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The Newsletter of the Halsey Hall Chapter
Society for American Baseball Research (SABR)


April 2012

Editor:
Stew Thornley


Baseball: America’s Game Exhibit and SABR Author Event at Minneapolis Library April 10

An exhibit, Baseball: America’s Game, will be at the Minneapolis Central Library April 9 to June 15. As part of the exhibit, Connie Hill is arranging a panel discussion among award-winning SABR authors, including Dan Levitt and Tom Swift, with John Rosengren moderating, will be held at the library the evening of Tuesday, April 10 at 7:00. The exhibit and event are open to the public.

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When Dan Met Julia
Dan Levitt and Julia Ruth Stevens
Dan Levitt (left) had the chance to meet Babe Ruth’s daughter, Julia Ruth Stevens, at the NINE Spring Training Conference on the Historical and Sociological Impact of Baseball in Tempe, Arizona, in March.

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Clark Griffith to Speak at Spring Chapter Meeting April 21

Clark Griffith, former Minnesota Twins executive and son of Calvin Griffith, will be the featured speaker for the Halsey Hall Chapter spring meeting Saturday, April 21 at the Grace University Lutheran Church, 324 Harvard Street SE, Minneapolis, 612-331-0125. Clark will speak on the unique and timeless nature of baseball and field questions about his years in baseball with the Twins and as commissioner of an independent professional league. Clark will appear at 1:00, following lunch.

Registration will begin at 8:00 a.m. and the meeting at 9:00 with the following research presented in the morning:

  • The history of baseball in North Dakota by Terry Bohn
  • New defensive metrics by Scott Cummings
  • Boston’s Worst Major League Baseball Day Ever by Mendal Mearkle

That evening, the group will have a viewing party, watching the Twins-Rays game at 6:00 at The Alley Sports Tavern (formerly Smalley’s ‘87 Club) in Butler Square (100 North Sixth Street, 612-367-8365) in downtown Minneapolis. Friends and family are welcome at the viewing party (as well as at the meeting during the day).

Registration for the meeting is $10, which includes lunch. There is also a meeting-only price of $5. Those wanting lunch must RSVP to Howard Luloff at 952-922-5036, hfan77@webtv.net, by April 7.

At the business meeting during lunch, three members will be elected to the chapter’s board of directors to succeed outgoing directors Jerry Janzen, Cary Smith, and Bob Tholkes. Anyone interested in running for a two-year term may contact Nominating Committee Chair Kevin Hennessy at 651-492-2298 or be nominated from the floor during the business meeting. So far, Jerry Janzen, Howard Luloff, and Stew Thornley have agreed to be candidates and have submitted candidate statements:

Jerry Janzen
I am currently completing my second consecutive term on the Halsey Hall Chapter board. I am interested in continuing to serve on the board specifically as treasurer. I feel I have specific skills for this position in that I can add and subtract and write checks. Also, I have an MBA.

Howard Luloff
I have served on the board in the past and over the last seven years I have been the chapter Events Chair who has emceed more than 10 meetings. I am willing to return to the board and as a long-time member I look forward to fulfiling my term successfully.

Stew Thornley
I’ve been around a while, written a few things, done a few other things, served on the board (chapter and SABR) way more than my share of the time, and have been involved in other chapter activities, such as newsletter editor and membership chair. I’ve gotten a lot out of SABR, and the biggest thing has always been the other members. It’s great that we have such an active chapter with so many opportunities to get together, whether it’s a formal chapter meeting, bi-monthly breakfast, book club, or anything else.

One of the most important things for our chapter, beyond getting new members, is getting the new and existing members involved. I’ll do my best with helping in those areas whether or not I’m on the board. Meanwhile, I would encourage members who want to get more involved to consider running for the board of directors. If anyone else who hasn’t been that involved chooses to do so between now and the election (including being nominated from the floor during the business meeting), I will withdraw my candidacy and serve the chapter in other ways.

In the interest of full disclosure, I am related by marriage to a current board member.

Candidates will want to mark their calendars for Sunday, June 3, when the chapter board of directors will meet and elect officers for the 2012-2013 year. The board meeting will be at 6:00 p.m.. At this meeting, the incoming board members and holdover board members will elect, from among themselves, a president, vice president, secretary, and treasurer to a one-year term that will begin July 1. (A description of the duties for these offices and other leadership positions is at http://halseyhall.org/bylaws#procedures.) Other than the elections at this board meeting, only the outgoing and holdover board members will be allowed to vote on chapter business because the board term of the incoming members will not begin until July 1.

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Separated at Birth?
Mark Johnson or Ron Gardenhire?
Ron Gardenhire look-alike Mark Johnson attended the Hot Stove Saturday Morning breakfast March 3. Mark has organized this bi-monthly event, which just had its 84th meeting. The next one is Saturday, May 12 at 9:00 at Bakers Square in Richfield. This is a chance to eat and talk baseball. Everyone is welcome. Mark, as the mayor of Hot Stove Saturday Morning, notes that the first meeting was August 1, 1998 and that 78 of the 84 meetings have been at Bakers Square in Richfield with Ann Marie as our usual server. On August 3, 2002 Kirby Puckett and his kids sat in one of the booths near us at Bakers Square.

