Resources
Rob Fornasiere to Speak at Fall Chapter Meeting November 3
Rob Fornasiere, who retired last spring after 33 seasons on the Minnesota Gophers baseball coaching staff, will be the featured speaker at the 2018 Fall Chapter meeting will be Saturday, November 3 at Faith Mennonite Church, 2720 E. 22nd Street in south Minneapolis.
Rob Fornasiere was honored at Siebert Field October 13 for his 33 years of coaching Gophers baseball.
Registration for the meeting is at 8:30 with research presentations beginning at 9:00. A business meeting will be held during lunch with a featured guest to follow. The cost for the meeting and lunch is $10. The meeting only is $5. Those wanting lunch must RSVP to Howard Luloff, 952-922-5036.
The meeting will have three research presentations:
- Showdown: Babe Ruth’s Rebellious Barnstorming Tour of 1921 by Tom Flynn
- Analysis of the Unique Role of the Official Scorer in Baseball by Stew Thornley
- Memorable Amateur Arbiters by Bob Tholkes
Other Upcoming Events:
Research Committee
The Halsey Hall Chapter Research Committee will meet Monday, October 22 and Monday, November 19 at 7:00 p.m. in Room I at the Brookdale Library, 6125 Shingle Creek Parkway, Brooklyn Center 55430. All members are welcome to attend.
World Series Viewing Party at Grumpy’s
Gather with other baseball enthusiasts to watch the World Series at Grumpy’s Bar and Grill, 2200 4th Street Northeast, Minneapolis 55418 on Saturday, October 27. People will start gathering by 6 p.m.
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, November 10 at Bunny’s Northeast, 34 13th Avenue NE, Minneapolis 55413, 612-545-5659 (in what was the keg warehouse of the Grain Belt Brewery).
Book Club
The Halsey Hall Chapter Book Club will meet Saturday, December 1 at 9:30 a.m. at the usual spot, Barnes & Noble in Har Mar Mall in Roseville. The book selection is Baseball in the Afternoon: Tales from a Bygone Era by Robert Smith.
Brent Heutmaker has organized a list of all the book selections since the book club started in August 2002: Halsey Hall Book Club Selections
Keep up to date with chapter activities on social media:
SABR Halsey Hall Chapter Facebook page
Halsey Hall Chapter Twitter page
Regular Events
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Play Ball! Sports in Scott County
Jim Cox attended the opening of the Play Ball! Sports in Scott County on September 27 in Shakopee. “Nicely done exhibits and enjoyable,” Jim reported, adding that of the early games featured in displayed, the earliest described game was from June 17, 1897 although Rich Arpi had listed a prior game, May 23, 1897, in our Spread of Baseball: Pre-pro Clubs and Games in Minnesota spreadsheet.
Jim is talking to the program manager of the Scott County Historical Society about displaying our Minnesota Hall of Famers display in their exhibit.
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New Members
Corky Gaskell grew up in Sioux City, Iowa, and lives in Rochester, Minnesota, with his wife, Brenda. They have three children: Spencer (Omaha), Shannon (Des Moines), and Stuart (Rochester). He has worked for IBM since 1984 and is currently working on future hardware programs—architecture, design, cost.
Because of Carl Yastrzemski, Corky grew up as a Red Sox fan and still roots for them. He saw his first game in 1969—Red Sox versus the Royals—in Kansas City, where his uncle had season tickets.
“I got involved in the history part of base ball after joining the Roosters Base Ball club (vintage) back in 2009. I was named captain in 2012 and have been working to convert the team to a more historical view of the game (versus just pure entertainment). I have learned to make base balls as they were made in the mid 19th century, for use in vintage games. I have made base balls for 1857 thru 1872 and have set up videos and classes to teach people how to make them. It brings another level of history to the game when played.
“I was involved in the Vintage Base Ball Association in helping new clubs get started up the right way. I also served as a board member and have run, and helped run, a handful of national conferences for the organization. I am currently serving (my first year) on the Rules and Customs committee for VBBA. This group helps the members of VBBA interpret and understand the rules of the game over the years from 1858 thru 1872, so they can more accurately portray the game during their events. My main focus on baseball history is focused on that era (1857-1872). ”
Corky shares his October 28th birthday with Artie Wilson, Joe Page, Johnny Neun, Jeremy Bonderman, Frank “Piano Mover” Smith, Nate McLouth, Braden Looper Johnny Rigney, Juan Guzman, Lenny Harris, Bob Veale, Sammy Stewart, Daniel Palka, Brad Paisley, Bill Gates, Julia Roberts, Fred Barry (the one who played Father Desilets in the movie Tit Coq), Joaquin Phoenix, Kimberly Leach (Ted Bundy’s last victim), Charlie Daniels, Goro Suzuki (Jack Soo), Kyle Rote Sr., Telma Hopkins, Jonas Salk, Elsa Lanchester, Edith Head, Caitlyn Jenner, and Bowie Kuhn.
