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Big Lunch at Chapter Meeting
Mark “Lunch” McKenzie, the former baseball coach at Concordia University in St. Paul, was the featured guest at the Fall Chapter Meeting November 2 before a full house that included Rich Arpi, Brian Larson, Howard Luloff, Jim Cox, Art Mugalian, Dave Lande, John Swol, Ed Edmonds, Al Strauss, Stew Thornley, Brenda Himrich, Fred Buckland, John Buckeye, Daniel Dorff, Jacob Sayward, Bill Axness, Zach Hukriede, Kris Hard, Aaron Sinner, Darryl Sannes, Armand Peterson, Bob Komoroski, Barry Bengtsson, Gregg Nelson, Paul Spyhalski, Gene Gomes, Glenn Renick, Mike Sluss, Doug Skipper, David Minier, Bob Tholkes, John Crippen, and Phil Lowry as well as the multitudes watching on Facebook Live courtesy of Brenda Himrich’s iPad.
As always, many thanks to John Bonnes and our friends at TwinsDaily for publicizing our meeting and their ongoing support of SABR and our chapter.
For more on all the wild doings that took place, here is a full recap from special double-secret correspondent John Buckeye (with assistance from Gene Gomes):
Ed Edmonds filled in for Sam Sundermeyer with the first presentation, “Researching Baseball Salaries.” Ed listed five categories: a. Prospects in MiLB and draft choices, b. Pre-Arbitration-eligible players with 0-2 years service time, c. Super Two players who are arbitration-eligible (top 22% of players with 2-3 years of service time), d. 2+ years-6 years -salary arbitration-eligible, e. free agents.
In 2021 the Major League minimum annual salary was $780,000, raised from $575,000 the previous year. The player’s salary is drained by union dues, income taxes, and the “jock tax” by states in which the player travels to for games throughout the season. There are also performance bonuses handed out, like player plate appearances for Byron Buxton. There is also a $50 million Pre-arbitration Bonus Pool for award votes. There is a MLB Playoff Bonus Pool. Texas players received $500,000 each for their championship.
Before free agency begins after the World Series, we have have five days- and then GM Meetings. This year, the Winter Meetings are held 12/9 to 12/12.
On the 11th of that month is the Rule 5 Draft to prevent teams from hoarding minor leaguers they aren’t going to play. And in February, Arb figures are exchanged between teams and the players’ parties.
Ed mentioned websites of interest: “Trade Rumors” website, “Cot’s Baseball Contracts” website, “Spotrac” website.
Ed said also the top 22% of players in category of 2+ years service are eligible for arbitration. They are tendered contracts in November.
Ed discussed salary arbitration hearings and said teams win 55%.
We welcomed “Lunch” McKenzie, longtime head baseball coach at Concordia St. Paul to speak at an earlier time than usual, due to his schedule as the visiting locker room manager at US Bank Stadium. He talked about how he got started as a Coach and a lot about how what led him to where he is now are a lot of events he saw as problems at the time. He didn’t get into his college of choice, but that led him to making a name for himself in the local high school coaching scene, and eventually as a coach for the U16 Team USA at tournaments over in Taiwan.
He had taken advantage of an opportunity to be a Twins opponents’ batboy when he was in high school, and then a clubhouse attendant. Eventually he befriended Reggie Jackson, who he bonded over with Trivia, and Jackson eventually became godfather to his kids.
He also talked pretty openly about a tragedy in his family, which is probably in poor taste to relate here. Lunch would probably allow that he and his wife have been blessed to have those around them to help them through it, and to have the blessings that came later.
After his success as a team USA coach, he became the head coach at Concordia. And through his connections with the Twins, got Gardy to agree to play the school during spring training exhibitions for six years in a row.
He took questions from us, talking about how young pitchers are getting arm injuries because they are throwing too much, too fast.
He also mentioned that Recruiting at this level (Div. II college) is pretty tough because they are all fighting against some disadvantage to do it- but MN is getting to be a better environment for that. Many kids figure out though that DII can be the best fit for them, because going Div. 1 for the sake of it is often not worth it.
The second presentation was Stew Thornley speaking on the “Werden’s All Stars vs. The Old Guard Game” in 1933 at Nicollet Park.
Perry Werden was a prolific home run hitter in the 1890s. He played at Athletic Park in Minneapolis, across from the Grand Hotel. Stew showed a map describing how close this is to the present-day Target Field. He then played at Nicollet Park. After retiring due to poor eyesight, Werden of course became an umpire!
