November 2002
Joint Chapter Meeting Draws Large Turnout
Moving to Colorado, Ray Luurs Resigns as President
Cow Chips
2003 Dates
Name’s the Same
In the News
Iowa-Minnesota Trivia Quiz
New Members
Book Club
HCE Due Out Anon
Answers to Trivia Quiz
Calendar
Board of Directors
Joint Chapter Meeting Draws Large Turnout
More than 40 SABR members and guests, including 16 members of the Halsey Hall Chapter, attended the joint meeting between the Halsey Hall and Field of Dreams chapters at the Music Man Square in Mason City, Iowa, on Sunday, October 20.
Todd Fuller came up from Oklahoma, where he is a grantwriter for the Pawnee Nation, to perform readings from his book, 60 Feet, Six Inches: The (Baseball) Life of Mose YellowHorse. YellowHorse’s grave marker notes his status as the "first full-blooded Indian in the major leagues." YellowHorse pitched for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1921 and 1922.
John Skipper followed with a presentation on managers, pointing out that the overwhelming majority—including Connie Mack, Bucky Harris, and Gene Mauch, who are first, fourth, and ninth, respectively, in games won as a manager—finished their careers with losing records.
A recording of a 1939 radio interview with Lou Gehrig, conducted by KROC Radio in Rochester, was played for the audience.
The meeting wrapped up with Howard Luloff moderating a trivia quiz, which is reprinted below.
The Halsey Hall Chapter members attending the meeting were Jerry Janzen, Rich Arpi, Brenda Himrich, Erin Moore, Stew Thornley, Bob Tholkes, Joe O’Connell, Ray Luurs, Deano Thilgen, Howard Luloff, Jed Levitt, Jim Wyman, Dan Cagley, Cary Smith, Mendal Mearkle, and Glenn Gostick.
Moving to Colorado, Ray Luurs Resigns as President
Ray Luurs, who is moving to Colorado, resigned as president of the Halsey Hall Chapter at the October 20 Chapter Meeting. Jim Wyman was elected to fill Ray’s position, which runs through July 1, 2003, on the board of directors. An election to fill his officer position will be held at the next board of directors meeting, on December 8. Meanwhile, vice president Fred Buckland will assume the duties of the president. Ray plans to become active in the Rocky Mountain SABR Chapter. The Halsey Hall chapter appreciates Ray’s service to the organization and wishes he and his family the best in their new home.
At the business meeting on October 20, the membership passed the following amendment to the by-laws:
Article III: Officers, Section 3-Vacating of Positions
If a vacancy on the board of directors occurs, a special election shall be held by the membership at the next chapter meeting to fill the unexpired term. If an officer of the board of directors vacates his or her officer position, the board of directors shall hold an election at their next board meeting to fill the office from among the remaining board members.
Cow Chips
Rex Hamann caught a foul ball hit by Bret Boone of the Mariners on August 28 at the Metrodome. . . . Roger Godin had a letter in the September 16, 2002 Sports Illustrated regarding Don Gutteridge playing for the St. Louis Browns in 1944. . . . George Rekela got a new dog, Kirby. . . . Greta "Killer" Rittenhouse, daughter of Paul, was listed in the Star Tribune, Newspaper of the Twin Cities as one of the leaders in kills among Twin Cities volleyball players. . . . Seth C. "Dr. Fan" Hawkins is hosting an exhibit on Slovenia at his private museum that is open by appointment to the general public (including Halsey Hall Chapter members). . . . Brenda Himrich entered several photos in a nature photography contest and received an award for a picture she took of a water lily.
2003 Dates
Spring Chapter Meeting—May 10
Events chair Howard Luloff announced that the Spring 2003 Chapter Meeting has been tentatively set for Saturday, May 10. The Twins are scheduled to play the Boston Red Sox that night. Howard is checking out the possibility of holding the meeting at the Minnesota History Center, where there will be an exhibit on Minnesota baseball history opening next year.
SABR 33—July 10-12
The 2003 SABR convention will be Thursday, July 10 through Sunday, July 13 in Denver. The convention will include a trip to one of the Rockies-Dodgers games that weekend.
Name’s the Same
American League shortstop and National Basketball Association guard.
Answer below.
Chapter Directory On-Line
The Halsey Hall Chapter directory is now on-line at http://halseyhall.org/internal/directory.
The directory contains the chapter by-laws as well as a list of all chapter meetings.
A printout of the on-line directory will be mailed to all subscribers who do not have web access.
