Resources
Halsey Hall Chapter Awarded Third MVP
The Halsey Hall Chapter once again was named an MVP Chapter, the only chapter to be so honored three times, at the SABR convention in Texas in June. The award, first presented in 2023, pays homage (pronounced homage) to the best chapters, and ours is the only one to have achieved the status every year.
Chapter members at the convention included Rich Arpi, Barry Bengtsson, Ed Edmonds, John Gregory, Mike Haupert, Dan Levitt, Doug Skipper, and Hans Van Slooten.
Ed Edmonds was on a panel with Steve Rogers and Don Fehr regarding the 50th anniversary of the Seitz decision. The link below leads to a link for audio of the panel.
SABR 53: Listen to highlights from the Seitz Decision 50th Anniversary Panel
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Fall Chapter Meeting October 25
The October 25 meeting is set for Faith Mennonite Church, 2720 E. 22nd Street in south Minneapolis. Registration begins around 8:15 a.m. with the program starting 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.
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 27). If a slot remains after that, any member can submit a proposal until October 11, two weeks before the meeting, when the Research Committee will wrap up the schedule of presentations.
Two presentations have been approved so far:
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Upcoming Events
The next Book Club meeting will be Saturday, August 9 at Barnes & Noble in Har Mar Mall at 9:30 a.m. The book selection is A Time for Reflection: The Parallel Legacies of Baseball Icons Willie McCovey and Billy Williams by Jason Miller.
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 Fourth Anal. 9-ONLINE: A Virtual Baseball Conference will be held September 4-5. A Call for Papers is open until July 31.
The Fred Souba Hot Stove Saturday Morning, an informal breakfast gathering for the purpose of talking baseball, will be Saturday, September 13 at 9:00 a.m. at the Shortstop Bar and Grill, 1298 East Moore Lake Drive, Fridley 55432.
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 97 followers and 69 following, the Facebook page 318 members, and the Xwitter page 814 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 wrote a chapter on Larry MacPhail for an anthology, Attorneys in the Baseball Hall of Fame: A Collection of Biographical Essays, which was just released. It is available through the publisher, McFarland, in addition to outlets such as Bookshop.org, which aren’t owned by craven bootlickers. Ed has a discount code for ordering from McFarland that he can provide upon request. Anyone interested may contact him at edmonds.7@nd.edu.
The project to install a commemorative marker on the site of the Pillbox ballpark in St. Paul is at step 7 out of 11 steps (one short of Alcoholics Anonymous), which means that the marker could be installed by the end of 2025, or in 2026, or maybe before the applicant dies. But it’s moving right along.
More research projects by members:
Chapter members are often meeting Friday mornings at the Minnesota History Center to work on the Minnesota Spread of Baseball Project, 1857-1923 and identifying Pre-pro Clubs and Games in Minnesota.. For more information, contact Rich Arpi.
The next Research Committee meetings, via Zoom, will be August 11 and September 22 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, 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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Gene Gomes’s B. F. Quiz
Here is the quiz from the July Research Committee meeting. Sez Gene, “Answer the questions, and by doing so determine the theme as fast as you can.”
- He once shut out the Yankees in three consecutive games over four days. In another season he notched a WAR of 15.2 (Baseball-Ref.), a single season pitcher record since 1900, and won the Chalmers Award.
- His famous “fadeaway” pitch baffled hitters; he became a great role model, and was later posthumously honored to be elected to the Hall of Fame.
- This HOF first baseman was the first player to have four three-homer games, and did it twice more for different teams. In 1998 Mark McGwire broke his Cardinals record of 43 homers.
- This HOF OF had over 3,000 career hits and was the MVP one year, batting .380 with only 14 Ks. He combined with his brother for 5,611 career hits, the most for any two brothers.
- This 1B-OF was named MVP of his team after hitting 39 homers, but was then traded to Houston. Overall, he had 11 consecutive years of at least 20 home runs, and hit two career World Series homers.
- This popular 1B-DH was a SEC baseball MVP and a back-to-back AL MVP. His talents included a high OBP (.419), over 500 homers, and a .301 career average. He was a World Series champ and is in the HOF.
- This LH hurler received advice from Nolan Ryan and then became dominant, with multiple Cy Youngs, a World Series title, a no-hitter, a perfect game, and over 4,800 Ks.
