Resources
Spring Chapter Meeting
Morning beverages at the Halsey Hall Chapter spring meeting included souvenirs brought back from the Twins series in Puerto Rico.
The Halsey Hall Chapter spring meeting on April 21 drew more than 40 members and guests: Dave Lande, Frank Kadwell, Stew Thornley, Jerry Janzen, Tom Flynn, Brenda Himrich, Howard Luloff, Joe O’Connell, Rich Arpi, David Karpinski, Dave Jensen, Damian Schaab, Hans Van Slooten, Bob Komoroski, Gene Gomes, Art Mugalian, Dave Hoplin, Barry Bengtsson, Doug Skipper, Daniel Dorff, Terry Bohn, Kelly Bohn, John Gallo, Gregg Nelson, John Swol, Jeff Lenz, Jim Cox, Steve Ginader, Joel Wyttenhove, Warren Woods, Ginny Jorgenson, Carl Rogen, Sarah Johnson, Anders Koskinen, John Koskinen, Roger Godin, Dan Levitt, Tom Rooney, George Rekela, Rebecca Dorin, Brian Madigan, and Lloyd Kepple. They heard five high-quality presentations:
- Establishment of the Joe Jackson Scholarship by Warren Woods
- From Deadball to Techball: The Evolution of Baseball Innovation by Dan Levitt
- Trends in Postseason Starting Pitching Effectiveness and Use by Anders Koskinen
- Correcting the Record (Impact of Performance Enhancing Drugs) by John Koskinen
- Baseball Career and Life of William Porter “Spike” Shannon by Rich Arpi
The afternoon speaker was Todd Mueller, author of Town Ball Parks of Minnesota, who gave a presentation showing town ball parks around the state. Our chapter will again be organizing a trip to attend a town-ball game this summer.
During the business meeting, Jim Cox, Jerry Janzen, and Dave Lande were elected to two-year terms on the chapter board of directors.
The meeting also had a baseball book exchange as well as Howard Luloff’s ever-popular quiz.
Frank Kadwell streamed the meeting on Facebook Live, providing a chance to virtually attend the meeting for others, including chapter member Cary Smith, who followed the proceedings from Cooperstown, where he works for the Hall of Fame. Frank reports we hit double-digits in streamers.
Upcoming events:
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, May 5 at Bunny’s Northeast, 34 13th Avenue NE, Minneapolis 55413, 612-545-5659 (in what was the keg warehouse of the Grain Belt Brewery).
Vintage Base Ball
Chapter members plan to venture to Pettitt Park in Lake St. Croix Beach Sunday, May 20 for a vintage base ball game between St. Croix and the Afton Red Sox at 12:30 p.m. For more information, contact Jim Cox.
Book Club
The Halsey Hall Chapter Book Club will meet Saturday, June 2 at 9:30 a.m. at the usual spot, Barnes & Noble in Har Mar Mall in Roseville. The book selection is Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball’s Last Hero by David Maraniss.
Road Trip
This year’s Northwoods League outing will be Saturday, July 21 to see the St. Cloud Rox at the Willmar Stingers at Bill Taunton Stadium. The game is at 7:05 p.m., and Howard Luloff is arranging pre-game activities with the Stingers.
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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Check It Out: SABR Oral History Collection
Researchers of all types will want to take advantage of the new website for the SABR Oral History Collection. The Oral History Research Committee for years has been collecting recordings of interviews and sessions from SABR events. The committee worked with the National Baseball Hall of Fame Library to digitize the recordings and make them available on-line. The link to the Oral History Collection has also been added to our chapter’s Baseball Research Primer. Remember these resources when starting any project.
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Research Committee News
The Halsey Hall Chapter Research Committee submitted a report for the April 21 business meeting that shows how active the committee has been over the last six months. Since the Fall 2017 chapter meeting, the committee held four meetings, including a special panel presentation on on-line baseball research tools, which was streamed on Facebook Live. The committee created a banner focusing on Hall of Famers who played in Minnesota prior to the Twins. The banner helped draw in people at Twinsfest and will be the subject of a poster presentation at the SABR convention in Pittsburgh. An ongoing project, led by Rich Arpi, is the Spread of Baseball in Minnesota.
The committee will meet Monday, June 18 at 7:00 p.m. at the Southdale Library, 7001 York Avenue, Edina, and Monday, July 23 (location yet to be determined). All members are welcome to attend.
The Research Committee consists of co-chairs Brenda Himrich, Sarah Johnson, and committee members Dan Levitt, Jim Cox, Doug Skipper, Stew Thornley, Rich Arpi, Dave Lande, and Bob Tholkes.
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New Members
John Wiederin is a sales representative for the Minnesota Twins by day and, by night, an advance and video scout for Inside Edge Scouting.
John grew up in Park Rapids Minnesota, playing baseball through high school and then in the inaugural season of the Park Rapids E-Sox in the Lake and Pine League. His favorite part of summers was the family trips to Twins games at the Metrodome and a stay at the Holiday Inn Metrodome (now the Courtyard by Marriott and also the site of the 1988 SABR convention).
John shares his March 28 birthday with Glenn Davis, Garland “Duck” Shifflett, August Busch, Vic Raschi, Chief Yellow Horse, Lon Warneke, Edmund Muskie, Joe Fortunato, Reba McEntire, Wade Hampton, Curt Hennig, Lady Gaga, Forward Pass, and Marlin Perkins.
