Resources
Officers Elected, Dates Set
Ed Edmonds was re-elected president, Mike Haupert vice president, and Rich Arpi treasurer, and John Buckeye was elected secretary for 2025-2026 with directors Terry Bohn, Howard Luloff, and Jacob Sayward on the board of directors.
As vice president, Mike appointed Bob Komoroski and Howard Luloff as co-chairs of the Events Committee. Howard and Bob set Saturday, October 25 as the date for the Fall Chapter Meeting. At the business meeting October 25, the membership will vote on proposed by-laws amendment, which calls for an annual election of a vice president/president-elect, who will automatically ascend to president after a year and then to being an ex-officio non-voting board member for a year. Directors will be elected to three-year terms, one each year. The secretary and treasurer positions will be three-year terms with elections for them every three years. The board of directors will develop a plan for a transition. If the by-laws amendment is passed this fall, the new structure will take effect with the elections in the spring of 2026. Members are invited to provide their thoughts to any board member.
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.
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Upcoming Events
Howard Luloff has another big event set up and writes, “Following up on last year’s SABR 52 Townball event, the Halsey Hall Chapter’s annual Townball Game will take place Friday, May 30 at Robert G. Fritz Memorial Field in Cologne as the Cologne Hollanders host the Brownton Bruins at 7:30 PM. There are seats in a small grandstand behind home plate and there’s also plenty of room on a grassy hill above the third base line. Feel free to gather between 6-6:30 to enjoy a burger with a side of Minnesota Townball’s best cheese curds.” Contact Howard, hfan77@centurylink.net, for more poop on the event.
The next Book Club meeting will be Saturday, June 14 (also the final day of Jerry Janzen being 69) at Barnes & Noble in Har Mar Mall at 9:30 a.m. The book selection is The Last Manager: How Earl Weaver Tricked, Tormented, and Reinvented Baseball by John W. 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.
Join other baseball buffs for a viewing party of the All-Star Game Tuesday, July 15 at 7:00 p.m. at Manning’s at 22nd and Como in southeast Minneapolis.
The Fred Souba Hot Stove Saturday Morning, an informal breakfast gathering for the purpose of talking baseball, will be Saturday, July 19 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 90 followers, the Facebook page 314 members, and the Xwitter page 805 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.
The next Research Committee meetings, via Zoom, will be June 16 and July 21 at 7:00 p.m. on Zoom.
More research projects by members:
The chapter’s proposal to erect a marker on the site of the Pillbox ballpark in St. Paul went through a public hearing by the Capitol Area Archtectural Planning Board on May 15. Dave Lande (shown below) dazzled the panel with brilliance while another member baffled them with something else, and Ed Edmonds and Bob Komoroski contributed comments virtually. The project continues to get media attention, the latest by Josie Albertson-Grove in the Minnesota Star Tribune on May 23 and also on the newspaper’s web site.
"Dazzlin’ Dave Lande
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.
Rich and Bob Tholkes had served as judges for this year’s Minnesota History Day and chose the best baseball exhibit, Toni Stone: Gaining a Fair Chance by Reece Johnson and Easton Schwartz of Salk Middle School in Elk River. Reece and Easton split a $150 prize from the chapter, and Rich reports that they may be at the fall chapter meeting to present their poster presentation.
Chapter Research at SABR Convention
A whole plethora load of chapter members will be imparting their wisdom at the SABR convention in Texas in June.
Ed Edmonds will be on a panel, moderated by Bradford William Davis, on the 50th anniversary of the Peter Seitz decision that gutted the reserve clause and brought in the free-agent era. Ed will be on the panel with Don Fehr and Steve Rogers.
Cary Smith will be chairing the annual meeting of the Pictoral History Research Committee; Mike Haupert and Dan Levitt will co-chair the Business of Baseball Research Committee meeting, and each will be giving a separate research presentation, Mike on Babe Ruth’s Anomalous 1929 Season: Why Did His Bases on Balls Plummet? and Dan on The Merkle Aftermath: Two Weeks of Giants Shenanigans.
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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Ed Edmonds’s Holy Cow! Quiz
Here is the quiz from the May Research Committee meeting:
- This two-time All-Star backstop spent 12 years with the Atlanta Braves catching starters Phil Niekro, Pascual Pѐrez, and Rick Mahler amongst others on the Braves staff. He was also on the team for the early years of Tom Glavine and John Smoltz, but the real Atlanta star was Dale Murphy. In 982 games, he managed to hit only 18 home runs. Who was this lifetime .242 hitter?
- This hurler spent 19 years in the majors and ended his career with a 186-191 win-loss record. A star for Guilford College, he is best remembered for giving up a legendary home run while pitching for the Washington Senators. He pitched for six other MLB teams in his career—Boston Braves, Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Yankees, St. Louis Browns, and both Philadelphia teams.
- This pitcher won a total of 187 games in his MLB career with only 117 losses. He posted a 27-12 W-L record in 1921 for the St. Louis Browns, the second of four consecutive 20-win seasons for the Browns. He later played on the same team as the home run hitter mentioned in question 2. He suffered from a heart ailment that combined with pneumonia resulted in his death on September 9, 1928.
- Nicknamed “El Coffee,” this right fielder hit 96 career home runs during his eight seasons (2014-2021) with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He stole two more bases than home runs during his time in the majors. He headed to Japan in 2022 to play for the Yomiuri Giants before moving to the Chiba Lotte Marines the following season. He is playing in his third season for the Marines.
- This Hall-of-Fame pitcher won 373 MLB games from 1911-1930. He had three consecutive seasons of 30 or more wins. While serving as a sergeant during World War I, he suffered from exposure to mustard gas while a shell that exploded near him caused partial hearing loss. The injury also set off epileptic seizures. He was named for a president, but it is his last name that scores with the theme of this quiz.
