Resources
Halsey Hall Chapter Named MVP Chapter for Unprecedented Fourth Time at SABR 54
The Society of American Baseball Research convention in Cleveland (SABR 54) was populated by a whole plethora load of Halsey Hall Chapter members—Barry Bengtsson, Art Mugalian, Brenda Himrich, Dan Levitt, Hans Van Slooten, Stew Thornley, Ben Ernst, Rich Arpi, Terry Bohn, Steve Bratkovich, Ed Edmonds, John Gregory, Bob Komoroski, Tom Mollen, Doug Skipper, and Mike Haupert—who cheered heartily when the MVP chapters, the highest distinction for a SABR chapter, were announced with the Halsey Hall Chapter once again among them. Our chapter was the only MVP chapter in 2023, the first year of the designation, and has maintained that status each year, thus making and keeping it the leader among all SABR chapters. Ed Edmonds was the chapter president for the latest year of the honor, and Gene Gomes has been instrumental in the recordkeeping to ensure that our many activities and achievements are documented. The many honors awarded to the Halsey Hall Chapter and its members are listed on an awards page.
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Terry Bohn and Dan Levitt, shown above to the left and right respectively, were among the chapter members making research presentations. Dan (who is also the SABR president) and Mike Haupert were also on a panel about the 60th anniversary of the Major League Players Association as a viable union.
The 2027 SABR convention will be August 4-8 in Birmingham, Alabama.
Emma Charlesworth-Seiler Coaching for Los Angeles Queens of the Women’s Pro Baseball League
The SABR convention included a watch party for the inaugural game of the Women’s Pro Baseball League. Chapter member Emma Charlesworth-Seiler is one of the coaches of the Los Angeles Queens and got plenty of face time waving runners around third as the Queens rallied to beat the New York Heights 10-8.
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Fall Chapter Meeting
The fall chapter meeting will be Saturday, October 17 at the Plymouth branch of the Hennepin County Library system, 15700 36th Ave North, Plymouth 55446. Registration begins when the library opens at 9:00 a.m. with the program beginning soon after, so punctuality is encouraged. Instead of a set admission price, it will be a Pay as You Can with donations of all amounts accepted.
Members are invited to submit a proposal to make a research presentation at the meeting. Proposals may be sent to Research Committee co-chairs Dave Lande or Gene Gomes and include a title and brief outline of what the presentation will consist of with emphasis on the research that will be included. Standard oral presentations are 20 minutes (with an additional eight minutes for questions) although the duration may be longer or shorter depending on the needs of the presenter and of the schedule.
Two presentations have been approved so far:
Remembering Saul Davis by Terry Bohn
Abstract: Saul Davis spent eight seasons in the Negro Leagues on teams that included stars such as Satchel Paige, Rube Foster, Cool Papa Bell, Pop Lloyd, Mule Suttles, Willie Wells, and Turkey Stearns. He played on semi-pro and barnstorming teams well into his forties competing against white major leaguers including Babe Ruth, Cy Young, and Grover Cleveland Alexander.
However, Davis lived most of his life in Minot, North Dakota. This presentation will touch on his career in baseball but emphasize the remarkable life he lived until age 92, at which time he was recognized as the oldest living member of the original Negro National League. The talk will conclude with the effort to place a fitting marker on his grave site at Rosehill Cemetery in Minot.
The Demise of the Reserve Clause 1966-1975 by Stew Thornley
Abstract: This will focus on the period from Marvin Miller becoming the full-time executive director of the Players Association and the 1975 Seitz decision that created free agency. Miller and Bowie Kuhn were among the most visible people (Kuhn becoming commissioner in 1969) during this period. I had the chance to interview Kuhn in a small media scrum and got some responses to questions about all that happened. I had more contact with Miller—via telephone and mail and interviewing him in New York in 2003. Miller explained the strategy the union followed, and I cover the players who played into the regular season on unsigned contracts and became challengers to the interpretation of the reserve clause.
One presentation slot is always reserved for a first-time presenter until four weeks before the chapter meeting (September 19). If a slot remains after that, any member can submit a proposal until October 3, two weeks before the meeting, when the Research Committee will wrap up the schedule of events.
Other Upcoming Events
The next Book Club meeting will be Saturday, August 15 at Barnes & Noble in Har Mar Mall at 9:30 a.m. The book selection is Where They Ain’t: The Fabled Life and Untimely Death of the Original Baltimore Orioles, the Team That Gave Birth to Modern Baseball by Burt Solomon.
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 fifth annual 9-Online Virtual Baseball Conference will be September 3-4, 2026. Abstracts for presentations are due by July 10 and should be submitted to co-directors Willie Steele and David Pegram.
Jay Wigley will discuss his book, How Retrosheet Saved Baseball History, on a zoom call Wednesday, September 9 at 7:00 p.m. Registration information
The Fred Souba Hot Stove Saturday Morning, an informal breakfast gathering for the purpose of talking baseball, will be Saturday, September 12 at 9:00 a.m. at the Shortstop Bar and Grill, 1298 East Moore Lake Drive, Fridley 55432.