- He was inducted into the HOF with two other ex-Twins; His three World Series titles are only one less than that of Babe Ruth’s Yankees squads.
- His 9th-inning two-run homer tied a 2024 ALCS game, his first year in The Show. He’s presently re-discovering his stroke in AAA with 6 home runs to date.
- This switch-hitter earned all-ACC as catcher in 2018 for Florida State, and was drafted in the third round. A first-time MLB All Star in 2025, he’s hit over 130 career homers to date.
Answers below
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New Members
Mike Zarling was born and raised in Rochester and has lived in the Twin Cities since 2018 and in Minneapolis since 2023 (with two years Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, in between all that). He works for Apex Leadership Company, doing fundraising with schools. He has a wife, Ariana, and two cats, Lily and Croissant.
Mike grew up going to lots of Rochester Honkers and occasional Twins games. He said he “discovered the Saints when I was in high school and fell in love. Listened to every Twins game on the radio, but never got to watch them growing up until I was double digits (don’t remember the exact age, maybe 12?) so the Cubs had all my favorite players since I could watch them every day. Besides, it seemed every time the Twins were the Saturday Game of the Week, it was a 12-4 drumming at the hands of the Yankees. Because my two favorite teams were the Twins and Cubs, I had a soft spot for losers which is why I always cheered for the Mets in the postseason. I still vividly remember Robin Ventura’s walk-off 2 RBI grand slam. As far as events I’ve actually seen in person, I remember the Twins beating the Brewers on a walk-off balk at the Dome. I went to a game in Oakland in 2010 decked out in Twins gear a little worried because I knew their fans’ reputation. But the whole row happened to be Twins fans and even though there was some razzing from the A’s fans, it was all in good fun. Twins were leading 4-2 in the 8th and they brought in Jesse Crain. I turned to my new friends and said ‘We’re about to lose.’ They said, ‘What? Crain is good!’ I said, ‘He’s more like a Crain-wreck.’ The A’s tied it. But don’t worry, the Twins still won the game.”
As for his career, Mike writes that he “Never made it past Little League. Was a pretty good hitter until they started throwing change-ups in 5th Grade. Still hit for a high average and drew walks, but lost what little power I had. By the time they started throwing breaking balls, I was toast. Despite being one of the best pitchers throughout my LL career with a lively fastball and pinpoint control, my changeup was inconsistent and my breaking pitches were non-existent. I was cut during freshman tryouts and worked all winter long to make the team sophomore year. Despite my efforts, I think my hitting actually got worse and my changeup was only marginally better with still no breaking pitches so that was the end of that. Never lost my love of the game though. Played lots of pickup games in college which did help hone my skills. Unfortunately, I haven’t played a game since college. Used to throw in the upper 70s and touch 80 as an 8th grader. Last time I was on a gun was 2022 when I volunteered at Create a Memory. I threw like 37 or something like that. The kids I was chaperoning were throwing faster than me. So you don’t want me on your team despite my wishes. Started getting into sabermetrics in college circa 2010.”
As for other stuff, Mike has hiked the entire Superior Hiking Trail and run multiple marathons and ultras, “but haven’t done anything since 2016 as life got in the way. Currently training to run Twin Cities full in October and remembering why I love running.” Mike loves the card game 500, “but all the meet ups happen at Senior Centers. So if there are 3 or more of you out there willing to get together to play, hit me up!”
Mike shares his November 26 birthday with The Big Dumper (Cal Raleigh), Joe Guyon, Danny Ozark, Lefty Gomez, Hugh Duffy, Bob Elliott, Fred Tenney, Richie Hebner, Jorge Orta, Larry Gura, Matt Garza, Matt Carpenter, John Kerr, Mike Moore, Jay Howell, Bob Walk, Garton Del Savio, Bob Johnson, Eddie Miller, Harold Reynolds, Corey Knebel, Jeff Torborg, Minnie Rojas, Robert Goulet, Tina Turner, Rich Little, Evans Evans, Edie Inksetter, Sailor Tom Sharkey, Emperor Go-Daigo, Galina Prozumenshchikova, Christian Friedrich Wilhelm Freiherr von Ompteda, Bruno Hauptmann, and Charles “Sparky” Schulz.
