Season of Change: Baseball, Coal Mining, and a Small Town's Struggle to Beat the Odds

A town literally built upon the once booming coal economy, the rise to prominence and eventual decline of West Frankfort, Illinois, tightly parallels that of the coal industry itself. Depicting a town unknowingly on the threshold of the likely end of an era of growth and economic prosperity, Season of Change: Baseball, Coal Mining, and a Small Town’s Struggle to Beat the Odds is an engaging and bittersweet account of the rise and fall of the town of West Frankfort and the West Frankfort Cardinals. An intimate and personal depiction of the 1948 Illinois State League champions and the town they called home also takes a swing at the larger social and economic issues that continue to largely shut out efforts to return to the prosperity and potential of the past.

Acclaim for Season of Change:
"Toby Brooks is adding a nostalgic chapter to the literary history of southern Illinois in Season of Change: Baseball, Coal Mining, and a Small Town's Struggle to Beat the Odds. An adept storyteller, Toby brings to life the heartaches and triumphs defining an engrossing period in the life of West Frankfort, Illinois—a city where a deeply ingrained coal mining culture shared the stage, if only for a few years, with a gutsy venture into minor league baseball." ~Taylor Pensoneau, Illinois author and former president of the Illinois Coal Association

Dr. Toby Brooks is currently an Assistant Professor in the Master of Athletic Training Program at the Texas Tech University Health Science Center in Lubbock and a freelance author.

A native of Golconda, Illinois, Brooks completed his undergraduate studies in athletic training and was named one of the Top 25 Graduating Seniors at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Following graduation, he accepted a graduate assistant athletic trainer position at the University of Arizona. At the U of A, he completed both his Masters and Doctoral degrees in Physical Education while working with the Wildcat women s gymnastics, football, and baseball programs.

After completing his studies, Brooks has worked as a certified athletic trainer and/or strength and conditioning coach with numerous professional, collegiate, and high school athletics programs, including the USA Baseball national teams, the Oakland Raiders, the Florida Firecats AF2 Football franchise, and the Southern Illinois Miners Frontier League Baseball team. He has published multiple articles and studies, and presents regularly at national and international conferences.

He is active in his church, and in his scant free time, he enjoys drawing, playing the drums, and spending time with his wife Christi, daughter Brynnan, and son Taye.