Bird honored before Miners game by Frontier League

MARION - Ryan Bird couldn't suppress a smile when greeted by dozens of Southern Illinois Miners fans Friday evening prior to the home game with Florence, Kentucky.

And why should he?

Bird was inducted into the Frontier League Hall of Fame by Commissioner Bill Lee with Miners manager Mike Pinto and Bird's wife, Taylor, and 2-year-old daughter, Tayleigh, alongside.

"This evening has been unbelievable. My face is hurting I've been smiling so much," Bird said just moments before accepting a large commemorative plaque from Lee. "I never thought in all my lifetime that something like this would be possible. There's no better recognition than this - to know that my name will live on in the baseball world."

Bird, whose uniform was retired a few years ago by the Miners, said it was Pinto's faith in him that got him over the hump as a professional pitcher.

"During my rookie year in 2008, I was up and down my first month. Mike called me into his office and I thought that maybe he was going to let me go. Instead, what he talked about was having confidence in myself. It was all about the mental approach to the game. After that, it seemed that I had my best stuff every five days I took the mound. And it just kind of grew from there."

Pinto said he couldn't be more pleased with the news of Bird's induction into the league hall of fame.

"Ryan was such a big part of Miners history, not just on the field, but off the field as well. On the mound, he was absolutely dominant - not only one of the best pitchers to wear our uniform, but one of the best in league history. He was a tremendous competitor, and we knew every single time Ryan took the mound for us that we had a chance to win. Off the mound, he was an incredible ambassador for the Miners in the community."

Today, the Potomac, Illinois native works in commercial banking in Naperville. He and his family live in nearby Geneva, a western suburb of Chicago. Bird said he and his wife are now expecting a second child.

• Jason Guerette of the Miners contributed to the story.