Resources
Tink Larson to Speak at Fall Chapter Meeting November 2
Tink Larson will be the featured speaker at the Halsey Hall Chapter fall meeting Saturday, November 2 at Faith Mennonite Church, 2720 E. 22nd Street in south Minneapolis.
A longtime coach at many levels in Waseca, Tink is a legend in Minnesota amateur baseball. He may be joined by another Waseca native, Gene Glynn, who was a coach for several teams, including the Twins.
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 and Howard Luloff’s always-a-hit trivia contest 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.
Members are invited to submit a proposal to make a research (oral or poster) presentation at the meeting. Proposals must be sent to Research Committee co-chairs Brenda Himrich or Sarah Johnson 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. The Research Committee (which also consists of Dan Levitt, Jim Cox, Doug Skipper, Stew Thornley, Rich Arpi, Dave Lande, Anders Koskinen, Gene Gomes, and Bob Tholkes) will finalize the schedule of research presentations by October 19, two weeks before the meeting, so proposals must be submitted by then.
The meeting will include four research presentations:
- Rich Arpi: 1890s Millers and Saints
- David Karpinski: This Lineup “Owned” Nolan Ryan
- Corky Gaskell: Making a 19th Century Base Ball
- Bob Tholkes: Time of Game in the Amateur Era, 1860-1865
Once again, door prizes will be presented to new and old chapter members at the meeting.
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Upcoming Events
Free Baseball
Come out to Siebert Field Friday, September 27 for the Gopher Pro-Alumni vs. Minnesota game. A statue of Dick Siebert will be unveiled at 5:30 with the game starting at 6:00 p.m. Among those on the Pro-Alumni roster are Tim McIntosh, J. T. Bruett, Seth Rosin, Robb Quinlan, Greg Olson, Brian Raabe, Jack Hannahan, and Dan Motl and Jordan Jess of the 2019 American Association champion St. Paul Saints.
Book Club
The Halsey Hall Chapter Book Club will meet Saturday, October 5 at 9:30 a.m. at the usual spot, Barnes & Noble in Har Mar Mall in Roseville. The book selection is The MVP Machine: How Baseball’s New Noncomformists Are Using Data to Build Better Players Ben Lindbergh and Travis Sawchik. A noted chapter member is quoted early and often in the book.
Brent Heutmaker has organized a list of all the book selections since the book club started in August 2002: Halsey Hall Book Club Selections
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 9 at Bunny’s Northeast, 34 13th Ave NE, Minneapolis 55413 (behind the keg warehouse of the old Grain Belt Brewery), 612-545-5659.
Research Committee Meeting October 14
The Halsey Hall Chapter Research Committee will meet Monday, October 14 from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at the Brookdale Library, Study Room F, 6125 Shingle Creek Parkway, Brooklyn Center 55430. All members are welcome to attend.
A number of members have been researching the first games played in each of the Minnesota counties, and the committee would like to have information for each of the counties (29 of 87 are still unaccounted for). See the MN Counties list.
Two other web pages have information on the spread of baseball, Pre-pro Baseball and Pre-pro Clubs and Games in Minnesota. In addition, a Google Docs spreadsheet is online, Minnesota Spread of Baseball Project, 1857-1923.
Anyone wanting to get involved may contact committee co-chairs Brenda Himrich, 651-415-0791, and Sarah Johnson.
Research page updated:
The Research Committee page has been updated and includes a list of research projects by members. If you would like research added, contact me, (Stew Thornley, 651-415-0791).
As always, check out the chapter’s Baseball Research Primer as a source for any research you are doing.
