Southern Illinois Miners – MLB Baseball Cards

The Southern Illinois Miners were a professional baseball team based in Marion, Illinois from 2007 to 2021. Representing the first professional baseball team in Marion since 1948, the Miners were a part of the Frontier League. An independent baseball league partnered with Major League Baseball.

During their 14-year run (the 2020 season was cancelled due to COVID). The Miners compiled an impressive .575 winning percentage. They qualified for the postseason 7 times, won their division 4 times, and were the 2012 Frontier League champions.

ex S I Miners baseball cards

The team was disbanded after the 2021 season when owners John and Jayne Simmons retired from ownership to spend more time with their family and other business interests.

We have recently acquired one of the old domains / websites for the Miners. We have merged this into our main site which we are using in order to help catalogue information and images relating to their baseball cards. That may be how you came to land on this page.

Several different MLB players played for the organization, including Tanner Roark, Clay Zavada, Brandon Cunniff, Williams Perez, and Alejandro Chacin. Below are some cards featuring these players that collectors and fans of the Miners may be interested in obtaining. 

Tanner Roark 

By far the most successful MLB player on this list. Tanner Roark played 9 seasons in MLB from 2013 to 2021, mostly as a starting pitcher.

He spent most of his career with the Washington Nationals, while also playing for the Cincinnati Reds, Oakland Athletics, and Toronto Blue Jays.

After his first 4 seasons in MLB. It appeared as if he would end up having a tremendous career as a starting pitcher. However, his performance began to erode significantly starting in the 2017 season. And he would never again replicate his early career success.

He ended up starting 184 regular season games and finished with a career record of 76-68, an ERA of 3.85, and a WHIP of 1.26.

His best season in the majors was 2016, when he started 33 games, going 16-10. With a 2.83 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, and finished in the top 10 of CY Young voting. 

2014 Topps Rookie Card #602

2014 Topps Rookie baseball Card #602 miners players

The 2014 Topps rookie card has a white border on its front, characteristic of most modern Topps baseball cards. The portion of the white border at the bottom of the card is curved. Making the right side of the border larger than the left.

Roark’s name and position are listed on this larger section of the bottom right border. A small red border is located beneath the white border and directly outlines the player photo of Roark pitching in his away Nationals uniform.

The Topps brand name/logo is listed on the top left, the Washington Nationals logo is listed on the bottom left. And the Topps “RC” graphic is displayed on the bottom right of the card to identify it as a rookie card.

The Nationals team name is listed vertically across the right side of the card. The rear of the card lists some of his minor league stats and a brief player summary noting Roark’s pitching ability. 

2014 Topps Heritage Rookie Card #H532

The widely popular Topps Heritage series mimicked the 1965 Topps “pennant” design for its 2014 series.

The #H532 card has an outer white border and an inner gray border outlining the player photo of Roark posing in the windup of his pitching motion. The gray border widens at the bottom of the card and lists Roark’s name and position. The bottom left of the card displays an orange pennant graphic with the Nationals’ team name and logo.

The top left of the card lists the Topps Heritage series name.

2014 Topps Heritage Rookie baseball Card #H532 back of card ex miners player

The back of the card implements a baby blue color hue with a white insert listing Roark’s minor league stats. It also displays a cartoon baseball graphic along with a couple of player summaries. Noting that Roark played independent league ball before his time in the majors and had a great start to the 2014 MLB season. 

2014 Panini Donruss “The Rookies” Rookie Card #13

The 2014 Panini Donruss rookie card employs a very colorful frontal design. With a large red and blue border. Positioned inside the large border, resembling a mini card, is the player photo of Roark. With a small white border surrounding it.

2014 Panini Donruss The Rookies Rookie Card #13

The top left of the card displays the Donruss logo. The top right of the card lists an “RC” graphic identifying the card as a rookie card. While the bottom left of the card lists “The Rookies” in red fancy font along with a baseball graphic.

The top of the card lists Washington’s team name in yellow font on a red border. While the bottom of the card lists Roark’s name in black font on a yellow border.

