Just as every journey begins with a single step, a successful season is the culmination of several small achievements that equal a larger accomplishment.
This post celebrates the MMDA managers who achieved the most in the 2010s, both small and large.
To assess managers’ greatness, I borrowed a scoring system from Bill James.
Teams receive one point each for having a winning season, for winning 90 games and for winning 100 games.
Teams receive two points for winning a division, three points for winning a pennant and four points for winning a World Series championship.
Thus the highest score via this six-tiered scoring system is 12 points. There were four “perfect” teams in MMDA in the 2010s. These teams won 100 games, a division title and a World Series championship.
• 2013 Northeast Huskies
• 2015 Mohawk Valley Lions
• 2018 Elysian Fields Flying Dutchmen
• 2019 Spokane Hooded Crows
Now let’s see how MMDA managers stack up for the years 2010 to 2019.
1. Matt Eddy
Mohawk Valley Lions
Record: 927-693 (.572)
Playoffs: 60-42 (.588)
Winning: 9. | 90 wins: 5. | 100 wins: 2.
Division: 4. | Pennant: 4. | Champion: 2.
Mohawk Valley reached the playoffs seven times in the decade, winning the World Series in 2014 and 2015 and pennants in 2012 and 2018. The Lions were not the strongest regular season team during the 2010s, but their record in October was unmatched. Mohawk Valley tallied the most playoff wins (60), the most playoff games (102), the most championships (two) and the highest playoff winning percentage (.588).
2. John Tresca
Northeast Huskies
Record: 951-669 (.587)
Playoffs: 41-39 (.513)
Winning: 8. | 90 wins: 7. | 100 wins: 5.
Division: 7. | Pennant: 2. | Champion: 1.
The Huskies won nearly 50 additional games than any other MMDA team in the decade, while also setting the pace with seven division titles, seven 90-win seasons and five 100-win campaigns. Northeast played for a title in both 2013 and 2014, winning it all in the first of those seasons.
3. John Lamanna
Goldenrod Gators
Record: 797-661 (.547)
Playoffs: 37-32 (.536)
Winning: 7. | 90 wins: 5. | 100 wins: 1.
Division: 4. | Pennant: 2. | Champion: 1.
Goldenrod accomplished a lot in just nine seasons in the league during the 2010s. The Gators qualified for the playoffs six times and reached 90 wins five times. The Gators won the World Series in 2012 and claimed a pennant in 2017.
4. Steve Frediani
Spokane Hooded Crows
Record: 820-800 (.506)
Playoffs: 40-31 (.563)
Winning: 6. | 90 wins: 4. | 100 wins: 1.
Division: 3. | Pennant: 3. | Champion: 1.
Spokane didn’t distinguish itself with a .506 regular season winning percentage, but the club shined in the playoffs with the third best postseason winning percentage (.563) of the 2010s. The notoriously pitching-rich Crows, who recorded a decade-best 2.62 ERA in 2015, won pennants in 2011 and 2016 before breaking through to win the franchise’s first championship in 2019.
5. Ray Ross
Northwest Stars
Record: 875-745 (.540)
Playoffs: 29-36 (.446)
Winning: 7. | 90 wins: 4. | 100 wins: 2.
Division: 3. | Pennant: 2. | Champion: 0.
The Stars won a best-of-the-decade 117 games in 2015 in one of two pennant-winning seasons. The other came two years before, when the 2013 club advanced to the World Series as a No. 7 seed.
6. Steven Tresca
Cape Cod Breakers
Record: 804-816 (.496)
Playoffs: 31-28 (.525)
Winning: 6. | 90 wins: 5. | 100 wins: 1.
Division: 2. | Pennant: 1. | Champion: 1.
The Breakers made the playoffs six times in 10 seasons despite having a losing record overall. The high points were plenty high: five 90-win seasons and a World Series championship in 2010.
7. George O’Connor
Death Valley Drivers
Record: 680-616 (.525)
Playoffs: 22-25 (.468)
Winning: 5. | 90 wins: 3. | 100 wins: 2.
Division: 2. | Pennant: 1. | Champion: 1.
In eight seasons in the MMDA, the Drivers have reached the playoffs five times, claiming the 2017 World Series championship.
8. Clyde Elkins
Elysian Fields Flying Dutchmen
Record: 590-544 (.520)
Playoffs: 22-17 (.564)
Winning: 4. | 90 wins: 4. | 100 wins: 2.
Division: 1. | Pennant: 1. | Champion: 1.
The Dutchmen joined the league in 2013 and logged three straight losing seasons as they rebuilt their talent base. Four straight playoff appearances followed. That run included a World Series championship in 2018 and a slew of high water marks for the decade: a +369 run differential and .691 road winning percentage in 2018 and a 131 ERA+ in 2019.
9. Jim Baker
Wilmington Razorbacks
Record: 853-767 (.527)
Playoffs: 13-15 (.464)
Winning: 5. | 90 wins: 4. | 100 wins: 2.
Division: 2. | Pennant: 1. | Champion: 0.
The Razorbacks played for a championship in 2019, in their second 100-win campaign of the decade. They won 112 games in 2013 and 109 in 2019, helping balance a 102-loss season in 2015.
10. Jim Derer
Rosehill Hornets
Record: 700-596 (.540)
Playoffs: 19-27 (.296)
Winning: 6. | 90 wins: 3. | 100 wins: 1.
Division: 3. | Pennant: 0. | Champion: 0.
While Rosehill has yet to break through in four playoff appearances, the club has been quietly successful in the regular season in its eight-year MMDA run.
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