It’s been a good year for Omaha Storm Chasers Vice President/General Manager Martie Cordaro: besides opening Werner Park and revamping the franchise, he was also named the Pacific Coast League’s Executive of the Year.
This is Cordaro’s second honor of 2011, after previously being named with President Alan Stein as Ballpark Digest’s Co-Executives of the Year.
Stein offered glowing praise for his colleague, with whom he has developed close relationship over the past seven years in Omaha as well as Battle Creek, Michigan.
“In a word, Martie Cordaro is the best,” Stein said. “His absolute commitment to excellence, to the fan experience and to giving back to the community are the hallmarks of his way of doing business. Martie’s integrity and leadership of his team set him apart. We are incredibly proud of his accomplishments and are honored to have him on our team.”
Cordaro, completing his fourth full season as GM and fifth as a member of the Omaha front office, ushered in a number of successful ventures this season including the completion and opening of brand-new Werner Park and the highly-successful re-branding of the Omaha Storm Chasers.
He has piloted the franchise to its highest revenues in team history each of the past three seasons and has helped the club to its sixth-straight year of increased attendance. He ushered in the 12-millionth fan in team history on August 5, and the 410,326 fans that passed through the Werner Park turnstiles during the 2011 regular season were the most since 2000.
“I am humbled to win this award, particularly because it was decided by a vote of my peers in the PCL,” Cordaro said. “This is another example of the effort and results that our organization and staff have put forth the past four years.
In addition to his PCL and Ballpark Digest Executive of the Year awards, Cordaro has been honored in the past by the Kansas City Royals as its 2009 Matt Minker Award winner, given to an outstanding minor league-affiliate employee. He was also recognized as one of the Midlands Business Journal’s “40 under 40” for 2009 and by the Omaha Suburban Newspapers as an “Under 40” winner in 2011.
A 38-year-old Ruston, La., native and Louisiana Tech graduate, Cordaro becomes the fourth Executive of the Year winner in the 43-year history of the Omaha franchise. He joins Bob Quinn (1969), Bill Gorman (1981, ’95) and Gus Cherry (1990) – all of the Triple-A American Association – as winners of the award.
Cordaro worked in the front offices of the West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx, Birmingham Barons and Southwest Michigan Devil Rays prior to joining the Omaha franchise. Martie and his wife Sara have three sons, Gavin, Collin and Cass.
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