2025 Inductee Bios
6 elected to RH Hall of Fame, 2025
By Glenn Miller
Roy Hobbs Baseball
Six individuals will be inducted into the Roy Hobbs Hall of Fame during the 2025 Roy Hobbs World Series.
The Roy Hobbs Hall of Fame Class of 2025 includes Michael Carter, Phil Clements and Brian Wolcott all of Michigan, Steve D’Ercole of Florida, Tom Vartanian of Virginia, and Ross Vukovich of Ohio.
All were elected by a vote of members of the Hall of Fame and Members of the Board of Trustees; these gentlemen will be inducted in ceremonies on November 15 at Sidelines Sports Grill in Fort Myers during the 2025 World Series.
(Details on the Induction Ceremonies and how to get tickets are elsewhere in the next 2 pages.)
Additionally, the Trustees selected Richard Walega, the voice of Terry Park, as the 2025 Ambassador of Baseball.
The election of these six brings the membership in this exclusive club to 109.
Here is look at each of the 2025 honorees:
Michael Carter
At the bottom of the report on Mike Carter’s nomination for the Roy Hobbs Hall of Fame were these words”
“The Carter Difference.”
Carter, 67, has been making a difference in Detroit baseball and in Florida at the Roy Hobbs World Series for decades.
Here is how the Carter Difference was summed up in that report: “Mike Carter is more than just a player; he’s a beacon of what Roy Hobbs Baseball represents. His dedication to the sport and community, coupled with his championship pedigree, make him a prime candidate for the Hall of Fame.”
The voters obviously agreed, He’s been on 13 championship teams, usually playing centerfield and batting leadoff as a fixture with the fabled Border City Brewers. He was MVP at the 2017 World Series.
Away from Roy Hobbs Baseball, Carter has made a difference in Detroit as a high school coach.
Carter is friends with another Detroit Hall of Famer, Willie Boyd. Boyd nominated Carter for the honor. They’ve known each other long before they were old enough to play Roy Hobbs.
Carter recalls they were 8 years old and went to a tournament in Knoxville,Tenn.
He was surprised to hear over the summer he would be joining Boyd in the Hall of Fame.
“I was overwhelmed,” Carter said. “I was shocked. I had no idea they were going to put my name in. I had no clue.”
He’s earned the honor through decades of playing in the World Series, going back to when he was in his 30s.
What keeps him coming back?
“I just love playing baseball,” Carter said.
He loves it so much he will play two weeks this year with the Brewers,
Carter is a lifelong Detroit Tigers fan whose favorite players include Chet Lemon and Curtis Granderson. Fittingly, both played centerfield.
Just like Mike Carter.
Phil Clements
A few words jump off the computer screen when one reads the Roy Hobbs Hall of Fame report on Phil Clements.
Ambassador.
Mentor.
Champion.
Leader.
Now the words Hall of Famer can be added to the list for Clements, a Roy Hobbs World Series fixture since 1991. He will turn 87 on Nov. 22.
A constant throughout Clements’ life has been baseball. His claim to fame, Clements said, was getting a hit off the legendary Satchel Paige more than 60 years ago.
Like Paige, Clements just keeps playing and playing and playing. He can’t shake the baseball bug.
“I guess I got it in my blood,” said Clements, a resident of Big Rapids, Mich.
Before the birth of Roy Hobbs Baseball, Clements played ball when men beyond college age rarely did so except for the pros.
“When I was 35 years old and still playing ball, I was told I was too old to play,” Clements said. “I began to believe it myself but every year it seemed like I would have a decent year so people would ask me back.”
Now, age is not a barrier. Age is embraced at the Roy Hobbs World Series, which includes an 80-plus age division
Clements played last year and intends to play this year.
He said the hit came off Paige in the early 1960s. By that time, the Negro Leagues had disbanded and the Monarchs were a barnstorming team. Clements was playing for a local all-star team.
How many people can say they got a hit off of Satchel Paige?
Phil Clements can.
Back when Clements was 35 the idea of playing into one’s 80s seemed implausible.
“I still can’t believe and wouldn’t have known then that I would ever be able to play baseball at 86 years old, or 87,” Clements said.
Steve D’Ercole
Steve D’Ercole’s baseball journey to the Roy Hobbs World Series has been international.
His family moved from Morocco, where his father was stationed in the Air Force, to Orlando in the early 1960s. D’Ercole, 66, was born in 1959 so he was just a tyke.
Then came baseball at Orlando’s Bishop Moore High School and junior college ball in Florida before moving on to Mississippi State, where he played on a team so good it reached the 1981 College World Series,
Although drafted out of Seminole Community College by the Phillies in the 10th round in 1979, he chose college ball. The Mets signed him as a free agent in 1981 and D’Ercole played for the Kingsport Mets of the Appalachian League that summer.
Then came stints in pro ball in Canada and Italy in the mid-1980s. His roommate in Italy for a while was former big-leaguer Lenny Randle.
“He was kind of a slob,” D’Ercole said
D’Ercole’s baseball resume includes winning multiple Roy Hobbs World Series titles in 4A with the Orlando Brewers and Palm Bay Americans. The Lake Mary, Fla. resident can’t get baseball out of his system.
