Bob Strauss Dies
Bob Strauss, who joined the Society for American Baseball Research earlier this year and was introduced in the April newsletter died on June 9. Marcy Sangor Strauss, his widow, reported that Bob had been diagnosed with Synovial Sarcoma in December 2001 and had been undergoing traditional and experimental therapies. While in treatment, he wrote The Best: Unique New Statistics that Compare and Rank the Best Batters in Baseball History. Bob’s friend, Bob Aronson, gave a presentation on the book at last spring’s chapter meeting as Bob Strauss was attending his older son’s graduation from medical school in Chicago the same day. In addition to The Best, Bob wrote a philosophy book and had begun a third book during his treatment. Bob grew up on the south side of Chicago and moved to Minnesota in the 1970s.
Chapter Meeting October 22
Time: 9 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. (registration at 8:30).
Place: Community United Methodist Church, 950 Gould Avenue, Columbia Heights 55421-3905, 763-788-9009.
Registration fees: $15, which includes lunch (pizza) and morning refreshments; $7 for the meeting only. Those wanting food must contact meeting coordinator Howard Luloff (2509 Princeton Court, St. Louis Park, Minnesota 55416, 952-922-5036, hfan77@webtv.net) by Saturday, October 15.
Research presentations (9 a.m. to noon):
- The Entire Career of Fred Spencer—Bob Tholkes
- The 100th Midnight Sun Game—Chuck Blomquist
- Roberto Clemente:
Entry into Organized Baseball and Examination of Stories—Stew Thornley
Howard Luloff will also present a chapter retrospective, looking at memorable guests we have had at our meetings over the past 25 years, in the morning.
The chapter is still pursuing featured guests, who will appear from 1 to 2:30 p.m. The possible list of guests includes Herb Carneal.
Trivia: Howard Luloff will host a Jeopardy-style trivia contest from 2:30 to 3:00 p.m.
Members and guests are invited to come to the Himrich-Thornley home (1082 Lovell Avenue, Roseville, 651-415-0791) that night to watch the opening game of the World Series. Click here for a map and directions.
Dates Set for 2006 SABR Convention
The 2006 Society for American Baseball Research convention will be held at the Renaissance Hotel in downtown Seattle from Thursday, June 29 to Sunday, July 2. Jim Bouton will be the keynote speaker. The Mariners will be playing the Colorado Rockies that weekend.
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Metrodome Matrimony Ups and Downs
Bill Stixrud got married as part of the Twins’ “Multiple Matrimony” ceremony on September 17. Bill and his wife later took part in the between-innings “Let’s Make a Deal” contest. It was a great day except for Bill’s faux pas of wearing a blue Harmon Killebrew jersey that was similar to one worn by one of the other grooms.
Bill still fared better than a prospective groom had on Labor Day at the Metrodome. The stage seemed set for disaster that day as the singer of the national anthem momentarily forgot the words at one point. In the game, the Twins fell behind as their defense disintegrated behind Carlos Silva. Then, in the middle of the fifth inning, the scoreboard flashed a wedding proposal, in German, from Ehron to Natalie. Ehron had written to the Twins, telling them that he had met Natalie while stationed in Germany and that he hoped to get engaged to her before she returned home from her visit to the United States. Ehron was also bringing his family to the game to share the moment. However, Natalie’s reaction, shown on the scoreboard, indicated that she wasn’t saying yes. The Twins’ game operations staff exchanged panicked conversation: “Is she saying no??!! Well, get the camera off them!” The scoreboard image was finally killed and didn’t catch Natalie heading for the concourse—alone.
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| It’s been said that good lawyers don’t ask questions in court if they don’t already know the answer. The same could be said for proposals in public. |
Research News
Deano Thilgen is compling a data base of digitized baseball articles in Minnesota newspapers.
Stew Thornley has written a biography for young readers on Roberto Clemente, to be published by Lerner Publications of Minneapolis, and has adapted the manuscript for the SABR BioProject.
The Research Project page on the Halsey Hall web site has more information on research being done by members.
Change in Date for Hot Stove Saturday Morning
The date for the next Hot Stove Saturday Morning has been changed to November 5. It will be at 9:00 at the usual location, Bakers Square in Richfield.
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Cow Chips
Peter Schilling and Tom Swift contributed book reviews for the All-Star Issue of Elysian Fields Quarterly, Peter on Jonathan Mahler’s Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx Is Burning, and Tom on Buzz Bissinger’s Three Nights in August.
Bloomington Jefferson grad Howard Luloff attended his 25-year high-school reunion.
October Birthdays
1—Quentin Wittrock (also Rod Carew, Mark McGwire, Jeff Reardon, Chuck Hiller, Jimmie Reese, and Jimmy Carter)
9—Jay Behrens (also Joe Pepitone, Brian Downing, Freddie Patek, Joe Sewell, Charles Victory Faust, Rube Marquard, and John Lennon)
14—Kevin Cluff (also Oscar Charleston, Willie Mays Aikens, Tommy Harper, Al Oliver, Willie Mays Aikens, Joe Start, and Dwight Eisenhower)
18—Rich Cohen (also Willie Horton, George Hendrick, Andy Carey, Martina Navratilova, Candy Cummings, and Lee Oswald)
19—Fred Buckland (also Three-Fingered Brown, Fred Snodgrass, Joe McEwing, Sandy Alomar, Sr., Walter Bond, and Bob O’Farrell)
21—Rex Hamann (also Whitey Ford, George Bell, Ted Uhlaender, Ron Davis, Johnny Goryl, and Dizzy Gillespie)
23—Rich Arpi (also Al Leiter, Jim Bunning, Vern Stephens, Ewell Blackwell, John Castino, Lena Blackburne, William Hulbert, and Johnny Carson)
25—Patrick Lethert (also Pedro Martinez, Roy Smalley III, Lee MacPhail, Joe Werrick, Bobby Thomson, Al Cowens, and Pablo Picasso)
27—Darrell Skogen and Chuck Blomquist (also Buck Ewing, Ralph Kiner, Lee Stange, Brad Radke, Bip Roberts, Bill Swift, U. L. Washington, Pumpsie Green, and Teddy Roosevelt)
29—Steve Beaupre (also Jesse Barfield, Charles Ebbets, Terry Felton, Jim Bibby, and Richard Dreyfuss)
31—Charlie Bacon (also Cal Hubbard, Ken Keltner, Dee Fondy, Fred McGriff, Dave McNally, Mickey Rivers, and Jane Pauley)
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Calendar
October 8—Book Club Meeting, Barnes & Noble, Edina, 9:30 a.m., Juicing the Game: Drugs,
Power and the Fight for the Soul of Major League Baseball by Howard Bryant. For more information, contact Tom Swift,507-645-2280, tomswift@nickelcurves.com.
October 22—Fall Chapter Meeting. For more information, contact Howard Luloff: 952-922-5036, hfan77@webtv.net.
November 5 (change in date)—Hot Stove Saturday Morning, Bakers Square, 66th and Xerxes, Richfield, 9:00 a.m. For more information, contact Mark Johnson: 612-822-9638, mjohn@mr.net.
Halsey Hall Chapter
Board of Directors 2005-06
President—Bob Tholkes
Vice President—Gregg Omoth
Secretary—Chuck Blomquist
Treasurer—Rich Arpi
Howard Luloff
Gregg Nelson
Cary Smith
The Holy Cow! Editor—Stew Thornley
Webmaster—Deano Thilgen
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
Chapter History: http://halseyhall.org/officers_history.html
Chapter Procedures and By-Laws: http://halseyhall.org/bylaws.html
Society for American Baseball Research: http://sabr.org
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