(WSIL) -- The Southern Illinois Miners are have played their last game in Marion.聽
The team's owners, John and Jayne Simmons, announced they will retire from league ownership.聽
Mike Pinto has been the manager of the team since its inception in 2007. He has lead the team to a league championship and numerous division titles.聽
"I've long said I had the best job in baseball and I meant it. Now I don't have that anymore. I guess I'm going to focus on, rather than being sad it's gone, I'm gonna be glad it happened."
Pinto says he will miss the fans, of whom many have become friends.聽
"We played so well at home. It was certainly having an extra man on the field. They were so good at supporting us and making the guys feel special. And so thanks to the fans. I'll miss so many of them, so many of them became friends."
Southern Illinois Miners
Pinto came to southern Illinois 15 years ago. He says some of his most cherished memories with the team include the League Championship and the champagne celebrations that followed, the multiple division titles, and opening night with the thousands of fans packing the stadium.聽
He said the community welcomed him with open arms and he will forever be grateful for that experience.聽
"I cam here 15 years ago and I was that guy from Chicago. When they said 'Are you a Cubs fan or a Cardinals fan?' I said I'm a Cubs fan and I got half booed. But it's been fun, they certainly have celebrated me and welcomed me, especially when I went out to argue with umpires."
When asked about the Simmons', Pinto said they were the best owners he could have ever wanted. He said he had the best job in baseball and that was because of them.聽
"They had not only the financial resources to be able to do this right, we were the Yankees of Independent Professional Baseball in how we did things. It was the best of everything. But the desire to do it right, to do it well. They were the best owners I could possibly want. I look at it this way, they spent 15 years investing in this and I think they have earned the right to retire if that's what they want to do."
After the news, Pinto says he has some time to think about his next steps and where he wants to be in life. He plans to teach many people how to cook great Italian food, continue playing the drums and spend as much time as he can with his grandkids.聽
While those tasks will keep him busy, Pinto says he isn't ready to give up the game just yet.聽
"By no means do I plan to retire. I'm hoping there's, now that the news has broke that maybe there is another team that wants to build their organization and change a culture or something like that...I loved this year's team, they were great people and made coming into the baseball stadium fun every day and so I still want to manage."
The Frontier League, which the Miners belonged to, released a statement on the news Wednesday.聽
鈥淭he Frontier League is proud of its long-time association with the Southern Illinois Miners, the Marion community, and with Jayne and John Simmons.聽 The team鈥檚 unyielding commitment for bringing high quality professional baseball memories and family friendly entertainment to the region is a gold standard 鈥� including the Simmons鈥� contributions to privately fund the Miners stadium.聽 Jayne and John will be missed.鈥澛�
