February 2002
Rich Wolf Dies
Upcoming Events
Quiz Time
Research News
Cow Chips
End of the Road
Halsey Hall Chapter Web Page Bigger and Better than Ever
Calendar
Answers to Quiz and Name's the Same
Board of Directors
Rich Wolf Dies
Rich Wolf died December 7, 2001 when he was hit by a car while crossing Minn. Hwy. 47 in Coon Rapids. Rich, who was 68, had been a member of the Halsey Hall Chapter since 1998. A retired certified public accountant, Rich enjoyed crunching baseball numbers, as well, and had an interest in statistics. He also served as the statistician for a pair of Rotisserie Leagues.
Rich served as batboy for the St. John’s University baseball team, for which his brother played, when he was 9. Rich later played high school baseball in his hometown of Long Prairie, Minnesota. In 1959, he began playing townball on a team known as the Bucks in Long Prairie. Rich had a batting average of .368 in 1960 as the Bucks won the Victory League title and advanced to the regional playoffs.
Rich is survived by four children and nine grandchildren.
Upcoming Events
The Halsey Hall Chapter will have a table at Twins Fest, February 1-3 at the Metrodome.
The next Hot Stove Saturday Mid-Morning will again be at 9:30 a.m., on February 9 at the Baker’s Square in Richfield. The post-breakfast event will be a trip to Fort Snelling Cemetery to see the graves of Halsey Hall and Frank Trechock.
The Halsey Hall Chapter Spring Chapter Meeting will be Saturday, May 11 with the group attending the Twins-Yankees game at 6 p.m. To order tickets for the game, at $11 each, send money (checks made out to Stew Thornley) to S. Thornley, 1082 Lovell Avenue, Roseville, Minnesota 55113-4419 by April 1.
Quiz Time
Name the Cary Grant movie that opens with a brawl between the Yankees and Dodgers at Ebbets Field.
Name’s the Same
Ken Griffey Jr.’s high-school baseball coach and one of the players traded by Cincinnati to Seattle for Griffey in 2001.
Answers below
Research News
Rich Arpi, Deano Thilgen, and Dan Cagley are among the Halsey Hall Chapter members working on the
Minnesota 19th-Century Base Ball Project, noting all baseball references in newsletters in an attempt to document the early years of Minnesota baseball.
“To date, much of 1867 has been extracted,” Deano reports. “The results of these newspaper searches will allow us to compile a list of known clubs in Minnesota (so far we have identified about 27 Minnesota clubs that played in 1867), complete a chronology of games, compile an all-time roster, expand our understanding of the game’s growth and evolution, and assist modern vintage base ball clubs by knowing what players wore, how they executed the game, etc.
“The next phase works in other primary and secondary sources, seeking photographs, artifacts, and other supporting evidence.”
Cow Chips
Mark Johnson shook hands with prospective-Twins owner Donald Watkins in December and ended up with his picture in the Star Tribune, Newspaper of the Twin Cities on December 23. Mark also had the chance to chat with Harold Reynolds. . . . John Dobratz married Courtney Luurs on December 22. . . . Dr. Seth C. Hawkins is converting the basement of the Julian H. Sleeper House into a special exhibition devoted to the history and culture of Slovenia.
End of the Road
A Halsey Hall Chapter member visited the grave of Eddie Mathews in Santa Barbara, California, on Saturday,
January 19, 2002, completing the member’s quest to visit all 184 Baseball Hall of Fame graves. The member wishes to recognize fellow chapter members Glenn Gostick, Brad Zellar, Paul Rittenhouse, Howard Luloff, George Rekela, Brenda Himrich, Jerry Janzen, and Cary Smith for their advice and support as well as their companionship on the grave-hunting trips (where it can be nice to have live company once in a while).
Directory Update
http://halseyhall.org
Webmaster Deano Thilgen continues to add features and information to the Halsey Hall Chapter web site.
Past versions of the newsletter are available in various formats (The Holy Cow! back to October 1999 and Holy Cow Extra back to October 2001) along with a current calendar of events and an ever-expanding page on research projects, which offers chapter members a place to describe their research projects and to post queries.
To submit information or queries about the research they are doing or seeking, chapter members may send an e-mail to webmaster@halseyhall.org.
Deano also plans to create a new section on the web site to cover Minnesota baseball history from all eras. It will have different sections and will grow as members contribute to it. The first contribution will be to post the best newspaper articles from the earliest years of Minnesota baseball.
Calendar
February 1-3—Twins Fest, Metrodome
February 9—Hot Stove Saturday Mid-Morning,
9:30 a.m., Baker’s Square, Sixty-Sixth and Xerxes, Richfield, Post-Breakfast Event: Trip to Fort Snelling Cemetery
May 11—Spring Chapter Meeting
Answers to Quiz and Name’s the Same
The Cary Grant movie that opens at Ebbets Field is Arsenic and Old Lace. Ken Griffey’s high-school coach and a player traded for him are both named Mike Cameron.
Halsey Hall Chapter
Board of Directors 2001-02
President—Cary Smith
Vice President—Ray Luurs
Secretary—Rich Arpi
Treasurer—Kevin Hennessy
Fred Buckland
Dan Cagley
Dan Levitt
Webmaster—Deano Thilgen
The Holy Cow! Editor—Stew Thornley
Holy Cow Extra Editor—Bob Tholkes
Please direct news about chapter events, about
yourself or about other chapter members to:
S. Thornley
1082 Lovell Avenue
Roseville, Minnesota 55113-4419
E-mail Stew Thornley