The Halsey Hall Chapter also welcomes Roger Brosnahan and Blaze Beecher.
Know a potential member? Here are resources for getting that person happily involved in SABR:
Membership application
Have you attended a Minnesota college, and would you be willing to contact it about the possibility of integrating SABR into some departments? If so, please contact Membership Committee Chair Hans Van Slooten.
Hans has written an article on SABR and our chapter for Twins Daily: Interested in Baseball Research? Join SABR!
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Cow Chips
Roger Godin attended Bob Bavasi’s Japan baseball tour in September and went to five games, the most interesting being a 1-1 tie between the Yomiuri Giants and Yakult Swallows.
Bob Tholkes has provided to Protoball his Registry of Interclub Matches (RIM) database, which has more than 5,000 interclub baseball matches from 1845 to 1865. The project is incorporating these games into its pre-professional database, although the spreadsheet, Bob Tholkes’ RIM Tabulation, can be downloaded now. Protoball was established to help researchers and writers locate and refine primary data on the evolution and spread of ball play from ancient times to up to 1870.
SABR member Craig Brown has created Threads of Our Game, a 19th-century uniform database. He invites people to share their knowledge about baseball uniforms and is especially hoping to gather information on Minneapolis and St. Paul uniforms before 1900.
Did anyone try to go to the 1962 Twins home opener? Scheduled for Friday, April 13, the game was postponed after six inches of snow fell the day before. KSTP Television came up with footage of snow being cleared from Met Stadium, so the game could be played the next day.
Did any of you collect the pastel portraits of Twins painted by Nick Volpe? They were available at the Western/DX gas stations in the Twin Cities in the 1960s. The portrait of Earl Battey includes the makeshift ear flap designed by Ray Crump, the Twins equipment manager.
After Brock Holt hit for the cycle in the playoffs, the first postseason cycle in the majors, Dana Marshall recalled seeing this happen in the minors in 1954 when Gip Dickens hit for the cycle for the Minneapolis Millers in a 1954 playoff game versus the Indianapolis Indians at Nicollet Park. (More details at Minneapolis Millers; Go to the 1954 tab and scroll down to September 19.) Dana wondered about other playoff cycles in the minors, and Jacob Pomrenke of SABR office created a link for the SABR Encylopedia in case others can add to the list:
Postseason Cycles
Articles by chapter members:
Sid Peterson and Ray Starr by Terry Bohn.
June 13, 1999: Astros manager Larry Dierker suffers seizure in the dugout by Brent Heutmaker, part of the Dome Sweet Dome: History and Highlights from 35 Years of the Houston Astrodome book.
July 1, 1990: Andy Hawkins No-hitter Is ‘No Winner’ for Yankees and May 29, 1982: Yankees’ Roy Smalley Strikes Out to begin Twins’ Bizarre Triple Play by Stew Thornley.
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Calendar
October 22—Research Committee
meeting, 7:00 p.m., Brookdale Library. For more information, contact Brenda Himrich, 651-415-0791, or Sarah Johnson.
October 27—World Series Viewing Party, Grumpy’s Bar and Grill, Northeast Minneapolis, starting at 6:00 p.m. For more information, contact T. S. Flynn.
November 3—Fall Chapter Meeting, 9:00 a.m, Faith Mennonite Church, Minneapolis. For more information, contact Howard Luloff, 952-922-5036.
November 10—Fred Souba Hot Stove League Saturday Morning, Bunny’s, Minneapolis, 9:00 a.m.
November 19—Research Committee meeting, 7:00 p.m., Brookdale Library, Room I. For more information, contact Brenda Himrich, 651-415-0791, or Sarah Johnson.
December 1—Book Club, Barnes & Noble, Har Mar Mall, Roseville, 9:30 a.m., Baseball in the Afternoon: Tales from a Bygone Era by Robert Smith.
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Board of Directors 2018-2019
President—Tom Flynn
Vice President—Frank Kadwell
Secretary—Dave Lande
Treasurer—Jerry Janzen
Jim Cox
Bob Komoroski
Hans Van Slooten
Membership Committee Chair—Hans Van Slooten
Events Committee Chair—Howard Luloff
Research Committee Chairs—Brenda Himrich and Sarah Johnson
The Holy Cow! Editor—Stew Thornley
Webmaster—John Gregory
Ass. Webmasters—Stew Thornley and Frank Kadwell
Social Media Director—Tom Flynn
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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