Past Awards: | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 |

And the winners are... PR Director of the Year - Chris Cameron League PR Director of the Year - Steve Hurlbert Chewy Award - Jason G. Fleming Broadcaster - Doug Greenwald Major League - Crystal Fukumoto

Steve was a shoe-in for a Ralphie. The hard-working Hurlbert energized the Pacific Coast League's media relations department upon arrival. He had a hand in improvements to the information flow from the PCL's website, and he made history with MLN. Through his encouragement to do something more with the revived Pacific Coast League Hall of Fame, MLN launched its first foray into the storied past of minor league baseball. From the popularity of those articles, the idea for a dedicated history section, and the development of complete histories of players in the Open Source Sports Directory, was born. While we had always assumed that PCL President Branch Rickey III and his right hand VP George King were pretty smart guys, they looked positively brilliant picking Hurlbert. If there was a definition of doing it right on a daily basis, Steve Hurlbert's work with the PCL is it.

Mr. Hurlbert understands the need for a growing national media. On his watch, he built relationships with MLN and other national outlets, and improved the quality and quantity of media attention that his member teams received.

Steve was our PCL PR guy of record coming into the 2005 season, when an opportunity at the Albuquerque Isotopes ballclub came up. Topes Owner Ken Young and GM John Traub are pretty sharp cookies too. They made Steve an offer he couldn't refuse.

Lose a great league guy, get a great team guy. The Isotopes gain isn't the PCL's loss. The work that Steve did building bridges was kept up in his wake.

Steve does his job well and with exceptional grace under pressure. On some occasions, he even went well above and beyond what we would have expected someone in his position to do for us.

Now the question remains: How long can the Isotopes hold on to young Mr. Hurlbert? This guy has the potential to be a big league media director or a potent front office executive some day. MLB executives should take notice.

 

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