Resources
Seth Hawkins Dies
Seth Hawkins died May 20, about a month shy of his 84th birthday. Dubbed “Dr. Fan,” he was present for every 3,000th hit since 1970 and attended a major-league regular-season game at more than 70 stadiums, every one in the American or National league from the time of his birth except for League Park in Cleveland, although he did not get to the Athletics’ ballpark in Sacramento. Dr. Fan hosted our chapter for a Hot Stove Saturday Night event at his St. Paul residence, the Julian H. Sleeper House
Seth was the 2002 recipient of the “Hilda Award” from the Baseball Reliquary. Named in honor of Hilda Chester, the “First Lady of Flatbush,” who rang her cow bell at Ebbets Field, the award was established to honor baseball fans. Information on the award is at http://www.baseballreliquary.org/hildaaward.htm.
A list of dead members is at In Memoriam.
Editor’s note: My favorite memory of Seth was in 2007 when the Tampa Bay Rays transferred a series to the Ballpark at Disney’ Wide World of Sports in Lake Buena Vista. Seth, of course, had to attend a game there to keep his stadium streak going. I was also at the games although not with Seth, but I knew his seat was behind the first-base dugout. Thus, when I saw the Rays mascot dancing on the dugout, I looked at Seth, who had his left arm out, finger pointed at the mascot, and his mouth moving vigorously. The mascot got down immediately. I later asked Seth what he said he get such a positive and immediate response. He said it was, “Don’t block my sight line, you costumed pervent, or you’re dead!”
Speaking of costumed perverts: Mets mascot picked the worst time to crash live broadcast.
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Annual Reports Available on Chapter Web Site
The Halsey Hall Chapter filed its annual report with the SABR office. A full report and an edited version for SABR are available for purusing.
Annual reports from other years as well as minutes from chapter, board, and research meetings are available on the Minutes & Reports page.
The SABR annual report is also available on-line. The SABR annual report also lists substantial donors, including chapter members Rich Arpi, Brenda Himrich, Stew Thornley, Ed Edmonds, Dan Levitt, and Paul Spyhalski.
In other business news, on June 28 the chapter board of directors for the 2025-2026 year re-appointed all chairs of standing committees and other functions.
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SABR Convention in Cleveland
The 2026 SABR convention, which will in Cleveland will be Wednesday, July 29 to Sunday, August 2 at the Hilton Cleveland Downtown. The Arizona Diamondbacks will be in town to play the Guardians during the convention.
Special events include an open house at the Cleveland Public Library on Thursday, July 30. Chapter members are encouraged to attend to learn more about how we may be able to create a baseball research center in the Twin Cities.
Damian Schaab has been selected as a featured artist in Baseball Art as the Game’s Storyteller, hosted by the Baseball Heritage Museum, and will be on exhibit during the SABR convention at the historic Arcade Cleveland, 401 Euclid Avenue in downtown Cleveland.
Speakers and panelists at the convention include Carlos Baerga, Sandy Alomar Jr., Mike Hargrove, Charles Nagy, Kenny Lofton, broadcaster Tom Hamilton, sportswriter Paul Hoynes, and Guardians president of baseball of baseball operations Chris Antonetti and assistant general manager Sky Andrecheck.
Single-day registrations are now also available on-site at the convention. Full registration information
Chapter members making research presentations at the convention:
- Thursday, July 30, 10:30 a.m.—Terry Bohn, Who Was That Guy? Identification of Unknown Minor Leaguers in Baseball-Reference
- Thursday, July 30, 11:00 a.m.—Dan Levitt, From Pennant to Picture Show: John McGraw, the New York Giants, and the Play Ball Serial
- Saturday, August 1, 2:30 p.m.—Stew Thornley, Past Speed-Up Attempts in Major League Baseball. The presenter will also be a panelist at 9:00 a.m. on Friday, July 31 at the meeting of the SABR Official Scoring Research Committee, which is co-chaired by Kris Hard.
Fall Chapter Meeting Set for October 17
The fall chapter meeting will be Saturday, October 17 at a to-be-determined location.
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.