He was a blacksmith by trade, and settled in Minneapolis and coached baseball. he also organized some teams as early as 1905. He formed his All Stars Team in 1912. He was married during 1891, and 1900, according to newspaper articles.
On display was an historical artifact, an autographed over-sized wooden bat, which is kept at Hennepin County Museum and brought to the meeting by a museum official. The bat was presented to disabled war veteran Red Hill in 1933 during a benefit game for him between Werden’s All Stars and The Old Guard team. Stew showed a box score of the game. Werden died in 1934. He gave a much more expanded talk on this a week later at the Hennepin History Museum. (Article on this bat is now in the Hennepin History magazine: All Stars Versus The Old Guards.
Bob Tholkes finished up by talking about the “1867 Base Ball Clubs.”
In 1867 there was the National Association of Base Ball Players. This NABBP was formed in 1857, but by 1867 the growth of clubs nationally was over 400. There were “ad hoc” teams, Federal Employee Clubs, Military Clubs, and many others.
There was the annual national meeting in December 1866 which set forth rules of behavior, requirements for club membership and rules for matches and restrictions on payments to players. Henry Chadwick was involved in discussions.
There was the organizing of fund-raisers and dances to keep members engaged in the off-season. For post-military players, this was an important social outlet.
There were agreements created to govern inter-city matches, and the choice of umpires for games.
Bob showed an 1867 studio-produced photo of the St. Peter team!
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Nominating Committee Appointed
President Ed Edmonds appointed Darryl Sannes as chair of the Nominating Committee along with Dan Levitt and Bob Komoroski as committee members. The trio is responsible for recruiting at least four candidates for two-year terms on the board of directors for 2024-2025 to fill the spots of expiring directors Daniel Dorff, Rich Arpi, John Buckeye, and Howard Luloff. Any chapter member is eligible to run for the board and is encourage to express interest to any of the committee members. Candidates will be asked to submit a candidate statement for the newsletter.
The incoming directors, along with holdovers Edmonds, Mike Haupert, and Terry Bohn will elect, from among themselves, a president, vice president, secretary, and treasurer to serve a one-year term beginning July 1.
Those interested in running or looking for more information are encouraged to check out the duties and functions of the various positions and committees at Chapter Procedures.
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More Big-Arse Upcoming Stuff
The next Book Club meeting will be Saturday, December 7 at Barnes & Noble in Har Mar Mall at 9:30 a.m. The book selection is Kiss It Good-Bye: The Mystery, the Mormon, and the Moral of the 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates by John Moody. The group also selected The Universal Baseball Association, Inc., J. Henry Waugh, Prop. by Robert Coover for the February meeting. 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 next Research Committee meetings, via Zoom, will be December 16 and January 20 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, Anders Koskinen, 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, and Bob Komoroski. Let Dave or Gene know if you would like to attend and/or join the committee.
The Fred Souba Hot Stove Saturday Morning, an informal breakfast gathering for the purpose of talking baseball will be Saturday, January 11 at 9:05 a.m. at a new location, Stanley’s Northeast Bar Room, 2500 University Avenue NE (northwest corner of Lowry and University), Minneapolis 55418. (Stanley’s doesn’t open until 9:00, so don’t get there too early.)
Also coming up: The NINE Spring Training Conference in Tempe March 5 to 8. A number of chapter members attend each year. Consider joining them.
The 36th Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball and American Culture, which examines the impact of baseball on American culture from interdisciplinary and multi-disciplinary perspectives, will be May 28-30 at the Baseball Hall of Fame. Proposals for papers are invited from all disciplines and on all topics; the deadline for submission is December 31.
Keep up to date with chapter activities on social media:
SABR Halsey Hall Chapter Facebook page
Halsey Hall Chapter Twitter page
Please visit both pages, and, if you haven’t yet, “Like” the Facebook page and “Follow” the Twitter page and set your notifications to be alerted to new posts. (The Facebook page now has 307 members. Bob Komoroski has established rules—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, trollers, and other degenerates.)
Also:
Regular Events
Video Archives of Past Events
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Gene Gomes with Our 37th Themed Quiz
Sez Gene, “You will surely solve these quiz clues, and then need to find the connecting thread(s)!”
- This infielder’s RBI in the 6th inning of 1972 World Series Game 7 provided the eventual winning margin. He later played for and served as GM of the Milwaukee Brewers.
- He hit only 5 home runs during the 1972 season, but posted nine of his team’s total of 16 RBIs—with 4 homers—in the World Series. He later played for three NL clubs, finishing his career in Pittsburgh as a back-up.
