INAUGURAL VETERAN COMMITTE ELIGABLE MANAGERS

The following candidates are eligible for the MWWL Inaugural Veterans Committee Managers Election Vote.

Please vote for One Manager. (Though you may not vote for yourself if you are eligible)

 

ELIGIBLE CANDIDATES – Through at Least –  Seven+ Years of Mid-West Winter League Service.

John “Stray” Corrado – Chicago Demolition – 1531 – 1168 – .567
Stray started the Mid-West Winter League in 2001 (1970 MWWL Season) & has been serving as the Commissioner, Web Master, & Owner of the Chicago Demolition since the leagues inception. The Demolition’s record (1461 – 1231 – 543%) is not nearly as impressive as his dedication to the League as Commissioner. It is believed that the Mid-West Winter League is one of the strongest APBA/BBW Retro Leagues around with a Web Site that is above & beyond what 99% of other Leagues have, & something Stray prides himself in very much.   Stray has built a Franchise that has a .543% winning percentage, second only to the Panthers of Fort Worth but who have quite a few seasons played.
Chicago has fielded some great players including all-time saves (299) leader Sparky Lyle (Five Rolaids Reliever of the Year – 71, 72, 74, 75 & 77), Joe Morgan (Five Gold Gloves) & (75 MVP), Willie Stargell (Two time MVP 72 & 73) , Catfish Hunter (72 CY), & Vida Blue (71 CY) just to name a few.
Those players have helped the Chicago Demolition to two World Series Championships, five first place finishes, six 100+ win seasons, twelve-time All-Star coach or manager, and three Manager of the Year Awards.  The Demolition have appeared in Post Season play eleven of seventeen MWWL Seasons.
In addition to all of this, Stray continues to have a strong drafts year in and year out along with organizing and coordinating the entire Mid-West Winter League Draft Day, and many other numerous Mid-West Winter League events.

Mike Roberts – Old Mill Legends – 1461 – 1231 – .543
Mike Roberts has been a manager in the Mid-West Winter League since the league was formed in 1970. Mike has enjoyed success, posting a .543 winning percentage; winning his division 7 times and making it to the World Series 3 times.  Although it was not our best season in terms of record, 1974 ended up the best as that is the only year we have been able to win the MWWL World Series.  During his 17 years in the league, Mike is 2nd in wins only to league Commissioner Stray Corrado.  Mike has enjoyed other successes through his players as he has managed 4 Cy young award winners from 1973-1976, 1 MVP winner in 1982, 19 Gold Glove award winners, 2 Rolaids Relief award winners, and has had 31 players be names All Star Game Starters.  Mike has also received Manager of the Year award on 3 separate occasions.

Steve Cutler – Hollywood Vampires – 1347 – 1351 – .499
Steve joined the league in 2001 after an owner backed out very early in the season. Steve renamed the franchise to the Hollywood Werewolves and began building the team to his specifications. This is one case where winning percentage and record does not always tell the true story.  Hollywood’s franchise record of 1347-1351 (.499 winning percentage) is deceiving. Shortly after taking over the team, Steve began to form his team in his image. After finishing dead last in the initial season, Hollywood began moving up the ranks quickly.  In the subsequent 5 years, they were a MWWL powerhouse going 492-318 (.607) winning percentage, raking up 3 World Series appearance – winning 2 MWWL World Series titles.  Not only does Steve have 2 MWWL World Series titles, he has 4 Manager of the Year Awards.  After their 1975 title, Hollywood was the first MWWL team to win 2 World Series title, a record that then stood until 1980 with the Germantown Grays locked up their 2nd title.  In fact, those two NL West teams, who continually beat up on each other year-after-year, have a combined 12 first-place finishes and 4 World Series titles. Hollywood has had (5) 1st place finishes & (4) 2nd place finishes while Germantown has had (7) 1st place finishes & (3) 2nd place finishes.

