Resources
Nancy Jo Leachman Dies
Former member Nancy Jo Leachman died December 19. A lifelong librarian, Nancy Jo and her family moved to Minnesota shortly after the 1988 SABR convention in Minneapolis, and she worked at the Rochester Public Library. In the late 1990s, she moved to Salina, Kansas, to become the reference librarian there. After retiring, Nancy Jo moved to Charlotte, North Carolina.
Nancy Jo gave multiple research presentations at our chapter meetings and served on the board of directors from 1991 to 1993 and again from 1996 to 1998. She was a lead organizer of chapter road trips to see minor-league games in Iowa and provided a memorable moment to the first one, in 1991, when she locked her keys in her car at a Burger King in Clear Lake, Iowa. A Clear Lake police officer was unable to get her door open, but, fortunately, the chapter included a former miscreant who revived his skills from his misbegotten youth to get the car unlocked, and the group was on its way again, seeing games at the original Sec Taylor Stadium in Des Moines and Municipal Stadium in Waterloo. Nancy Jo continued to help organize road trips in the ensuing years.
Her daughter, Emily, posted this on Facebook: Whether you think of NancyJo when you think of libraries, or snow globes, or flour sacks, or beaded jewelry, or cowboy music, I hope you think of something that makes you smile.
The first Halsey Hall Chapter road trip, in 1991, with the Leachmans (along with the Gregorys, a Luloff, a Himrich, a Thornley, an Arpi, and a Wyman).
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Twinsfest Volunteers Sought
The Halsey Hall Chapter will have a table at Twinsfest at Target Field on Saturday, January 28. Anyone interested in helping to staff the table to promote SABR and the chapter may contact Doug Skipper, theskippers1@hotmail.com, who has been coordinating our involvement at Twinsfest for many years.
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Spring Chapter Meeting April 15
Events Committee chair Howard Luloff announced April 15, 2023 as the date for the next Spring Halsey Hall Chapter meeting at Faith Mennonite Church. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. with the program beginning 15 minutes later.
The cost for the meeting and lunch is $10. The meeting only is $5. Those wanting lunch are asked to RSVP to Howard Luloff, 952-922-5036. People can pay by cash (with correct change appreciated) or check at the door.
The business meeting, during lunch, will include the election of four members to the chapter board of directors. There will be a featured speaker in the afternoon, and the morning will consist of research presentations by chapter members.
Members are invited to submit a proposal to make a research presentation at the meeting. Proposals must be sent by April 1 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.
One presentation slot is always reserved for a first-time presenter until four weeks before the chapter meeting (March 18). If a slot remains after that, any member can submit a proposal until April 1, two weeks before the meeting, when the Research Committee will wrap up the schedule of presentations.
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Upcoming Events
The Fred Souba Hot Stove Saturday Morning, an informal breakfast gathering for the purpose of talking baseball, will be at Mannings at 22nd and Como in southeast Minneapolis on Saturday, January 14 at 9:00 a.m. We can get tables reserved if we have some idea of how many are coming. Please RSVP to me, stew@stewthornley.net, if you plan to attend. This is an informal RSVP, so feel free to show up even if you havent RSVPd and/or dont sweat it if you RSVP and cant make it (although an un-RSVP, if possible, would be appreciated).
The next Research Committee meeting, via Zoom, will be Monday, January 23. Contact co-chairs Dave Lande or Gene Gomes if you would like to attend. Other Research Committee members are 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, and Bob Komoroski.
The book club will meet at Barnes & Noble in Har Mar Mall at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, February 11 and discuss The Church of Baseball: The Making of Bull Durham by Ron Shelton. Brent Heutmaker has organized a list of all the book selections since the book club started in August 2002: Halsey Hall Book Club Selections
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 havent yet, Like the Facebook page and Follow the Twitter page and set your notifications to be alerted to new posts.
Also:
Regular Events
Video Archives of Past Events
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New Members
New to the Halsey Hall Chapter and SABR: Harry Williams, Eli Morris, Dave Greisen, and Scott Warmka.
The Halsey Hall Chapter has welcomed four new members since our previous chapter meeting and has 235 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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John Buckeyes Drop Trou Quiz
The December Research Committee meeting included a quiz submitted by guest quiz whiz John Buckeye (and there is a theme to it):
- He finished 2nd in the Home Run Derby his rookie season (to the hometown favorite), but he recently became just the ninth player in MLB history to win consecutive World Series with different teams.
- This was the first major league hitter to eclipse 3000 hits, though he also famously refused to play against Black playersand didnt even hit over 100 home runs in his career! He was also his teams manager for most of his playing career.
- The nickname for this player who has been the subject of a fictional titular book, as well as a movie based off it in which his character is played by Ray Liotta.
- Which current major league team has been known variably as the Pilgrims, the Americans, and the Somersets, before settling on their current nickname?
- He was only a major league manager for parts of four seasons, but in that time led his team to the last World Series Championship they would win for 87 years. He retired in the middle of the next season.
- This state has a rich baseball history: the home of the Negro Leagues team for whom the first black American League player last played as well as the birthplace of the Millville Meteor himself, Mike Trout!
- Given since 1957, this is the only award which directly takes actual season-long player statistics into account in determining the final results.
- The Yankees were the first team to do this in 1929; by 1931 every American League team had followed suit, as had all National League teams by 1933.