David Hoplin is a retired software guy who is married with two adult children and is originally from Lowry, Minnesota, where he played high school, American Legion, and town ball. He attended his first professional game as a fan in 1954 as the Minneapolis Millers and Indianapolis Indians played. “I don’t remember the game or the players, but the green park, the green green grass, and the white white uniforms are vivid to this day. ”
Dave has an entertaining blog that explains his love of baseball: Distant Innocence
Born in 1947, Dave shares his September 13 birthday with Rick Wise, Rick Dempsey, Ed Rommel, Bernie Williams, Denny Neagle, Russ Davis, Thornton Lee, Andy LaRoche, Rickie Weeks, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Greg Hibbard, Dink O’Brien, Dutch Reuther, Roald Dahl, Mel Torme, Jacqueline Bisset, and John J. Pershing.
Mike Kennedy is an account executive for Sherwin Williams Consumer Brands Group. Raised on the east side of St. Paul, he now lives in Mendota Heights with his wife, Ellen, and three daughters, Maddie, Tori, and Molly.
A lifelong fan of the Twins and Cubs, Mike has an uncanny knack for getting foul balls. When he was a kid he got two in one game. He later got one for his nephew’s first game at Wrigley Field, and a bunch more along the way. He attended his first game in 1981 at Metropolitan Stadium. Big games he attended include the 1985 All-Star Game, Game 1 of the 1987 playoffs vs. Detroit, Game 6 of the 1987 World Series, and the Jim Thome walk-off homer game vs. the White Sox in 2010.
Born in 1977, Mike shares his March 1 birthday with fellow SABR member Jay Buckley as well as Omar Daal, Larry Brown, Paul Hines, Bob Usher, Michael Conforto, Trevor Cahill, Johnny Ray, Harry Caray, Bing Devine, Pete Rozelle, Ron Howard, Harry Belefonte, Roger Daltrey, Glenn Miller, Yitzhak Rabin, Fred Chopin, and Saint Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows Possenti.
Also new to the Halsey Hall Chapter: Jerome Cawley and Trevor Thornton
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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ASU 10 Follow Up
Bob Komoroski followed up on the situation with the ASU 10 (reported in the last The Holy Cow!) about being denied admission and then being denied a refund at an Arizona State baseball game because only clear plastic bags are allowed. Lee Lowenfish got a response from Michael Meiten, the associate athletic director for ticket sales and service. Meiten apologized for the poor customer service of his team and its failure to make “customer friendly decisions” and its refusal to refund the admission fees.
Lee suggested that Arizona State donate the $120 (the amount of the tickets) to an organization that provides tickets to underserved youth in the Phoenix area. He got another reply, this one from Arizona State president Michael Crow, with the news that the school would do this.
Lesson: You never know when you will need a clear plastic bag.
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Cow Pies
Dan Levitt has been getting exposure with the paperback release of In Pursuit of Pennants, which he co-authored with Mark Armour. C. J. interviewed Dan in the March 27, 2018 Star Tribune.
Dan was also on WCCO-TV April 5. And his son is making news, as well: Garnet Win Five Straight, Levitt Sets Home Run Record
Kyle Traynor and Stew Thornley were featured in an article by Jim Caple in The Athletic on official scoring in April: All We Ask Is Perfection: The Life of Major League Baseball’s Scorekeepers. (PDF version of story)
Kyle was also recognized for his other hair-raising occupation (obstetrics/gynecology) in the St. Paul Pioneer Press: He’s a Twins Scorer and an Obstetrician. And Yes, the Jobs can Intersect.
Published recently:
Anthony Bush had a story about Dorothy Arnold of Duluth, who became Joe DiMaggio’s first wife, in the St. Louis County Historical Society Rootprints (on pages 4 and 5): Dorothy Arnold: Before ‘Joe Dimaggio Done It Again’ There Was a Tomboy from Duluth
May 27, 1958: Braves win on Adcock’s walk-off pinch homer by J. G. Preston
September 20, 1982: Vuckovich Hurls 11-inning Complete Game as Brewers Rally to Win by Joel Rippel
August 20, 1980: Tom Brookens Gets Five Hits, Starts Triple Play and April 8, 1976: Hammerin’ Hank Knocks in Three in His Final Opening Day by Stew Thornley
Boston Red Sox Team Ownership History and and New York Yankees Team Ownership History by Dan Levitt and Mark Armour
Emma Charlesworth-Seiler will be starting her second season of umpiring in organized baseball, this year in the Northwest League.
The condition of this sign at Estadio Hiram Bithorn gives an indication of people’s feelings about conduct toward official scorers.
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Calendar
April 21—Spring Chapter Meeting, 9:00 a.m, Faith Mennonite Church, Minneapolis. For more information, contact Howard Luloff, 952-922-5036.
May 5—Fred Souba Hot Stove League Saturday Morning, Bunny’s, Minneapolis, 9:00 a.m.
May 20—Vintage Base Ball, 12:30 p.m., Pettitt Park, Lake St. Croix Beach. For more information, contact Jim Cox.
June 2—Book Club, Barnes & Noble, Har Mar Mall, Roseville, 9:30 a.m., Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball’s Last Hero by David Maraniss.
June 18—Research Committee meeting, Southdale Library, Edina, 7:00 p.m.. For more information, contact Brenda Himrich, 651-415-0791, or Sarah Johnson.
July 21—Northwoods League: St. Cloud Rox at Willmar Stingers, 7:05 p.m. (pre-game events starting mid-afternoon), Bill Taunton Stadium. For more information, Howard Luloff, 952-922-5036.
July 23—Research Committee meeting, 7:00 p.m.. For more information, contact Brenda Himrich, 651-415-0791, or Sarah Johnson.
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Board of Directors 2017-2018
President—Tom Flynn
Vice President—Frank Kadwell
Secretary—Brent Heutmaker
Treasurer—Jerry Janzen
Gene Gomes
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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