008, major league draft by the Colorado Rockies

Ryan Brockett, card #26

Ryan came to the Miners as a left-handed pitcher, and was signed as a free agent.

The previous year he played for River city and pitched collegiately at Saint Mary’s College.

Brockett also bats left-handed.

Brendan Slattery, card #29

Brendan signed with the Miners as a free agent and 2015 was his first professional season.

His primary role was catcher.

Adam Lopez, card #33

Lopez was an experienced player. Previously having played for the Chicago White Sox.

He was signed as a right-handed pitcher and came to the Miners as a free agent.

Steve Marino, card #14

Marino was signed as an infielder and joined the Miners on the 18th of January 2014.

Prior to this he played with Evansville.

Collegiately Steve, played at Stony Brook University in New York

Miguel Ramirez, card #16

Miguel was signed as a right-handed pitcher. Ramirez also bats right-handed.

He joined the Southern Illinois Miners on the 6th of November 2013. 

Toby DeMello, baseball card #22 

Toby came to the Miners as a free agent. His primary role being catcher 

The season before he played for Everett High Desert.

DeMello, bats and throws right-handed.

Ralph Santana, Card #20

2015 was Ralph‘s ninth season with the Southern Illinois Miners and his seventh year as a coach.

In this years card you can see him expressing a difference of opinion with the ump!

Ralph joined Miners in their inaugural year in 2007 as a second baseman. He holds the Miners single-season batting record.

In 2012 Ralph Santana was named frontier league coach of the year.

Michael Earley, card #11

Michael is an outfielder, who joined the Miners as a free agent in 2015.

He bats and throws right-handed.

Shane Street, card #25

Street was a right-handed pitcher who was signed by the Miners as a free agent. The previous year he played for Rio Grande Valley.

Street also bats right-handed.

He played collegiately at Spring Arbor University.

Joe Rapp, card #9

Rapp came to the team by way of a trade with the Kansas City T-bones

He was signed as an infielder for the S I Miners. He bats and throws right-handed.

Brian Portelli, card #18

Portelli, signed with the Miners as a free agent. He was an outfielder and 2015 was his first professional season.

He bats and throws right-handed.

Portelli played collegiately at Florida International University

Adrian English, card #1

English previously played for Joliet and was signed by the Miners on 18th of January 2015.

He was an infielder who throws, and bats right handed. He played collegiately at Barry University in Florida.

Pat, O’Sullivan, card #44

2015 was Pat‘s first season as the hitting coach for the Miners. He became the fourth hitting coach in the teams history.

O’Sullivan bought extensive experience to the club and had previously been hitting coach for the Rockford Aviators for the last four years

Jarrett Miller, card #10

Miller was a pitcher who signed with the Miners as a free agent.

The previous two years he played with Lynchburg.

He bats and throws right-handed.

Frank Martinez, card #5

Martinez was an infielder who is signed by the Miners on 30th of May 2014.

The previous year Martinez played for Evansville.

Frank had spent six seasons in the Oakland A’s organisation.

Martinez bats southpaw, but throws right-handed.

Matt Bywater, card #40

Bywater was a southpaw pitcher for the Southern Illinois Miners. He also batted left-handed.

He was signed by the club in 2014. The previous year he was playing for Lincoln.

Niko Vasquez, card #15

Niko joined the Miners as an infielder. He was acquired in 2015 by way of a trade with the Gateway Grizzlies.

Vasquez, bats and throws right-handed.

Before the Gateway Grizzlies, Vasquez played for Joliet.

Pete Perez, card #32

Perez was a pitcher for the Miners and signed as a free agent.

He had previously played for the Miners in 2013. Before then playing for the Atlanta Braves organization in 2014.

He subsequently rejoined the Miners for the 2015 season.

Preston Vancil, #30

2015 was Preston‘s second season on the Miners coaching staff as the pitching coach.

Vancil had finished his own professional playing career in 2013 for the Miners and was named a Frontier League All-Star.

This wasn’t Vancil’s first time coaching. He had also spent four years as a pitching coach for American River College.

Brandan Cowan, card #28

Brandan joined the Miners as a pitcher. He was signed as a free agent.

Having previously played for Fort Worth. He also he pitched collegiately at Lincoln Memorial University.

He is a southpaw who also bats left-handed.

Jerrud Sabourin, card #19

Jerrud played first base and was signed with the club on third of April 2014.

An experienced player Gerard is a southpaw pitcher who also bats left-handed.

Eric Green, card #39

Green was a pitcher who signed with the Miners a free agent.

A great action photo on his card. Shows Eric at full stretch having just completed a pitch. 

Green was a southpaw who also batted left-handed.

Southern Illinois Miners 2015 baseball cards: Summary

These 2015 baseball cards for the Miners help to record another fantastic year of success for this inspiring team.

In 2015, the Miners celebrated their 9th anniversary season with more on-field success.

They finished with the second-best record in team history, going 63–33 to finish with the league’s best record.

They also won their second-straight East Division championship. It was clinched in memorable fashion with a walk-off, two-run home run by third baseman Steve Marino against Traverse City. 

Adam Lopez went 10–0 with a 1.86 ERA to become the second-straight Miners pitcher to win the league’s Pitcher of the Year Award. 

Also from 2015, The Miners retired number 13 for all-time wins and strikeouts leader Ryan Bird in 2015. This was the second retired number in team history.

You can read about some Southern Illinois Miners MLB player cards in one of our earlier articles.