Resources
New Research Committee Co-Chair Sought
After seven years, Sarah Johnson is stepping down as co-chair of the Research Committee. The Halsey Hall board of directors thanks Sarah for her hard work and dedication to our chapter. Brenda Himrich is continuing as chair and would like to recruit another member to join her as co-chair. Duties include being in charge of soliciting approval for research presentations for the semi-annual chapter meetings, staying in touch with presenters (ensuring that technical needs are met and presenters are aware of their presentation time, etc.), assisting chapter members with research questions, hosting periodic events relating to research, such as panel discussions and library presentation, and updating the Research Committee web page. New ideas are always welcome as well. Please contact Brenda, bhimrich@mac.com, if you are interested or have questions.
Research page updated:
The Research Committee page has been updated and includes a list of research projects by members. If you would like research added, Stew Thornley, 651-415-0791.
As always, check out the chapter’s Baseball Research Primer as a source for any research you are doing.
Research Meetings Coming Up
The Research Committee will meet Monday, August 10 from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at Dock & Paddle at the Como Park Lakeside Pavilion. Another meeting is planned for September 14 with the site to be determined.
A number of members have been researching the first games played in each of the Minnesota counties, and the committee would like to have information for each of the counties (29 of 87 are still unaccounted for). See the Minnesota Counties list.
Two other web pages have information on the spread of baseball, Pre-pro Baseball and Pre-pro Clubs and Games in Minnesota. In addition, a Google Docs spreadsheet is online, Minnesota Spread of Baseball Project, 1857-1923.
Anyone wanting to get involved may contact Brenda Himrich, 651-415-0791.
The Research Committee consists of Brenda Himrich, Sarah Johnson, Dan Levitt, Jim Cox, Doug Skipper, Stew Thornley, Rich Arpi, Dave Lande, Anders Koskinen, Gene Gomes, and Bob Tholkes.
Go to Top
Chapter Meeting Planned for Fall
No date has been set nor format selected, but the Halsey Hall Chapter will have an in-person or virtual meeting this fall.
Two research presentations have been approved, including one that was postponed from the spring:
- Stew Thornley on Andy Oyler’s ball
- Corky Gaskell on Corky Gaskell’s balls
Note: The number of presenters for the fall meeting is unclear since it’s not yet known if the meeting will be held in-person or not. For an in-person meeting, normally up to five presentations can be accommodated. The spring virtual meeting had two presenters, and the board has discussed increasing that to three if the fall meeting is virtual. As usual, the Research Committee holds a spot for a first-time presenter until closer to the meeting date.
The first presenter listed above is a retread who has presented way more than his share of the time and is willing to step aside to make room for another presenter but only a non-retread presenter. New, never-before-presenting presenters are highly encouraged to present.
Other Events
The Halsey Hall Chapter Book Club will meet Saturday, August 1 at 9:30 a.m. at Dock & Paddle at the Como Park Lakeside Pavilion. The book selection is The Cubs Way: The Zen of Building the Best Team in Baseball and Breaking the Curse by Tom Verducci. (Please plan to buy something, even just a cup of coffee, since we will be using their space.)
Brent Heutmaker has organized a list of all the book selections since the book club started in August 2002: Halsey Hall Book Club Selections
The Fred Souba Hot Stove Saturday Morning, an informal breakfast gathering for the purpose of talking baseball, will be at 9:00 on Saturday, September 12. The location will be announced in the September newsletter.
Keep up to date with chapter activities on social media:
SABR Halsey Hall Chapter Facebook page
Halsey Hall Chapter Twitter page
Regular Events
Video Archives of Past Events
Bob Komoroski is seeking ephemera to put on the chapter’s Facebook page. Contact Bob if you can help or would like to know the definition of ephemera.