Steve’s contributions are more than just his team. He builds the official disk for the league.  He dedicates his time to turning it around immediately which helps keep the league going year round. In addition to that, as Assistant Commissioner, he holds the Commissioner in check when he is ready to fly off the handle. Being the Commissioner is a stressful job, so having that right hand to offer a sense of reason has been a tremendous asset. Additionally, Steve is one of the most knowledgeable owners of the games workings. Over the years there have been numerous new owners with varying degrees of understanding of the game. Steve has taken the time to help those owners understand the game so they do not become frustrated and leave the league.

Jay Kasner – Germantown Grays – 1303 – 1071 – .549
General Manager – Germantown Grays, rode a string of 10 playoff appearances over a period of 11 years from 1976 to 1986 placing 1st in the division 7 times, grabbed the league title 3 times and the MWWL World Series twice.  He amassed a stellar line-up that included the likes of Darrell Porter, Cecil Cooper, Phil Garner, Johnny Ray, Robin Yount, Doug DeCinces, Amos Otis, Andre Dawson and numerous supporting pitchers most notably Koosman, Burns, Petry and Clancy.  In the later years of the run, he proved his adroitness to piece together a winning team as few of the aged core or new recruits produced All-Star caliber  seasons,  yet the organization continued to rack up pennants.  Jay Kasner is deservant of this MWWL Hall of Fame nomination.

Sergio Ivone – Detroit Stars – 1110 – 1263 – .468
This owner failed to submit a BIO for the Veterans Committee Hall of Fame Managers Voting.

Peter Kilmarx – Long Beach Titans – 1185 – 1028 – .535
Peter Kilmarx has respectfully declined his Hall of Fame Eligibility.  Peter’s feelings are that a manager should have won a World Series or at least had a string of Series appearances to be considered.  Peter doesn’t believe at this point he should be considered for MWWL HoF.

Kevin McNally – Missouri Black Bears – 803 – 922 – .466

Kevin McNally and the Missouri Black Bears joined the Mid-West Winter League before the 1976 season.  Participating in the 1976 dispersal draft, McNally had an eye for competing quickly – drafting Seaver, Foster and Lynn with their first 3 picks.  That initial season the Black Bears posted an 82-80 record and a 3rd place finish in the National League East.  The 1977 season showed slight improvement, with an 84-78 record, a second place finish and the Black Bears first playoff appearance (although a quick 3 game sweep ended that season).  1978 and 1979 were lost seasons for the Bears with losses of 91 and 82 games.  1980 showed a return to .500 for McNally and the Bears with an 82-80 record, but another quick 3-0 postseason exit.
The 1981 strike shortened season was magical for the Bears.  Although they finished 5 games out of 1st place (the only single digit out of first finish in franchise history), they finished with a 67-39 record (the highest winning percentage in team history at .632).  Things turned around in the postseason that year with a 3-1 Division Series win, a 4-1 NLCS win and a surprising 4-2 World Series win over Steel City.
Unfortunately, 1981 was the last season the Black Bears have been in the playoffs.  McNally has compiled a composite 11-10 postseason record (aided by that 11-4 run during 1981).
1982 through 1986 has not been kind to the Bears or McNally.  The low point was 1984, with a franchise worst 53-109 record (and 52 games out of 1st).  1986 saw the second 100 loss season (61-100)  for McNally and the Black Bears.  Pieces are slowly starting to fall into place for the Black Bears and McNally hopes for a return to the postseason soon.
In 11 MWWL seasons, McNally has compiled 803 wins against 922 losses (.466), 3 second place and 4 third place finishes and the one World Series Championship in 1981.  The Black Bears are still looking for their first National League East divisional crown.
McNally has managed 2 NL MVP’s (1976: George Foster and 1981: Mike Schmidt) and 1 Rookie of the Year (1984: Mark Thurmond).  McNally has also been on the NL All-Star staff on 3 occasions (1977, 1980 and 1981).
McNally has never been afraid to make a trade and was a part of the largest trade in MWWL history.  A 8-for8 player and 1-for-1 draft pick trade with Manhattan during the 1986 season.  The Black Bears also helped engineer a 7-for7 player and 2-for-2 draft pick trade with Valdosta in 1985.

