Home > Chapter Publications > Holy Cow! Newsletter >

The Newsletter of the Halsey Hall Chapter
Society for American Baseball Research (SABR)

March 2013

Editor:
Stew Thornley

• Spring Chapter Meeting April 20
  
• Road Trips
  
• New Member
  
• Research and Member News
  
• Calendar
  
• Board of Directors

Spring Chapter Meeting April 20
The Spring Chapter Meeting will Saturday, April 20 at the Faith Mennonite Church, 2720 E. 22nd Street in south Minneapolis.

Members are invited to submit a proposal to make a research presentation at the meeting. Proposals must be made in writing (e-mail is fine) to Research Committee Chair Rich Arpi, 2445 Londin Lane E., Unit 410, Maplewood, Minnesota 55119-5547, and should include a title and brief outline of what the presentation will consist of with emphasis on the research that will be included. Standard 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 (which also consists of Dan Levitt, Stew Thornley, Sarah Johnson, Brenda Himrich, and Bob Tholkes) will finalize the schedule of research presentations by April 6, two weeks before the meeting, so proposals must be submitted by then.

The following presentations have already been approved:

• Tom Flynn, Tom Sheehan’s Memorable Major League Debut. Tom Sheehan is Tom Flynn’s great-great uncle, and the latter Tom has researched the career of the former Tom, which includes a major league career with the Philadelphia Athletics and other teams. Sheehan also pitched semi-pro baseball for Albert Lea in southern Minnesota and pitched for both the St. Paul Saints and Minneapolis Millers (also managing the Millers). In 1923 with the Saints, Sheehan won 31 games in 1923, tying the American Association record set by Long Tom Hughes of Minneapolis in 1910.
• Stew Thornley, Statistical Shimmies: Numerical Moving Targets, a presentation on statistics and records that have changed because of errors discovered in their compilation. It includes the controversy over the race for leadership in batting average in the American League in 1910 between Larry Lajoie and Ty Cobb, Christy Mathewson’s additional win, added in the 1940s, and a discussion regarding the propriety of changing statistics.

John Rosengren, who had planned to give a presentation on Hank Greenberg, will be traveling to promote his recently published Hank Greenberg and won’t be able to attend the meeting. Rich Arpi has submitted a proposal for a presentation on 19th-century baseball and the Minnesota research project to document the origins of baseball in the state.

During the business meeting, four members will be elected to the chapter’s board of directors to succeed outgoing directors Art Mugalian, Fred Buckland, Gary DeSmith, and Brenda Himrich. Doug Skipper, Leanne Rohrbach, Scott Cummings, and Gary DeSmith have agreed to run for a two-year term. Anyone else interested in running may contact Nominating Committee Chair Brenda Himrich at 651-415-0791.

Other events:
The next Fred Souba Hot Stove Saturday Morning will be March 9 at Bakers Square at 66th and Xerxes in Richfield at 9:00.

The Halsey Hall Chapter Book Club will meet Saturday, April 6 at 9:30 a.m. at Barnes & Noble in Har Mar Mall in Roseville to discuss The Yankee Years by Joe Torre and Tom Verducci.

Go to Top

Road Trips
A Celebraton of Baseball will be held Friday and Saturday, June 7-8 at the University of Wisconsin, LaCrosse. The event begins with a Mississippi River baseball cruise on Friday night. Saturday will consist of baseball research presentations and discussion panels during the day and a Northwoods League game at Copeland Park at night. The group has reserved the Homerun Haven in right field for attendees to have a buffet dinner and watch the game between the defending league champion LaCrosse Loggers and Green Bay Bullfrogs. Members are invited to submit a 500-word abstract to propose a research presentation on Saturday. Contact Mike Haupert to submit and abstract and for more information on the conference.

If enough interest exists, the chapter will arrange a trip to Duluth for a Northwoods League game between Duluth and Alexandria at Wade Stadium on Saturday night, July 7. Anyone interested may contact Stew Thornley at 651-415-0791.

Go to Top

New Member
The Halsey Hall Chapter welcomes Jim Swanson.

Go to Top

Research News
Anthony Bush’s latest article on Duluth baseball, this one on Pro Baseball Returns to the Zenith City in 1903, is now on-line.

Terry Bohn wrote a biography of Joe Marshall for the SABR BioProject. Born in Audobon, Minnesota, Marshall broke into pro baseball with Grand Forks in the Red River Valley League in 1897, and played in the major leagues with Pittsburgh in 1903 and 1906 with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Go to Top

Calendar
    March 9—Fred Souba Hot Stove Saturday Morning, Bakers Square, 66th and Xerxes, Richfield, 9:00 a.m. For more information, contact Mark Johnson, 952-831-1153.

    April 6—Book Club, Barnes & Noble, Har Mar Mall, Roseville, 9:30 a.m., The Yankee Years by Joe Torre and Tom Verducci. For more information, contact Art Mugalian, 612-721-2825.

    April 7—Halsey Hall Chapter Board Meeting, 3:00 p.m. For more information, contact Art Mugalian, 612-721-2825.

    April 20—Spring Chapter Meeting, Faith Mennonite Church, Minneapolis. For more information, contact Howard Luloff, 952-922-5036.

Go to Top