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
Dave Bohmer will discuss his book, Ford Frick: Baseball’s Third Commissioner and His Four Decades of Shaping the Game, in a zoom meeting hosted by the Halsey Hall Chapter Monday, June 29, at 7:00 p.m. Registration information
The All-Star Game viewing party will be at Manning’s, 22nd and Como in southeast Minneapolis at 7:00 p.m. in the evening Tuesday, July 14 with pre-game debauchery beginning a half-hour or so before that.
The Fred Souba Hot Stove Saturday Morning, an informal breakfast gathering for the purpose of talking baseball, will be Saturday, July 18 at 9:00 a.m. at the Shortstop Bar and Grill, 1298 East Moore Lake Drive, Fridley 55432.
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 eighth annual SABR/International Women in Baseball Virtual Conference will be October 9-11, 2026. Abstracts for presentations are due by July 6 and should be submitted to Leslie Heaphy.
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.
The annual townball outing was at Paul Fartin Memorial Field in Hamel June 19. Hamel general manager Greg DeVos interviewed chapter members on the public-address system between innings and after the game arranged a video interview (below) with members that was shown on the Hamel Hawks social media platforms in advance of the team’s 100th anniversary celebration the following week.
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 127 followers/70 following, and the Facebook page 353 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, 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.
Ed Edmonds is continuing his research on baseball salaries, particularly salary arbitration, through additional newspapers as more become available on-line.
The Capitol Area Architectual Planning Board met June 4 and selected a site for the commemorative marker for the St. Paul Downtown Ball Park, aka The Pillbox—the plaza between the office and laboratory buildings of the Minnesota Departments of Health and Agriculture, just beyond where the ballpark’s right-field fence was (shown below). The design process for the marker is underway with additional fundraising taking place (in addition to the $12,000 already committed). The St. Paul Saints are also enthused about involvement in the project and may have a special pre-game ceremony to unveil the marker before it is installed and have a replica of the marker in their City of Baseball Museum. So far $13,000 in donations have been committed.
Terry Bohn reported that the group he is working with for a statue of Satchel Paige in front of the ballpark in Bismarck has reached its fundraising goal and signed a contract with a sculptor.
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Paul Spyhalski presented at the Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference in Memphis June 19 on Verdell Mathis and the and Algona Brownies of 1937 to 1939
The next Research Committee meetings, via Zoom, will be July 20 and August 24 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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Ed Edmonds’s Quiz
For the June 15 Research Committee meeting, Ed Edmonds presented this quiz:
- This 9-time All-Star and 5-time Gold Glove winner played 19 years for the same franchise. With over 2,300 career hits and nearly 1,000 runs scored and 950 RBIs, this shortstop for his National League franchise’s greatest of teams, probably deserves Hall of Fame consideration. He retired after the 1988 season.
- This second baseman is currently playing in his 16th season for the same team. He is a 9-time All-Star and the 2017 AL MVP. With over 2,000 games played, four consecutive 200-hit seasons early in his career, and a career batting average over .300, he appears to be Cooperstown-bound.
- This shortstop spent 10 years in the major leagues during the 1950s, and he was a 4-time All-Star. For the White Sox in 1954, he played in 155 games with 718 plate appearances and 106 runs scored. His career OBP is .333, and his batting average is .258.
- This Hall of Fame shortstop spent 10 years with the White Sox and 5 years with the Orioles before retiring after 3 years with the Red Sox. He amassed over 11,000 plate appearances and scored 1,335 runs with 2,677 hits. Only 83 of those hits were home runs. He lead the league in stolen bases for 9 consecutive years - all coming in his first 9 MLB seasons. He also led the league in caught stealing during 4 of those seasons.
- This 12-time All Star finished his career in 2023 with 511 home runs, 3,174 hits, and a .306 batting average. He played for only two teams in his 21-year career – one in each league. He won back-to-back MVP awards. His Baseball-Reference WAR of 67.2 should help pave his way towards a plaque in Cooperstown.
- In his 16-year career, this centerfielder played for the Indians, Dodgers, Pirates, Cardinals, Angels, and Athletics. His career .279 batting average was enhanced by his strong pinch hitting capability. In his entire professional career, he is credited with over 4,000 hits. He has two World Series rings.