The rear of the card has an artistic design as well, employing a yellow border, white background, and red font. It lists a brief player summary detailing Roark’s growing reputation as a dominant minor league pitcher. 

2014 Panini Donruss The Rookies Rookie Card #13 back. Ex Miners player baseball card

Clay Zavada 

After being drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 30th round of the 2006 MLB Draft. Clay Zavada spent 1 season in rookie ball.

However, he left the team after the death of his father. Eventually finding his way back to the Diamondbacks after a brief stint with the Miners. He spent 1 season with the Diamondbacks at the major league level in 2009. Having by all accounts, a successful season.

In 49 appearances for a total of 51 innings as a relief pitcher, he posted an ERA of 3.35. Zavada is best known for his memorable facial hair. Sporting a Rollie Fingers-like handlebar mustache his lone year in the majors.

2009 Topps Heritage “Rookie Star” Rookie Card #540

2009 Topps Heritage Rookie Star Rookie Card #540

Modeled after the 1960 Topps set design. The 2009 Topps Heritage set includes the only mainstream baseball card featuring Zavada in existence.

The front of the card is presented in a horizontal layout, with a white border and light-orange background. The player photo of Zavada, a uniformed headshot, is displayed in a large circular insert in the center-right of the card.

A red, white, and blue banner diagonally intersects the light-orange background. While a Topps rookie card graphic is listed on the far-left side of the banner. The top left of the card lists the phrase “Topps Magazine” in red font and “2009 Rookie Star” in black font.

Zavada’s name, team, and position are all listed across the bottom of the card, along with the Topps Heritage logo.

2009 Topps Heritage Rookie Star Rookie Card #540 Ex Miners baseball cards rear view

The back of the card employs a brown and white color scheme, lists Zavada’s minor league stats, displays a cartoon graphic of a baseball player, and details his successful 2009 major league season and handlebar mustache. 

Brandon Cunniff 

Brandon Cunniff was selected by the Florida Marlins in the 27th round of the 2010 MLB Draft. But was released by the organization after making just 18 appearances as a pitcher in the minor leagues.

He then played professional baseball in the Frontier League for the River City Rascals and Southern Illinois Miners for 3 seasons before signing with the Atlanta Braves in 2013.

Eventually, Cunniff made the major league roster in 2014 and spent 2 seasons as a reliever in 2014 and 2015. He appeared in 54 games in 2 seasons, pitching for a total of 52 innings and compiling an ERA of 4.50. 

2015 Topps Update Rookie Card #US120

2015 Topps Update Rookie Card #US120 ex southern illinois miners baseball cards

Not originally included in the base set. The 2015 Topps Update rookie card featuring Cunniff displays a smudged, multi-colored border.

The top half of the border is primarily white with dark smudges. Whereas the bottom half is primarily darker with blue, purple, and dark pink smudges mixed together. A 2nd, small blue border outlines the player photo of Cunniff throwing a pitch during a live game.

The top right of the card lists the Topps brand name/logo. While an “RC” graphic identifying the card as a rookie is displayed at the bottom left. His name, position, and team are listed across the bottom of the card, along with the Atlanta Braves team logo.

The rear of the card lists his minor league stats and a brief player summary where Cunniff stated he was about ready to give up on his professional playing career before the Braves signed him in 2015

2015 Topps Update Rookie Card #US120 back of card

Williams Perez 

A fellow teammate of Brandon Cunniff. Williams Perez played for the Braves in 2015 and 2016 as well, his only 2 seasons in MLB.

Primarily a starting pitcher, Perez was originally a professional baseball player in Venezuela before signing with the Atlanta Braves as an amateur free agent in 2009. After several seasons in the majors, Perez got his big break in 2015, when he made 20 starts for the Braves.

He had a lot of success early in the season, where his strength as a contact, groundball pitcher enabled him to induce several double plays.

However, he began to struggle by the end of the season, finishing the year with a 7-6 record, 4.78 ERA, and 1.55 WHIP. He also struggled early in the 2016 season, was sent to the minor leagues, and never pitched in the majors again after 2016. 