In the News
Deano Thilgen was interviewed on the WCCO-TV news on October 8 regarding the history of baseball in Minnesota. Jerry Janzen was interviewed by KARE-TV on September 27 regarding the upcoming playoffs. Seth C. "Dr. Fan" Hawkins was featured in the October 16 edition of City Pages, about his views on the Twins being in the playoffs in an article titled "Barbarians at the Metrodome Gates." The story is available in the archives of the City Pages web site at http://www.citypages.com. The archives also contain all of Brad Zellar’s weekly columns on the Twins. Brad covered the team for City Pages during the 2002 season and then became the newspaper’s associate editor on October 15.
Iowa-Minnesota Trivia Quiz
Here is the trivia quiz, developed by Howard Luloff of the Halsey Hall Chapter and Steve Smith of the Field of Dreams Chapter, from the joint meeting between the two chapters on October 20. All answers have an Iowa and/or Minnesota connection. The answers are below.
1. In their 42-year history, the Twins have had 12 managers. Name them.
2. Name the first Iowa-born player in a World Series.
3. What former Minnesota Twin began his professional career in Burlington, Iowa?
4. Name the former Minnesota Gopher who was drafted by major league baseball, the National Football League, the National Basketball Association, and the American Basketball Association.
5. The Field of Dreams is located in what Iowa town?
6. The 2001 number-one and number-two major league draft choices played for Iowa minor league teams. Name the players and teams.
7. Only four right-handed hitters have won four or more batting titles in the National League since 1900. Three (Honus Wagner, Rogers Hornsby, and Roberto Clemente) are in the Hall of Fame. Who is the fourth? Hint: He played junior college baseball in Iowa.
8. What former University of Iowa baseball player became an all-pro defensive back with the Minnesota Vikings?
9. What former major league player began his minor league career in Des Moines and concluded his 50-year baseball career as a coach with the St. Paul Saints?
10. Who was the first player to be named to an All-Star team at three different positions?
11. The 1967 Minnesota Twins were the first team to have three pitchers with at least 200 strikeouts in the same season. Name them.
12. In 1951, the baseball coaches at the Universities of Minnesota and Iowa, both former major league players, co-authored a series of books on basic baseball skills. Name the coaches.
13. This St. Louis Park High School gradate played at Northern Iowa before being drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays. In 2002, he had a batting average of .259 for Class A Dunedin. Who is he?
14. One of the few players who has played in four decades started his career with the Keokuk (Iowa) Cardinals in 1959 as a catcher. He was called up by the St. Louis Cardinals in September of 1959 and played in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. Who is he?
15. On May 2, 1964, these Minnesota Twins hit four home runs in a row in the eleventh inning.
16. What former University of Iowa pitcher served up the "Homer in the Gloamin’"?
17. What Iowa Hall of Fame pitcher had a Heisman Trophy winner as his catcher in American Legion Baseball? Who was the Heisman winner?
18. What current Minnesota Twins player attended Des Moines Area Community College in Boone, Iowa?
19. What former Minnesota Twins player was the head baseball coach at Iowa State University from 1985 to 1989?
New Members
Welcome to new members Art Mugalian, Wayne Hensley, Jim Soderlund and Harry Harrison as well as returning member Brent Peterson (the captain of the St. Croixs vintage base ball team who shares his February 1 birthday with Paul Blair, Danny Thompson, Kent Mercker, Rich Becker, Carl Reynolds, Earle Mack, and Clark Gable).
Art Mugalian is from Chicago and worked as a daily sports reporter covering the Cubs from 1976 to 1978. He is now a receiving manager for Barnes & Noble in the Mall of America. Art has been a Cubs fans since 1954 and a Twins fan since 1979. His other interests include running, chess, table tennis, history, and political science.
Art shares his December 5 birthday with Cliff Floyd, Patsy Tebeau, Gus Mancuso, Gary Roenicke, Boo Ferriss, Walt Disney, and Martin Van Buren.
Wayne "Bubba" Hensley grew up in the mountains of eastern Tennessee and, at the age of 9 or 10, started going to games of the Class D Bristol Twins, where Bobby Thomson broke into pro ball in 1942 and where Ron Neccia struck out 27 batters in a game on May 13, 1952.
Bubba went to his first major league game in 1954 at Griffith Stadium, where he saw Mickey Vernon hit a home run as the Senators beat the Tigers, 2-1, in 12 innings. He saw his first World Series games in 1991, attending the second and seventh games.
Wayne has lived in the St. Paul area since 1966 and has a wife and two daughters. He has his doctorate in communication studies from the University of Minnesota and has taught at Bethel College for 28 years and part-time at the University of St. Thomas since 1985.