- He pitched the most innings in the 1973 World Series for the series-winning team. He gave up the tie-breaking hit to Willie Mays in Game 2, the last hit of Mays’ career. He finished his career in Milwaukee.
- He racked up a total of 20 hits in 3 World Series matches; his nine hits in the 1973 Classic included a 2-run shot off Jon Matlack in Game 7. This infielder finished up hitting .322 in a part-time role as a Yankee in his final year.
- This outfielder hit the tie-breaking HR off ace reliever Mike Marshall in Game 5 of the 1974 World Series. His ninth-inning circus catch at the wall in the 1972 World Series saved Game 2 that year. He later played for two other teams but came back to finish his career with his original team.
- In 1987 his 2-run homer off John Tudor in the fifth inning tied World Series Game 6 -his only career World Series home run. In 1988 he finished up playing for another pennant-winning team.
- This HOF outfielder-first baseman played over 2,200 games for the Cubs, but none in the postseason until 1975 while with his second (and last) team. He’s a former Rookie of the Year winner, and had finished second for MVP in 1970 and 1972.
- He hit over 500 home runs, plus a 1962 World Series Game 2 solo shot off Ralph Terry for the final score. He finished his career in San Francisco after stints in two other cities.
- His managerial career included a World Series title for an NL East team. Before that, he led two AL clubs, but wasn’t only just fired by the second one. Finally, he was later fired by Atlanta and finished up his career as a Pittsburgh Pirates executive in his native state of Pennsylvania.
Extra inning, with a hint: This broadcaster was part of a four-time World Series-winning organization. He’s credited with popularizing the term “dinger” to describe a home run. At one point with the club he was fired by the owner, but then re-instated after that “misunderstanding” was cleared up.
Answers below
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New Members
Armando “Mando” Jimenez is a clinician for the Minnesota Twins and a hitting and pitching instructor for a facility owned by Dale Varsho (Daulton’s uncle) in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
Mando moved to the Midwest when his wife accepted a position in Wisconsin. The couple has three children: a son who is 19 and daughters who are 20 and 9. He was born and raised in Los Angeles. His mom was a tour bus driver, and he got to tag along to Dodgers and Angels games and watched players like Reggie Jackson, Nolan Ryan, Fernando Valenzuela and Steve Garvey.
Mando worked in the grocery industry for almost 30 years. He has been a coach for over 20 years and an instructor for about eight years. Since coming to Wisconsin, Mando has conducted a Toys for Tots program in which he trades baseball and softball lessons for toys, which he donates to the Salvation Army. Last year he received nearly 200 toys and hopes to top that this year.
Mando shares his September 18 birthday with Ryne Sandberg, Spencer Turnbull, Jody Gerut, Ken Brett, Jonathan Singleton, Cedanne Rafaela, Harvey Haddix, Dick Dietz, Heinie Groh, George Uhle, Darryl Stingley, James Gandolfini, Jack Warden, Robert Blake, J. D. Trippit, Lance Armstrong, Frankie Avalon, John Diefenbaker, Eddie “Rochester” Anderson, Greta Garbo, June Foray, Al Quie, and Sir Owen Seaman. Mando also considers the September 16 birthday of his favorite player, Orel Hershiser, to be close enough.
Doug Kenison is an accountant in Crystal who was at Target Field when Jim Thome hit the flag pole in 2010.
Doug hit the jackpot with his October 20 birthday, sharing it with Mickey Mantle and lesser luminaries Keith Hernandez, Juan Gonzalez, Dave Collins, Helen Ruth Judy Johnson, Bob Sheppard, Juan Marichal, Viggo Mortensen, John Krasinski, Bela Lugosi, Snoop Dogg, Kamala Harris, Jerry Orbach, Tom Petty, Arlene Francis, Joyce Brothers, Zeke Bratkowski, Christopher Wren, Art Buchwald, Lee Roy Selmon, Jelly Roll Morton, Hyun Bong-sik, and Grandpa from Hee Haw.
The older of two siblings, Ron Pease is from Jamestown, a small farm town in southwest Ohio about 20 minutes east of Dayton and 1 hour and 15 minutes north of Cincinnati. He shares the interest of his dad, who was a fan of the Big Red Machine and Johnny Bench in particular (although he enjoys getting to any baseball game he can). His wife enjoys baseball casually. Ron had been a technical editor but sold off his business and is now a stay-at-home dad to a Corgi and imminent little Redlegs.