Jim Farmer – Valdosta Bombers – 819 – 745 – .524
Jim joined the MWWL in 1977 and his Valdosta Bombers finished with a lowly 66 wins. The following season the Bombers took off finishing 29 games better than ’77 and finshed 2nd with 95 wins. Bombers improved again in ’79 as they won 102 games for their first of 3 division titles, again winning in ’82 and ’85. Jim has been named to the NL All-Star coaching staff 6 times in his tenure as the Bombers manager, guiding the Bombers to a 819-745 record in 10 years. Also, he has had 2 Rookies of the Year, a Cy Young winner and a Rolaids winner and a slew of All-Stars under his reign. With a solid core of players like Jack Clark, Brian Downing and Andy Van Slyke the Bombers are looking forward to some more exciting baseball in the future.

Brian Mazurek – Mexico City Chihuahuas – 638 – 925 – .408
Brian Mazurek has respectfully declined his Hall of Fame Eligibility and doesn’t believe at this point he should be considered for MWWL HoF.

Randy Shreiner – Baton Rouge Ragin Cajuns – 801 – 764 – .512
This owner failed to submit a BIO for the Veterans Committee Hall of Fame Managers Voting.

Mitch Watnik – Gold River Miners – 718 – 846 – .459
Mitch Watnik ran the Gold River Miners from 1976-1985.  He was known for writing detailed series summaries that began with “From the Field of Dreams in Union City, CA”.  The Miners won the MWWL World Series as a wild card team in 1979, carried largely by left-handed starters Mike Flanagan, Dave Righetti, and Rudy May.  The lineup that year featured Reggie Jackson and Steve Garvey.  Mitch assisted the league office with awards ballots for a few years.

Jarl Jackson – Fort Worth Panthers – 804 – 599 – .573Jarl Jackson joined the MWWL for the 1978 season.  Through 9 seasons his Fort Worth Panthers are second in MWWL history for teams with at least 5 seasons in regular season winning percentage at .573.  Jarl led his team to 3 consecutive World Series Titles from 1982 to 1984 and established a MWWL record for wins in a regular season with 126 in 1982. In addition to winning 3 titles Jarl has won manager of the year three times (80,82,84). His players have won the following awards: 1978 Rookie of the year – Carney Lansford, 1979 AL MVP – Keith Hernandez, 1981 AL MVP – Carney Lansford, 1982 Rolaids Reliever of the Year – Rod Scurry, 1982 Cy Young – Mario Soto, 1983 Rolaids Reliever of the Year – Pat Zachry, and 1983 Cy Young – Mario Soto.
So why should Jarl Jackson be in the MWWL Hall of Fame? The first thing that comes to mind is 3 straight championships. Jarl expected to win it all in 1982, but was pleasantly surprised to win again in 1983 and 1984.   He’s consistently on time with his files and will submit a detailed series recap at least 2-3 times each season. He’s an active trader having traded his first round pick 5 times. In 1983 he started doing World Series previews. Jarl has also assisted the MWWL Commissioner Offices on a few league projects as well.  In his first 7 years Jarl won 3 championships, won over 100 games 4 times, and compiled a regular season record of (673-406 .624).

John Niespodzianski – Steel City Sluggers – 671 – 732 – .478
This owner failed to submit a BIO for the Veterans Committee Hall of Fame Managers Voting.