Go to Top
Help Students Pick Baseball Topics for Minnesota History Day
This year, the Halsey Hall Chapter sponsored a prize for Minnesota History Day, an annual project based competition for high school students. Sarah Johnson, who coordinated our chapter’s participation, recommends that we sponsor another prize next year and is looking for help from chapter members. The theme in 2021 is “Communications in History,” and we would like to contribute to the Minnesota Historical Society’s topic list that students can review to choose their focus. We would like to include as many baseball-related research topics as possible to encourage additional participation in our award for the best sports-related presentation with an emphasis on baseball. Do you have an idea for a baseball related research project that would fit under the theme of “Communications in History?” Feel free to send it to Sarah Johnson, miss_sarah_johnson@yahoo.com), and she will add it to the list—initial ideas have ranged from the first televised baseball game to the history of sign stealing.
2021 History Day theme: Communications
Possible topics:
- Signs/signals and sign stealing
- Biases in coded words (“gritty, athleticism”)
- Radio/television history
- How the game was covered—print history
- Statistics and box scores
- Language barriers for foreign players
Go to Top
Membership
Free student memberships available: SABR, at its 2019 End of Year Campaign, pledged to donate 10 percent of all member gifts back to the Chapters the donors are affiliated with in the form of free student memberships. Halsey Hall Chapter members donated more than $2,800 during the campaign, resulting in 11 free student SABR memberships. The chapter has committed to pay for four additional student memberships if that many are interested.
Know a potential member? Here are resources for getting that person happily involved in SABR:
Membership application
Go to Top
Cow Pies
Terry Bohn has an article, Considerable Excitement and Heavy Betting: Origins of Base Ball in the Dakota Territory, in the Spring 2020 SABR Baseball Research Journal. Dan Levitt also has a biography of Mike Haupert, recipient of the Henry Chadwick Award.
FYI: Tom Flynn and Bob Komoroski have book reviews in the July issue of The Inside Game, the newsletter of the SABR Deadball Era Committee.
Sarah Johnson had an article published in the SABR BioProject: Kyle Traynor.
Steve Ginader had two game stories published in the SABR Games Project: October 12, 1983: Orioles Knot World Series on Mike Boddicker’s Gem and October 14, 1983: Cy Young Winners Flanagan, Carlton Face off in World Series.
S. Thornley had two game stories published in the Games Project: October 5, 1932: Minneapolis Millers Come up Short on ‘Play of Six Decisions’ and September 28, 1955: Minneapolis Millers Win First Junior World Series in Final Game at Nicollet Park.
Al Arrighi of the Babe Ruth SABR Chapter spotted this on page 38 of the April 1943 Baseball Digest:
Calendar
August 1—Book Club, Dock & Paddle at the Como Park Lakeside Pavilion, St. Paul, 9:30 a.m., The Cubs Way: The Zen of Building the Best Team in Baseball and Breaking the Curse by Tom Verducci.
September 12—Fred Souba Hot Stove League Saturday Morning, 9:00 a.m., location to be determined.
August 10 and September 14—Research Committee meetings, 7:00-9:00 p.m. August 10 at Dock & Paddle at the Como Park Lakeside Pavilion, St. Paul; September 14 location to be determined. For more information, contact Brenda Himrich, 651-415-0791.
Go to Top
Board of Directors 2020-2021
President—Dave Lande
Vice President—Hans Van Slooten
Secretary—Anders Koskinen
Treasurer—Jerry Janzen
Jim Cox
Gene Gomes
Frank Kadwell
Events Committee Chair—Howard Luloff
Research Committee Chair—Brenda Himrich
The Holy Cow! Editor—Stew Thornley
Webmaster—John Gregory
Ass. Webmasters—Frank Kadwell, Hans Van Slooten, and Stew Thornley
Social Media Directors—Tom Flynn, Twitter; Bob Komoroski, Facebook
Halsey Hall Chapter Web Page
Past issues of The Holy Cow! are available on-line.
Chapter History
Chapter Procedures and By-Laws
Society for American Baseball Research
Go to Top
Resources
Go to Top