Ron played from coach-pitch through high school. In the first game he ever attended, around 1996, he saw Scott Rolen hit a mammoth home run for the Phillies. He was once at an extra-innings Reds-Marlins game, which had a two-hour rain delay and ended around 2:30 a.m. Another time he was at a game where cicadas swarmed from the Ohio River and made playing almost impossible. “I can’t remember who the opposing first basement was, but I could hear him audibly complaining to the first-base umpire who merely shrugged his shoulders.” Ron also saw a three grand-slam game between the Pirates and Cubs at Wrigley Field.
Ron has recently taken back to baseball after falling off around 2010, and he also collects baseball cards.
Ron shares his July 7 birthday with fellow member Roger Godin as well as Jose Jimenez, Satchel Paige, Billy Herman, Cory Provus, Dan Gladden, Bill Melton, Tim Teufel, Dave Burba, Jeff Shaw, Nathaniel Lowe, John Gordon, Franmil Reyes, Len Barker, Bill Kunkel, Brandon McCarthy, Chuck Knoblauch, George Moriarty, Joe Robbie, Michelle Kwan, Pat Hitchcock, Ezzard Charles, Shelley Duvall, Reggie Cobb, Ringo Starr, Larry O’Brien, Lisa Leslie, Red Sovine, Doc Severinsen, Robert Heinlein, William Kunstler, Jessica Hahn, and Kitty Genovese.
Our chapter has welcomed 13 new members since June 1, the beginning of the SABR fiscal year reporting period, and now has 193 members.
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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Thought for the Month
It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.
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Cow Pies
After 12 years of searching and with the help of friend Ashley McDonald, Anthony Bush cracked the case of what happened to Jay Anderson, who owned and operated minor-league teams in Duluth in 1886, 1887, and 1891. Anthony says that Anderson was a prominent Duluth businessman for years but became a mystery man after 1917. Anthony searched for Anderson’s wherabouts since he first wrote about the 1886 team in 2012 and struck out with baseball researchers, local historians, professional genealogists, and librarians, but the tenacious Ashley found his obituary in the March 21, 1924 Duluth Herald. Anderson had moved to Saratoga Springs, New York, to live with his sister six years earlier due to an illness. Spoiler alert: He died.
Mark Larson has launced a new site, BaseballCardFun.com, with new and classic articles on baseball and/or card collecting. Mark is looking for people to write articles on card collecting or anything to do with baseball. Contact Mark, baseballcardfun@yahoo.com, for more information.
Patrick and Donna Coleman were at the November 9 baseball presentation at Hennepin History Museum and indicated a desire to find a good home for Patrick’s baseball books. Contact Patrick, inishkeel@gmail.com or 612-709-0398 to find out what kind of books he has. It sounds like the stuff will be free to anyone who will take it.
The SABR BioProject has a new bio, Del Paddock, by Terry Bohn.
The SABR Games Project has a new game stories by chapter members:
The November 2024 edition of Keltner’s Hot Corner, the newsletter of the Ken Keltner Badger State Chapter, is on-line:
Keltner’s Hot Corner, November 2024
Past Keltner’s Hot Corner newsletters:
Keltner’s Hot Corner
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Answers to Our 37th Themed Quiz
- Sal Bando
- Gene Tenace
- Roland Fingers
- Bert Campaneris
- Joe Rudi
- Don Baylor
- Billy Williams
- Willie McCovey
- Chuck Tanner
Extra inning: Monte Moore
The connecting thread: Athletics who became free agents, were released or traded, or fired in November 1976.
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Calendar
December 7—Book Club, Barnes & Noble, Har Mar Mall, Roseville, 9:30 a.m., Kiss It Good-Bye: The Mystery, the Mormon, and the Moral of the 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates by John Moody.
December 8—Halsey Hall Chapter Board of Directors meeting, 7:30 p.m. For more information on attending, contact Ed Edmonds.
December 16—Research Committee meeting, 7:00-9:00 p.m. via Zoom. For more information, contact Dave Lande or Gene Gomes.
January 11—Fred Souba Hot Stove League Saturday Morning, 9:05 a.m., Stanley’s Northeast Bar Room, Minneapolis.
January 20—Research Committee meeting, 7:00-9:00 p.m. via Zoom. For more information, contact Dave Lande or Gene Gomes.
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Board of Directors 2024-2025
President—Ed Edmonds
Vice President—Mike Haupert
Secretary—Daniel Dorff
Treasurer—Rich Arpi
Terry Bohn
John Buckeye
Howard Luloff
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—Frank Kadwell, Hans Van Slooten, and Stew Thornley
Social Media Directors—Bob Komoroski, Facebook; Hans Van Slooten and Tom Flynn, Twitter
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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