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SABR 42 Update

SABR 42 will be at the Minneapolis Marriott City Center from Wednesday, June 27 to Sunday, July 1, 2012.

Here is a rundown of events:

  • Wednesday, June 27: From noon to 2 p.m. will be a tour led by Connie Hill of the Minneapolis Library, which is a few blocks away from the hotel. This will include some of the baseball resources available there. At 2:15, people will leave the hotel for a tour of downtown and a tour of the Metrodome, former home of the Twins. Brenda Himrich will lead this, taking people through the skyways of downtown Minneapolis and coming back through the milling district along the river. People can head straight back from the Metrodome if they want or walk along the river. They can cross the river along the Stone Arch Bridge (where folks have been known to get married) and eat or drink someplace along the east bank on historic Main Street. That afternoon/night will be the research chairs meeting, chapter leader' meeting, and an author event at the downtown Barnes & Noble. After that is the First-Timers reception (open to everyone) at the hotel.
  • Thursday, June 28: Research presentations, committee meetings, business meeting in the morning, vendors room, memorabilia room, a showing of Twin Cities ballparks from 1 to 2, and a Women in Baseball Panel from 4:45 to 6:15. That night will be the trivia preliminaries, Fan Graphs, or a trip to the baseball exhibit at the newly opened Minnesota African American Museum.
  • Friday, June 29: In addition to research presentations and committee meetings will be an executives panel in the morning followed by the awards lunch. The Twins-Royals game is that night.
  • Saturday, June 30: In the morning will be the players panel, the afternoon will feature an official scorer panel, and a ballparks site tour will be in between. There will be time in the afternoon for people to talk to the poster presenters and the folks who brought memorabilia. Also, the donors breakfast will be in the morning. That night will be a one-man show on Branch Rickey and the trivia semi-finals and finals.
  • Sunday, July 1: Committee meetings, possibly other activities; stay tuned.

Convention registration is now open on the SABR web site.

Howard Luloff is coordinating on-site volunteers (all must be SABR members and registered for the conference). The volunteers will serve as greeters, moderators for research presentations, helpers, and watchdogs in the memorabilia room. Contact Howard, 952-922-5036, if you want to volunteer.

As many people as we can get will be needed to stuff the convention bags at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, June 24 at the Marriott. Non-members and non-registrants are welcome to help, so members can bring family and friends to this.

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Scorers Meet Officially
Dan Levitt and Julia Ruth Stevens
The first-ever meeting of official scorers was held at the Major League Baseball headquarters in New York in February. Thirty scorers, representing each major league team, and John Labombarda and Bob Waterman from Elias Sports Bureau met for two days to talk about common issues, break into groups to discuss different rules and situations, and hear from representatives of Major League Baseball.

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New Members

We are no longer getting regular updates on new SABR members in our area, and some of you who have joined recently may not have heard from us. We want you to know that we’re happy to have you and hope you will attend our upcoming events as well as get involved in our activities, including this summer’s SABR convention in Minneapolis.

We’d also like to introduce you to others in our newsletter. If you have joined in the last year and not yet been contacted by our chapter, please contact Stew Thornley, 651-415-0791, the chair of the membership committee. Thanks a lot.

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Calendar

    April 7—Book Club, Barnes & Noble, Har Mar Mall, Roseville, 9:30 a.m., Spartan Seasons: How Baseball Survived the Second World War by Richard Goldstein and Even the Browns: Baseball During World War II by William B. Mead. For more information, contact Art Mugalian, 612-721-2825.

    April 21—Spring Chapter Meeting. Grace University Lutheran Church. Minneapolis. For more information, contact Howard Luloff, 952-922-5036. Twins-Rays viewing party at 6 p.m. at The Alley Sports Tavern.

    April 29—Convention Committee. For more information, contact Stew Thornley, 651-415-0791.

    May 12—Hot Stove Saturday Morning, Bakers Square, 66th and Xerxes, Richfield, 9:00 a.m. For more information, contact Mark Johnson, 952-831-1153.

    June 3—Halsey Hall Chapter Board Meeting, 6 p.m. For more information, contact Brenda Himrich, 651-415-0791.

    June 27-July 1, 2012—SABR Convention, Marriott City Center Hotel, Minneapolis.  


Board of Directors 2011-2012
President—Brenda Himrich
Vice President—Fred Buckland
Secretary—Art Mugalian
Treasurer—Jerry Janzen
Gary DeSmith
Cary Smith
Bob Tholkes

The Holy Cow! Editor—Stew Thornley
Webmaster—John Gregory 

Halsey Hall Chapter Web Page

Past issues of The Holy Cow! are available on-line.

  

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Society for American Baseball Research

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