Bio

Jeff Isom enters his second year with the Gary SouthShore RailCats after being announced as the fifth manger in team history in mid-July last year. In his first game leading the club, the RailCats blew out the Kane County Cougars 13-6, collecting 15 hits. Team club would go on to finish the season with a 19-18 record in the final 37 games. 

Isom is a native of West Lafayette, he would play college baseball at Purdue University and in 1993 he was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates. Isom would pitch in the Pirates and San Diego Padres system, he would also take the hill in three different seasons for the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks. 

Isom would retire from professional baseball in 1999 and in 2000 he would land his first Manager role at the age of 27 with the Canton Crocodiles. He would go on to manage in the Milwaukee Brewers organization from 2007 to 2012 before returning to partner league baseball in 2013 with the Lake Erie Crushers, taking them to the finals before falling to the Schaumburg Boomers. 

In 2014, Isom moved to the Joliet Slammers and in 2018 his club would win a winner-take-all contest against the Washington Wild Things to become the Frontier League Champions. Isom took a break from managing after the 2019 season, his final with the Slammers before returning to the dugout in 2024 with the Chicago Dogs, taking them to the East Division Championship series. 

This season will be Jeff Isom’s 22nd year managing in professional baseball.