Scott Farquharson – East Side Fight Club – 644 – 759 – .459
Scott Farquharson joined the MWWL at the 1976 expansion draft and brought the East Side Fight Club into existence.  The first few years were rough ones for Scott and his new squad.  The Fight Club finished 50 games out of first place in their inaugural year, and managed a 5 game improvement the following year.  Scott oversaw a jump up to third place in 1978, but 1979 brought the club back to their comfortable 5th place result.  1980 started the “Golden Years” for Farquharson and the Fight Club.  For the 3 seasons spanning 1980-1982, Scott led the team to second place finishes each year, and thus to the post season.  This stretch saw Goose Gossage in ’81 and Alan Trammell in ’83 as the only 2 All Star Starters in the Franchise’ history.  The golden years ended up slightly tarnished, as Scott helmed 3 straight division series losses.  In fact, Farquharson managed only 1 post season victory.  However, these positive regular season finishes helped Scott to a spot on the coaching staff representing the A.L at the All Star games for these three Golden years. Overall, Scott is perhaps most proud of the fact that he used his first round pick (# 14 overall) in consecutive years to draft the same pitcher, Eric Show.
Mainly for these stated reasons, Scott asks that he be considered for the MWWL Hall of Fame.

Hank Konkel – Washington Past Timers – 586 – 493 – .543
Hank Konkel joined the MWWL in mid-season 1980 taking over the Sykesville Slammers and quickly moved and renamed the team to the Washington Past Timers.
Almost immediately, Hank began to dissemble the team, making 5 trades in the first 2 weeks of ownership acquiring 4 players that played key roles in the 1985 Championship.
The team finished 66-96 in Hank’s first season, but quickly rebounded in 1981 for a surprising 1 game playoff against Steel City. The franchise had finished with a winning record for the first time in 5 seasons.  Unfortunately Washington lost to Steel City who eventually won the AL pennant.
The 1982 season proved to be a rebuilding year as the team finished with a dismal 48-114 record, as Hank continued to trade for future quality players, building for 1985.
1983 was a very exciting and surprising season.   For the first time in 7 seasons, Hank led the franchise to over 100 victories since the team was located in Sandusky.
Furthermore, for the first time in franchise history the team finished in 1st Place by winning the 1983 American League East Division.  The franchise had been in Motown, Sandusky, Texas and Sykesville.
Never, in the 14 year history, had the franchise finished above 2nd place.  Never, in the 14 year history, had the franchise won a playoff series, until 1983, when the Past Timers beat the Detroit Stars 3 games to 2 to advance to the American League Championship Series.
The Past Timers would eventually lose to the Fort Worth Panthers in the ALCS, but still the
Past Timers could hold their head high as they received many awards that season.
Hank Konkel was named Manager of the Year; Lloyd Moseby was named MVP, and Ozzie
Smith was name Gold Glove Shortstop.  The team with its young nucleus was maturing, but not quite ready yet to go all the way.
1984 was a setback year, as the young team had some growing pains.  Still, Hank managed to have his 2nd consecutive winning season.  Hank and the team all held their breath for the start of the 1985 season.
1985 proved to be the year.  Hank had set his sights from day 1, that he would build for a championship run this season.   With George Brett & Fernando Valenzuela, the only remaining players left from the original squad in 1980 when Hank took over, they proved to be worth their weight in gold.
For the first time in the franchise’s 16 year history, Hank led the team to their first World Series
Championship over the mighty Hollywood Vampires!
Not only were the Past Timers World Champions, but again Hank Konkel won manager of the year. George Brett was MVP, Carlton Fisk, Bill Buckner and Ozzie Smith all won Gold Gloves Awards.  Bob James was the top relief pitcher. 9 players were named to the All-Star team.
Hank was heard saying that this was his most gratifying season and how proud he was of  his team.
1986 was another run for all the marbles and Hank was confident that his team had a good chance.
However, Chicago dashed Hank’s hopes of his 2nd consecutive Series appearance as Washington fell to Chicago 4-3 in the ALCS.  Hank was named runner up in manager of the year.
Hank, periodically, has contributed to the MWWL with various special requests from the Commissioner.  He is always willing to help out in any area. In the past, Hank has at times been controversial and outspoken. This is nothing more but competitive juices.   Hank always has his best intentions for the welfare of the MWWL.

Mike Harlow – Cedar Park Bears – 538 – 541 – .499
This owner failed to submit a BIO for the Veterans Committee Hall of Fame Managers Voting.