CHRIS DOUGLASS HALL OF FAME SPEECH
John “Stray” Corrado’s Introduction Speech for Chris Douglass:
Chris Douglass, the Tempe Tempers owner from the Mid-West Baseball League’s inception in 1997 to present. The game’s most successful and colorful manager, his Mid-West Baseball League franchise record of 794 wins, and counting, is well above the next owner’s win by more than 100. His skillful leadership helped those Tempers teams dominate the Mid-West Baseball League over the first 7 seasons. Revered and treasured by his fellow owners for his humility, his humanity, his eternal optimism and knowledge of the game. Chris Douglass is the Mid-West Baseball League’s only manager to win 4 World Series, 5 League Championships and 6 Division Titles, compiling a .703 winning percentage. And I must say, one of the most dedicated owners the Mid-West Baseball League will have ever known. Welcome to the Hall of Fame, Chris Douglass, congratulations on becoming the Mid-West Baseball League’s first Hall of Fame inductee.
Chris Douglass’s Speech:
I learned a long time at ballparks, when they stand up, they’re getting ready to boo, and I’ve been booed plenty enough already in my career, so please, just sit down.
First of all, I cannot thank Commissioner Corrado enough for his kind words. I thank the Commissioner for introducing me. Because of all the hours we spent together talking, over the years I think the Mid-West Baseball League is by far, the very best APBA / BBW League out there. I thank him for his fairness, dedication, and sternness. And let me tell all of you this. Whether Commissioners sometimes make mistakes, they’re human beings, and they must do the best job they can, in the best interest of the game, and I believe Commissioner Corrado has done this. And nobody loves the game of baseball more than this Commissioner. He truly loves the game. And when I look out here today, if you don’t think the Mid-West Baseball League baseball is the greatest League, if you don’t think it’s the most impressive APBA / BBW league, leave. This league is the greatest League there ever was. It is the only league where everybody cares, and everybody puts in the time, dedication, and hard work, which make’s it his way. It’s all for the love of the game, the history of the league, and the camaraderie of friendships you make along the way. That’s all this league is and it’s a league where winning takes a great deal of work. But the friendships that are made are most important.
I want all of you at this moment — and it’s a must for me, because this will be the only time I will get to make my Hall of Fame speech to look around. I want you to take a look at the other owners in the Mid-West Baseball League. The come from all across the country and are a class act. When you sit in a room with them, and you look around, you say to yourself, “My goodness, Lou Solomon is from Ohio, Steve Cutler from Georgia; Scott Farquharson is from Michigan, and Michael Fauntleroy from California. This is unbelievable”. How did we get here? We were brought together, and now that where here, it’s a lot of fun.
Well let me tell you this, and get it straight, and I hope every owner that follows me will listen very carefully: Owners earn this honor, by their skills. Owners come here, as I did by putting in the time, dedication, and work that it takes to be a solid franchise. I never believed different, I will never believe different, and I think that’s what made my career so earnest. I put in that time. I was smart enough to know that to be anything more than competitive you have to work for it. A little luck sure helps, but it’s all about dedication to his league. No other league compares.
I want to thank my fellow owners and the Veterans’ Committee for giving me this honor, and enshrining me into the Mid-West Baseball League Hall of Fame. To be the first owner inducted into the Mid-West Baseball League Hall of Fame is truly an honor. I thank Brian Scantland, and all the people at the Hall of Fame, for their hard working in bringing this all together. I wish all of you out there could have had the opportunity I had this week, being inducted here into the Mid-West Baseball League Hall of Fame. I have never in my lifetime been treated like I was so important. I even told my girlfriend, I said, “Sarah, you know their treating me so good I feel like I’m important for a change. They haven’t booed me once this week, at least not yet. Maybe I should start acting like I’m important.” She replied, “It wouldn’t do any good, because nobody’d pay any attention to you.”
I’m not gonna mention players individually cause there are so many of them this past 7 years. There were times I traded away players I didn’t know I even owned. But I’ll tell you this: There are two kinds of owners. Ones that aren’t very smart. He gets bad players, has no draft strategy, and loses many of games, and never looks to improve. Then there was somebody like me that was a genius. I drafted well, I traded well, I got good players, and then just let them hang around long enough to win me 4 World Series, 5 League Championships and 6 Division Titles, compiling a .703 winning percentage . It was a fun ride along the way.
My family and girlfriend, Sarah, will kill me, because they don’t ever want anything said about them. Bu Sarah let me have all the freedom in the world. And that’s the reason I was able to be so successful. She let me go and let me be free, and for that I can never thank her enough. She let me play the countless playoff games that were played head-2-head and the many-many late night-early morning drafts were never a bother to her. She’s a saint.
And the last, but not least, are my Mom and Dad. Raising me was no easy task, but we won’t go there.
I won’t ever forget how special this day and honor is and I won’t ever forget as long as I live, the impact all of you have made on my life. Thank you so much.