The eighth annual SABR/International Women in Baseball Virtual Conference will be October 9-11, 2026.
Dave Lande will work with the Events Committee to organize a group outing for a play on Toni Stone, which will be at the History Theatre January 30 to February 12, 2027.
Keep up to date with chapter activities on social media:
SABR Halsey Hall Chapter Facebook page
SABR Halsey Hall Chapter Bluesky page
Please visit the pages, and, if you haven’t yet, “Like” the Facebook page and “Follow” the Bluesky page and set your notifications to be alerted to new posts. The Bluesky page has 132 followers/71 following, and the Facebook page 362 members.
Bob Komoroski has established rules for the Facebook—essentially, don’t be a dink. The page is still public although Bob has set up a series of questions for new members to cull out spammers, wankers, tossers, trollers, and other degenerates.
Also:
Regular Events
Video Archives of Past Events
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Research Roundtable
Research projects, web pages, and blogs of chapter members are highlighted on the home page of the Research Committee. They include:
As John Swol contemplates the implications of being 79, he is looking to pass on his Twins Trivia site to an interested party. If you are so interested, contact John at jjswol@twinstrivia.com.
John was also made aware of Radio Tapes, and he passed on a blooper reel for Halsey Hall.
The next Research Committee meetings, via Zoom, will be August 24 and September 21 at 7:00 p.m.
Research Committee members are co-chairs Dave Lande or Gene Gomes as well as Brenda Himrich, Sarah Johnson, Dan Levitt, Doug Skipper, Stew Thornley, Rich Arpi, Hans Van Slooten, Mike Haupert, Bob Tholkes, Daniel Dorff, Darryl Sannes, Tom Swift, David Karpinski, Glenn Renick, John Buckeye, Terry Bohn, Ed Wehling, John Gregory, Art Mugalian, John “Sparky” Seals, Ed Edmonds, Mike Zarling, Chrstian Towalski, and Bob Komoroski.
Let a committee member know if you would like to attend a meeting and/or join the committee.
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Bob Komoroski’s Black Baseball Quiz
For the July 20 Research Committee meeting, Bob Komoroski presented this quiz:
- He was the last Negro League player to play in MLB.
- He was the second Black player to integrate the Brooklyn Dodgers and this impressive feat, in his first game, was a first in N.L. history at the time. Name the player and his accomplishment.
- He is listed as having only seven plate appearances for the Atlantic City Bacharach Giants, but the rest of his 30-year career was spent primarily as an entertainer. He is considered the premier clown prince of Negro League baseball, and became most famous for his “shadow ball” routine with Spec Bebop.
- This Olympic champion was a team owner and vice president of a short-lived League. Name the person and the team.
- This former Negro League player became the first Black mayor of Oakland, California in 1977. Who is he?
- He played for multiple Negro League teams, started at first base in the 1947 East-West All Star Game, but achieved greater fame in a different sport. Who is he?
- He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. He was so respected, that upon his death in 1946, his hometown declared the day of his funeral a school holiday.
- He holds the record for most appearances in the East-West Negro League All-Star Game.
- This concrete and steel stadium, with lights for night baseball, was the first in the U.S. to be built, owned and operated by an African American.
- Founded in Miami, this team moved north in 1943 and joined the Negro American League. They won five NAL championships and were considered the longest existing Negro League team before finally disbanding.
Answers below
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New Members
Sean Vinsel was born and raised in Louisville. He moved to the Twin Cities in 2010 for a job after graduate school, where he met his wife, with whom they have two daughters, ages 10 and 7. He has worked in corporate finance for 16 years and for the last three years has been in law school. Sean attended Lou Schiff’s annual Baseball in the Law class at Hamline Mitchell College of Law, where he met SABR members who were instructors in the course. He will take his bar exam next February and begin practicing law.
In Louisville, he followed the Triple-A Redbirds, who were then a Cardinals farm team. “I loved going to games with my family, and was an early Cracker Jack addict (in the 1980s when they were peanuts and popcorn, plus a prize). The most interesting player on the Redbirds during my childhood was probably Ozzie Canseco, Jose’s twin brother. I also enjoyed following the AAA ‘lifers’ on other teams, notably Razor Shines, who played/coached for the Expos’ AAA affiliate during my childhood.
“Fun fact, I visited Cooperstown, NY on the exact day that the 1994 season was cancelled and used to have a picture of the standings from outside the Hall to memorialize that “frozen” season. When I was in elementary and middle school I loved reading histories and biographies of baseball from the 1900s-1950s, and discovered that I have a distant relative who was the first wife of legendary manager John McGraw.”
