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The Newsletter of the Halsey Hall Chapter
Society for American Baseball Research (SABR)

SABR MVP Chapter 2022-2023

March 2024

Editor:
Stew Thornley

Index to past stories in The Holy Cow!

  • Registration for SABR 52 Now Open
  • Big March and April
  • Bob Komoroski’s Kapital Kwiz
  • Ed Edmonds Part of 11 Men In
  • Spring Chapter Meeting May 18
  • Other Upcoming Events and Big Stuff
  • New Members
  • Cow Chips
  • Answers to Bob Komoroski’s Kapital Kwiz
  • Calendar
  • Board of Directors
  • Resources

    SABR 52 Logo

    Registration for SABR 52 Now Open
    The SABR convention is coming. Are you? The event is scheduled from Wednesday, August 7 to Sunday, August 11 at the Hyatt Regency Minneapolis. The Core Four (John Buckeye, Daniel Dorff, Gene Gomes, and a retread) encourages members to indicate your interest to be a volunteer by sending a note to Jessica Smyth, jsmyth@sabr.org.

    We can use people during the day on Tuesday, August 6 to assemble swag bags at the hotel (Hyatt Regency at 13th and Nicollet). During the convention, warm bodies are needed for a whole plethora-load of things: greeters, timekeepers for researcher presentations, staffers at the registration table. Let Jessica know if you have a particular interest in any of those things or if you’re up for anything.

    Registration is now open.

    A call for abstracts is open until March 10 for oral and poster presentations. The chapter has submitted applications to display its posters for Hall of Famers who have played in Minnesota for teams other than the Twins and for the Spread of Baseball project.

    Students in high school or college who are between 19 and 29 can apply for a Yoseloff Scholarship to attend the convention with registration fees, lodging, and transportation covered. Applications are due May 7. Get this info out to any baseball aficionados who qualify: Students, apply now for a Yoseloff Scholarship to attend SABR 52 in Minneapolis

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    Big March and April
    Gary Gillette is hosting what has become a semi-annual event for SABR members in the vicinity of teams in the American League Central Division. On Thursday, March 28 from 6:30 to 8:15 p.m. Central time, SABR members will provide an outlook for the Tigers, Royals, White Sox, Guardians, and Twins, the latter being covered by Gene Gomes and John Buckeye.

    AL Central Chapters Meeting Registration

    The Halsey Hall Chapter will host a program about the 100th anniversary of the first world championship of the Washington-Minnesota franchise from 6:30 to 7:45 p.m. on Wednesday, April 17, at the Ramsey County Library in Roseville (northeast corner of Hamline Avenue and County Road B). The event is free and open to the public and will include presentations on Walter Johnson, Clark Griffith, and the 1924 World Series with video clips of the World Series and of Johnson.

    Matt Hodson of the Minnesota Twins will be there to talk about the team’s plans to have a special day to honor the 1924 champions on August 11. The event will include door prizes.

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    Bob Komoroski’s Kapital Kwiz
    In line with the upcoming program on the Washington Senators and their 1924 world championship, the February Research Committee meeting included a quiz submitted by an extinguished member.

    1. This Washington Senator player is the only man to achieve this baseball feat, which was not accomplished in a ballpark. What was his name and accomplishment?
    2. This franchise was moved from this Western League/minor-league American League city in 1901 to become the A.L. Washington Senators.
    3. How many Washington Senators are in the baseball Hall of Fame?
    4. After retiring from baseball, Walter Johnson held this position.
    5. This Broadway musical is a retelling of the Faust legend and is set during the 1950s in Washington D.C. Name the play and the main character.
    6. He was the last Washington Senators manager (1960) before the team moved to Minnesota.
    7. This Venezuelan pitcher debuted on April 23, 1939 for the Senators, becoming the first Venezuelan player in MLB. He is also one of a handful of MLB players to jump to the Mexican League in 1946. His nephew was an MLB shortstop for the Chicago White Sox, starting a long tradition of Venezuelan players with that team.
    8. Washington’s NL team lasted from 1892 until 1899. What was its nickname?
    9. How many times have the Senators finished in second place (1901-1960)?
    10. Griffith Stadium, home of the Senators, also was home to this Negro League club where it hosted the 1943 and 1944 Negro League World Series.
    11. Which Washington Senator was a two-time A.L. batting champion, in 1946 and 1953?
    12. What Federal League team did Walter Johnson sign with but never played for?