- This pitcher fell just 12 wins short of the magical number 300. He started exactly 700 games for a total of six teams. He won six post-season games for the Dodgers, Yankees, and Angels, but this native of Terre Haute, Indiana, is best known for something that happened to him off the field.
- This second baseman spent 12 MLB seasons playing for the Braves and Mets. He was a three-time All-Star (1969-1971) and won two Gold Gloves. He struck out only 242 times in 6,325 plate appearances. In his home country of Puerto Rico was, he was nicknamed “El Gatito.” If you can translate that, it might help you identify this middle infielder.
- This shortstop and third baseman for the Reds, Twins, Angels, Indians and Rangers was commonly known by his nickname Chico. Born in Matanzas, Cuba, he played in 1,941 MLB games during his 16-year MLB career with a B-Ref WAR of 27.2. Name this infielder who hit 11 triples and 11 home runs in 1965 for Cincinnati.
- This outfielder played in the Negro Leagues and the Quebec Provincial Leagues before Hank Greenberg signed him for the Cleveland Indians and sent him to Wilkes-Barre and Indianapolis before promoting him to the big club for a few games in 1952. In game 1 of the 1954 World Series, he jumped high to try and catch Dusty Rhodes 10th inning home run blast that landed in the first row to win the game for the Giants. The game is best known for another outfielder who made “the Catch” for the Giants. If you have not figured out the theme yet, figuring out the last name of this player should help.
- The last name of the manager who won the most major league games ever should be easy. However, his first two names are needed for a direct hit on the theme of this quiz.
Bonus—Provide the full name of this 1939 Hall of Fame inductee born in Marshalltown, Iowa, who racked up a total of 3,435 hits in his MLB career spanning 1871-1897. As with question 10, his nickname and last name might be easy, but as with question 10, you need his given first and middle names to answer this question that supports the theme of this quiz.
Answers below
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New Members
Emerson Bigguns grew up near St. Louis and still cheers for the Cardinals, especially Nolan Arenado. A distributor of lamination products and supplies, Emerson now lives in Rochester with their spouse, twin girls, and a stepson, Gustavo, who will be throwing out a ceremonial first pitch on his Golden Birthday July 13 at a Rochester Honkers game.
Emerson shares their February 14 birthday with fellow member Phil Lowry as well as Jaime Cocanower, Dave Dravecky, Brooks Lee, Augie Bergamo, Joe Gerhardt, Red Barrett, Oil Smith, Mel Allen, Vic Morrow, Nigel Bruce, Jack Benny, Charlie Burns, Florence Henderson, Gregory Hines, Thelma Ritter, Edward Platt, Hugh Downs, Teller, Mickey Wright, Max Horkheimer, Steve McNair, Gheorghe Muresan, Crash Corrigan, Frederick Douglass, Jimmy Hoffa, George DeTitta Jr., and Dick Assman.
Also new to the Halsey Hall Chapter: Charlie Frenzel
Our chapter has welcomed 28 new members since June 1, 2024, the beginning of the SABR fiscal year reporting period, and now has 190 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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Catches (or Not) of the Month
Catch of the Month: Daulton Varsho
Non-catch of the Month: Pickled Patron Plummets in Pittsburgh
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Cow Pies
The SABR Games Project has new game stories by chapter members:
Fred Buckland attended a minor-league game in Cedar Rapids where one of the umpires was Josh Runge, great-grandson of Ed, grandson of Paul, and son of Brian, who were all major-league umpires.
Roger Godin was honored by the Minnesota Wild on his retirement as team curator. Roger, the first curator for a North American sports team, has been with the Wild since they began more than 25 years ago.
The May 2025 edition of Keltner’s Hot Corner, the newsletter of the Ken Keltner Badger State Chapter, is on-line:
Keltner’s Hot Corner, May 2025
Past Keltner’s Hot Corner newsletters:
Keltner’s Hot Corner
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Answers to Ed Edmonds’s Holy Cow! Quiz
- Bruce Benedict
- Tom Zachary
- Urban Shocker
- Gregory Polanco
- Grover Cleveland Alexander
- Tommy John
- Felix Millan
- Leo Cardenas
- Dave Pope
- Cornelius Alexander McGillicuddy
Bonus—Adrian Constantine Anson
Theme—Popes on deck
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Calendar
May 30—Townball game at Cologne. For more information, contact Howard Luloff, 952-994-5217.
June 14—Book Club, Barnes & Noble, Har Mar Mall, Roseville, 9:30 a.m., The Last Manager: How Earl Weaver Tricked, Tormented, and Reinvented Baseball by John W. Miller. Contact Ed Edmonds for more information.
June 16—Research Committee meeting, 7:00-9:00 p.m. via Zoom. For more information, contact Dave Lande or Gene Gomes.
July 15—All-Star Game Viewing Party, 7:00 p.m., Mannings’s, Minneapolis.
July 19—Fred Souba Hot Stove League Saturday Morning, 9:00 a.m., Shortstop Bar and Grill, Fridley. Contact John Buckeye for more information.
July 21—Research Committee meeting, 7:00-9:00 p.m. via Zoom. For more information, contact Dave Lande or Gene Gomes.
August 24—Halsey Hall Chapter Board of Directors meeting, 7:30 p.m. For more information on attending, contact Ed Edmonds.
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 2024-2025
President—Ed Edmonds
Vice President—Mike Haupert
Secretary—Daniel Dorff
Treasurer—Rich Arpi
Terry Bohn
John Buckeye
Howard Luloff
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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