- A member of the Twins early 00s Soul Patrol outfield, he set a team single-season record for leadoff homeruns in 2002. In 2014 he received a single, solitary vote for the Hall of Fame.
- Though very common in Japan (as they occur after 12 innings) the last one in a competitive MLB Game was in 2016; one of these also occurred at the 2002 All Star Game.
Quiz Answers below
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Cow Chips
Chapter member Manley Olson, who is a past president of the Minnesota Ornithologists Union, had an illuminating letter to the editor in the December 7, 2022 Star Tribune regarding the history of wild turkeys in Minnesota.
Joe Niese has an article in Nichibei Yakyu: US Tours of Japan (Volume I: 1907-1958), which is available as a free download to SABR members.
Dan Levitt had an article, Anticipating and Controlling Cheating and Unwanted BehaviorLessons from Baseball, (with a reference to cornhole cheating) in the December 6, 2022 CEO World magazine.
Terry Bohn has written about Ray Morehart and Frank Naleway for the SABR BioProject.
The SABR Games Project has new entries by chapter members:
Several games stories by chapter members that are in the Metropolitan Stadium book are now on-line:
- June 7, 1956: Willie Mays homers twice in Giants exhibition win at Metropolitan Stadium by T. S. Flynn
- August 27, 1956: Grate throw highlights Millers win over Omaha and August 17, 1976: Twins singer sets stage for bad night with anthem flub by J. G. Preston
- April 22, 1958: Pumpsie Green survives parade to lead Millers to Opening Day win, September 15-16, 1959: Yastrzemskis debut doesnt count; Millers still prevail over Omaha, and April 18, 1969: Billy Martin makes home debut as Twins manager by Dave Mona
- April 21, 1961: Twins lose first home opener at Metropolitan Stadium by Dave Lande
- September 8, 1960: Minneapolis Millers face St. Paul Saints for final time at Metropolitan Stadium by Joe OConnell
- April 30, 1957: Baby Baby Bull Cepeda wows Minneapolis fans by Bob Tholkes
- April 16, 1966: Dean Chance, Jackie Warner, and baserunning blunders doom the Twins, August 9, 1971: Willie Mays and Harmon Killebrew delight Twins fans in exhibition, and July 21, 1977: Hisles bunt helps Twins Goltz beat Ryan, Angels by Tom Merrick
- April 24, 1956: Play of Four Decisions ensures Metropolitan Stadiums debut is memorable, April 13, 1957: Braves and Millers put on a cold-weather exhibition in Minneapolis, and August 5, 1957: A harbinger of things to come: Metropolitan Stadium hosts Reds-Tigers exhibition by Joel Rippel
- June 18, 1968: Twins-Senators game has almost everything by Rich Arpi
- July 4, 1969: Early fireworks doom As in big series opener vs. Twins and September 25, 1966: Jim Kaat outduels Earl Wilson for 25th win by Steve Ginader
- September 25, 1976: Official scoring controversy ends with 9th-inning hit by Sarah Johnson
- September 20, 1969: Jim Perrys 20th victory pushes Twins nearer pennant and September 3, 1971: Killebrews pinch-hit grand slam propels Twins to 9-4 win over As by Doug Skipper
- July 7, 1972: Killebrews homer wins it for Quilici in debut as Twins manager by Dana Yost
The December 2022 edition of Keltners Hot Corner, the newsletter of the Ken Keltner Badger State Chapter is on-line:
Keltners Hot Corner, December 2022
For past Keltners Hot Corner newsletters:
Keltners Hot Corner
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Answers to John Buckeyes Drop Trou Quiz
- Joc Pederson
- Cap Anson
- Shoeless Joe
- Boston Red Sox
- Pants Rowland
- New Jersey
- Gold Glove
- Uniform numbers
- Jacques Jones
- Tie game
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Calendar
January 14Fred Souba Hot Stove League Saturday Morning, 9:00 a.m., Manningss, Southeast Minneapolis.
January 23Research Committee meeting, 7:00-9:00 p.m. via Zoom. For more information, contact Dave Lande or Gene Gomes.
January 28Twinsfest, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.. For more information, contact Doug Skipper.
February 11Book Club, Barnes & Noble, Har Mar Mall, Roseville, 9:30 a.m., The Church of Baseball: The Making of Bull Durham by Ron Shelton.
February 19Halsey Hall Chapter Board of Directors meeting via Zoom, 6:00 p.m. For more information on attending, contact Gene Gomes.
April 15Spring Chapter Meeting, 8:45 a.m., Faith Mennonite Church, Minneapolis. For more information, contact Howard Luloff, 952-922-5036.
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Board of Directors 2022-2023
PresidentGene Gomes
Vice PresidentDavid Karpinski
SecretarySarah Johnson
TreasurerJerry Janzen
Daniel Dorff
John Swol
Bob Tholkes
Events Committee ChairHoward Luloff
Research Committee Co-ChairsDave Lande, Gene Gomes
Membership Committee ChairStew Thornley
The Holy Cow! EditorStew Thornley
Ass. EditorsJerry Janzen and Brenda Himrich
WebmasterJohn Gregory
Ass. WebmastersFrank Kadwell, Hans Van Slooten, and Stew Thornley
Social Media DirectorsBob 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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