Mid-Iowa Baseball Hall of Fame
The 2023 class was selected on February 28, 2023.
Please continue to nominate anyone affiliated with the league that you feel is worthy of this honor. Even if you believe a contributor has already been nominated, feel free to provide your opinion why you believe the contributor is worthy.
A description of our history & selection process:
Back in the good 'ol days of 2016, when the Cubs were winning World Series ("a" World Series), we began the process of electing members to the newly established, Mid-Iowa Baseball Hall of Fame.
In 2017, we elected our first class. There were 18 individuals inducted along with our six undefeated teams since our league's inception in 1994.
The 2018 class inducted six more individuals as well as our three past National Championship teams.
The 2020 class included five more individuals and our newest National Championship team.
Ceremonies for these classes have been held in some capacity at Principal Park, home of the AAA Iowa Cubs.
Finally, on February 28, 2023, 15 individuals were inducted as our newest Hall of Fame members.
This brings our total Hall of Fame to 44 individuals and 10 teams. This equates to an average of about 7 individuals per year since the beginning of the process.
Selection process:
A 16-person committee of current & former players, managers, board members, umpires & contributors was formed in 2016. The process began by establishing a nominee list which was put together by this committee with assistance from the general audience of the MIBL.
Nominees were ranked on a scale of 1-5 by the committee members based on the criteria of contributions to the league. Playing ability, while a part of the evaluation, was only a part of it. Tenure in the league and contributions to the league (volunteer hours put in, etc) are also very important.
After those rankings are complete, approximately the top 25 are added to the voting ballot. The committee then votes on the individuals included on the ballot and is given a number of votes to use that is approximately half of the total ballot. For example, if there are 25 on a given ballot, the committee members each would get 13 votes to use. If an individual received 75% (12 of 16 committee members) of the vote, they were elected.
To supplement the most recent voting process in late 2022 through early 2023, a "Commissioner's Committee" was formed which was approved by the Board in early 2023. This committee consists of Tim Kirgan, our league's first President/Commissioner (1994-2004), Brian Schueller, our second President/Commissioner (2004-2008) & John Linden, our current Commissioner (2008-Present). With over 80 years experience combined, this committee is very familiar with nearly everyone that appears on a ballot or nomination list. After ballots were collected from the general committee, the commissioner committee reviewed the ballots to ensure that they were calculated accurately. If a committee member didn't know an indivdual on the ballot very well, the commissioner's committee has the authority to weigh in on that nominee. For example, instead of it counting against an individual as a "No" vote, the vote for that individual would simply be removed from the equation (reducing the denominator).