“I love this sport,” D’Ercole said. “I don’t know why, but it go in my blood when I was a little kid. Just ate me up.”
That’s still the case. He doesn’t think any other members of that 1981 Mississippi State team still play baseball.
What do his old teammates think?
“Oh, you’re crazy,” D’Ercole said.
He was nominated for the Hall of Fame by Jose Rosado, a 2023 inductee.
“Steve is not only a great player but a player any manager would love to have on his team,” Rosado said. “He’s what you would call a true team player.”
Tom Vartanian
Tom Vartanian is a man of many talents. Attorney. Professor. Author. Musician. Father. Husband. Grandfather. Philanthropist. Baseball player.
In 2008, he was named the Washingtonian of the Year in recognition of his fund-raising for Special Olympics, among other worthwhile endeavors.
He’s also now a member of the Roy Hobbs Baseball Hall of Fame, He didn’t see that coming. Then Roy Hobbs president Tom Giffen called.
“I was totally shocked because I had no idea anything was afoot,” said Vartanian, a McLean. Va. resident. “I think the honor here is to understand that people behind your back were doing something very nice and saying very nice things about you.”
Election to the Roy Hobbs Hall of Fame is about more than compiling statistics. All candidates are vetted for contributions to the game and character.
“At first I thought it was a joke because I had no idea anything was going on,” Vartanian said. “I didn’t know how this was kept a state secret. … I think I was at a loss of words for the first time in my life.”
He told his wife, Karen. He told his grown children, Alana and McKenzie. Heck, he told everybody,
“I told my grandson, who’s 21 months old,” Vartanian said. “I think he applauded.”
The grandson’s name is Peyton.
Through the years Vartanian played and managed and never won a World Series title with the Washington team Then, last year with the Mudville 9, he was on a championship team.
“I had to wait 30 years to win a ring,” Vartanian said.
Then a few months came that call from Giffen.
“Like the cherry on top of my baseball career,” Vartanian said.
Ross Vukovich
Ross Vukovich is almost certainly the only Roy Hobbs Baseball player who has also been the hitting coach for Croatia’s national baseball team.
Now he can add another glittering line to his resume – Roy Hobbs Hall of Famer.
The North Canton, Ohio resident is a baseball lifer who at 64 is going into his third Hall of Fame, He previously had been inducted into the Greater Akron Baseball Hall of Fame and the Greater Stark County Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame.
He received the Roy Hobbs call during a meeting at 3M where he works in sales.
“It was humbling, man,” Vukovich said.
Vukovich was busy at work and could see on his phone the caller was Roy Hobbs president Tom Giffen.
“I think he’s calling me about getting my bill paid and getting some paperwork filled out,” Vukovich said.
He texted Giffen and said he could not talk at that moment. In his text, he said, “I’ll send you money at the end of the week.”
Giffen replied that was not the reason for the call.
This was the Hall of Fame call. It was a call for a formal recognition of all Vukovich has accomplished in Roy Hobbs. That includes 8World Series titles. His resume also includes 21 league titles in Ohio and serving as an assistant coach at Jackson Township High School.
He played at North Canton Hoover High in the 1970s and was named All-Stark County in 1979.
Now nearly 50 years later he still plays. Vukovich has played in the Roy Hobbs World Series nearly every year since 1997 and plans to play two weeks this year.
He takes time away from 3M to do so.
“I sell industrial tapes and adhesives,” he said.
Maybe a fitting job man who remains stuck on baseball.
Brian Wolcott
Brian Wolcott’s baseball travels as a young man included playing with two legends – John Elway and Kirk Gibson.
Wolcott’s never slugged an epic World Series homer or became an NFL legend, but he carved another path – education. He became an educator and for 12 years was principal of Father Gabriel Richard High School in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Oh, and he became a Roy Hobbs legend. Wolcott is a fixture at the World Series playing for the Border City Brewers, for whom he has excelled for 16 years. Or maybe 17 years. Wolcott is not sure precisely.
The number of World Series trips may be uncertain, but this is certain – Wolcott is a Hall of Famer.
He played with Gibson at Michigan State and with Elway on the 1981 USA National team.
All these years later, Wolcott, 67, is still playing and now he’s joining other legends in the Hall of Fame.
“I think about the guys that are in and I have such great respect for them,” Wolcott said. “So, to be amongst them and to be chosen by my peers is way cool. I can’t think of another way to put it.”
He’s earned his way on the field with 12 World Series titles as player and two MVP awards.
He’s done the seemingly impossible for a player his age or any current MLB pitcher. In the 2024 AAAA title game he pitched all nine innings and threw 124 pitches.
It’s reminiscent of his stellar Michigan State career. More than 40 years since he last pitched for the Spartans Wolcott’s name is sprinkled through the MSU record book.
His 24 career wins are tied for fifth all-time and his eight complete games in both 1978 and 1980 are tied for second.
He’s been married 43 years to Dorothy.
“She still thinks I’m half crazy to still be playing,” Wolcott said.