Jul 8, 2022 4 min read

Having lockers next to one another at Rent One Park in Marion, Ill., last summer, Ian Walters and Jared Mang spent a lot of time getting to know one another. They talked baseball, they discussed whatever interests guys in their mid-20s have, and they learned what aggravates one another.

“Jared hated when I put my bare feet on his chair, so I made sure I did that. We did things to push each other’s buttons,” Walters said.

“Really, Jared is one of my good buddies. We’ve been close since last year. We had a lot of fun.”

Walters and Mang got to know Frontier League pitching and were productive players last year for the Southern Illinois Miners.

Walters, a third baseman, played in 89 games after finishing his career at Southern Illinois University. Walters batted .286, tied for the Miners’ team high with 20 doubles, hit five homers and drove in 53 runs.

Mang, an outfielder, had numbers that were very similar to Walters. He batted .294 in 88 games and had 19 doubles, 10 home runs and 46 RBI.

Both players seemed set up for a successful second year with the Miners.

That changed in a matter of hours one day last October. It started with Walters receiving a phone call from Miners manager Mike Pinto. The subject was trades made last year in which the Wild Things sent pitcher Michael Austin and catcher Cody Erickson to Southern Illinois in exchange for player to be named.

“Mike texted me and asked if I had time to talk,” Waters recalled. “He said baseball is a beautiful game and sometimes it can be cruel because it’s also a business. He said the Miners had made trades for Michael Austin and Cody Erickson and I was one of the players to be named. A couple of hours later and everything was done with the Miners.”

Later that day, the Miners announced they were ceasing operations after 14 years in the Frontier League. It was a stunning announcement that caught many within the league by surprise. The Miners were a model franchise and were one of the most respected organizations in the league.

“This was only a few days after the season,” Mang said. “The players were told there was going to be a zoom meeting and I expected they were going to tell us what offseason conditioning we should be doing. Instead, they told us we were done. I heard a rumor that somebody was going to buy the stadium, but there was never anything about the team folding.

“It was shocking. I was wondering if I was going to get to play at all (in 2022). I was under contract to the Miners. Within a couple of days, teams began reaching out to me.”

“As soon as the news about the Miners came out, I realized I was in a good spot,” Walters said. “All the other guys became free agents and they had to reach out to managers and get videos out there. Being with the Wild Things gave me peace of mind. I didn’t have to worry about that stuff.”

So Walters and Mang went their separate ways. Mang knew Lake Erie manager Cam Roth from their days in the Detroit Tigers minor-league system. Roth signed Mang to a Crushers contract during the offseason.

Though Mang and Walters were on different teams, and played a couple of spring training games against one another, Walters was expecting his good friend to be playing for the Wild Things at some point in the season. The Wild Things were owed a player to be named to complete an offseason trade with Lake Erie.

“I had heard that Jared was the player to be named and would be playing here at some point, but I wasn’t going to say anything to Jared in case that fell through,” Walters explained.

One June 11, the Wild Things pulled the trigger on the Mang-to-Washington transaction. Mang was actually the third member of the 2021 Southern Illinois Miners in Washington. Relief pitcher Kenny Pierson pitched in 13 games for the Miners and had a 2-1 record and 4.63 ERA.

“Cam told me that I would be going to Washington at some point,” Mang said. “Ian had told me during the offseason that I should sign here but it didn’t work out, but here we are. There’s a great culture here, a great group of guys. It’s very special.”