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Voted into the NSA Hall Of Fame in 1997 and Inducted on November 11th 1998 at Sam's Town Hotel in Mississippi |
Voted into the ISA Hall Of Fame in 1997 and Inducted on December 4th 1998 in Clearwater, Florida
(Charter Member) |
Voted into the USSSA Hall Of Fame in 1998 and was inducted in Savannah, Georgia on November 12th of 1999
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Voted into the ASA Hall Of Fame on November 4th 2006. Was inducted in Louisville, Ky on Nov. 8th 2007.
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Inducted into the State Of Ohio ASA Hall Of Fame in 2007 in Columbus, Ohio
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Inducted into the Brunswick, Ohio Sports
Hall Of Fame in 2002 |
Inducted into the Greater Cleveland Sports Hall Of Fame. Induction year was 2010
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Inducted into the State Of Ohio USSSA Hall Of Fame: 2012 |
February 9, 2016
Voted To State Of Ohio All Time Softball Team... |
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The photo above is from 1982 when I decided to give the Pro League a try. Picture was taken at Denison Field where we would practice at....
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1987 Crushed a 508 ft. Tape Measure Home Run in Las Vegas, Nv. |
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1987 Seattle Kingdome "Home Run Contest-King" |
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1987 172 games in a row with at least one hit |
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1988 I.S.A. World Series "Home Run King" |
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1988 Busted 10 Home Runs in one game(NATIONAL RECORD) |
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1988 Drove in 1687 runs (RBI) in one year (NATIONAL RECORD) |
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1988 Cracked 16 Home Runs in a Doubleheader in West Palm Beach, Fl. |
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1988 Cranked 12 Home runs in consecutive at bats on the same tournament. |
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1988 Missiled 5 Home Runs in one game completely out of Jacksonville, Fl. Minor League Stadium. |
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1989 Olympic Festival "Home Run King" |
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1990 NSA World Series "Home Run King" |
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1993 I.S.A. World Series "Home Run King" |
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1994 Rocketed two balls on top of the roof in right field at Detroit Tiger's Stadium and
actually hit one ball completely out of the stadium but it was just foul. |
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1st Team All American 1997 ISA and NSA World Series / Last year with Men Of Steele |
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1986 Started The NSA World Tourney with 21 Straight Hits (MVP Batted .886 with 15 Home runs. |
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1977 ASA Men's Open National Championship Batting Champions. |
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Hammered almost 7000Home Runs in 25 seasons, (247.1/avg.hrs.per yr.) |
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Launched 844 HR'S 1987 ( NATIONAL RECORD) |
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Pounded 830 more HR'S in 1988 |
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1981 National Slow Pitch Conference "Home Run King" |
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1986 Blasted 430 ft. Home Run in Denver's Mile High Stadium |
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Back Row Standing: Charles Wright, Dan Griffin, Craig Elliott, Joe Young, Mike Macenko, Andy O
Middle Row: Dave Neale, Rick Weiterman, Dan Schuck, Mike Bolen, Bull Furhman, Ken Loeri
Kneeling: Patrick Neale, Greg Whitlock, Doc Booker, Doug Roberson, Dennis Graser, Henry McBeth,
Rick Hasty......... |
This was one of my favorite teams. In 1986 we were featured in the Sports Illustrated magazine. We were just starting to get invites from all overthe US to bring the Men Of Steele softball team to their town. So that is what we did. He brought Big Time Softball to small towns, and big towns all across the country. Our publicist Jerome Ernest was the one behind the scenes getting everything in order for our season schedules. There was not a person who knew softball better than Jerome. He coached it, he wrote about it, it was his life.
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Here is a score sheet from our game Steele's Sports Company against Capitol Insulation in the 1987 USSSA Men's Major World Series.
It was after this tournament that the USSSA put in a run rule. |
1987 USSSA World Series Record Game
Steele's 84, Capitol 22 |
Player |
Position
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At Bats
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Runs
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Hits
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HR's
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RBI's
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Roberson |
LF
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8
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10
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7
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5
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7
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Macenko |
2B
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10
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7
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7
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6
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9
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Elliott |
P-DH
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10
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8
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9
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6
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9
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Bolen |
1B
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8
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8
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7
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4
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5
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Virkus |
RCF
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10
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8
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7
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4
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5
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Huggins |
DH
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6
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5
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6
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3
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7
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Weiterman |
P
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3
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3
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3
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2
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4
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Parnell |
SS
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10
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7
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7
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5
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8
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Graser |
RF
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8
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5
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4
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0
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0
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Tucker |
C
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9
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7
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6
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5
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9
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Dain |
3RD
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9
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9
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9
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8
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12
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Stamps |
LCF
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9
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7
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6
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5
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6
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Totals |
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100
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84
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78
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53
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81
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Score by inning
Capitol
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0
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2
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4
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1
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7
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3
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5
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22
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Steele's
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12
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7
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10
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8
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27
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20
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X
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84
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Note: Steele's set the record for most runs in a game in 1987 at the USSSA Men's Major World Series in Waterloo, Iowa. In a game that took over 3 hours to play Steele's did something that no other team had done before. They had beat their opponents by a score of 84 to 22. It was after this year that the 20 run rule was put into effect for championship play.
