By Chris Dugan, Sports Editor

dugan@observer-reporter.com

When Frontier League commissioner Bill Lee checks the standings these days, he can't help but smile and feel good about the independent league's 16th season.

Entering Saturday night, nine of the 12 teams had realistic chances of making the playoffs. That's a significant change from last year when Washington, Windy City and Gateway ran away with division titles by August, the latter two winning by more than 15 games. Rockford also secured last season's one wild-card playoff berth by 31/2 games.

This season, balance has been the key word for the Frontier League.

While Kalamazoo holds a comfortable lead in the East Division, Southern Illinois entered Saturday with a half-game advantage over Windy City in the West and six teams, including Washington, were within three games of the final wild card spot.

With less than three weeks remaining in the regular season, it promises to be a frantic finish.

"Overall, I think it's been a good year," Lee said last week during a stop at Consol Energy Park. "The parity in the league is what stands out to me.

"We've also had a lot of kids picked up by affiliated clubs this year, and there are currently five former Frontier League players in the majors. Brendan Donnelly (Indians) and Justin Christian (Yankees) have recently been promoted to the majors, and George Sherrill having the kind of season he's having with Baltimore is something that makes us proud. We also had two former players who were first-base coaches in the College World Series."

Some of the league's 11 markets have shown a decline in attendance from last year, when a record 1.5 million fans went through the turnstiles. The Wild Things' per-game attendance is down 330 from its final average last year. Lee, who says things have never been better in the league, shrugs off the drop in attendance in Washington as a byproduct of gasoline prices skyrocketing this summer.

"That's the economy," Lee said, "but we still have a chance to set a league record for attendance. Not everyone is down. Windy City's attendance is up, Rockford is up. Some are up, some are down. The economy has been tough and teams are working through it, just like our fans are."

Lee and the league's owners are already working on 2009, and just how many teams will be in the league remains a mystery. Chillicothe, which is last in the league in attendance - 1,339 per game - asked for and received an extension on the league's July 31 deadline to commit to fielding a team for next season. When asked if Kalamazoo - next-to-last in attendance at 1,682 per game - also requested an extension, Lee declined to comment.

"The only thing I can tell you is, we'll have 12 of 14 teams," Lee said.

This much is certain: Avon, Ohio, will have a team next year. Construction has started on a $7.5 million ballpark in Avon and should be ready for opening day in late May.

The Midwest Sliders, the league's traveling team this season, will finally have a home in Oakland County, Mich. A groundbreaking for a new ballpark there has not yet been held. There has been rumors that the ballpark won't be ready until July at the earliest. Lee said he expects construction to begin soon and the ballpark to be ready by the start of the 2009 season.

One other matter the league in discussing is banning maple bats, which has been a hot topic this summer in the major leagues. The problem is when a maple bat breaks, it tends to shatter into large chunks with sharp and pointed ends. When bats are made of ash break, they tend to simply crack or have a clean break.

The River City Rascals have announced they will not permit their players to use maple bats next season.

"That's a topic we'll examine closely," Lee said. "I've seen a lot of flying projectiles (from maple bats). We had a young boy hit in one of our parks. It's very iffy as to what we're going to do. Whatever we do, we'll do as a league and stick by that decision."

Home