Martie Cordaro Named Baseball America's MiLB Executive of the Year
OMAHA, Neb. - Baseball America has announced that Omaha Storm Chasers President and General Manager Martie Cordaro has been named Minor League Baseball Executive of the Year, the first time Cordaro has received the award in his 15 years in the industry.
"Working in the baseball industry is a privilege, not a right, and I am humbled each day that I have reached this position in my career. There are so many great operators and executives in Minor League Baseball, and I know that each and every one shares my passion for this great game," said Cordaro. "Though this is a tremendous personal honor, it is the efforts of our staff and the support from our fans that have been awarded. The work these past seven years has paid off."
During the 2013 season, which was capped by the Storm Chasers taking home the Triple-A National Championship, the team welcomed more than 400,000 fans for the 4th straight season, and topped more than 300,000 fans in a season for the 26th consecutive year. Since the move to Werner Park at the start of the 2011 season, the team has seen 1,263,509 fans come through the gates for more than 200 Storm Chasers games.
Under Cordaro's leadership, Omaha was named the 2013 Pacific Coast League nominee for the inaugural John Henry Moss Community Service Award, presented to a club that demonstrates an outstanding, ongoing commitment to charitable service, support and leadership within their local community. The charitable arm of the team, the Home Run Foundation of Greater Omaha, donated $521,638 to local charities during the season, the most since becoming the Storm Chasers. The team also actively went out in to the Omaha Metro and donated a total of 1,049 hours to local groups.
"Since Alliance Baseball purchased the team in 2012, the passion and vision Martie has for the Storm Chasers has been infectious," said Gary Green, Chief Executive Officer/Co-Owner of the Storm Chasers. "He is a savvy executive, but above all else Martie loves the game of baseball. He is more than deserving of this honor."
In addition to winning the Triple-A National Championship, the Chasers also claimed the Pacific Coast League Championship for the second time in the last three seasons and appeared in the PCL Championship for a third straight year. Since the change to Werner Park and the Storm Chasers in 2011, Omaha is the only Pacific Coast League team to qualify for the postseason all three years and have seen 78 players with Major League experience.
Cordaro led the process of the successful rebranding and renaming of the Omaha Triple-A franchise in 2010 and was intimately involved in every aspect of the research, negotiation process and project management to build a new ballpark in Sarpy County, thus keeping Triple-A Baseball in the Omaha Metro area.
Cordaro came to Omaha from Battle Creek, Michigan, where he spent the 2005 and 2006 seasons as General Manager for the Southwest Michigan Devil Rays. Prior to his stint at Southwest Michigan, Cordaro spent the 2003 and 2004 seasons as Director of Sales for the Birmingham Barons. Cordaro got his start in professional baseball with the West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx as a Group Sales representative in 1999.