CASEY HOCH SPEECH
Commissioner John “Stray” Corrado’s Introduction Speech for Casey Hoch:
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome!
Today, we gather not just to celebrate another fantastic season of MWBL Hall of Fame Class, but to honor one of our own, a true pillar of this league. I’m talking, of course, about Mr. Casey Hoch! (Crowd cheers)
Casey, my friend, where do I even begin? You’ve been a driving force in the MWBL since 2001, leading the Fremont Cannons with passion and dedication for over two decades. With a World Series title now under your belt (2022) and a record that speaks for itself, you’ve proven time and again what it means to be a true foundational, dedicated pillar in our community.
Casey’s impact also extends far beyond the diamond. He has an incredible eye for talent, consistently drafting future stars like Tarik Skubal, Byron Buxton, Roy Oswalt… and who could forget that fifth-round steal, Shohei Ohtani? (Crowd laughs and applauds)
And if that wasn’t enough, Casey has poured his heart and soul into the MWBL Hall of Fame. As MWBL HoF Chairman, he’s the engine that keeps the HoF running, tirelessly researching candidates, organizing events, and ensuring the legacy of our league is preserved. He’s even gone above and beyond, cleaning up our career player records, correcting names, and implementing that fancy Pythagorean Win formula that we all look forward to at the All-Star Break.
And let’s not forget his meticulous work on the MWBL Awards! Casey, you’re always there to lend a hand, ensuring every detail is perfect and that I, as Commissioner, am ready for the awards ballot to go public. You truly go above and beyond!
Casey, you’re the epitome of what the MWBL is all about. You’re passionate, dedicated, and always willing to lend a hand. Whether it’s staying late at Draft Central or just sharing your love for the game, you make this league a better place.
I know how much the MWBL means to you, Casey, but I want you to know how much you mean to the MWBL… and to me. You’re not just a colleague, you’re a friend, and I’m honored to introduce you tonight as the newest member of the MWBL Hall of Fame.
Please join me in giving a warm welcome to the one and only, Casey Hoch!
Casey Hoch Speech:
Thank you, Mr. Commissioner,
Ladies and gentlemen of the Mid-West Baseball league, it is truly a great honor to stand here today knowing that you have deemed me worthy of induction into the hallowed grounds of the MWBL Hall of Fame. I join the company of great general managers, skilled field generals, wily traders, astute scouts, and those whose dedication, time, hard work, and creativity have elevated this league to the greatest heights of competition and comprehensiveness.
It’s been a long journey to get here. Like many of us, I began my baseball journey as a child, playing in the backyard and sandlot, school recess, and later organized play. I was always one of the worst players on the field, but the game was always fun, and I stuck with it as long as I could. At that time, I also settled on the Detroit Tigers as my team; other than living in northwest Ohio, I can’t say who or what won me over. That led to trips with my grandfather for games at old Tiger Stadium and watching the local broadcasts on the little TV in my bedroom. And of course, I was hooked on baseball card collecting during the junk wax era.
Going into college, I rediscovered a connection to the game after getting into fantasy baseball. It was nothing too exciting, just Yahoo leagues with friends, but after hearing about the MWBL, my interest was piqued. I met Stray at a Tigers game through my friend Dan Lapointe. Dan had joined the league already as the Oregon Neon Knights franchise, and when Stray offered me the chance to take over the lame-duck East Erie Lake franchise, I leapt at the chance. I renamed the team after my hometown of Fremont, Ohio, and claimed the moniker Cannons after Old Betsy, the single cannon that defended Fort Stephenson during the War of 1812.
Going into my inaugural season with full control, I stripped down the team and netted five 1st round picks for my first draft. Oh, the things I’d do with five first-rounders today, but I was much too new to use them as I should have. In the end, the sheer number of picks that year landed me Mark Buehrle and Roy Oswalt, so it wasn’t a total bust. I did trade away Jorge Posada and “just a DH” David Ortiz that year for minimal returns, which did not help the success path. After a while, I got my team to the point of being able to scrape enough together to compete on occasion for the AL East (more like the AL Least, judging historically). That typically resulted in a quick exit from the playoffs, except for a memorable 2007 when the Cannons came back from a 3-0 deficit to shock the Chicago Mobsters four games to three. Eventually, I figured out that getting to the postseason doesn’t mean much if you’re not good enough to win it, and I embarked on another, even longer rebuild of the roster. (The other thing I learned, and keep being reminded of, is that pitchers get hurt.) I knew I needed to work even harder and longer to build towards becoming a perennial contender rather than a playoff hopeful, and I would need to apply everything I’d learned from observing the league greats such as Chris Douglass, George Skiles, Steve Cutler, Stray Corrado, and so many more throughout the years.
