2026 Inductee Bios
5 elected to RH Hall of Fame, 2026
By Glenn Miller
Roy Hobbs Baseball
Five individuals will be inducted into the Roy Hobbs Hall of Fame during the 2026 Roy Hobbs World Series.
The Roy Hobbs Hall of Fame Class of 2026 includes Adriane Adler of New Jersey, Greg Allen of North Carolina, Wayne Harris of Alabama, Tom Huetter of Ohio, and Elected posthumously, Marc Landals.
All were elected by a vote of members of the Hall of Fame and Members of the Board of Trustees; these honorees will be inducted in ceremonies on November 14 at Sidelines Sports Grill in Fort Myers.
(Details on the Induction Ceremonies and how to get tickets are elsewhere in the next 2 pages.)
Additionally, the Trustees selected Bill Fear, a jack-of-all-trades at the RHWS and inveterate baseball lover, as the 2026 Ambassador of Baseball.
The election of these 5 brings the membership in this exclusive club to 114.
Here is look at each of the 2026 honorees:
Adriane Adler
Adriane Adler’s baseball journey goes back more than 40 years to when she was a teenage athlete.
Softball? No thanks.
“I was that kid who just never wanted to switch to softball,” Adler, 56, said. “I loved baseball.”
The Basking Ridge, New Jersey resident still remembers her parents taking her to a softball tryout.
“I want no part of that,” Adler said.
She was firm in her quest.
“I want to play baseball,” Adler said.
She still wants to play baseball. Adler wants other girls and women to have the opportunity to play. The Fordham University graduate has been a key figure in making a women’s division possible at the Roy Hobbs World Series.
That led to her election to the Hall of Fame as an administrator-player-manager.
She’s been bringing teams to Fort Myers since the early 2000s. Her roots in baseball go back to when she was 14 and switched her focus from softball to baseball.
Almost anywhere women play baseball Adler is likely involved as either a founder or manager or coach or player or some combination of those roles.
Adler is the founder, manager and coach of East Coast Women’s Baseball team.
Teammate Lisette Lombana knows what Adler means to the women’s game, saying that she was “our guide and our protector.”
And more.
“She was the bridge for a younger generation of girls that dreamed of playing when their high school teams refused them eligibility for being a girl,” Lambana said. “She became the beacon for so many of us that she would give everyone a chance as long as they gave it their all, respected each other and the game and followed the standard that she set.”
Many male Hall of Famers have opened the baseball door for men. Adler has done the same for women.
“She is making the entire division come to life,” Alex Oglesby, one of Adler’s references, said.
“A consummate professional whose unwavering work ethic and relentless determination have markedly elevated the Roy Hobbs legacy,” nominator Kevin Marsden said.
Now, she’s been elevated to the Roy Hobbs Hall of Fame.
Greg Allen
Greg Allen’s impact goes beyond balls and strikes. He was nominated as an administrator and manager and has grown the game in and near his hometown of Wilmington, North Carolina.
“Greg has been the epitome of what amateur adult baseball represents: unparalleled dedication, unyielding integrity, and an enduring passion for the game,” nominator Todd Rehanek said. ”Without him, there would not be 114 players enjoying baseball in Coastal Carolina today.”
The election surprised Allen, who received the news while waiting to go through security at a cruise ship with his wife, Julie. He had packed the phone away.
“I told my wife I missed a call from Tom Giffen,” Allen, 65, said, referring to the Roy Hobbs president. “Why in the world is he calling?
Allen, a retired Wilmington firefighter, and his teams have been fixtures in Fort Myers since 2009. He’s played in 17 consecutive World Series and managed the Carolina Thunder 23 times in the World Series in three age divisions. He also built the NC/SC Adult Baseball League.
Allen also brings teams to the Sunshine Classic and tournaments in Asheville, Richmond and Myrtle Beach. He keeps adult baseball in perspective.
“Remember, there are no pro scouts coming to watch you play, so have a good time and don’t be too serious,” is a message from Allen, according to reference Sammy Flowers.
Allen grew up in Wilmington and played high school ball against somebody who later played minor-league baseball.
“My claim to fame in high school was I played against Michael Jordan,” Allen said.
He has a newspaper clipping that he showed his kids that he pitched for New Hanover High School against Jordan. Allen has five adult children.
Allen is a stickler for standards. He once had a player show up for a game in shorts and T-shirt. Allen told the player to put on a uniform. The player told him the umpire said the shorts and T-shirt were OK.
“I said umpires don’t run the league,” Allen told the player. “You need to put on a uniform.”
Did the player do as directed?
“Oh, yeah,” Allen said.
Allen will soon be wearing a Roy Hobbs Hall of Fame ring.
Wayne Harris
Wayne Harris is Mr. Adult Baseball in Huntsville, Alabama and points beyond
His Hall of Fame nomination as an administrator and manager notes that he has been “a key person” in establishing and expanding the Huntsville league. Players commute from Tennessee cities Chattanooga, Nashville and Memphis to play in an over-60 age division that was launched in 2020.
When informed he had been elected as a member of the Hall of Fame he was taken aback.
“When I read what most of the guys in the Hall of Fame have accomplished, I am far short of what most of them have accomplished,” Harris said.
Harris may not feel worthy but the Hall of Famers who vote on new members clearly felt he is worth joining their ranks.