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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#rallysquirrel
A squirrel ran across Target Field in the last of the first on Monday, August 19 as Nelson Cruz stepped in to hit. The squirrel turned and scampered into the Twins dugout, causing Miguel Sano to scamper out. Less freaked out by a squirrel, Cruz followed with a run-scoring single. #rallysquirrel returned the next night in the bottom of the fifth, coming out of the photographers well, where Kelly Hagenson was stationed. The squirrel ran through the legs of Max Kepler, who was leading off first, and headed toward the plate, to the obliviousness of umpire Bill Welke and pitcher Reynaldo Lopez. As Lopez was in full extension, Welke finally realized what the crowd noise was about and threw up his arms to call time. More alert, Kelly snapped a couple of great pictures. When play resumed, the Twins scored three more runs. #rallysquirrel didn’t show up the next day, despite being included on the lineup sheet, and the Twins were held to three baserunners—two singles and a walk—and shut out by Lucas Giolito.
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Minnesota 19th Century Base Ball Interdisciplinary Symposium November 16
Details are set for the Minnesota 19th Century Base Ball Interdisciplinary Symposium, which our chapter will host in Minneapolis on Saturday, November 16. Bob Tholkes is the primary organizer and is working with the chapter Research Committee on the program. The symposium is a joint project of the SABR 19th Century Committee, the Halsey Hall Chapter of SABR, and Hennepin County Library.
Confirmed presenters:
- John Thorn, Historian for Major League Baseball
- Larry Millett, popular Twin Cities author and local historian
- Stew Thornley, SABR award-winning author and leading Minnesota baseball historian
- Frank White, historian and author on black baseball
- Dan Levitt, SABR award-winning author
- Mike Haupert, SABR Doug Pappas Award winner in 2014 for best convention presentation
- Kristin Anderson, award-winning teacher at Augsburg College, Minneapolis, and expert on Twin Cities sports architecture
Sarah Johnson wrote an article about the symposium in Twins Daily: SABR 19th Century Baseball Symposium Comes to Minneapolis
Registration: Minnesota 19th Century Base Ball Interdisciplinary Symposium
To get on a list to receive updates about the symposium, write to sabrMN19c@gmail.com.
Minneapolis Central Library Parking Information
Friday night reception
A pre-symposium dinner and reception will be held at 6:00 the night before, Friday, November 15, at U Garden Chinese Restaurant, 2725 University Avenue SE, Minneapolis 55414, 612-378-1255. We will have a partitioned area for our group, which will include some members of the SABR board of directors, which is in town for a weekend meeting. All SABR members are welcome to come to this, whether or not they are attending the symposium on Saturday. Please respond if you plan to attend: (stewthornley.net or 651-415-0791. There is a buffet for $11.95 plus tax and tip and an array of booze and non-booze options.
For those attending the symposium, the organizing committee is planning a dinner and reception for Saturday night.
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Metropolitan Stadium Games Still Available for Book Project
As part of the SABR Baseball Games Project, the Halsey Hall Chapter is organizing a project to write additional stories about memorable games played at Metropolitan Stadium. It will be similar to the Milwaukee County Stadium Greatest Games book, and members can check out the articles in there to get an idea of their format.
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One of the stories already written, by Jim McKernon, is of the June 26, 1977 Twins 19-12 win over the White Sox, a game interrupted when a fan climbed the left-field foul pole, a scene that appeared in several newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune the next morning. After the Met was torn down, Rob Fornasiere kept the foul poles by procuring them for his baseball team at Normandale Community College. After Normandale dropped sports, one of the foul poles was cut in half and installed at Red Haddox Field, site of the annual Class A baseball tournament. Tournament director Andre Lanoue invited the fan—who does the public-address announcing for the tournament—to re-create his climb and accompanied him on August 18. (In the photo at the right, Andre is on the left; the fan, who could make it up no more than one rung, is on the right. The fan discovered that scaling a foul pole was much easier when he was 42 years younger, had two good legs, and was drunk.)
The stories should be between 1,000 and 1,569 words and will be due in mid-2020.
So far approximately more than 90 games have been identified to be included in the book. Some have already been written or assigned to SABR members, but many are still in need of authors:
- 5/8/1960 (Game 2), Dave Mann steals home on a double steal with Carl Yastrzemski going all the way from first to third and getting two stolen bases on the play.
