Resources
Dave Anderson Dies
Dave Anderson died at 75 on October 27. Dave was the vice president and longtime monthly quizmaster (a role he took over from Glenn Gostick) for the Original Old Timers Hot Stove League. An early member of the Halsey Hall Chapter, Dave rejoined SABR a few years ago. He owned Brick Alley Books in Stillwater and authored several books, including Quotations from Chairman Calvin and the anthology Before the Dome: Baseball in Minnesota When the Grass Was Real. A celebration of life will be held from 1 to 3 p.m. on Saturday, November 15 at Freedom Library, 1105 Greenbrier Street, St. Paul 55106. There will be food.
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Panel on Girls in Baseball a Big Hit at Fall Meeting
Emma Charlesworth-Seiler, Mary Shea, and Chelsey Falzone were the featured guests at the fall meeting of the Halsey Hall Chapter.
More than 30 SABR members and guests—Fred Buckland, Kris Hard, Terry Bohn, Brenda Himrich, Jacob Sayward, John Buckeye, Ed Edmonds, Mike Haupert, Art Mugalian, Stew Thornley, Barry Bengtsson, Daniel Dorff, Rich Arpi, Howard Luloff, Doug Skipper, Glenn Renick, Armand Peterson, Brian Larson, Gregg Nelson, Gene Gomes, Mike Zarling, Bob Komoroski, Steve Bratkovich, Jeff Lenz, Aaron Sinner, Eric Roe, Jerry Janzen, Kurt Franke, Dan Levitt, Rich Bogovich, Bob Tholkes, Mary Shea, Jed Levitt, and Lloyd Kepple—packed Faith Mennonite Church for the Halsey Hall Chapter Fall Meeting October 25.
Lots happened and was carefully chronicled by our special correspondent.
By John Buckeye
Presentation 1: Mike Zarling - MLB Milestones: A Brief History and Who Might Join
Mike started us off with an explanation on his fascination with milestones and what the talking points were going to be—it would start with how each of the various milestone “Clubs” came to be, and then he would take us through looking at who could join next.
We would also see his system in figuring out the likelihood of each individual.
We started out talking about the 300 win club, and some notable early figures in that one, such as Early Wynn- who had quite the odyssey trying to catch that white whale. Not many current players have a great shot, with Verlander the most possible (though still unlikely).
Mike then discussed the hallowed 3000 hit club, started by Adrian (Cap) Anson way back when (although no one knows exactly when).
There are a couple cool possibilities for membership soon, with Freddie Freeman and Manny Machado the alliterative brothers-in-arms on this journey.
Three thousand K’s is also a big one, where we learned both who started it, and the most recent member- Clayton Kershaw. This led to discussions of if Kevin Gausman and Chris Sale could make it, or but more likely Gerrit Cole and Aaron Nola.
And finally 500 homers is the one with the most recent members—not many free from the taint of PEDs. Talked about those who were, and how Machado could join a very special club here if he were to also have 3000 hits.
Presentation 2: Richard Bogovich - Black Baseball in Southeastern Minnesota: New Research Finds
Richard showed a boxscore from the multiracial All Nations doubleheader in 1912 in New Richland, MN in which Hall of Famer J. L. Wilkinson participated playing second base. Also in a 1912 game boxscore appeared John Donaldson.
Rochester native and University of Minnesota athlete from 1925-1927 William O’Shields likely was the first Black player on the team of Rochester High School, and his teams received extensive newspaper coverage. Infielder Arthur “Archie” McDougal , nicknamed Rabbit, was the only member of the Black 1909 St. Paul Gophers for which Seamheads has no birth or death information. He played in Rochester during the 1920s and was buried there in 1968. Richard has research on Negro League players and execs who were patients at the Mayo Clinic from 1927-1963. Richard has ongoing research on more players, including Double Duty Radcliffe on the 1948 Rochester Aces.
His research covers players’ games in Goodhue, Waseca, and Fillmore Counties in Minnesota.
Presentation 3: Ed Edmonds - Peter Seitz and the Dawn of Free Agency
Ed discussed a key figure in the fight for free agency, the man who would end up making the decision that solidified the institution in MLB.
