Starting with the 2015 Championship, Hometown Days began awarding a Most Valuable Player trophy to the top performer of the Hometown Cup Finals.  Beginning with the 2016 Championship, that award was renamed the Kaylor Keck Marquee Player Award.

​

Kaylor was one of the most important figures in establishing the New Carlisle wiffleball tradition that has allowed The Wiffle®Ball Championship to grow into the remarkable event you are participating in this weekend.

​

Every year, Kaylor helped run this event, assisting in lining the fields, setting up temporary fencing, and hanging up banners and signs. Although his impact on the first 11 Championships cannot be matched, the Kaylor Keck Marquee Player Award ensures his presence will be felt at all future tournaments.

​

Kaylor was responsible for the majority of the prominent features you will see at Migley Field, building the foul poles, scoreboard, and marquee. He hand-painted both the scoreboard and marquee to replicate these famous aspects of Wrigley Field.

​

The new marquee, which he built in 2014, was a great source of pride for Kaylor.  For this reason, the winner of the award is no longer called the "Most Valuable" Player but rather the "Marquee" Player.  This not only represents outstanding play on Wiffle®Ball's Grandest Stage but also honors the contributions Kaylor made to that stage, Migley Field.

​

In addition to all of this, Kaylor had a very successful career on the field as a member of the New Carlisle Newts.  In 2007 and 2008, he feasted on the foul ball home run and helped the Newts win back-to-back Championships.  A four-time All-Star in the ORWBL, he won the National League Cy Young in 2008.  He was a member of New Carlisle's first two World Series championship teams before retiring after the 2014 season.

​

His number 8 was retired by the Newts and flies above the left-field foul pole at Migley.  Kaylor briefly came out of retirement in 2015 at Hometown Days to fill in for Beef Barn, carrying them to a Sweet Sixteen appearance in the Hometown Cup Playoffs.

​

The "Kaylor Trophy" represents the highest individual honor a player can receive.