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CornBelters’ Name Ex-Major Leaguer White New Manager

Rick White
Eric Stock
/
WGLT
Rick White becomes the Normal CornBelters first manager as a member of the Prospect League.

The Normal CornBelters are turning to a former Major Leaguer to lead the team through its first season as a collegiate summer league squad.

The CornBelters’ new owners on Monday introduced Rick White as their new manager.

White, 49, was a relief pitcher who played for the St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago White Sox and 11 other  Major League teams during a 14-year career that ended in 2007.

White said he plans to work those Major League connections and tap into the local market to find players.

“We’re going to try to fill this with some ex-Major League Baseball players’ kids along with local talent from hopefully Illinois State, (Illinois) Wesleyan, Heartland (Community College), (University of) Illinois,” White said.

The CornBelters last week announced new owners purchased the club from a group of about 20 investors and that the team was moving to the Prospect League after spending nine seasons in the independent Frontier League.

White takes over a team that will feature college-aged players, as opposed to the older, professional players the CornBelters featured in their nine seasons in the Frontier League.

White said he believes the younger players provide a benefit.

“You are going to have a totally different attitude from the players,” White declared. “The players are going to be fun to watch, they are going to be hustling, they are going to be running in and out, they are going to be fan friendly.”

White had served as general manager for the Champion City Kings, a Prospect League franchise in his native Springfield, Ohio. He had been a part owner for the last three seasons before stepping aside in September.

“We just didn’t see eye to eye on everything and my family and I were the ones who mostly ran that organization, so it was time for me to step aside and let them go take it and a direction they wanted to take it,” White said.

White said he took his first tour of the Corn Crib on Monday and joked he was thrilled to have a team clubhouse.

“Before I was always sitting in the dugout, changing clothes, then coming on to the field,” White quipped. “Don’t have to worry about flooding in the dugout, stuff like that that we had before (in Champion City).”

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Eric Stock is the News Director at WGLT. You can contact Eric at ejstoc1@ilstu.edu.
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