A Twins season-ticket holder, Wayne takes a baseball trip every summer. He went to Cooperstown last September and worked as a volunteer in the photo archives at the National Baseball Library for a week. He collects autographed balls, lithographs, and figurines.
Bubba shares his February 25 birthday with Monte Irvin, Ron Santo, Cesar Cedeno, Andy Pafko, Danny Cater, Bob Brenly, Paul O’Neill, Shannon Stewart, Stump Merrill, Dana Kiecker, Jack "Lucky" Lohrke, Roy Weatherly, Johnny Kling, Kurt Rambis, Carl Eller, George Harrison, and Carrot Top.
Jim Soderlund is retired from the postal service and lives in Milaca, Minnesota, with his wife, Dorothy. They have two sons, Mike and John, five grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
Jim played high school and American Legion baseball as well as on a town team in the Eastern Minnesota League. Jim attended the 1932 Little World Series between the Minneapolis Millers and Newark Bears and also was at the opening game of the 1954 World Series between the Cleveland Indians and New York Giants at the Polo Grounds.
Jim shares his July 11 birthday with fellow member Bob Kapla as well as Bob Allison, John Sevcik, Milt Stock, E. B. White, and John Quincy Adams.
Harry Harrison is a Recreation Supervisor for the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board. Harry and his wife, Audrey, live in Champlin, Minnesota, and have three children, David, Ted, and Julie.
Harry grew up watching the Minneapolis Millers at Nicollet Park and the St. Paul Saints at Lexington Park. He played six years in the Minneapolis Park National League. Harry was the League Director and Class A Baseball Commissioner for 10 years and the Class A State Baseball Director for 10 years.
Harry is on the Minnesota Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame Committee and has been inducted into the Minnesota State Softball Hall of Fame for both the Amateur Softball Association (ASA) and the U. S. Specialty Sports Association (USSSA).
Harry shares his May 21 birthday with El Tappe, Mark Quinn, Eddie Milner, Barry Latman, Larry Rosenthal, Kent Hrbek, Harvard Eddie Grant, Mace Brown, Bobby Cox, Earl Averill, Mr. T, and Jeffrey Dahmer.
Book Club
Eight chapter members discussed Philip Roth’s The Great American Novel on October 19. The next meeting will be at 10 a.m. on Saturday, December 14 at Northwestern Book Store in Har Mar Mall in Roseville. The book to be discussed is Stengel: His Life and Times by Robert W. Creamer.
For more information, contact Tom Swift at swifttom@hotmail.com.
HCE Due Out Anon
Editor Bob Tholkes reports that the next Holy Cow Extra will focus on collecting with contributions from Cary Smith, Mendal Mearkle, Brad Zellar, Fred Buckland, Stew Thornley, and Deano Thilgen.
Answers to Trivia Quiz
1. Cookie Lavagetto, Sam Mele, Cal Ermer, Billy Martin, Bill Rigney, Frank Quilici, Gene Mauch, Johnny Goryl, Billy Gardner, Ray Miller, Tom Kelly, Ron Gardenhire. 2. Fred Clarke. 3. Paul Molitor. 4. Dave Winfield. 5. Dyersville. 6. Joe Mauer, Quad City River Bandits, and Mark Prior, Iowa Cubs. 7. Bill Madlock. 8. Paul Krause. 9. Wayne Terwilliger. 10. Harmon Killebrew. 11. Dave Boswell, Jim Kaat, Dean Chance. 12. Dick Siebert (Minnesota) and Otto Vogel (Iowa). 13. Aaron McEachran. 14. Tim McCarver. 15. Jimmie Hall, Tony Oliva, Bob Allison, Harmon Killebrew. 16. Mace Brown. 17. Bob Feller and Nile Kinnick. 18. Corey Koskie. 19. Bobby Randall.
Name’s the Same: Felipe Lopez
Calendar
December 7—Hot Stove Saturday Mid-Morning, Baker’s Square, 66th and Xerxes, Richfield, 9:30 a.m.
December 14—Book Club Meeting, Northwestern Book Store, Roseville, 10 a.m.
Halsey Hall Chapter
Board of Directors 2002-03
President—Vacant
Vice President—Fred Buckland
Secretary-Treasurer—Rich Arpi
Dan Cagley
Cary Smith
Deano Thilgen
Bob Tholkes
Jim Wyman
The Holy Cow! Editor—Stew Thornley
Holy Cow Extra Editor—Bob Tholkes
Webmaster—Deano Thilgen
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
Halsey Hall Chapter Web Page: http://halseyhall.org/
Halsey Hall Chapter E-list/Message Board: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/halseyhall/
Past issues of The Holy Cow! are available at http://halseyhall.org/pubs/holy.html