Note: In this game Kenny Dain set what was then the record, by hitting 8 home runs in one game. He also established a new record for the most rbi's in a game at the World Series with 13. What people don't know is that after this tremendous start for Kenny, the very next game coach Neale has him sit this one out. Nobody had the nerve to ask coach Neale why then, and it was some time later when I questioned coach Neale about that day. His reply was "I thought that he was due for a bad game so I started someone else." |
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Pro League 1982
Cleveland Competitors
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Smoky Mountain 1994
Ritch's Superior
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Conway Twitty 1991
Sunbelt/Lighthouse
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Mississippi 1986
Steele's Sports Co
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Smoky Mountain Classic Most Valuable Player 1986 - Maryville, Tennessee |
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Smoky Mountain Classic Most Valuable Player 1987- Maryville, Tennessee |
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Gateway Classic Most Valuable Player 1984 - St. Louis, Missouri |
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Gateway Classic Most Valuable Player 1985 - St. Louis, Missouri |
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York Pennsylvania NSPC Tourney MVP 1981- York, Pennsylvania |
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Dudley USSSA NIT Classic Most Valuable Player 1997 Petersburg, Virginia |
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Tullahoma, Tennessee USSSA NIT MVP 1991 - Tullahoma, Tennessee |
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"Demarini Classic MVP ASA Qualifier 1995 - Portland, Oregon |
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Fort Wayne Classic MVP 1983 - Ft. Wayne, Indiana |
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"Cleveland Stroh's Tourney MVP 1979 - Cleveland, Ohio |
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Cleveland, Ohio NSPC Qualifier 1981 MVP - Willoughby, Ohio |
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Coors/Steele's Classic Most Valuable Player 1985 - Cleveland, Ohio |
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Cinncinati Shootout USSSA NIT 1990 MVP - Cincinnati, Ohio |
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East Detroit NSPC Qualifier MVP 1978 - Detroit, Michigan |
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Flag City Shootout USSSA NIT MVP 1984 - Macon, Georgia |
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East Carolina Classic USSSA NIT MVP 1987 - Wilson, North Carolina |
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NSA National Championship MVP 1986 - Houston, Texas |
ASA Super Nationals Championship MVP 1987- Parma, Ohio |
I.S.A. Men's Major World Series MVP 1987- Greensboro, North Carolina |
ASA Super Nationals Championship MVP 1990- Oklahoma City, Oklahoma |
NSA National Championship MVP 1990 - Cleveland, Ohio |
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In 1987 when Mike hit 844 home runs he officially put into the Guiness Book Of World Records/// |
Lifetime Batting Average .721 |
Unanimous Selection to All-American Team 34 times |
1987 A.S.A. World Tournament Batting Average Champion |
1988 Set I.S.A. World Series batting average of 923. |
1993 Smoky Mountain Classic Home Run King |
Was once 2nd All time World Series in at bats |
Was once 3rd All Time World Series in most at bats |
1989 Olympic Festival Home Run Championin Oklahoma City |
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In 1987 I had the opportunity to be in the right place at the right time. It was in Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin where I broke the old record of 503 home runs. I was on the Steele's team in 1986, the year before when Charles Wright had hit 503 home runs to break the record held by Rick Scherr. By being on such a powerful team you can accomplish a number of things if you put your mind to it. How good you want to be depends on your determination, your will power and just taking no for an answer.
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Smoky Mountain Classic MVP |
Cleveland Stroh's MVP 1979 |
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During the 1987 Smoky Mountain Classic Mike lead his Steele's Sports Co. to the Classic Crown. Mike batter.841 with 21 home runs and 37 rbi's good for the $1000 Gold Plated MVP trophy. |
In 1979 while playing with the Hillcrest Tavern softball team, Mike was voted the MVP and Home Run Champ awards. He batted a lofty .779 with 16 hr's and 35 Rbi's at Brookside Park. |
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