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Jeff Isom (born September 22, 1972) is the manager of the Joliet Slammers, which is a member of the independent Frontier League. Now in his 14th season as a manager, Isom has won over 700 games in his career. In 2013 Isom led the Lake Erie Crushers to an Eastern Division Title and a Championship Series appearance. He managed within the Milwaukee Brewers organization for more than six years. Playing career Isom was a left-handed pitcher who played at Purdue University (winning Big Ten Conference All-Star honors in 1993) and was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 18th round of the 1993 Major League Baseball Draft. He played in the minor league organizations of the Pirates and San Diego Padres through 1995. He then played Independent league baseball from 1996-1999. As a player he accumulated a career record of 28-28 with a 4.44 ERA in 169 games as a pitcher. His minor league career ended in 1999. Coaching career Isom's managing career began with the Canton Crocodiles in 2000 when he replaced Dan Massarelli in mid-season. He managed the Crocodiles in 2001, then followed the franchise when it moved to Washington, Pennsylvania and became the Washington Wildthings of the Frontier League. He later managed the Joliet JackHammers and Traverse City Beach Bums, also in independent leagues. He joined the Milwaukee Brewers organization in 2007 as manager of the Helena Brewers in the Pioneer League. He subsequently managed the West Virginia Power in the South Atlantic League in 2008, winning the league championship. He continued to manage the Brewers' Class A affiliate when they adopted the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers as their affiliate at that level. In January 2011, Isom was moved up the their Class A-Advanced Brevard County Manatees. In 2012, Isom continued his run as a manager for the Brewers organization and back with the Helena Brewers where he started his Brewers career. In 2013 he began managing the Lake Erie Crushers, a team he took to the championship game. In 2014 he was hired to manage the Joliet Slammers with an eye to increasing attendance and creating a championship caliber team. He has been taking the off seasons since 2007 to be a training mentor to help train the up-and-coming ball playing youth at the hitting and pitching facility On Deck Baseball in Lafayette, Indiana. In late 2011, with the changing certifications in high school and college level baseball bats, he became an adviser to BBCBaseball.com that distributes the new certified standard bats in high school and college level called BBCOR Bats.
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