Mike O’Brien is from Clinton, New York (near Syracuse) and has a wife, two sons, and one granddaughter. A former electrical engineer, he is now a program management consultant. His mom’s family are Yankee fans and, when he was a kid, they took him to New York every summer to see the Yankees. He also went to Montreal to watch his aunt’s friend play for the Expos.
Mike has been working on a new type of statistic for many years. “It’s revolutionary but also very straightforward. I think it should be adopted by MLB. The main reason I joined SABR is to start sharing this with other baseball stat enthusiasts so I’ll be looking for contacts to share this with in the MN Chapter and the Statistical Analysis Research Committee. I think it will generate a lot of interest.”
Mike shares his June 17 birthday with Super Joe Charboneau, Dave Concepcion, Shufflin’ Phil Douglas, Tom Drees, Bill Bergesch, Pete Browning, Ray Scott, Bud Collins, Maurice Stokes, Walter Eckersall, Crazy Legs Hirsch, Elmer L. Andersen, Joe Piscopo, Igor Stravinsky, Greg Kinnear, Ralph Bellamy, M. C. Escher, Barry Manilow, and Newt Gingrich.
Gary Moskalyk has rejoined SABR. Born and raised in Port Arthur, Ontario, he now lives in Thunder Bay, which is pretty much the same thing since Port Arthur and Fort William amalgamted in 1970 into Thunder Bay. He recently passed his 69th birthday (and is exactly two days older than the newsletter editor) with what he called a “Heck of a Party!” attended by his family and that of his wife, Tracy.
Gary had joined SABR in the 1980s when Bill James was hitting his stride. He still has some of the Abstracts lying around and is currently reading the Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract in addition to “a ton of old baseball books that I’m trying to get through before the Reaper comes knocking.”
“In the first game he attended, at Metropolitan Stadium, he saw Reggie bang one off the centre field fence although his highlight was seeing Harmon Killebrew play. “I was a big baseball fan back in the day. Used to order the Sporting News BB Guides back in the day when Lou Brock and McCovey and Bob Gibson.
“I developed my own baseball game called Card Baseball back when I was a teen. It’s based on probability and lifetime stats. I guess my biggest claim to fame would be I am aware of every great hitter who ever played in the Major Leagues since day one. All of those guys are in my game and it’s always nice when a new guy qualifies to play and sends a marginal player to the pines. Moose Solters and Bibb Falk are history. Frank Thomas is in the game to replace you.
I am currently playing a 120-game schedule with the Negro Leagues as part of it. My son and I went on a Jay Buckley tour at the end of June and the Negro Leagues Museum was part of that tour. My son bought me a wooden ‘baseball map’ with all the current major league sites on it and 30 little wooden baseballs to plug in to each slot on the board.”
As an aside, Gary wrote, “If you haven’t caught on yet Mr. Thornley, I am kind of nuts.”
“But there’s more. I’ve also concocted a ‘runs per game’ formula that projects how many runs each player in card baseball would score if he were the only player in the line-up. In card baseball it’s station-to-station. The formula, based on stats and probability, will project exactly, to the nth decimal place, how many runs a line-up of Ruths, Gibsons, or Williamses would score in nine innings. (Negro Leagues are 60-40 and Josh Gibson is batting over .380, in case you needed to know.)
“I adapted that formula to major league team stats and discovered that I was significantly off, but off by the same percentage. So I tweaked the formula, refined it, and now come within 20 runs per team per year, typically, for a team season. I’ve got a lot of “league seasons“ where I’m off by less than 100.”
Gary signed off on his profile in a manner sure to please his two-day younger SABR Brethren: “Okay Mr. Thornley. Holy crap you’ve either written me off or are somewhat interested.”
Gary shares his July 21 birthday with fellow chapter member Kenny Jackelen as well as Pery Werden, Geoff Jenkins, C. C. Sabathia, Mike Cubbage, Johnny Evers, Dave Henderson, Al Hrabosky, Mike Hegan, Denis Menke, Moe Drabowsky, Irving “Young Cy” Young, Gary Waslewski, Robin Williams, Ernest Hemingway, Jon Lovitz, Janet Reno, Arthur Treacher, Paul Wellstone, Marshall McLuhan, Gene Littler, Paul Wellstone, Don Knotts, Kenneth Starr, Les Aspin, Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens), Isaac Stern, and Snooty the Manatee.