- This rightfielder split his 15-year career between the White Sox and the Tigers before retiring after the 2011 season. He amassed 2,156 career hits and 6 All-Star selections. In 2007, he lead the AL with a .363 batting average. He completed his career with a .309 batting average.
- An elite closer with 437 career saves in his 16 year career, this hurler played for the Angels, Brewers, Mets, Tigers, and Orioles. In 2008, he finished 69 of the 76 games in which he appeared with 62 saves for the Angels. The Angels finished the season with 100 wins, but lost the AL Division Series to the Red Sox. This pitcher lost game two of that Series. His career W-L record is 52-53.
- In a 15-year career with only one team, this righty starter won 169 games with a career 3.42 ERA and 2,524 strikeouts. He was a 6-time All-Star and won the 2010 Cy Young Award. He started the 2014 All-Star game at Target Field.
- This third baseman is playing in his 13th big league season. He hit his 330th career home run on Wednesday, June 10, 2026, against the San Diego Padres. His ninth inning double drove in the winning run leading his team to a victory over the USA in the 2026 World Baseball Classic final game.
- Bonus: Who was the MVP of the 2026 World Baseball Classic?
Bonus Bonus (not by Ed): What former Most Valuable Player’s name is an anagram of OYSTER PUBES?
Answers below
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Membership
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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Thoughts for the Month: Terry Bevington and Ken Kaiser
August 15, 1995: Terry Bevington and Ken Kaiser exchange inspirational quotes (so mushy that it’s not safe for work).
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Cow Pies
The SABR Games Project has a new game story by a chapter member:
Dave Winfield was present May 30 for the unveiling of a statue of him at Toni Stone Field at the Dunning Sports Complex in St. Paul. The plan is to add statues of Joe Mauer, Paul Molitor, Jack Morris, and Toni Stone.
Mike Haupert co-authored an article, “Babe Ruth’s Anomalous 1929 Season: Why Did His Bases on Balls Plummet?,” in the Spring 2026 Baseball Research Journal. which is available as a free download to all SABR members.
https://sabr.org/ebooks
Rich Bogovich wrote a bio of George Britt that appears in the SABR book, The Negro Leagues’ 1931 Homestead Grays: The Color of Greatness.
Both of these books are available to be downloaded free by SABR members.
The June 2026 edition of Keltner’s Hot Corner, the newsletter of the Ken Keltner Badger State Chapter, is on-line:
Keltner’s Hot Corner, June 2026
Past Keltner’s Hot Corner newsletters:
Keltner’s Hot Corner
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Answers to Ed Edmonds’s Quiz
- Dave Concepcion
- Jose Altuve
- Chico Carrasquel
- Luis Aparicio
- Miguel Cabrera
- Vic Davalillo
- Magglio Ordonez
- Francisco Rodriguez
- Felix Hernandez
- Eugenio Suarez
Bonus question: Maikel Garcia
The theme honors the World Baseball Classic champions—all natives of Venezuela.
Bonus Bonus answer: Buster Posey
For a Bonus Bonus Bonus, come up with an anagram of Spiro Agnew.
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
June 29—Zoom meeting with Dave Bohmer about his book, Ford Frick: Baseball’s Third Commissioner and His Four Decades of Shaping the Game, 7:00 p.m.
July 14—All-Star Game Viewing Party, 7:00 p.m., Mannings’s, Minneapolis.
July 18—Fred Souba Hot Stove League Saturday Morning, 9:00 a.m., Shortstop Bar and Grill, Fridley. For more information, contact John Buckeye.
July 20—Research Committee meeting, 7:00-9:00 p.m. via Zoom. For more information, contact Dave Lande or Gene Gomes.
July 29-August 2—SABR convention in Cleveland.
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 9—Zoom meeting with Jay Wigley about his book, How Retrosheet Saved Baseball History, 7:00 p.m.
September 3-4—Fifth anal. 9-Online Virtual Baseball Conference.
October 9—Eighth anal. SABR/International Women in Baseball Virtual Conference.
October 17—Fall Chapter Meeting, 9:00 a.m. For more information, contact Howard Luloff, 952-994-5217, or Bob Komoroski.
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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
Directorsr—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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