He brought us quickly through some of the situations- court cases and holdouts- that got us closer to it.
Ed talked about an early strategy Dodgers stars Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax used by holding out together for better deals- which worked out for them pretty well.
By the time the players union hired Marvin Miller, they were on their way toward making some headway. It was of course the Curt Flood case that brought free agency into the national spotlight. The union voted to accept the suit on his behalf, but while they had a loss at the Supreme Court, it was not as set in stone as it might have appeared. Finally in 1975 the decision went to a panel headed by Peter Seitz, who Ed gave us a short biography of, and who ultimately ruled in favor of the players request for free agency. Ed emphasized the owners assumed either they would get a favorable ruling or the federal courts who nullify this one- neither of which happened. The owners in turn fired Seitz immediately, but the damage (from their perspective) had already been done.
Presentation 4: Bob Tholkes - Reporting Baseball - 1868
At this time in the game many papers were still figuring out how to report baseball games. They got a lot of help from early statistician Henry Chadwick. He pioneered the Game Summary Table, soon to be known as the box score. It contains a lot of the stats we know today, albeit in a more abbreviated form. This started to become popular in this season, but many papers still clung to writing out a lot of the play-by-play. It became necessary to hire reporters who were familiar with the game that they might better convey it to the audience. Chadwick continued to influence even this style.
There were a lot of interesting new baseball terms which came into vogue around this time, some we had heard and several not popular anymore.
There were also some notable events going on this year, such as Ice Baseball—where players wore skates, and presumably got hurt a whole lot. Even if the games were shorter.
There was also a matchup of All-star and National cricket teams, from England and the US, who learned the sport and played a few games against each other.
Also around this time there were a lot of games that went into triple figures in runs scored, which made keeping a box score for those games absolute madness.
Guest Speakers:
The panel of Chelsey Falzone and Emma Charlesworth-Seiler were moderated by special guest Mary Shea from the SABR chapter in Milwaukee who made the trip over here to help us out.
The two women are now coaches and youth development coordinators for the rapidly growing Minnesota Twins Girls Baseball program. They emphasized during the presentation that they are not trying to replace softball, but that we have to acknowledge that it is a different sport than baseball. They want people to understand that “Baseball Is For Everyone” as their team patches say. They showed us some amazing videos of what they did to help organize the first U14 girls baseball team, which went this past summer to Reno, NV to compete in the National Girls Baseball tournament. And they made it to the championship game!
After some more presentation on what some of the challenges and goals are for the program, we asked them some questions and they gave very candid responses.
Both of them love baseball, and they know that there is a place for women in the sport- besides just accepting softball as “their” version of it. We talked about the origins of softball itself and how it came to be associated with women- while sadly replacing a sport that was very popular among women and girls.
Glenn Renick brought a display of Joe Hauser baseball cards.
The meeting was also seen by multitudes thanks to Brenda Himrich beaming it out on Facebook Live, and the day concluded with another sterling trivia quiz by “Hat’s Off” Howard Luloff.
The date for the 2026 Spring Chapter Meeting will be Saturday, April 25.
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 (March 28). If a slot remains after that, any member can submit a proposal until April 11, two weeks before the meeting, when the Research Committee will wrap up the schedule of presentations.
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By-Laws Amended; New Board and Officer Structure Approved
The Halsey Hall Chapter passed an amendment to the chapter by-laws that changes the structure of the board of directors and officers. Each spring the chapter will have a direct election of a president-elect. This person will automatically ascend to president the following year and then to immediate past president, the latter being an ex-officio, non-voting member of the board of directors. Elections of a secretary and treasurer will occur every three years. Three directors will serve rotating three-year terms with one director elected by the membership every year.
Here are the bylaws, as amended:
By-laws of the Halsey Hall Chapter, Society for American Baseball Research
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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 Saturday, November 8 at 9:00 a.m. at the Shortstop Bar and Grill, 1298 East Moore Lake Drive, Fridley 55432.
