2015 MSBL Hall of Fame
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Paul Brooks is the 49 year old leader of the Seacoast Men’s Baseball League located in Southern New Hampshire, a league boasting a total of twelve teams. For his hard work, MSBL Founder and President Steve Sigler is honoring Paul with induction into the 2015 class of the MSBL Hall of Fame. Let’s break typical writing tradition and get right to why this award means so much to Paul. “This is a tremendous award because we are being honored
in such a small market,” explained Brooks. “I get a big thrill every year as I watch the league operate and I smile because we have put this together and they are loving it. They want to play ball and we are allowing that to happen, thanks to MSBL.”Paul is quick to recognize that it takes more than one person to make a league work and he wants to make sure that this award is for everyone in the league, too. Paul is married to Cheryl and works for the government in the Navy yard. He is also the parent of about 100 players who call Seacoast Men’s Baseball League home. “I joined MSBL in 1991 right after the league started in 1990,” said Brooks. “I took over as president in 1996 and have been at the helm ever since. We play is Somersworth and some in Maine. We love the size of the league and enjoy being a family, on and off the field.”
Greg Schienda, Connecticut North MSBL
Greg Schienda is the president of the Connecticut North MSBL and is a 62 year old retired engineer for the world famous Otis Elevator Company. We have seen all of Greg’s work in action many times throughout our lives as we experience the ‘ups and downs’ of our days. All kidding aside, Greg has been a part of the CNMSBL since 1990 and is also an MSBL World Series and Las Vegas veteran and knows his way around a diamond, both as a player and as an organizer. “Back in 1990 we had about 60 guys playing and now we have around 255 or so,” said Schienda. “We are proud of the fact we have recently expanded to a 25 and over and a 35 and over divisions. We have eight teams in each and it is working great.”Steve Sigler, Founder and President of MSBL, has certainly taken notice of
Greg’s hard work and dedication and has honored him with induction into the 2015 class of the MSBL Hall of Fame. Greg was a new president of the league in 2014 but by no means someone who has looked in from the outside without interest over all of these years. “I always went to the meetings as a manager and have served as a sort of league consultant,” explained Schienda. “We established a board to distribute the work it takes to run a league and I have always been involved in the process of helping to run things. We do it together and nobody dictates. Becoming president isn’t a huge step because we have always done things together.”- Mike Cadenazzi, MSBL Equipment Manager
Mike Cadenazzi is a fixture at Tempe Diablo Stadium during the MSBL World Series every October and November. This 71 year old youngster from Rhode Island can be seen handing out trophies to the winning manager, unfurling banners for their traditional championship snapshots and more often than not being asked to be in the picture while handing out the hardware. But that is just the tip of the duty checklist. Mike is the MSBL World Series equipment manager and is called on to make sure everything is in perfect order and in place for the pre-tournament check-in by all of the managers. This includes distributing balls, scorebooks, line-up cards, gifts and anything else required. The managers go from a check-in with Steve Sigler and head over to see Mike for the goodies. This is a huge responsibility.For his hard work and sleepless nights, MSBL Founder and President Steve Sigler is inducting Mike into the 2015 class of the MSBL Hall of Fame. “I retired in 2006 and was helping with similar duties in Las Vegas for MSBL. Brian (Sigler) asked me to help with the equipment in Arizona that year and I have been involved ever since.”- Dave Bayer, Southern Wisconsin MSBL
Dave Bayer took over the Southern Wisconsin MSBL five years ago when the survived on two divisions and a total of seven teams. Going into 2015 they now boast three divisions and 18 teams. That is a tremendous growth spurt. Dave has since turned over the reins to Sean Michael Dargan. For his hard work and vision, Dave has been inducted into the MSBL Hall of Fame by MSBL Founder and President Steve Sigler.“I had a five year plan in mind when I took over,” said Bayer. “We have accomplished that goal and I just feel that it is time to pass the torch to someone who can lend some increased energy and ideas and take us through the next five years. Sean’s enthusiasm and vision will surely get us there.”Dave has been married to Jill for 15 years and his sons Wilker and Turner are 13 and 10 and are a big reason why Dave is stepping down from his presidential post. “I began playing with MSBL in 1992 and have usually managed the teams I was involved with,” explained Bayer. “When I became league president it was very time consuming so I didn’t manage as much but my sons were also getting older. Now I coach both of their Little League teams so I don’t have much time to be a president. It has come full circle.” Dave will continue playing, however, with the 35-over Mariners and the 45-over Grays.Dave is a constant promoter of MSBL in the Madison area and is convinced there is room
for even more expansion. “There is an organization here in Madison called the Dugout Club and players, teams and baseball supporters in general from Little League through college belong to it,” said Bayer. “They have been active in the community since 1970. This year we are going to give a presentation at their banquet and show videos and pictures and really promote MSBL within their huge network.We are hopeful we can spark additional interest through them.”- John Godfrey, Central Arkansas MSBL
John Godfrey is a 60 year old career ball player who resides in Little Rock, Arkansas. He has been a part of the Central Arkansas MSBL since 1988 when they first organized and has competed in the MSBL from their actual league kickoff in 1989. You can still see John roaming the field in both the league and especially in Arizona at the World Series as the organizer of the very
successful Arkansas Diamonds, who currently reside in the very competitive 60-over Mountain division. “A few of us saw Steve Sigler’s original Sports Illustrated article spotlighting his new Men’s Senior Baseball League,” explained John. “We were hooked immediately and formed the structure for the league in 1988 and did some scrimmaging and then in 1989 started the formal league. We’ve been going strong ever since.”For John’s dedication and hard work throughout the years, Steve Sigler is honoring John with induction into the 2015 class of the MSBL Hall of Fame. “I really appreciate being honored by Steve,” said Godfrey. “It is great that this will forever be on record with MSBL and the future generations can see it. It’s always nice to receive a ‘job well done’ from someone, especially when you don’t go out and lobby for it.”