River City Rascals

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River City Rascals

Founded	1993
League	Frontier League 1993-present
Team History	Zanesville Greys 1993-1996 River City Rascals 1999-present
Ballpark	T.R. Hughes Ballpark
Based in	O'Fallon, Missouri
Team Colors	cardinal red, silver, black
Owner	Steve Malliet
Manager	Toby Rumfield
Championships	1 (1993)
Division Titles	2 (1993, 2000)
Mascot	Ruffy
Broadcasters	Phil Giubileo
Local Media	KSLQ 104.5 FM

The River City Rascals are an independent minor league baseball team playing in O'Fallon, Missouri as a member of the Frontier League.

1 History
2 Seasons
3 Trivia
4 External links
5 Sources

[edit] History

The team was previously located in Zanesville, Ohio where they were known as the Greys. On Tuesday, October 27th, 1998, O'Fallon, Missouri Mayor Paul Renaud announced the new name of the team to be the River City Rascals. Initial ownership of the Rascals consisted of a local group headed by Harold Burkemper.

The Rascals began play in 1999 in the Western Division of the Frontier League under manager Jack Clark, pitching coach Greg Mathews, and first-base coach Dick Schofield Jr., all previous Major League Baseball players.

The first five players to be signed to the club consisted of pitcher Jeff Pohl, outfielder Mike Robertson, first baseman Jonathan Bushman, infielder Jason Rackers, and outfielder Kevin Pitts. The first game played was on Wednesday, June 2, 1999 on the road against the Cook County Cheetahs of Crestwood, Illinois. Pitcher Joey Pipes pitched a complete game in losing by a score of 1-0 .

The first home game was played on Tuesday, June 8, 1999 at T.R. Hughes Ballpark at the Ozzie Smith Sports Complex in front of an overflow crowd of 4,173 (3,500 seat capacity). The Rascals beat the Dubois County, Indiana Dragons by a score of 6-5 by rallying from a 5-1 deficit with William Black scoring on Tim Still's sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth inning. This was the first minor league baseball game in Missouri since 1955.

On October 11, 2006, the franchise was acquired by the group PS and J Professional Baseball Club, LLC headed by Steve Malliet, who moved to O'Fallon, Missouri from Joliet, Illinois, where he had worked with the Joliet JackHammers since 2001. Malliet has managed and operated the Rascals since the closing of the 2006 acquisition.

Known As

Zanesville Greys (1993-1996)

River City Rascals (1999-Present)

[edit] Seasons

Zanesville Greys (Frontier League)
Year	W-L	PCT	Place	Postseason
1993	35-17	.673	1st in FL West	Won Frontier League Championship vs. Ohio Valley Redcoats 2-0.
1994	35-28	.548	3rd in FL West
1995	37-31	.544	3rd in FL	Won 1st Round Playoff vs. Newark Buffaloes 2-0. Lost Frontier League Championship vs. Johnstown Steal 2-0.
1996	40-34	.531	3rd in FL East
River City Rascals (Frontier League)
1999	39-45	.464	5th in FL West
2000	46-36	.561	1st in FL West	Lost 1st Round Playoff vs. Evansville Otters 2-0.
2001	46-38	.548	2nd in FL West
2002	39-45	.464	4th in FL West
2003	43-47	.478	4th in FL West
2004	51-43	.543	3rd in FL West
2005	42-52	.447	4th in FL West
2006	40-56	.417	5th in FL West
Zanesville	147-111	.570
Playoffs	4-2	.667		1 Division Title. 2 Playoff Appearances. 1 Championship
River City	346-362	.489
Playoffs	0-2	.000		1 Division Title. 0 Championships.

[edit] Trivia

Starting in 2007, 104.5 FM KSLQ will broadcast all games, as they did from 2000-2005. The announcer will be Phil Giubileo who held those duties from 2002-2004.
The Rascals "arch" rivals are the Gateway Grizzlies who play in nearby Sauget, Illinois. Both teams are located in the greater St. Louis, Missouri metropolitan area.
As the Zanesville Greys, the team was the first champion of the fledgling Frontier League in 1993.
Pitcher Josh Kinney who played for the Rascals in 2001 (21 innings, 18 strikeouts, 1.71 ERA) became the first Rascal player to make it to the Major Leagues. His contract was purchased from the Memphis Redbirds on July 2, 2006 by the St. Louis Cardinals where he appeared out of the bullpen during the 2006 regular season. His first major league pitch (July 3, 2006) was hit for a homerun by Atlanta Braves left fielder Ryan Langerhans; Kinney finished the 2006 season winning a championship ring with the Cardinals as 2006 World Series Champions.

[edit] External links

[edit] Sources

-- "Rascals pick Rumfield as their new manager." St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Oct. 4, 2006. Sports. p. C11
English, Nordeka. "No Trouble: River City Rascals Coming to Minor League Home." St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Oct. 29, 1997. St. Charles Sec. p. 1
Lyons, Joe. "Clark Returns as Manager." St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Jan. 21, 1999. Sports. p. D5
Lyons, Joe. "Rascals Getting Down to Business." St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Mar. 22, 1999. St. Charles Sec. p. 1
Lyons, Joe. "Rascals Head for Home after 1-3 Road Start" St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Jun. 8, 1999. St. Charles Sec. p. 6
Lyons, Joe. "Rascals Win Home Debut in a Thriller." St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Mar. 22, 1999. Sports. p. D1
Lyons, Joe. "New owner is anxious to take over Rascals." St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Aug. 2, 2006. Metro. p. B4

Frontier League
Central Division: Kalamazoo Kings \| Rockford RiverHawks \| Traverse City Beach Bums \| Windy City ThunderBolts East Division: Chillicothe Paints \| Florence Freedom \| Slippery Rock Sliders \| Washington Wild Things West Division: Evansville Otters \| Gateway Grizzlies \| River City Rascals \| Southern Illinois Miners