Resources
Dave Lande Re-elected President for 2020-2021
Dave Lande was re-elected president, Hans Van Slooten vice president, Anders Koskinen secretary, and Jerry Janzen treasurer for the 2020-2021 year (with their terms beginning July 1). They will serve on the chapter board of directors with Jim Cox, Gene Gomes, and Frank Kadwell.
As the incoming vice president, Hans Van Slooten re-appointed Howard Luloff as chair of the Events Committee and will be appointing chairs for the other standing committees: Research and Membership.
SABR members in the area began meeting in 1981 and in 1985 became the first SABR regional group to become a formal chapter. A list of all officers, presidents, regional and chapter meetings, and dead members is on the chapter web site:
History of Officers and Chapter Meetings
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Townball Trip July 5—and Other Events
The Halsey Hall Chapter’s first townball trip of the year will be to Rochester on Sunday, July 5, to see the Northfield Knights play the Rochester Royals at 2 p.m. at Mayo Field. Arrange your carpools or meet at the field. In addition, at least one chapter member plans to go to Sechler Park in Northfield for a 2 p.m. townball game on Saturday, July 4 and invites others to join him.
New Site for Summer Events
The Dock & Paddle at the Como Park Lakeside Pavilion has a covered outdoor area that will be our site for resuming activities. The Dock & Paddle is at 1360 Lexington Parkway North, St. Paul 55103, 651-300-4847. It is open from 9 to 9 on weekends. Masks are required when you are in the inside portion.
Fred Souba Hot Stove Saturday Morning
The next Fred Souba Hot Stove Saturday Morning, an informal breakfast gathering for the purpose of talking baseball, will be at 9:00 on Saturday, July 11 at Dock & Paddle at the Como Park Lakeside Pavilion.
Research Committee Meeting July 13
The Halsey Hall Chapter Research Committee will meet Monday, July 13 from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at Dock & Paddle at the Como Park Lakeside Pavilion. All members are welcome to attend. (Please plan to buy food or a beer or a soft drink or something so that we are not completely freeloading.)
A number of members have been researching the first games played in each of the Minnesota counties, and the committee would like to have information for each of the counties (29 of 87 are still unaccounted for). See the MN Counties list.
Two other web pages have information on the spread of baseball, Pre-pro Baseball and Pre-pro Clubs and Games in Minnesota. In addition, a Google Docs spreadsheet is online, Minnesota Spread of Baseball Project, 1857-1923.
Anyone wanting to get involved may contact committee co-chairs Brenda Himrich, 651-415-0791, and Sarah Johnson.
Research page updated:
The Research Committee page has been updated and includes a list of research projects by members. If you would like research added, contact me, (Stew Thornley, 651-415-0791).
As always, check out the chapter’s Baseball Research Primer as a source for any research you are doing.
Book Club
The Halsey Hall Chapter Book Club will meet Saturday, August 1 at 9:30 a.m. at Dock & Paddle at the Como Park Lakeside Pavilion. The book selection is The Cubs Way: The Zen of Building the Best Team in Baseball and Breaking the Curse by Tom Verducci. (Please plan to buy something, even just a cup of coffee, since we will be using their space.)
Brent Heutmaker has organized a list of all the book selections since the book club started in August 2002: Halsey Hall Book Club Selections
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More than 35 Members Beam In for June 13 Virtual Meeting
Nearly 40 members attended the June 13 virtual chapter meeting, to wit (t’wit):
Ryan Schroer, Bob Komoroski, Brenda Himrich and her husband, Sarah Johnson, Karl Cicitto, Armand Peterson, Paul Spyhalski, Jim Cox, Dave Lande, Jerry Janzen, Daniel Dorff, Howard Luloff, Fred Buckland, Bob Tholkes, Gene Gomes, Mary Manning, Rich Arpi, Dan Levitt, John Gregory and another John, Cyril Morong, M. Frank, Tom Flynn, Bob Schulz, Lloyd Kepple, Tom Merrick, Steve Ginader, Frank Collins, Steve Bratkovich, Hans Van Slooten, Mike Haupert, Anders Koskinen, Doug Skipper, Joe Niese, Rich Cohen, Jim McKernon, and Mark Armour.
Paul Spyhalski—What in the Sam Hill Took So Long? Integration (or Lack Thereof) in the Southern Minny League, 1948-1957
Dan Levitt—John McGraw and the Creation of the Modern Sports Environment
During the business meeting Jim Cox, Jerry Janzen, and Dave Lande were elected to two-year terms.
If you love virtual meetings (and who doesn’t?), then turn on the high beams for the Virtual SABR Convention, which will be held three straight weekends starting July 9-12. Several chapter members will be presenting:
- Mike Haupert, Steal of the Century: How the Red Sox Paid the Yankees to Take Babe Ruth, Sunday, July 12, 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. (Central time)
- Todd Peterson, Negro Leagues vs Major Leagues, Friday, July 17, 6:00 to 6:30 p.m. (Central time)
- Daniel Levitt, John McGraw and the Creation of the Modern Sports Environment, Saturday, July 25, 2:00 to 2:30 p.m. (Central time)
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Could a Team Lose a Perfect Game?