While trying to build my team, off the field, I was given an opportunity to help improve the MWBL. Stray reached out to me with a curious question/statement, remarking that I seemed like I enjoyed history. I replied in the affirmative, and that’s where the MWBL Awards program began. After tailoring the MLB awards to the realities of the MWBL, the first task was to dig through the old seasons to retroactively select award winners since the league’s inception. While it was a fun trip down memory lane with some of the greats of the day, it also led to having to make some very tough calls. The one that still comes to mind is choosing Kevin Brown for CYA in 2000 over Derek Lowe’s historic 20-win, 31-save season.
For the awards going forward, however, it was a very tedious and time-consuming process each year to generate the ballots and check eligibility. All stats were reviewed in StatMaster and manually entered into Excel sheets. Fortunately, I had plenty of time to do this since I wasn’t making the playoffs very often… In the end, I’m very grateful that Stray brought in fellow Hall-of-Famer Steven Cornfeld to streamline the ballot generation process. Every year gets smoother and easier, and I’d say the awards are probably done with at most about 5% of the effort that I used to need.
A natural next step from the Awards was to the Hall of Fame. Stray and Steve Cutler came to me intending to add even more depth and history to the MWBL with the creation of the HoF. With all of the great behind-the-scenes work that happens on the MWBL website, it is easy enough to pull up career stats, compare career leaders in various categories, and view award histories. Every year, we can look forward to honoring the best of the MWBL with consideration for enshrinement among the legends of the league. I am privileged to have been entrusted with the management of these aspects of the MWBL and am doubly honored now to not only be the caretaker of the Hall of Fame but also a member. For those of you in the audience, I hope that I have contributed to your enjoyment of the league through these institutions.
To be honest, though, if I’d been inducted solely on these contributions to the league, I would have felt a bit undeserving without the on-field success that other Hall of Fame members had achieved. After a promising pandemic season ended early in the playoffs, my team just jumped out of the gates in 2022 and couldn’t stop winning. For the first few weeks, it was fun to see myself on top of the league after 22 years of terrible to fairly good teams. After a few months, I had to acknowledge that it wasn’t a fluke. Then came a different set of worries that I had never had to deal with- if I don’t win the World Series this year, when will I? Is the team really strong enough to win it as-is, or do I need to go in even bigger on this season with some trades? What happens when I match up with the top managers of the league who have done this all before and know the game better? The pressure of being the favorite was entirely something new. The championship in 2022 was validation for all of the time spent over the years in draft research, roster management, and just the experience of playing all of the games with some stinkers of a roster. There are still goals ahead, though, including trying to get my career record above .500, putting a second championship on the resume, and seeing some career Cannons join me in the Hall of Fame, so don’t expect me to just take it easy now.
I can’t wrap this up without words of thanks for those who have been a part of this journey. I can’t help but start with our commissioner, John “Stray” Corrado, the man who built this league from the beginning and has devoted so much time and effort over the years to bring us the best league around. He took a chance on me as an owner without previous APBA/BBW experience on the recommendation of a friend. I had no idea at the time that I was getting a golden ticket to join such an amazing establishment. 25+ years in and I can’t imagine a world where I don’t have the MWBL to bring me joy.
Salutations are well deserved for those who have helped build and maintain the league over the years; with Steven Cornfeld’ s awards program (huge for me), Stacy Corrado’s draft day magic, Dave Myers’s work on the league database, Steve Cutler’s leadership as Assistant Commissioner/idea vetter, Bill Schindel for being the APBA/BBW man, all the elder statesman of our league who keep us rolling and all the younger members bringing in new ideas and excitement.
Additionally, I would like to thank Brian Devine for sharing his insights into APBA with me during my 2022 World Series run (coming after our matchup, of course). Never having played the card game, he was kind enough to take the time to step me through some of the basics of the system for some guidance on lineup construction and field management. At the minimum, I didn’t feel as much of a disadvantage with limited knowledge going into the later rounds. I also want to applaud all of the baseball writers out there, whose work informs, illuminates, and entertains us. Lastly, I want to thank my family and friends over the years for supporting my love of baseball as well as tolerating the time put into the MWBL
While this day appears to be a celebration of the inductees to the Hall of Fame, it is a celebration of the league, its longevity, and all the people and personalities who have built it with hard work and passion since 1997. Here’s to many more seasons for the best league around!
Casey Hoch