    Quiz answers below

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    Ed Edmonds Part of 11 Men In
    Ed Edmonds is currently working on a chapter involving the legal career of Leland Stanford “Larry” MacPhail, Sr. for a future McFarland publication edited by Bob Jarvis and Lou Schiff for McFarland & Company, Inc. The focus of the book is on the legal career of the eleven men inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame who have law degrees or careers as lawyers. Although the baseball careers of these eleven men are well-known, the details of the legal careers of these men are generally less so. McPhail was born in Cass City, Michigan, who later changed the spelling of his last name to MacPhail. The “Roaring Redhead” graduated from George Washington University at the age of 20, and he practiced for a very brief period of time before beginning his career as a baseball executive.

    As an addition to the normal quiz in Holy Cow, try to name the other 10. The list is included with the Kapital Kwiz answers below.

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    Spring Chapter Meeting May 18
    The spring chapter meeting will be Saturday, May 18 at Faith Mennonite Church, 2720 E. 22nd Street in south Minneapolis. Registration begins around 8:15 a.m. with the program beginning at 8:45. The cost for the meeting and lunch is $10. People can pay by cash (with correct change appreciated) or check at the door.

    There will be a featured speaker in the afternoon, and the morning will consist of research presentations by chapter members. Howard will have his Improved and Still Almost New Jeopardy trivia quiz after the featured speaker along with door prizes. During the business meeting over lunch, the chapter will elect three members to two-year terms on the board of directors (term to begin July 1). The terms of Bob Tholkes, Jerry Janzen, and Ed Edmonds (who was elected mid-term to fill a vacancy) are expiring. Ed has indicated he is interested in running for a full-term and will be submitting a candidate statement. Other members in good standing are invited to indicate their interest and submit a statement.

    Ed Edmonds will be running for a full term on the board. Here is his candidate statement:

    As a relatively new member of the Halsey Hall Chapter of the Society of American Baseball Research, I am pleased to offer a few words on why I am seeking a full term on the Chapter’s Board of Directors. First, I will dedicate myself to assisting the officers, the other Board members, and all members of the Chapter in never relinquishing our MVP Chapter status. The fact that we were the only Chapter given this designation last year solidifies that this Chapter stands out as “best” in all of the SABR. This is not to say that there are not many great chapters, but the Halsey Hall Chapter has consistently been extremely active in providing a wide array of activities for our members dedicated to the history of baseball. We never want to give up that honor.

    As part of my service, I want to see that we both maintain that wide array of offerings while increasing them. As a life-long baseball card collector, one of my goals is to create a baseball card component to our Chapter activities. As an author, researcher, and presenter on baseball topics to our chapter, at the national SABR annual meeting, the Nine Spring Training Conference, and the Cooperstown Symposium, I hope to assist our members in their own research, writing, and presentations.

    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 (April 20). If a slot remains after that, any member can submit a proposal until May 4, two weeks before the meeting, when the Research Committee will wrap up the schedule of presentations.

    One presentation, by Terry Bohn, has been approved by the Research Committee:

    Who Was That Guy? Identification of Unknown Minor League Players
    According to Baseball-Reference, since 1876 more than 23,000 men have played at least one game in Major League Baseball. Full names and biographical information such as birth, death, and burial dates and locations are known for the vast majority of them. There remain a handful of brief 19th century players that the SABR Biographical Research Committee is still working to identify.

    However, there are still tens of thousands of minor leaguers who are still known only by their last name. This presentation will explain the methods and resources I use to identify these players by finding a first name and then, if possible, linking them to a known player in the Minor League Database along with the process used to make updates and corrections to Baseball-Reference. I will discuss some of the challenges in this type of research as well as some of the surprising and interesting findings.

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    Other Upcoming Events and Big Stuff
    The Fred Souba Hot Stove Saturday Morning, an informal breakfast gathering for the purpose of talking baseball, will be at Manning’s (which finally put up signs for handicapped parking spots!) at 22nd and Como in southeast Minneapolis on Saturday, March 9 at 9:00 a.m.

    The next Research Committee meetings, via Zoom, will be March 18 and April 15 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, Ed Edmonds, and Bob Komoroski. Let Dave or Gene know if you would like to attend and/or join the committee.

    The next Book Club meeting will be Saturday, April 13 at Barnes & Noble in Har Mar Mall at 9:30 a.m. The book selection is Steve Gietschier’s Baseball: The Turbulent Midcentury Years, which was recently named the 2024 recipient of the 2024 Seymour Medal for the best baseball history or biography published during the previous calendar year. 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 Halsey Hall Chapter will again participate in the annual History Day event and award a prize for the best baseball project. Rich Arpi will be a judge and could use another one. If you can help—either by attending on April 20 or by judging entries on-line prior to that—contact Rich, rich.arpi@comcast.net.