The Halsey Hall Chapter will host a Zoom meeting with Mark Armour on Wednesday, November 19 at 7:00 p.m. regarding his research on Satchel Paige and his attempt to document every pitching appearance by Paige. The meeting with our chapter will focus on Paige’s appearances in Minnesota and the Dakotas.
SABR is hosting an on-line inclusivity training session at at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 22. The session builsd on 2025 training to become a more inclusive organization and a stronger chapter leader. Any SABR member is welcome to attend. Registration information will be provided soon, and interested people may contact Allison Levin at allison.levin@gmail.com.
The next Book Club meeting will be Saturday, December 6 at Barnes & Noble in Har Mar Mall at 9:30 a.m. The book selection is Banzai Babe Ruth: Baseball, Espionage & Assassination during the 1934 Tour of Japan by Rob Fitts. Future Book Club dates, with the book selection to be decided at the previous meeting, are February 7 and April 11.
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 2026 SABR convention in Cleveland has the dates set: 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.
Keep up to date with chapter activities on social media:
SABR Halsey Hall Chapter Facebook page
SABR Halsey Hall Chapter Bluesky page
Halsey Hall Chapter Twitter 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 102 followers, the Facebook page 317 members, and the Xwitter page 817 followers. 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.) Bob Komoroski is overseeing the Bluesky page.
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 Research Committee.
Ed Edmonds did a presentation for the Lefty O’Doul San Francisco Bay/Dusty Baker-Sacramento chapters October 11, on the book, Attorneys in the Hall of Fame, in which he has a chapter on Larry MacPhail.
Minnesota lieutenant governor Peggy Flanagan chaired the October 3, 2025 of the Capitol Area Architectural and Planning Board, which voted 11-0 (with more than one “emphatic aye”) to approve the application to propose a commemorative work for the St. Paul Downtown Base Ball Park, also known as The Pillbox. The Halsey Hall Chapter has been involved several projects to mark the sites of former ballparks in the Twin Cities.
The next step is the site selection plan to be followed by the design plan as well as likely several more hoops to jump through.
Peggy Flanagan (left) has been an enthusiatic supporter
of the project to commemorate The Pillbox.
Jude Butler is forming a SABR Town Ball Research Committee. Contact Jude at judeabutler@gmail.com for more information.
The Halsey Hall Chapter will have a table at the annual conference of the Minnesota Council for the Social Studies to promote SABR scholarships.
Calvin Haverkamp hosted a dozen chapter members at his The Ballpark baseball card store on November 1, displaying his vintage cards and assorted baseball memorabilia. Calvin and his store were featured on WCCO-TV in 2019: The Ballpark May Be MN’s Longest-Running Sports Memorabilia Store. Calvin has also joined SABR.
The next Research Committee meetings, via Zoom, will be November 17 and December 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, 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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Bob Komoroski’s Quiz
Here is the quiz from the October Research Committee meeting from Bob Komoroski.
- He was the last of five famous brothers to play major league ball. Perhaps not as well-known as his better-known brothers, this journeyman left fielder had a ten-year career with four teams. While less accomplished in baseball, he had a bright future in Cleveland politics as an attorney and state representative before becoming involved in, and later convicted in a bribery scandal. He also served time in Federal Prison for Volstead Act violations during prohibition.
- A journeyman ballplayer who played with seven teams over 13 years, this Hall of Famer made his mark as a manager as the first to win World Series titles with two teams, and remains one of only three managers to win pennants with three teams. He was nicknamed “Deacon” because he sang in his church choir and lived a quiet life.
- He is a Hall of Fame member and a three-time World Series winner. He was the winningest lefthanded pitcher until 1962 until he was eclipsed by Warren Spahn. He pitched complete games in all six of his World Series appearances, and his three match-ups against the Giants’ Christy Mathewson are still considered World Series classics.
- He pitched for twenty-five years in major league ball, was on two World Series championships, and held several age-related records, including: the oldest pitcher to finish a World Series game, at 47 years, three months, and three days; and the oldest man to hit a home run in a major league game, also at 47, but broken by Julio Franco in 2006.
