Resources
SABR Convention Recap
Tom Stone has written an article on the recent SABR convention in Baltimore on his Now Taking the Field blog. This is a great recap for those who missed the convention as those who were there.
On that note, a recap of our semi-annual chapter meetings (see below for news on the next one) would be nice to have in our newsletter. If anyone is inclined to write something up (it doesn't have to be as extensive as what Tom did), please let me know at stew@stewthornley.net.
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Fall Chapter Meeting Set for November 5
The Fall Chapter Meeting will be at Faith Mennonite Church, 2720 E. 22nd Street in south Minneapolis on Saturday, November 5.
Registration for the meeting is at 8:30 with introductions and research presentations beginning at 8:45. A business meeting will be held during lunch with a featured guest and Howard Luloff’s always-a-hit trivia contest to follow.
The business meeting will include a vote on a proposed amendment to the by-laws from the board of directors:
Under Article V: Appropriations, Section 1-Approval Process, change “Appropriations of chapter funds exceeding $100.00 must be subject to approval by the board of directors” to “Members of the board of directors are authorized to spend up to $100.00 for items such as stamps and supplies that are routine for the functioning of the chapter. Appropriations of chapter funds that are not routine for the functioning of the chapter or in excess of $100 must be approved in advance by the board of directors.”
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 meeting will include up to five oral research presentations. Three have been approved so far:
Sam Sundermeyer, Dawn of the Long Night: The Origin of Baseball’s Color Barrier, which Sam presented at the SABR convention in Baltimore. Here is the abstract submitted for the convention: “The tangled origin of the color barrier in Organized Baseball has been resistant to historical study since the publication of the foundational text in our subject, Baseball: The Early Years, by Harold Seymour and Dorothy Seymour. There exist the arguments of the ‘Gentlemen’s Agreement’ and individual players willing the barrier into existence; the historiography of the subject is fractured and incomplete. Sundermeyer examines the origin of the color barrier in Organized Baseball. He argues that the barrier originated from, and carried direct ties to, business and cultural precedent from Reconstruction-era America, and will show how the color barrier was born of far more precedent and intention than has previously been acknowledged. He studies the careers of pioneering African-American players of the era, who played on organized teams for years before the barrier emerged, through this lens of intention and precedent in the barrier’s origin.”
Ed Edmonds, Baseball’s Misunderstood Antitrust Trilogy. Abstract: “This year marks the centennial anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in Federal Baseball Club v. National League. The general understanding of Justice Holmes’ opinion misses a major legal point, and many scholars acknowledge that the decision matched the general understanding of antitrust law in 1922. The case was followed by Toolson v. New York Yankees in 1953, and Earl Toolson’s life and court challenge are also subject to fundamental misunderstandings. Finally, this year is also the fiftieth anniversary of Flood v. Kuhn, a case where Minnesota’s Justice Harry Blackmun’s first sentence is marked by a significant error that serves as an introduction to a lengthy historical paean to baseball.”
Bob Tholkes, What’s Wrong with Base Ball?, a survey of print media (the only medium of the time) criticisms of baseball in 1867, drawn from contemporary sources.
Members are invited to submit a proposal to make a research (oral or poster) presentation at the meeting. Proposals must 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. The Research Committee will finalize the schedule of research presentations by October 22, two weeks before the meeting, so proposals must be submitted by then.
One presentation slot is always reserved for a first-time presenter until four weeks before the chapter meeting, which is October 8. If a slot remains after that, any member can submit a proposal until October 22, two weeks before the meeting, when the Research Committee will wrap up the schedule of presentations.
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Upcoming Events
Dan Levitt will be speaking about his new book, Intentional Balk, on Monday, October 3 at 7:00 p.m. at Magers & Quinn, 3038 Hennepin Avenue, Minneapolis 55408, 612-822-4611. The event is free but registration is required to attend.
The book club will meet at Barnes & Noble in Har Mar Mall at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, October 8 and discuss Intentional Balk: Baseball’s Thin Line Between Innovation and Cheating by Dan Levitt and Mark Armour. Brent Heutmaker has organized a list of all the book selections since the book club started in August 2002: Halsey Hall Book Club Selections
Dan will also be making a presentation about the book on Thursday, October 6 at 6:00 p.m. Central Time for the New York Giants Preservation Society, which has been having mostly weekly Zoom events every Thursday. Armand Peterson will present on Wes Westrum November 17. To get notifications of these meetings, contact Gary Mintz, giantsguru@gmail.com.
The next Research Committee meeting, via Zoom, will be Monday, October 17. 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 Fred Souba Hot Stove Saturday Morning, an informal breakfast gathering for the purpose of talking baseball, will at Manning’s at 22nd and Como in southeast Minneapolis on Saturday, November 19 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 haven’t RSVP’d and/or don’t sweat it if you RSVP and can’t make it (although an un-RSVP, if possible, would be appreciated).
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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.
Also:
Regular Events
Video Archives of Past Events
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New Member: Ben Ernst
Ben Ernst is a single bachelor from Aberdeen, South Dakota, once the farm team of the Baltimore Orioles as the Aberdeen Pheasants. Ben is a sales representative for a cybersecurity company.