It could happen in the major leagues this year. If a team’s pitchers retire all 27 batters through nine innings but their hitters haven’t scored, the game goes into the 10th inning with the opposing team having a runner on second base. If that runner comes around to score, without anyone else reaching base, is it considered a perfect game?
Traditionally, a perfect game has been considered to be one in which no one reaches base. A special records committee in 1991 developed a definition for no-hitters/perfect games, although that dealt with such games that were fewer than nine innings and with no-hitters through nine innings that were broken up in extra innings. Because of this, Harvey Haddix’s perfect game was removed from the rolls of “official” no-hitters/perfect games.
But the committee’s definition did not address the issue of a runner being automatically placed on second. This question came up in the minor leagues in 2018, Tampa Tarpons Lose Perfect Game to Extra-Inning Rule.
Cory Schwartz of mlb.com issued this directive: “Auto-runners don’t count against a perfect game or no-hitter. ”
So it could happen.
Another question that often comes up is can a team be charged with an error in a perfect game? For example, if a batter hits a foul fly or pop up that is dropped for an error and that batter is then put out, would that affect the status of a perfect game? The answer is no. A perfect game is defined as no runner reaching base. Such an error would not affect it.
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Before and After
Ten different names serve as both the last name of one Baseball Hall of Famer and the first name (or the middle name used as the first name) of another. The list includes those elected for 2020.
An example of such names, applied to past and present Twins, would be Alex Cole De Vries and Tyler Austin Adams.
What are the 10 Hall of Fame names that fit this category and to whom do they belong?
Note: The names must be exact matches. Fred Clarke and Clark Griffith do not count.
Answers below
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Blast from the Past: Green Monster
At a Toastmasters conference in Rochester on Halloween in 1992, Brenda Himrich (center) organized a group costume of the Green Monster. Behind Brenda is SABR member Nancy Jo Leachman. Brenda’s husband is the foul pole. (Though not Polish, he has been known to be foul, especially some years later when he concluded an oratory directed at the person in the dragon suit by telling said person to perform a particular act that some consider not possible.)
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Nicollet Park Plaque Still Standing
A notable erection, the commemorative marker for Nicollet Park survived the fire of the bank that is on the site of the ballpark during civil unrest in Minneapolis during the night-morning of May 29-30. The marker was paid for from donations from former Millers players and installed in 1983.
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New Member
The Halsey Hall Chapter welcomes David Asp.
Free student memberships available: SABR, at its 2019 End of Year Campaign, pledged to donate 10 percent of all member gifts back to the Chapters the donors are affiliated with in the form of free student memberships. Halsey Hall Chapter members donated more than $2,800 during the campaign, resulting in 11 free student SABR memberships. The chapter has committed to pay for four additional student memberships if that many are interested.
Know a potential member? Here are resources for getting that person happily involved in SABR:
Membership application
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Cow Pies
Anthony Bush has a website for his writing projects, many of which are about baseball: Time that Was
Terry Bohn had two articles published in the SABR BioProject: Roy Crabb and Red Nelson
Tom Merrick had a game story published in the SABR Games Project: July 4, 1911: Ty Cobb’s 40-game Hitting Streak Ends as Ed Walsh, White Sox Drop Detroit
Rich Arpi was quoted in a June 19, 2020 Star Tribune story: Curious Minnesota: Why do Tiny Cities Like Lauderdale, Landfall and Falcon Heights Exist? by Shannon Prather
The chapter’s cranky old media whore was a talking head on KSTP-TV on June 19: Calvin Griffith Statue Removed at Target Field
Answers to Before and After
Grover Cleveland Alexander Cartwright
Dave Bancroft Johnson
Steve Carlton Fisk
Whitey Ford Frick
Waite Hoyt Wilhelm
John Henry Lloyd Waner
Joe Morgan Bulkeley
Branch Rickey Henderson
Frank Thomas Glavine, Seaver, McCarthy, Connolly, Lasorda, Yawkey
Marvin Miller Huggins
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Calendar
July 5—Townball: Northfield Knights at Rochester Royals, Mayo Field, 2:00 p.m. For more information, contact Howard Luloff, 952-922-5036.
July 9-12, July 16-19, and July 23-26—Virtual SABR Convention
July 11—Fred Souba Hot Stove League Saturday Morning, Dock & Paddle at the Como Park Lakeside Pavilion, St. Paul, 9:00 a.m.
July 13—Research Committee meeting, 7:00-9:00 p.m., Dock & Paddle at the Como Park Lakeside Pavilion, St. Paul. For more information, contact Brenda Himrich, 651-415-0791, or Sarah Johnson.
August 1—Book Club, Dock & Paddle at the Como Park Lakeside Pavilion, St. Paul, 9:30 a.m., The Cubs Way: The Zen of Building the Best Team in Baseball and Breaking the Curse by Tom Verducci.
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Board of Directors 2020-2021
President—Dave Lande
Vice President—Hans Van Slooten
Secretary—Anders Koskinen
Treasurer—Jerry Janzen
Jim Cox
Gene Gomes
Frank Kadwell
Events Committee Chair—Howard Luloff
The Holy Cow! Editor—Stew Thornley
Webmaster—John Gregory
Ass. Webmasters—Frank Kadwell, Hans Van Slooten, and Stew Thornley
Social Media Directors—Tom Flynn, Twitter; Bob Komoroski, Facebook
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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