SLIPPERY ROCK — Call it the second-chance league that gave itself a chance.

The Frontier League, which enters its 15th season this summer with 12 teams, is coming off a 2006 campaign that saw its 10 franchises attract 1.3 million people through the turnstiles.

But it hasn't always been that easy.

The league debuted with eight teams in 1993. Two of those franchises folded two weeks into the season and the entire league drew less than 100,000 fans.

Since then, numerous franchises have folded, moved or joined the league as expansion teams. And, slowly, the Frontier League solidified itself.

"This league is doing it right," said Butler native Chris Blaine, marketing director of the Washington Wild Things. "They never tried to move too fast or expand too quickly. And it's always been budget conscious."

The league has one constant: The Chillicothe (Ohio) Paints. Chillicothe is the lone original franchise still in the league and has never relocated.

The Paints' owner, dentist Chris Hanners, is the only founder of the league still involved with the circuit.

"There's always a lot of turnover in minor league sports," said Frontier League deputy commissioner Kevin Rouch. "The Frontier League founders wanted to keep the teams within the three states of West Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio.

"As growth came, they were forced to go into markets that could support a team."

The league now has teams in Pennsylvania, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Missouri, along with the aforementioned states.

Rouch said the Paints have survived "because of outstanding support in the community and a loyal fan base."

Evansville (Ind.) became the first Frontier League team to crack the 100,000 mark in attendance for a season in 1997.

Today, the league has successful teams in small markets like Chillicothe, medium-range markets like Kalamazoo (Mich.) and Washington (Pa.), and major league markets like St. Louis and Chicago.

"In some places, teams receive prime media coverage. In bigger markets, they have to fight for any kind of coverage," Rouch said. "But the product is unique and people like it."

That product is independent minor league baseball featuring players on the way up. That's why the league has a player age limit of 27 and a rule that no team can have more than three "veterans" — players with more than two years of minor league experience — on the roster.

"We're a second-chance league," Rouch said. "We're here to extend the dream and our games are played that way. Guys hustle and work hard every inning of every game.

"They have to. They're fighting to stay in the game."

In June 2000, former Chillicothe player Brian Tollberg became the first Frontier League player to reach the major leagues when he was called up by the San Diego Padres. He was named National League Player of the Week during his first week in the majors.

There have been more than 300 former Frontier League players signed by major league organizations, with 14 reaching the big leagues thus far.

"We want that to happen. It's why we exist," Rouch said.

The league hopes to expand to 16 teams in the near future for balanced scheduling purposes.

"I'm hearing we'll have 16 to 18 teams within two or three years," Blaine said.

She's hoping the Wild Things and Sliders continue to be two of them.

"Talk about a natural rivalry," she enthused. "Our fans would travel up there, their fans would travel down here ... It'd be a lot of fun.

"Some people are concerned that teams are playing the same opponents too much and fans will get tired of that, but I don't believe that who you're playing has anything to do with attendance.

"I'll never forget what Kent Tekulve once told me: 'You're selling three hours of entertainment that's being interrupted by nine innings of baseball,'" she added.

<B>2006 StandingsEast Division</B>Team..........W.............LWashington.........59.........37Chillicothe........58........37Traverse City........57........39Kalamazoo........47........49Florence........38........56<B>West Division</B>Team........W........LRockford........49........47Evansville........46........50Gateway........42........52Windy City........41........54River City........40........56<B>2006 PostseasonSemifinals</B>Chillicothe defeated Washington 3 games to 1Evansville defeated Rockford 3 games to 2<B>Finals</B>Evansville defeated Chillicothe 3 games to 0