    Gene Gomes will write an article on a to-be-determined player from the 1987 and/or 1991 Twins for the SABR BioProject. A chapter research project involves getting bios written for all of these players, coaches, and others connected with those teams. If you're life ambition has been to learn more and write a bio of Carl Pohlad, Mark Davidson, Dick Bremer, Randy Bush, Greg Gagne, Roy Smalley III, Les Straker and/or a whole plethora-load of others, contact the Bio Project at bioassign@sabr.org.

    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 274 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, trollers, and other wankers.)

    Also:

    Regular Events

    Video Archives of Past Events

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    New Members
    New to the Halsey Hall Chapter: Mac Wilson, Benjamin Reinhard, Henry Gliedman

    Our chapter has welcomed 23 new members since June 1, the beginning of the SABR fiscal year reporting period, and has 184 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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    Cow Chips
    The SABR Games Project has a new game story by Dave Lande: May 1, 1951: Willie Mays has 3 hits, makes spectacular catch in Millers’ home opener. This story was in the Willie Mays: Five Tools book.

    Mike Haupert will be the keynote speaker, and Bob Tholkes will be on a panel discussing the Knickerbockers at the Frederick Ivor-Campbell 19th Century Base Ball Conference in Cooperstown April 19-20.

    Jerry Janzen at Birdie Tebbetts Field

    Jerry Janzen spent February in Florida and visited Anna Maria Island, where Birdie Tebbetts and Fred Hutchinson lived their last days. The ball field, Jerry notes, was a landing strip into the 1970s.

    John Rosengren’s book, The Greatest Summer in Baseball History: How the ‘73 Season Changed Us Forever, is a finalist in the general nonfiction category for the Minnesota Book Awards.

    John Bonnes in Preposterous Statement Tournament

    John Bonnes earned two nominations in the
    KFAN Preposterous Statement Tournament.

    John Bonnes in Preposterous Statement Tournament

    The February 2024 edition of Keltner’s Hot Corner, the newsletter of the Ken Keltner Badger State Chapter, is on-line:

    Keltner’s Hot Corner, February 2024

    Past Keltner’s Hot Corner newsletters:

    Keltner’s Hot Corner

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    Answers to Bob Komoroski’s Kapital Kwiz

    1. Gabby Street caught a ball dropped from the Washington monument August 22, 1908.
    2. Kansas City
    3. 6 primarily as Senators: Walter Johnson, Sam Rice, Goose Goslin, Bucky Harris, Heinie Manush, Joe Cronin
    4. County Commissioner for Montgomery County, Maryland
    5. Damn Yankees
    6. Cookie Lavagetto
    7. Alex Carrasquel
    8. Senators
    9. 5
    10. Homestead Grays
    11. Mickey Vernon
    12. Chicago ChiFeds

    The other 10 lawyers in the Hall of Fame, besides Larry MacPhail, are Kenesaw Mountain Landis, Hughie Jennings, Jim O’Rourke, Miller Huggins, John Montgomery Ward, Branch Rickey, Happy Chandler, Bowie Kuhn, Walter O’Malley, and Tony La Russa.

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    Calendar
        March 9—Fred Souba Hot Stove League Saturday Morning, 9:00 a.m., Mannings’s, Minneapolis.

        March 18—Research Committee meeting, 7:00-9:00 p.m. via Zoom. For more information, contact Dave Lande or Gene Gomes.

        March 28—American League Central Division Preview, 6:30-8:15 p.m. Central Time via Zoom.

        April 13Book Club, Barnes & Noble, Har Mar Mall, Roseville, 9:30 a.m., Baseball: The Turbulent Midcentury Years by Steve Gietschier.

        April 14—Halsey Hall Chapter Board of Directors meeting, 7:00 p.m. For more information on attending, contact Rich Arpi.

        April 15—Research Committee meeting, 7:00-9:00 p.m. via Zoom. For more information, contact Dave Lande or Gene Gomes.

        April 17—Program on 100th Anniversary of the 1924 World Series, 6:30 p.m., Ramsey County Library, Roseville.

        May 18—Spring Chapter Meeting, 8:45 a.m., Faith Mennonite Church, Minneapolis. For more information, contact Howard Luloff, 952-922-5036, or Bob Komoroski.

        August 7-11—SABR Convention, Minneapolis.

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    Board of Directors 2023-2024
    President—Rich Arpi
    Vice President—Bob Tholkes
    Secretary—Daniel Dorff
    Treasurer—Jerry Janzen
    John Buckeye
    Ed Edmonds
    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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