“There is no doubt Wayne Harris is an example of the type of man who meets the criteria of the Roy Hobbs Hall of Fame,” Hall of Famer Steve LaRussa said.
Harris, who turns 70 on Nov. 20, started playing in adult baseball in 1998 and has managed since 2013.
He has participated in the Roy Hobbs World Series since 1999 as both a manager and player. Harris, who resides in Danville, Alabama, has also participated in every Sunshine Classic held so far.
He recalls his introduction to adult amateur baseball.
“I was leaving church one Sunday afternoon and a friend of mine who’s my age said, ‘Well, I got to go to a baseball meeting,” Harris said.
He was puzzled. The friend’s son had aged out of youth baseball.
“What kind of baseball meeting are you going to?” Harris said.
That’s when in 1998 he learned of the existence of 40-plus baseball.
“I said, ‘Really?’“ Harris said.
He started playing with a team called the Decatur Yankees. An Alabama team named Yankees?
“I didn’t get to pick the name,” Harris said with a laugh.
From a 1998 rookie, Harris eventually became a fixture in his baseball community.
“Wayne has been a key person in establishing our league and expanding it,” Kirby Gaudin said in his Hall of Fame nomination. “He has worked tirelessly since playing in our local league since 1998 serving in positions as team manager, league commissioner, league treasurer, and commissioner.”
Tom Huetter
It is a safe bet that Tom Huetter is the only Roy Hobbs Hall of Famer with more than a dozen patents.
He’s an inventive fellow who is both a chemical engineer and nuclear engineer. He has degrees from Princeton and the University of Virginia. Huetter’s CV (curriculum vitae) includes a chemical engineering degree from Princeton and a master’s in nuclear engineering from Virginia.
As impressive as that is, it’s not enough to merit election to the Hall of Fame. Neither was his work as a Proctor & Gamble scientist, focusing he said, mostly on “process development.”
It’s been his work running a league that earned him this honor.
Huetter, 72, was commissioner of the Miami (Ohio) Valley Roy Hobbs League from 2016 to 2026. The league grew from 10 teams to 34 and one division to five. He added 60-plus and 65-plus divisions and merged with an MSBL organization.
Administrative duties included changes in the umpire association and diligence in securing multiple fields needed for the growing league.
“This would not have happened without Tom’s leadership,” nominator Patrick MacVeigh said.
Huetter stepped down as commissioner earlier this year.
The league now has two commissioners doing what he did by himself.
Huetter’s adult baseball journey began, he recalls, in 1990 or 1991 when his wife heard about a Cincinnati Reds fantasy camp.
“My wife (Shelley) behind my back went and signed me up,” Huetter said.
That led to playing Roy Hobbs and eventually becoming league commissioner, which was an all-consuming job.
“I would wake up every day and my wife would say, ‘You’re already thinking about baseball,’” Huetter said.
All that thinking paid off for the league.
“Tom has brought great organization to the league,” MacVeigh said. “His calmness and certainty in decision making have led to a successful organization. I have not heard a single player or manager complain about Tom in his role as commissioner.”
Oh, what about patents?
Inventors’ website IDiyas lists 13 patents for Huetter on oral healthcare and respiratory illness treatment.
It notes his inventions have improved “the well-being of both humans and animals alike.”
Chemical and nuclear engineering are not usually discussed in Terry Park dugouts or at Sidelines sports bar.
But they may be discussed when Huetter is inducted.
Marc Landals
Marc Landals was more than an umpire, a man in blue. He was Mr. Umpire at the Roy Hobbs World Series, a fixture behind the plate and behind the scenes.
Landals died last year at 57 after a seven-year struggle against HPV cancer. He was the World Series Umpire in Chief.
His Hall of Fame nomination sailed through the vetting and voting process. Veteran umpire Tim McGoldrick described Landals as the “voice of reason.”
He was also an umpire in full. Landals attended umpiring school and served as a mentor to other umpires, even older ones such as McGoldrick. Landals knew the rule book.
“Marc totally focused on what umpiring was all about,” said McGoldrick, a Hall of Fame charter member from 2013.
Landals took charge of games.
“There’s umpires who will allow coaches and players to jaw at them,” McGoldrick said.
Pre-game home plate meetings changed that. The only people he would talk to world be the managers and he would promise, according to McGoldrick, to be a “good listener.”
Landals used to conduct umpiring clinics at the World Series.
“He got respect because everybody knew that he knew what he was talking about,” McGoldrick said.
Hall of Fame reference Ted Lesiak considered Landals a friend as well as a outstanding umpire.
“As a pitcher in Roy Hobbs for many years I was always grateful when I saw Marc putting on the gear in the parking lot,” Lesiak said. “I knew that today a strike is a strike and it will stay consistent throughout the game.”
Reference Tom Allio has 30 years of Roy Hobbs experience.
“As an umpire, Marc exhibited incredible integrity, respect for players and his umpire partners on the field, knowledge of the game, pride in his appearance, and passion for the game itself,” Allio said.
Allio estimated he’s caught about 1,000 games. “There is no one that I’d prefer playing in front of than Marc Landals,” Allio said.
Landals’ standing in baseball is evident in Akron, Ohio, where Old Forge Field now is called Marc Landals Field @ Old Forge.
His Hall of Fame nomination glowed with praise such as this: “… epitome of the Best of Best , one of the best umpires that ever worked or umpired for Roy Hobbs.”