2015 Topps Update Rookie Card #US289

2015 Topps Update Rookie Card #US289

Like Brandon Cunniff, Williams Perez was not featured on a 2015 Topps card until the update set was released later that year.

The #US289 card of Perez contains the same design as the #US120 card featuring Cunniff. The card’s rear lists his minor league stats and a brief player summary, detailing his early success in the 2015 season as a ground ball pitcher.

2015 Topps Update Rookie Card #US289 ex miners baseball cards

The summary also notes that Perez displayed energy and fire on the mound. Exemplified on one occasion when he spiked the ball after a successful 3-6-1 double play. 

2015 Topps Heritage Rookie Card #676

Another rookie card of Williams Perez is the 2015 Topps Heritage version. Utilizing the design of the 1966 Topps baseball set.

2015 Topps Heritage Rookie Card #676 ex S I Miners baseball cards

The front of the card has a white border outlining a photo of Perez posing with the baseball in his pre-pitch stance. Ironically, Perez appears to be positioned in the stands of a baseball stadium, instead of on the field itself, something you don’t typically see in baseball cards.

The Braves team name is listed diagonally in white font on top of a slanted purple stripe at the top left of the card. A rectangular purple banner across the bottom of the card lists Perez’s name and position in white and black font respectively. The top right of the card lists the Topps Heritage series name, while the bottom right lists the Topps “RC” graphic to identify it as a rookie card.

2015 Topps Heritage Rookie Card #676 back of card

The back of the card displays the classic Topps orange color scheme, lists his minor league stats, and contains cartoon graphics of baseball players. It also contains a short player summary referencing his early success with the Braves in 2015. 

Alejandro Chacin

After signing a minor league contract with the Cincinnati Reds in 2010, reliever Alejandro Chacin would spend 7 and a half years with the organization before being promoted to the majors on August 23, 2017.

He would play for the Red for about 2 weeks, appearing in 6 games. He struggled during his brief stint with the team, giving up 7 runs on 11 hits in 6 innings pitched, resulting in an ERA of 10.50. On October 4, 2017, Chacin was released from the team, and would never reach the majors again. 

2017 Topps Heritage Minor League Baseball “2016 Saves Leaders”, Card #196

2017 Topps Heritage Minor League Baseball 2016 Saves Leaders Card #196 alejandro chacin

The only mainstream baseball card of Alejandro Chacin produced by a major brand was the 2017 Topps Heritage #196 card.

The 2017 Topps Heritage set implemented the design of the 1968 Topps set. Including a group of cards featuring some of the top minor league players of the day. The #196 card includes 3 different minor league relief pitchers, Chacin, Matt Carasiti, and Joe Jimenez.

Its front is arrayed in a horizontal layout and includes photos of all players pitching during live games on top of a speckled brown and tan background. Directly underneath the photos of the players are individual black strips displaying the players’ names and teams in white font.

A red circle is displayed at the top left of the card with the phrase “Minor League Baseball” written in white font. “2016 Saves Leaders” is listed across the top of the card in large red font.

2017 Topps Heritage Minor League Baseball 2016 Saves Leaders Card #196 alejandro chacin ex miners baseball card

The back of the card briefly mentions the accomplishments of all 3 players during the 2016 minor league season.

S I Miners Sports Card Summary.

There are also a large range of baseball cards that were produced that covered the Miners during their playing years of 2007 to 2021.

As we manage to get hold of their sets we will add them to our site. This link will take you to their final set: Southern Illinois Miners 2021 Baseball cards 

https://sportsworldcards.com/southern-illinois-miners-baseball-cards-2021/

If you are new to collecting then you may want to check out our knowledge base which is updated regularly.

Mike Pinto 2021 Baseball card

Along with this, our ‘How To’ section covers lots of information that could be helpful in a number of ways.

We have articles on sports card grading all the way through to articles that cover shipping of cards.

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The knowledge base pages cover a huge range of sporting interests from hockey trading cards and NFL football cards, through to baseballs cards covering starts like Mike Trout.

We also cover some incredibly popular basketball cards with stars like Grant Hill .

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