- This center fielder’s rookie season was spent with the Chicago White Sox where he saw limited action. He spent almost all of his career with the Reds and Giants in the National League. A Hall of Famer and two-time batting champion, he led the Reds to the 1919 World Series championship.
- This Hall of Fame shortstop spent his entire playing career in Chicago, except for one year. He was part of the greatest double play combinations of his era, and is famously known for feuding with his second baseman, for years, because he had taken a cab to the ballpark alone and left him, and teammates, behind. He was immortalized in a poem by sportswriter and columnist Franklin Pierce Adams.
- A native of Crow Wing County, Minnesota and member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, he twice won 20 plus games. His 14-year career is highlighted by three World Series championships.
- Late in his career, this Dead ball Era spitball pitcher was mired in controversy when he was accused of tipping off a gambler to a possible fixed game. He was the first pitcher to record a win at the ball park now known as Wrigley Field.
- He is considered by many to be the first true star of the New York American League ball club. Despite allegations of game fixing, he was considered one of the best players of his era, and was included in Lawrence Ritter and Donald Honig’s book “The 100 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time.”
- Who are the only players to play in the same city in the 20th century in three major leagues?
Answers below
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Membership
The Halsey Hall Chapter welcomes new member Calvin Haverkamp.
Our chapter has welcomed 5 new members since June 1, 2025, the beginning of the SABR fiscal year reporting period, and now has 185 members.
Did you know? One of our members is Linus Van Pelt, who joined SABR in March 2023. Linus was born September 19, 1952. By coincidence, the comic strip Peanuts introduced a new character that day:
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 of the Month
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Cow Pies
The SABR Games Project has new game stories by chapter members:
The SABR BioProject has a new bio, Ollie Pickering, Terry Bohn.
Team 69ers—consisting of four SABR members and a daughter—successfully escaped The Escape Room in a little over an hour on November 1.
The October 2025 edition of Keltner’s Hot Corner, the newsletter of the Ken Keltner Badger State Chapter, is on-line:
Keltner’s Hot Corner, October 2025
Past Keltner’s Hot Corner newsletters:
Keltner’s Hot Corner
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Answers to Bob Komoroski’s Quiz
- Frank Delahanty
- Bill McKechnie
- Eddie Plank
- John Picus “Jack” Quinn
- Edd Roush
- Joe Tinker
- Charles Albert Bender
- Claude Hendrix
- Hal Chase
- Rollie Zeider, Dutch Zwilling
Theme: All played in the Federal League.
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Calendar
November 8—Fred Souba Hot Stove League Saturday Morning, 9:00 a.m., Shortstop Bar and Grill, Fridley. For more information, contact John Buckeye.
November 17—Research Committee meeting, 7:00-9:00 p.m. via Zoom. For more information, contact Dave Lande or Gene Gomes.
November 19—Mark Armour on Satchel Paige in the Upper Midwest, 7:00 p.m. via Zoom.
November 22—SABR Inclusivity Training, 2:00 p.m. For more information, contact Allison Levin, Allison Levin.
December 6—Book Club, Barnes & Noble, Har Mar Mall, Roseville, 9:30 a.m., Banzai Babe Ruth: Baseball, Espionage & Assassination during the 1934 Tour of Japan by Rob Fitts. Contact Ed Edmonds for more information.
December 7—Halsey Hall Chapter Board of Directors meeting, 7:30 p.m. For more information on attending, contact Ed Edmonds.
December—Research Committee
meeting, 7:00-9:00 p.m. via Zoom. For more information, contact Dave Lande or Gene Gomes.
February 7—Book Club, Barnes & Noble, Har Mar Mall, Roseville, 9:30 a.m.
April 11—Book Club, Barnes & Noble, Har Mar Mall, Roseville, 9:30 a.m.
April 25—Spring Chapter Meeting, 8:45 a.m. For more information, contact Howard Luloff, 952-994-5217, or Bob Komoroski.
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Board of Directors 2025-2026
President—Ed Edmonds
Vice President—Mike Haupert
Secretary—John Buckeye
Treasurer—Rich Arpi
Terry Bohn
Howard Luloff
Jacob Sayward
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, Facebook and Bluesky; John Buckeye, 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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