He is interested in the history of the Pheasants (Legacy of Northern League Baseball, The Aberdeen Pheasants) as well as the rich heritage of the Northern League. Ben worked for the Los Angeles Angels in 2016 and had a Topps baseball card made of him:
Ben enjoys writing to former Pheasants and getting autographs. He recently received these signed cards from Al Bumbry:
Ben shares his January 18 birthday with fellow chapter member Anders Koskinen as well as Max Fried, Curt Flood, Brett Lawrie, Anthony Bemboom, Michael Pineda, Billy Grabarkewitz, Pinky May, Gift Ngoepe, Mike Lieberthal, Satch Davidson, Bill Sharp, Brady Anderson, Scott McGregor, Bill McGowan, Mike Fornieles, Carl Morton, Tobin Rote, A. A. Milne, Kevin Costner, Ted DiBiase, Danny Kaye, Dave Attell, Mark Messier, Cary Grant, Syl Apps, Elijah Cummings, Oliver Hardy, and Bozo the Clown (Bob Bell).
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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Gene Gomes’s The Queen Is Dead Quiz
The September Research Committee meeting included a quiz submitted by Mean Gene Gomes:
- What’s the nickname of the team that played in Delorimier Stadium from 1928 to 1960?
- He once hit a 530-foot home run. He led the National League in homers and strikeouts while with the Cubs and Mets and finished with 442 career home runs.
- Lefty pitcher who started out 1-7 but went 20-1 with 10 shutouts for a National League pennant winning in the ‘80s. He lost Game Seven of the World Series.
- Nickname of the only player to hit four home runs in two World Series—both in the 1950s.
- 1972 was his last as a pitcher but in 1978 started a stellar pitching-coach career with Cleveland. Later he oversaw three Cy Young Awards in Toronto. He was coaxed out of retirement in 2000 to successfully revive Roy Halladay’s career.
- He won three Gold Gloves with the Senators/Twins and caught a no-hitter.
- Nickname of the Cy Young winner who is the only pitcher to throw a Perfect Game, an Immaculate Inning, and record 4 strikeouts in one inning (vs. Twins). His perfecto is the last one thrown in MLB.
- Name the player, who with his father, is part of the only father-son duo to both hit 50 or more homers in a season. He and his father both hit 319 career home runs.
- Nickname of the pitcher who homered in his first MLB at-bat, then later won a Rookie of the Year, becoming the only pitcher ever to do both. He pitched a no-hitter in 1976.
- Nicknamed “The Frenchman,” he battled Ty Cobb for the 1910 batting title and the Chalmer’s Award.
Quiz Answers below
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Cow Chips
Three chapter members—Joel Rippel, S. Thornley, and Doug Skipper—have at least one article in the new SABR Book, We Are. We Can, We Will: The 1992 World Champion Toronto Blue Jays, which is available for free downloading by SABR members.
John Buckeye and Aaron Sinner are in a dice baseball league. A guidebook, Deadball by W. M. Akers, is used for the league, and it has fictional players named after the real players:
- Aaron Sinner, C—The best catching prospect to hit the Circuit since Adie Barnett, Sinner had his debuted delayed by a ruptured achilles, three broken fingers, and a frustratingly vague knee injury that simply refused to heal. Power like this is too valuable to waste on the Injured List—perhaps it’s time to shift him to the safer confines of right field.
- John Buckeye, CF—Almost laughably cocky, Buckeye marked his debut in the minors by getting a tattoo, “Gettysburg Owls: Champions ________.” Once he gets a feel for how hopeless the club really is, he may turn to history to complete his ink. After all, the Owls did win the pennant back in 1878.
The SABR Landmarks Committee has a blog, The Hardball Voyager, with lots of good stuff about baseball landmarks to check out in your travels.
The August and September 2022 editions of Keltner’s Hot Corner, the newsletter of the Ken Keltner Badger State Chapter is on-line:
Keltner’s Hot Corner, August 2022
Keltner’s Hot Corner, September 2022
For past Keltner’s Hot Corner newsletters:
Keltner’s Hot Corner
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Answers to Gene Gomes’s The Queen Is Dead Quiz
- Royals (Montreal)
- Dave Kingman
- John Tudor
- Duke (Snider)
- Mel Queen
- Earl Battey
- King Felix (Hernandez)
- Prince Fielder
- The Count (John Montefusco)
- Napoleon Lajoie
Want another poser? Who was the first switch-hitter not named Mickey Mantle to hit 40 home runs in a season. For the answer, check out David Karpinski’s Baseball Roundtable blog.
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Calendar
October 8—Book Club, Barnes & Noble, Har Mar Mall, Roseville, 9:30 a.m., Intentional Balk: Baseball’s Thin Line between Innovation and Cheating by Dan Levitt and Mark Armour.
October 16—Halsey Hall Chapter Board of Directors meeting, Manning’s, 22nd Avenue and Como Avenue SE, Minneapolis, 6:00 p.m. For more information on attending, contact Gene Gomes.
October 17—Research Committee meeting, 7:00-9:00 p.m. via Zoom. For more information, contact Dave Lande or Gene Gomes.
November 5—Fall Chapter Meeting, 8:45 a.m., Faith Mennonite Church, Minneapolis. For more information, contact Howard Luloff, 952-922-5036.
November 19—Fred Souba Hot Stove League Saturday Morning, 9:00 a.m., Mannings’s, Southeast Minneapolis.
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Board of Directors 2022-2023
President—Gene Gomes
Vice President—David Karpinski
Secretary—Sarah Johnson
Treasurer—Jerry Janzen
Daniel Dorff
John Swol
Bob Tholkes
Events Committee Chair—Howard Luloff
Research Committee Co-Chairs—Dave Lande, Gene Gomes
Membership Committee Chair—Stew Thornley
The Holy Cow! Editor—Stew Thornley
Ass. Editors—Jerry Janzen and Brenda Himrich
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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