Our chapter has welcomed 3 new members since June 1, 2025, the beginning of the SABR fiscal year reporting period, and now has 187 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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Thoughts of the Month
Phil Cuzzi to Álex Cintrón
Bonus: Who has the better reaction time?
John Sterling
or
Keith Hernandez
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For Entertainment Purposes Only: The Trial of Joe Jackson
WBBM Television in Chicago recently put a re-enactment of the trial of Joe Jackson on YouTube:
The Trial of Joe Jackson
The good news is that the video allows viewers to skip the commercials after a few seconds, including the Stuck Poop ad. The bad news is that it promotes the tired tropes that have been debunked (see Eight Myths Out).
According to a blurb on the production, “The film contains a number of notable errors, starting with the fact that Jackson never stood trial by himself on criminal charges to throw the 1919 World Series, nor did the other seven Black Sox players, as narrator [Abe] Attell asserts in the introduction.” When the show originally aired October 25, 1981, it included phone numbers for callers to vote on Jackson’s guilt or innocence, with innocent being the overwhelming verdict.
Ed Edmonds points out that while the 1921 criminal trial was a collective one for the players involved in intentionally losing the 1919 World Series, Jackson did have a civil trial in Milwaukee, suing White Sox owner Charles Comiskey for back pay, three years later. Says Ed, “If they had done the 1924 trial in Wisconsin, they would have seen the judge throw Jackson in jail for perjury because he either lied at that trial or in the earlier one. Maybe that would have changed some minds about Joe’s guilt or innocence.”
Ed also provided a link to a book with the 1924 trial transcript, which has more accurate information about Jackson and the scandal:
Long-lost trial transcript answers many questions about ‘Shoeless’ Joe Jackson and baseball’s ‘Black Sox Scandal’
Later in the 1980s, W. P. Kinsella’s fantasy novel, Shoeless Joe, and Eliot Asinov’s book (which could be most generously described as historical fiction), Eight Men Out, have been made into movies, the former as Field of Dreams.
The story of the scandal is a fascinating one, and those who want to go beyond dramatized fictional accounts are encouraged to look at objective accounts, with the files, newsletters, documents, and other information of the SABR Black Sox Scandal Research Committee being the best place to go.
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Cow Pies
The SABR Games Project has new game stories by chapter members:
Mark Armour had a big release on his Page paige (or whatever): Satchel Paige Project. Mark is trying to document every pitching appearance by Paige. It’s worth checking out, and you may be able to contribute to the project.
Satchel Paige: Most Wanted.
Answers to Gene Gomes’s B. F. Quiz
- Walter Johnson (Big Train)
- Christy Mathewson (Big Six)
- Johnny Mize (Big Cat)
- Paul Waner (Big Poison)
- Lee May (Big Bopper)
- Frank Thomas (Big Hurt)
- Randy Johnson (Big Eunuch)
- David Ortiz (Big Papi)
- Jhonkensy Noel (Big Christmas)
- Cal Raleigh (Big Dumper)
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Calendar
August 9—Book Club, Barnes & Noble, Har Mar Mall, Roseville, 9:30 a.m., A Time for Reflection: The Parallel Legacies of Baseball Icons Willie McCovey and Billy Williams by Jason Cannon. Contact Ed Edmonds for more information.
August 11—Research Committee meeting, 7:00-9:00 p.m. via Zoom. For more information, contact Dave Lande or Gene Gomes.
August 25—Halsey Hall Chapter Board of Directors meeting, 7:30 p.m. For more information on attending, contact Ed Edmonds. (Rescheduled from original date of August 24.)
September 13—Fred Souba Hot Stove League Saturday Morning, 9:00 a.m., Shortstop Bar and Grill, Fridley. Contact John Buckeye for more information.
September 22—Research Committee meeting, 7:00-9:00 p.m. via Zoom. For more information, contact Dave Lande or Gene Gomes.
October 25—Fall Chapter Meeting, 8:45 a.m., Faith Mennonite Church, Minneapolis. 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—Frank Kadwell, Hans Van Slooten, and Stew Thornley
Social Media Directors—Bob Komoroski, Facebook and Bluesky; Hans Van Slooten, 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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