- 5/26/63, Bill Dailey rescues Jim Perry in the eighth, picking up steam for a great season in relief, which eventually prompted organist Willie Peterson to great his entrances with “Won’t you come home, Bill Dailey?” (to the tune of the actual song, “Won’t You Come Home, Bill Bailey?”). Dailey had a 6-3 won-lost record in 1963 with a 1.99 earned-run average in 108-2/3 innings. Saves were not yet an official statistic, but The Sporting News unofficially awarded saves under a strict definition in which a pitcher could earn a save only if he faced the potential tying or leading run, or by pitching one of more perfect innings in protecting a two-run lead. awarded Dailey 13 saves in 1963, although Dailey’s total was later retroactively changed to 21 under a less stringent qualification system.
- 7/17/1964, Right-fielder Lu Clinton throws out Earl Battey at first in the fifth inning.
- 6/6/1965, Jerry Zimmerman hits first career home run.
- 4/16/1966, Dean Chance breaks up Mudcat Grant’s no-hitter in the sixth, goes the distance, Angels win on J. J. Warner’s two-run homer.
- 7/4/1969, Twins jump on Catfish Hunter, who had held them without a runner in a game the previous year, and win the opening game of a big series versus Oakland.
- 7/5/1969, Reggie Jackson homers off the top of the scoreboard, but the Twins get two from Harmon Killebrew and beat Oakland 13-1.
- 9/20/1969, Jim Perry wins 20th game as Tony Oliva doubles home Rod Carew in the ninth. Joe “S. F.” Schultz is ejected after a ball was called because Diego Segui took too long to pitch.
- 9/21/69, Killebrew hits two homers, but the Twins miss chance to clinch division when John Kennedy—who homered off the Twins in his first major-league plate appearance in 1962—breaks a 3-3 tie with a home run with two out in the ninth. Interesting catcher-unassisted double play in this game.
- 6/21/1971, Vida Blue, amid great interest, wins 15th game.
- 9/3/71 (Game 1), Killebrew breaks tie in sixth with pinch-hit grand slam off Mudcat Grant. Late arriving crowd—some of whom got there in time to see the homer—because most were coming to see Vida Blue in the nightcap.
- 4/18/1973, Nolan Ryan strikes out 14. Angels win 3-2 on Frank Robinson’s 524th career home run to break tie in the eighth.
- 6/22/1974, Jim Kaat of White Sox beats former team in 10 innings and Kaat and Vic Albury both go the distance.
- 5/31/1976, Blyleven flips off fans in final game before being traded, refers to “bleeping fans” in the newspaper and calls Calvin Griffith a “cheap bleep-bleeper.” Kusick, after homer, also gestured in “uncomplimentary fashion.” Good stuff.
- 6/20/1976, Mark Fidrych beats Twins. Fidrych was by this time known as quirky but was not yet the celebrity he became eight days later when he beat the Yankees on Monday Night Baseball.
- 7/21/1977, Dave Goltz and Ryan pitch complete games. Twins win 3-2 with all runs in the first inning
- 9/5/1978, Steve Trout wins first game in majors, helped by Disco Dan Ford’s baserunning gaffe, trotting home backwards partway and not stepping on the plate until the trailing runner, Jose Morales, crossed and was called out for passing Ford.
- 4/17/1979, Ryan, in Twins home opener, pitches shutout in his final game at Met Stadium. Replacement umpires used. Rick Miller circles the bases when he singles and Willie Norwood lets ball through his legs.
- 7/5/1980, Twins beat Ferguson Jenkins 2-1 as Roy Smalley hits two-run homer off the right-field foul pole.
If you are interesting in writing about any of these games, contact me, stew@stewthornley.net.
Met Stadium Quiz
Of those who played at Metropolitan Stadium, who was the last player active in the major leagues?
Answer below
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New Members
Know a potential member? Here are resources for getting that person happily involved in SABR:
Membership application
Chapter membership chair Jim Cox has been at work building the membership and contacting past members to see about them signing up again. He would love to have one or two other people on the committee with him. If you are interested, contact Jim: jcox321@hotmail.com.
