Resources
Fall Chapter Meeting Set for November 13
The Fall Chapter Meeting will be at Faith Mennonite Church, 2720 E. 22nd Street in south Minneapolis on Saturday, November 13. 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 Dave Lande or Gene Gomes 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 will finalize the schedule of research presentations by October 30, two weeks before the meeting, so proposals must be submitted by then.
One presentation slot will be reserved for a first-time presenter until four weeks before the chapter meeting (October 16). New, never-before-presenting presenters are highly encouraged to present.
Two proposals have been submitted so far:
- Anthony Bush on Llewellen Legg
- Carl Rogan on Bullet Rogan
Research Committee members are Brenda Himrich, Sarah Johnson, Dan Levitt, Doug Skipper, Stew Thornley, Rich Arpi, Dave Lande, Anders Koskinen, Hans Van Slooten, Gene Gomes, Mike Haupert, and Bob Tholkes.
The Research Committee will meet August 23 from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. Anyone wanting to participate may contact co-chairs Dave Lande or Gene Gomes.
On the subject of the Research Committee, Brenda Himrich writes of the Spread of Baseball project (Pre-pro Baseball) that, thanks to Rich Arpi, has a page for early games in Minnesota: Pre-pro Clubs and Games in Minnesota.. In addition, a Google Docs spreadsheet is online at Minnesota Spread of Baseball Project, 1857-1923.
Brenda writes, “While the list with the first known baseball game in the counties of Minnesota is impressive, researchers are needed to fill in some major gaps. We still have eight Minnesota counties established in the 19th Century that do not have a first game identified as of now. These county research projects are good for beginners as all have newspapers available online through the Minnesota Historical Society Newspaper Hub. The research will still be challenging, especially if you think you will find a game in 1855 in Renville County. A quick look at the Renville County Historical Society site (highly recommended) shows that the county’s establishment is wrapped up with the Dakota Wars with the first election results being destroyed before they could be certified by the state. Of course the state had established the county in Dakota territory.”
If you are interested in learning more about the project and taking on Renville or any of the other remaining counties (see below for a list), contact Brenda, bhimrich@mac.com.
- Renville County, established 1855
- Wright County, established 1855
- Aitkin County, established 1857
- Murray County, established 1857
- Polk County, established 1858
- Wadena County, established 1858
- Marshall County, established 1879
- Roseau County, established 1894
Other Events
The Halsey Hall Chapter Book Club will meet Saturday, August 7 at 9:30 a.m. at Barnes & Noble in Har Mar Mall in Roseville. The book selection is The Soul of Baseball: A Road Trip through Buck O'Neil’s America by Joe Posnanski.
Brent Heutmaker has organized a list of all the book selections since the book club started in August 2002: Halsey Hall Book Club Selections
The Fred Souba Hot Stove Saturday Morning, an informal breakfast gathering for the purpose of talking baseball, will at Bunny’s Northeast, 34 13th Ave NE, Minneapolis 55413 (behind the keg warehouse of the old Grain Belt Brewery), 612-545-5659 on Saturday, September 18 at 9:00 a.m.
Keep up to date with chapter activities on social media:
SABR Halsey Hall Chapter Facebook page
Halsey Hall Chapter Twitter page
Please visit both pages, and, if you haven’t yet, “Like” the Facebook page and “Follow” the Twitter page and set your notifications to be alerted to new posts.
Also:
Regular Events
Video Archives of Past Events
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Ceremonies for Phil Reid July 27
Frank White has been working with the St. Paul Saints on a couple of events honoring Phil Reid, the owner of the St. Paul Colored Gophers, on Tuesday, July 27. The group will place a headstone on Reid’s grave in Oakland Cemetery (927 Jackson Street in St. Paul) at 11:00 the morning. The current headstone has the names of his first wife and his brother but does not include Phil. The new headstone notes his role with the Colored Gophers, one of the greatest teams in Minnesota history. Chapter members are welcome to attend. Historian Todd Peterson is coming up from Kansas City for the ceremony.
That night the Saints will recognize Reid before their game that night against Indianapolis and will give away t-shirts with the logo of the Colored Gophers.