Sean shares his June 8 birthday with Eddie Gaedel, Van Lingle Mungo, Mark Belanger, Kevin Gross, George Brunet, Del Ennis, Joe Grzenda, Bernie Casey, Herb Adderley, LeRoy Neiman, Don Grady, Jerry Stiller, Robert Preston, Griffin Dunne, Joan Rivers, Nancy Sinatra, Barbara Bush, Kanye West (Ye), Frank Lloyd Wright, Lexa Doig, Alois Hitler Sr., E. R. Fightmaster, and Whizzer White.
Also new to the Halsey Hall Chapter: John Wahl
Know a potential member? Here are resources for getting that person happily involved in SABR:
Membership application
Get more out of your membership experience by checking out SABR Member Benefit Spotlight Series.
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Words of Wisdom for Researchers
André Gide: Believe those who are seeking the truth; doubt those who find it.
It isn’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble—it’s what you know for sure that just isn’t so.
69% of people find something dirty in every sentence.
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Cow Pies
The Long Island Ralph Kiner Chapter is asking members to participate in the Nature vs. Nurture: Understanding the Origins of Baseball Fandom study that explores the influences that shape a lifelong connection to a team, including family, geography, childhood experiences, media, favorite players, attendance at games, and other factors. To take part, go to SABR Nature vs. Nurture: Why We Root for the Teams We Do?.
The Field of Dreams SABR Chapter in Iowa dedicated a marker for Broadway/Legion Park in Council Bluffs June 25. Built in 1910, the ballpark hosted local, amateur, semipro, Negro League, and professional teams for nearly 50 years with 25 future members of the Hall of Fame playing there.
The Field of Dreams Chapter was a recipient of a SABR Local Grant in 2026 for the project.
Ben Ernst, in his research on South Dakota baseball, sent along the announcement for Terry (misidentified as Kerry) Francona’s birth when Terry’s dad, Tito, was playing for the Aberdeen Pheasants. Tito met Roberta Jackson, a future Miss Aberdeen, when he played for Aberdeen in 1953 and continued the courtship after a two-year military stint. Tito started in the majors with Baltimore in 1956 and married Roberta after the season. After a couple more trades, Tito had just started playing for Cleveland when Terry was born.
Answers to Bob Komoroski’s Black Baseball Quiz
- Minnie Miñoso
- Dan Bankhead (first Black pitcher in the majors after the breaking of the color barrier)
- Richard “King Tut” King
- Jesse Owens
- Lionel Wilson
- Goose Tatum
- Cum Posey
- Alex Radcliffe and Buck Leonard
- Greenlee Field in Pittsburgh
- Miami Giants, later the Cincinnati Clowns and Indianapolis Clowns
Note to quizzees: If you have any comments about gaffes or anything else, please direct them to the author of the quiz, not the newsletter editor.
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Calendar
August 15—Book Club, Barnes & Noble, Har Mar Mall, Roseville, 9:30 a.m., Where They Ain’t: The Fabled Life and Untimely Death of the Original Baltimore Orioles, the Team That Gave Birth to Modern Baseball by Burt Solomon. Contact Ed Edmonds for more information.
August 24—Research Committee meeting, 7:00-9:00 p.m. via Zoom. For more information, contact Dave Lande or Gene Gomes.
August 30—Halsey Hall Chapter Board of Directors meeting, 7:00 p.m. For more information on attending, contact Mike Haupert.
September 3-4—Fifth anal. 9-Online Virtual Baseball Conference.
September 9—Zoom meeting with Jay Wigley about his book, How Retrosheet Saved Baseball History, 7:00 p.m.
September 12—Fred Souba Hot Stove League Saturday Morning, 9:00 a.m., Shortstop Bar and Grill, Fridley. For more information, contact John Buckeye.
September 21—Research Committee meeting, 7:00-9:00 p.m. via Zoom. For more information, contact Dave Lande or Gene Gomes.
October 9—Eighth anal. SABR/International Women in Baseball Virtual Conference.
October 17—Fall Chapter Meeting, 9:00 a.m., Hennepin County Library, Plymouth. For more information, contact Howard Luloff, 952-994-5217, or Bob Komoroski.
August 4-8, 2027—SABR Convention, Birmingham, Alabama.
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Board of Directors 2026-2027
President—Mike Haupert
President-Elect—Terry Bohn
Immediate Past President—Ed Edmonds
Secretary—John Buckeye
Treasurer—Rich Arpi
Directors—Jacob Sayward, Howard Luloff, Mike Zarling
Events Committee Co-Chairs—Howard Luloff, Bob Komoroski
Research Committee Co-Chairs—Dave Lande, Gene Gomes
Membership Committee Co-Chairs—Stew Thornley, John Buckeye
MVP Chapter Committee Chair—Gene Gomes
The Holy Cow! Editor—Stew Thornley
Ass. Editors—Jerry Janzen, Brenda Himrich, and John Buckeye
Webmaster—John Gregory
Ass. Webmasters—Hans Van Slooten and Stew Thornley
Social Media Directors—Bob Komoroski and John Buckeye
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
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Resources
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