June 2002
Chapter Meeting Recap
Hot Stove Saturday Morning June 1
New Members
Quicksteps
Cow Chips
Subscription Dues Renewal
Calendar
Board of Directors
Chapter Meeting Recap
Twenty-eight Halsey Hall Chapter members attended the spring meeting May 11 in Roseville.
The morning consisted of research presentations. Roger Godin chronicled a 1955 spring-training game in which the Atlanta Crackers rallied for four runs in the last of the ninth off Whitey Ford and Don Larsen to beat the Yankees, 5-4. Deano Thilgen talked about the whole plethora-load of Minnesota baseball teams in 1867 and distributed a list of all known teams from that year. Rich Arpi covered the League Alliance of 1877, which had Minnesota teams in St. Paul, Minneapolis, Rochester, and Winona. Bob Tholkes cited passages from F. C. Lane’s book, Batting.
Dick Bremer was the featured guest in the afternoon. Dick recalled growing up in Dumont, Minnesota, playing baseball and also having the chance to watch Jerry Koosman pitch for Appleton in the Land of Ducks League. Dick later became the sports anchor at Channel 11, when it was still WTCN-TV, and got his start in Twins play-by-play broadcasting with Spectrum Sports in 1983.
At the business meeting, Deano Thilgen, Rich Arpi, and Bob Tholkes were elected to succeed directors Rich Arpi, Kevin Hennessy, and Dan Levitt and join leftover directors Cary Smith, Ray Luurs, Dan Cagley, and Fred Buckland on the board or directors. The new board met briefly and approved the idea of holding the chapter’s fall regional meeting as part of a joint meeting with the Field of Dreams Chapter. The meeting will probably be on a Sunday in October at the Music Man Museum in Mason City, Iowa.
The team of Jim Wyman and Cary Smith won Dan Levitt’s trivia quiz. The silent auction raised $144, with the largest bid of $25 being made by Levitt for a Twins jersey donated by the Twins Pro Shop and brought by Joe O’Connell.
That evening the group watched the Yankees defeat the Twins, 4-2, at the Metrodome on a two-run homer by Robin Ventura in the top of the ninth. This was the third time the chapter meeting was held in conjunction with a Twins-Yankees game. In 1987, the Yankees beat the Twins, 6-4, and in 1996, the Yankees won, 7-6.
Those attending the meeting were Cary Smith, Kevin Hennessy, Lee Temanson, Mark Johnson, Chuck Blomquist, Ron Replogle, Jed Levitt, Ray Luurs, Glenn Poser, Fred Buckland, Howard Luloff, Gregg Omoth, Winston Wood, Erin Moore, Bill Bowler, Deano Thilgen, Brenda Himrich, Jim Wyman, Rich Arpi, Roger Godin, Stew Thornley, Jerry Janzen, Joe O’Connell, George Rekela, Bob Tholkes, Pat Coleman, Fritz Reeker, and Dan Levitt.
Hot Stove Saturday Morning June 1
The next Hot Stove Saturday Morning will be June 1 at 9:30 at the Baker’s Square on Xerxes Avenue in Richfield. The after-breakfast event will be the annual outing to see baseball graves at Lakewood Cemetery.
New Members
Brad Zellar is a writer who churns out a weekly baseball column for the City Pages web site (http://www.citypages.com) and is the Midwest Correspondent for Publishers Weekly. He collects baseball gloves, bats, photos, and books. He has more than 2,000 baseball books in his personal collection and also is co-founder of Rag and Bone Books in the Linden Hills area of Minneapolis.
Brad worked at Tinker Field in Orlando in 1987 and saw every Twins workout and spring-training game. A native of Austin, Minnesota, Brad now lives in south Minneapolis with his wife, Sheila Kennedy.
Brad shares his November 16 birthday with Dwight Gooden, Herb Washington, Petey Rose, Minnie Mendoza, and Ab Wright.
Pat Coleman is a biochemist for 3M and a White Sox fan, married to a Cubs fan named Donna. Pat and Donna have three sons, Ryan, Neil, and Patrick, the latter being an editor for USA Today Baseball Weekly. The first game Pat remembers seeing was at Kelly Air Force Base in Texas in 1950. Four years later, he saw his first major league game, in which Ted Williams and Chico Carresquel homered. He also witnessed Joe Miller’s no-hitter for the St. Paul Saints in the Northern League in the 1990s.
Pat shares his January 16 birthday with Jimmy Collins, Dizzy Dean, Jack McDowell, Ferdie Schupp, Showboat Fisher, and Bye Bye Balboni.
Directory information for Brad and Pat, as well as for new members David Hofseth and John Bonnes, is below. These additions bring the chapter membership to 90.
David G. Hofseth
13952 Herald Court
Apple Valley, Minnesota 55124
952-432-2942
Brad Zellar
4812 Chowen Avenue South
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55410
612-925-8616
E-mail: jumbo@northwired.com
Patrick L. Coleman
4101Vincent Avenue South
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55410
651-736-4606
E-mail: plcoleman@mmm.com
John L. Bonnes
5333 Fremont Avenue South
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55419
612-827-6386
E-mail: john@bonnes.com
Quicksteps
The Quicksteps vintage base ball nine opened its season with a pair of matches at the Dakota County Historic Village in Farmington on May 19. In June, the Quicksteps will play at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, June 9 at Fort Snelling and at 3 p.m. on Saturday, June 22 at Fort Ridgely State Park in Fairfax, Minnesota.
Cow Chips
Howard Luloff did the public-address announcing for the Rocky Nelson Diamond Classic, a baseball tournament held at the Metrodome in late April with high-school teams from Wisconsin and Minnesota. . . . Roger Godin made a presentation at the Society for International Hockey Researchers annual convention in Ontario. . . . Jed Levitt was recently in Istanbul, Turkey.
Subscription Dues Renewal
If you haven’t already, please send your annual subscription dues of $12 to Kevin Hennessy, 608 Grand Avenue, St. Paul, Minnesota 55102. Make the check out to Halsey Hall Chapter. Those who have joined the chapter since January 1 don’t have to pay again for another year. If you’re unsure of your dues status, check with Kevin at 651-227-5183 or at kwhennes@ties.k12.mn.us.
Calendar
June 1—Hot Stove Saturday Mid-Morning, 9:30 a.m., Baker’s Square, Sixty-Sixth and Xerxes, Richfield. After-Breakfast Event: Lakewood Cemetery Tour.
Halsey Hall Chapter
Board of Directors 2001-02
President—Cary Smith
Vice President—Ray Luurs
Secretary—Rich Arpi
Treasurer—Kevin Hennessy
Fred Buckland
Dan Cagley
Dan Levitt
Webmaster—Deano Thilgen
The Holy Cow! Editor—Stew Thornley
Holy Cow Extra Editor—Bob Tholkes
Please direct news about chapter events, about yourself or about other chapter members to:
S. Thornley
1082 Lovell Avenue
Roseville, Minnesota 55113-4419
E-mail Stew Thornley