In July it was discovered that Will Oliver, a pitcher with the Evansville Otters, had his 28th birthday on July 4th. This happens to be against the Frontier League age limit rules:
No player or player/coach may have attained twenty seven (27) years of age prior to January 1 of that playing season with the exception of one player who will be designated as a “Veteran” player who may have attained thirty (30) years of age prior to January 1 of that playing season provided that he meets the qualifications listed below.
For the 2015 season, players must have been born on or after January 1, 1988 to be eligible, aside from the Veteran classification player (one per team) who must have been born on or after January 1, 1985.
To qualify for Veteran status he would have had to be on a Frontier League roster for 100 games over the past two seasons but he was only in the league at the end of last season playing in just 5 games.
There was a lot of confusion over his age as some rosters showed his birth year as 1987 and others 1988… and Pointstreak (the league’s statistical service) showed 1990.
Oliver pitched in 13 games for Evansville this season with a 9-2 record and 1.59 ERA. The Otters ended up winning 10 games that he pitched.
Current Frontier League Standings:
After it was discovered he was ineligible, he went on to play for the Atlantic League’s Somerset Patriots in Bridgewater Township, New Jersey.
“I was in Evansville and I found out from two other teams before my manager, which was irritating, but it wasn’t intentional because gossip got out fast — that I ended up aging out of the league due to a contract technicality. The league commissioner approved my contract in April, so it’s their fault for missing it. Our manager sent me the contract in the off-season and asked if I wanted to play again, and I said of course. I loved it in Evansville, so it was a no-brainer. But I found out a few days ago that I aged out, and they’re nullifying my contract and I couldn’t play anymore. They wanted to take away my wins I had. I don’t think that’s going to happen, because that’s just not right.” – Will Oliver
The Frontier League and Commissioner Bill Lee announced today that the Evansville Otters would be forfeiting the 10 wins in which Oliver played.
As a result of the forfeitures, the following teams will receive credit for more wins and also less losses during the season:
Southern Illinois: 2 wins
Washington: 2 wins
Florence: 1 win
Gateway: 1 win
Lake Erie: 1 win
Normal: 1 win
Traverse City: 1 win
Windy City: 1 win
Only the records will change, all statistics from the affected games will remain in place.