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Townball Trip: Encountering Bigger Peckers
By contributing journalist Jerry Janzen
The plan on Friday, July 9, was to trek down to Waseca to see the still-new and improved Tink Larson Field and attend the Waseca Braves vs. St. Clair Wood Ducks match. Howard Luloff and Jerry Janzen left the Twin Cities in partly sunny skies and arrived to partly sunny skies only to learn that the afternoon rains had just departed an hour earlier, leaving two small lakes straddling home plate. Not to be deterred with no one around and no sign of a game, they turned the car around for the return trip. While passing through Montgomery, the lights of the local baseball field were visible. A slight detour into town revealed two teams yet to kick off their 8:00 start between the Mallards of Montgomery and the Shakopee Coyotes. This is the beauty of Minnesota Townball—if there isn’t a game in one town, try another. The bottom of the first inning brought 13 men to the plate, scoring 9. The Coyotes pecked away at the 9-run lead only to find the Mallards were bigger peckers; with the score 15-3 in the middle of the 7th inning, the game concluded with the invoking the 10-run rule after 97 minutes of offensive baseball. (There were also 8 errors.) With the night still young and the evening twilight still aglow, the two fans resumed their return home only to pass through Jordan with the bright lights of the “Mini-Met” shining brightly. Another detour discovered the Coors Light Classic Tournament still underway. The Fairmont Martins and the Dassel-Cokato Saints were entering the 6th inning. The Martins prevailed and the final score was 9-2. Not a bad road trip starting with disappointment but concluding with reveling in not one but two celebrations of Minnesota Townball. Oh my, how it was missed.
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Membership
The Halsey Hall Chapter welcomes Sean Floersch to SABR.
Know a potential member? Here are resources for getting that person happily involved in SABR:
Membership application
Get more out of your membership experience by checking out SABR Member Benefit Spotlight Series.
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Cow Chips
As if he didn’t have enough things going on (such as moving and possibly building a house in the western suburbs), Dan Levitt has taken over as treasurer of SABR following the resignation of F. X. Flinn. Dan was elected to the SABR board of directors last year and had two years remaining on his term as director. The SABR board will fill the director position at its next meeting.
Anthony Bush has been contributing to pages on Find-a-Grave and has added information for the following baseball players and relatives: Duke O’Dea, John Steven Nevers (brother of Ernie), and Finn Bakken.
Steve Ginader had a story published in the SABR Games Project: August 13, 1921: Mule Watson Wins Both Games of Doubleheader as Braves Sweep Phillies. Tom Merrick also had a game story published: June 30, 1913: Ad Brennan Knocks Out John McGraw after Giants Wrestle First Place from Phillies.
Roger Godin was quoted in the Star Tribune July 16: Why Is the U. S. Hockey Hall of Fame Located in Tiny Eveleth, Minnesota?
A local media whore who never misses a chance to pontificate pontificated on the KSTP-TV sports news on July 13 and learned that he should trim his nose hair: Minnesota Sports Faithful Hold Out Hope for Future
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Calendar
August 7—Book Club, Barnes & Noble, Har Mar Mall, Roseville, 9:30 a.m., The Soul of Baseball: A Road Trip through Buck O'Neil’s America by Joe Posnanski.
August 15—Halsey Hall Chapter Board of Directors meeting, 6:00 p.m. For more information on attending, contact Dave Lande.
August 23—Research Committee meeting, 7:00-9:00 p.m. via Zoom. For more information, contact Dave Lande or Gene Gomes.
September 18—Fred Souba Hot Stove League Saturday Morning, 9:00 a.m., Bunny’s Northeast.
November 13—Fall Chapter Meeting, 9:00 a.m., Faith Mennonite Church, Minneapolis. For more information, contact Howard Luloff, 952-922-5036.
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Board of Directors 2021-2022
President—Gene Gomes
Vice President—Stew Thornley
Secretary—Sarah Johnson
Treasurer—Jerry Janzen
Daniel Dorff
Dave Lande
John Swol
Events Committee Chair—Howard Luloff
Research Committee Co-Chairs—Dave Lande, Gene Gomes
Membership Committee Chair—Stew Thornley
The Holy Cow! Editor—Stew Thornley
Webmaster—John Gregory
Ass. Webmasters—Frank Kadwell, Hans Van Slooten, 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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Resources
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