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Cow Chips
A lot of members went to a lot of town ball games this summer, including the Class B title game in which Jordan beat Hutchinson 4-2 at Delano. For more town ball, check out the television series produced by Fox Sports North, which is now on-line: Town Ball: Uniquely Minnesota
Wesley Ellenwood is on track to complete his documentary, Sibling Rivals—The Millers & The Saints, by early 2020. Excerpts: Sibling Rivals
Twin Cities Public Television is showing a documentary, Becoming Big League, about the sports scene in Minnesota just before the arrival of major-league baseball and football. Tune in on Monday, October 14 at 9:00 p.m.
The St. Paul Saints’ City of Baseball Museum was honored by Ballpark Digest: Saints City of Baseball Museum Honored With Top Ballpark Improvement. If you haven’t been to it yet, the article has information on how to go in the off-season. Sarah Johnson also wrote about the museum for Twins Daily: New Museum at CHS Field Highlights St. Paul Baseball History
Articles by chapter members:
Harry Elliott by Armand Peterson
Remembering State High School Baseball Tournaments at Duluth, and the Great St. Louis County Teams Who Played There in Rootprints by Anthony Bush. (Anthony notes that the editor added “Duluth” to “University of Minnesota” for the site of the first state tournament in 1947. “I know it was in Minneapolis! The whole point of this piece was that 1949 was the only time Duluth hosted the state tournament.”)
Anthony is also working on a biography of Russell Ennis of Superior for the SABR BioProject.
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Answer to Met Stadium Quiz
Rickey Henderson made his Met Stadium debut in the first game of a doubleheader August 10, 1979 and played in the major leagues until September 19, 2003. Other Met Stadium alumni who made it into the 21st century are Mike Morgan, who, along with Henderson, first played at the Met in first game of a doubleheader August 10, 1979 and played in the majors through 2002, and Harold Baines, who first played at Met Stadium May 26, 1980 and played in the majors through 2001. Jesse Orosco was drafted in the second round by the Twins in January 1978 and played in the majors until September 27, 2003. However, the Twins traded Orosco to the Mets for Jerry Koosman over the 1978-1979 off-season, and Orosco never played at Met Stadium (although he did finish his career with the Twins).
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Calendar
October 5—Book Club, Barnes & Noble, Har Mar Mall, Roseville, 9:30 a.m., The MVP Machine: How Baseball’s New Noncomformists Are Using Data to Build Better Players by Ben Lindbergh and Travis Sawchik.
October 14—Research Committee meeting, 7:00-9:00 p.m., Brookdale Library, Study Room F. For more information, contact Brenda Himrich, 651-415-0791, or Sarah Johnson.
November 2—Fall Chapter Meeting, 9:00 a.m, Faith Mennonite Church, Minneapolis. For more information, contact Howard Luloff, 952-922-5036.
November 9—Fred Souba Hot Stove League Saturday Morning, Bunny’s, Minneapolis, 9:00 a.m.
November 16, 2019—Minnesota 19th Century Base Ball Interdisciplinary Symposium, Minneapolis Central Library. For more information, contact Bob Tholkes, 952-922-5036. A pre-symposium reception will be held at U Garden the night before, and an after-symposium reception on Saturday.
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Board of Directors 2019-2020
President—Dave Lande
Vice President—Hans Van Slooten
Secretary—Anders Koskinen
Treasurer—Jerry Janzen
Jim Cox
Gene Gomes
Frank Kadwell
Membership Committee Chair—Jim Cox
Events Committee Chair—Howard Luloff
Research Committee Chairs—Brenda Himrich and Sarah Johnson
The Holy Cow! Editor—Stew Thornley
Webmaster—John Gregory
Ass. Webmasters—Frank Kadwell and Stew Thornley
Social Media Directors—Tom Flynn, Twitter; Bob Komoroski, Facebook
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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