2014 VETERANS COMMITTEE – CANDIATE REVIEW / VOTING

Below is a list of all candidates (Player & Manager) who received at least one nomination for the 2014 Veterans Committee Hall of Fame Election.

These nominees are under discussion, via e-mail, of why a candidate should or should not enter the HOF, or why one Player / Manager would be more deserving than another.

Below are the three Manager Nomination Bio / Write-Ups.

Steve Cutler – Hollywood Werewolves (961 – 983 – .494%)
Steve joined the league in 2001 taking over the Columbus Explorers near the end of the year. Steve renamed the franchise to the Hollywood Werewolves and entered the Re-Mod draft shortly after the season. This is one case where winning percentage and record does not always tell the true story.
Hollywood’s franchise record of 632-826 (.433 winning percentage) is deceiving. Shortly after the draft, Steve began to form his team in his image. After 2 consecutive losing seasons, Steve turned Hollywood into a World Series team surprisingly unseating mainstay division winners Severn and Virginia for 2 consecutive seasons. After winning the division two years in a row, Hollywood decided to then build for the long term and stripped the team for parts. Hollywood has been on a roller coaster ride, but Steve has proved that he can turn a team around in just 2 seasons. His 5 year plan is beginning to pay off as Hollywood finished with a .500 record in 2010 and looks to be a contender for many years to come.
Steve’s contributions are more than just his team. Each year after Major League Baseball ends its season, Steve’s work just begins. He builds a temporary disk for the league so trading can be opened, as well as building the leagues’ official disk. 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. He continually comes up with new ideas to add value to the league, such as the “MWBL Callups” page that informs owners which uncardeds were called up and helping others ‘bat’ around new league rules that improve the league. His most recent ‘new’ contribution was his outline to our very detailed and successful Expansion Draft plan. When all was said and done, it went off without any issues as we accounted for every conceivable detail. He is a very active owner in all facets of the league.

Mike Roberts – Severn Express (1498 – 1255 – .544%)
Mike Roberts has been a manager in the Mid-West Baseball League since the league was formed in 1997. In his 1st three seasons, he accumulated a combined record of 163-321. During his inaugural seasons, Mike was more concerned about building for the future by acquiring prospects and draft picks. From 2000-2002, the Express reaped the benefits of their Manager/GMs hard work as they tallied a combined record of 325-161. During this time frame he guided them to two AL West titles in 2000 and 2001, where his teams posted identical 118-44 records in each season. After the 2002 season, Mike recognized that his team was not going to compete at the level that he would like, so once again he went into a “rebuilding mode” by trading superstar players Pedro Martinez and Manny Ramirez. The Express struggled again from 2003-2005, but have reached the playoffs in 2006, 2007 and 2008.
Mike has managed to win 2 MWBL Championships in 2000 and 2007 (the only other franchise besides Tempe to win more than 1 title; and both came against Tempe who has never tasted defeat against any other team in the series!) . Mike was also a world series finalist in 2001 and has 1 Manager of the Year award to his credit. Mike has also guided the Express to 4 – 100+ win seasons in a division that has sent 6 of the last 9 AL representatives to the World Series (Needless to say, the AL West has been a pretty tough division to manage in). Additionally, he was manager of the 2000 All Star team and a coach of the 2002 All Star team. His players have earned 3 Cy Young awards; 2 MVP; 2 ROY; and 6 Gold Glove awards.
Since joining the Mid-West Baseball League, Mike feels that he has been a very active manager, making multiple trades every year and submitting game results to the commissioners office in a timely manner each week. As a member of the Mid-West Baseball League, Mike feels very privileged to be led by a very determined commissioner who is dedicated to running the best league possible. Although I probably have not been involved in the league as much as I would like (primarily due to the fact that my wife, 2 kids, work, and 4 other leagues take up a little of my time <VBG>), I consider myself very lucky to be in this league with a great bunch of guys/competitors.

Dave Myers – Tijuana Bottle Rockets (1129 – 979 – .536%)
Dave took over the Philadelphia franchise shortly after draft day 2001 and suffered through a miserable 50-112 inaugural campaign. He would though, turn things around quickly. Finishing with a winning record the very next season (the 1st of 3 in the next 5 years), including 100 wins in 2005 and playoff appearances in 2003 and 2005. Not an easy task in the very competitive AL Central. After the 2005 season (and getting knocked out in the post season) Dave realized that while he had built a solid team, it just wasn’t going to be enough to take on the powerhouses that roamed the league. The complete rebuild process begins, which continued through the 2007 season. The team saw many of its key players from the playoff runs of the past few years traded off for draft picks and/or top prospects. The 2008-2009 seasons saw the franchise put a respectable number of wins(83 & 86) on the board but more importantly, saw the home grown and acquired talent start to put it together, setting the stage for 2010. This is the year it all came together. The team won Its 1st Division Title (119 wins), 1st League Title and 1st World Series Championship (a sweep). Despite 104 wins, 2011 saw the franchise unable to defend their title, as they narrowly miss the playoffs.  2013 saw the team involved in the 2nd 163rd game in its history(both wins!), propelling it to 2nd straight post season appearance.
“Off the field”, Dave has worked hard with the commissioner’s office to grow the information available to all owners. He’s completed 2 enormous projects that pre-date the current automated commissioner tools, the Team Trade Histories and Team Draft Histories. These enhancements allow owners to view all trades and drafts, specific by team over the lifetime of their franchise.