February 2001
Building on Lexington Park Site to Be Demolished and Replaced
Coming Attractions
Tholkes Stalks Another Player
Cow Chips
Name's the Same
SABR BRJ Features Articles by Three Chapter Members
Directory Update
February Birthdays
Answers to Name's the Same
Calendar
Board of Directors
John Van Cuyk recalls his days at Lexington Park during a 1994 ceremony to unveil a commemorative plaque.
Building on Lexington Park Site to Be Demolished and Replaced
Fate Uncertain for Commemorative Plaque Donated by Chapter
Seven years ago, the Halsey Hall Chapter raised money from former fans and supporters of the St. Paul Saints to purchase and install a plaque marking the site of Lexington Park, home of the Saints from 1897 to 1956.
The plaque was installed on an outside wall of a building on the site and unveiled in a ceremony in April of 1994. Former Saints announcer Ray Christensen served as the master of ceremonies for a program that included ex-Saints Angelo Giuliani, Lou Cardinal, Leo Wells, John Van Cuyk, and Howie Schultz as well as the team’s public-address announcer, Don Dix.
The building that contains the plaque is now slated for demolition and is to be replaced by a Home Depot store. Jim Riley, Jr. of the Condor Corporation, owners of the property, says he has received assurances from Home Depot management that they will do something to commemorate the ballpark site. Whether they will use the plaque donated by the chapter has not yet been established, but the plaque will at least be removed and salvaged from the existing building before the wrecking ball hits it.
Coming Attractions
Hot Stoves and Twins Fest
The annual Hot Stove League Meeting will will be Saturday night, January 27 at 7:30 p.m. at the Julian H. Sleeper House, 66 St. Albans Street S. in St. Paul. Food will be served, and the event is free
The Halsey Hall Chapter will have a table at Twins Fest at the Metrodome on February 3 and 4.
The February Hot Stove Saturday Morning will be at Baker’s Square in Richfield at 8:30 on February 10.
Spring Chapter Meeting
Bert Blyleven is scheduled to be the featured guest at the April 28 Chapter Meeting at the United Methodist Church, 950 Gould Avenue in Columbia Heights.
Contact Joe O’Connell at 651-776-8093 if you would like to make a research presentation. If you want a ticket for the Twins-Orioles game that night, send a check for $10 for each ticket to Joe at P. O. Box 600007, St. Paul, Minnesota 55106 by April 14 (make the check payable to Joe).
Tholkes Stalks Another Player
As part of his ongoing research for SABR’s Biographical Research Committee and the Baseball Hall of Fame Library, Bob Tholkes has traced the family of St. Paul pitcher Hank Gehring—who hurled for
Washington in 1907-08 and died of uremic poisoning in April of 1912— down to a grandson in Forest Lake. Bob mailed a biographical questionnaire to the grandson and hopes to learn more about Hank.
Cow Chips
Bob Tholkes reports that his brood has turned them into a four-horse family. His daughter, Angie, owns three Egyptian Arabians and her husband, Jon, has bought a Percheron filly. . . . Phyllis Thornley is moving again after knee replacement surgery in December. . . . The memorabilia of the late Robert Thilgen, Deano’s dad, is now part of a music history exhibit called Sounds Good to Me at the Minnesota History Museum. The exhibit, which opened last October, looks at the ways that Minnesotans have found and made music in their lives.
Name's the Same
a. Incoming U. S. Treasury Secretary and an American League batting champion in the 1990s
b. Member of the Harlem Globetrotters and a former Twins outfielder
Answers below
SABR BRJ Features Articles by Three Chapter Members
The 2000 SABR Baseball Research Journal includes articles by three Halsey Hall Chapter members:
Directory Update
New address for Brian Thilman:
2122 Temple Court
St. Paul, Minnesota 55104
651-646-0165
E-mail addresses for:
Mark Hugunin—sunnyd4y@frontiernet.net
Dave Hahn—Vhahn@Qwest.net
February Birthdays
1—Brent Peterson (also Paul Blair, Danny
Thompson, Rich Becker, Carl Reynolds, Earle Mack, and Clark Gable)
4—John McFarland (also Germany Schaefer,
Possum Whitted, Rusty Kuntz, Dan Plesac, Rob Picciolo, Steve Brye, Joe Sparma, Charles Lindbergh, Rosa Parks, Alice Cooper, and Dan Quayle)
5—Cary Smith (also Hank Aaron, Al Worthington, Roberto Alomar, Don Hoak, Lee Thomas, and Roger Peckinpaugh)
6—Gregg Omoth (also Babe Ruth, Smoky Burgess, Richie Zisk, Dale Long, Glenn Wright, Chad Allen, Richie Zisk, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Dutch Reagan, and Fabian)
12—John “Bear” Hagemann (also Joe Garagiola, Dom DiMaggio, Chick Hafey, Chet Lemon, Don Wilson, Ruben Amaro, Jr., and Abraham Lincoln)
18—Ila Borders (also Shawn Estes, Kevin Tapani, Bruce Kison, and Joe Gordon)
22—Ned Ribback (also Sparky Anderson, Steve Barber, Ryne Duren, Mike Rogodzinski, Clarence Mitchell, and Bill Klem)
27—Jim Karn (also Ron “Babe” Hassey, Matt Stairs, John Wockenfuss, Willie Banks, and Chelsea Clinton)
28—Bob Evans (also Frank Malzone, Moose McCormick, Mario Andretti, and Bugsy Siegel)
Answers to Name's the Same
a. Paul O'Neill, b. Chad Allen
February 3-4—Twins Fest, Metrodome
February 10—Hot Stove Saturday Morning, 8:30 a.m., Baker’s Square, 66th and Xerxes, Richfield
April 28—Spring Chapter Meeting, United Methodist Church, Columbia Heights
Halsey Hall Chapter
Board of Directors 2000-01
President—Joe O’Connell
Vice President—Cary Smith
Secretary—Rich Arpi
Treasurer—Kevin Hennessy
Dan Levitt
Bob Tholkes
Jim Wyman
Webmaster—Cary Smith
The Holy Cow! Editor—Stew Thornley
Holy Cow Extra Editor—Bob Tholkes
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
http://member.aol.com/halseyhall/Home.html