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The Newsletter of the Halsey Hall Chapter
Society for American Baseball Research (SABR)


August 2014

Editor:
Stew Thornley


Road Trip August 9 to Carson Park in Eau Claire

The next Halsey Hall Chapter Road Trip will be Saturday, August 9 for a 6:35 Northwoods League game between the Eau Claire Express at Carson Park, where Hank Aaron and Joe Torre played for the Eau Claire Braves of the Northern League.

Members may carpool by gathering at 2:30 at the Himrich-Thornley home in Roseville (directions). If you plan to do this, please contact Stew, 651-415-0791. Let him know if you will need to ride with someone or if you can drive; if the latter, indicate how many others you can fit in your vehicle. The group will go to a Pizza Hut a couple miles from the ballpark for pre-game eating and drinking.

Two other options:

  • Go directly to the Pizza Hut in Eau Claire and meet the rest of the group between 4:00 and 4:30. The Pizza Hut is at 1242 W. Clairemont Avenue, Eau Claire 54701-6125, 715-834-1004.
  • Meet at Carson Park, 702 Carson Park Drive, Eau Claire 54701-5941.

Other upcoming activities:
The Halsey Hall Chapter Book Club will meet Saturday, August 9 at 9:30 a.m. at Barnes & Noble in Har Mar Mall in Roseville to discuss White Rat: A Life in Baseball by Whitey Herzog and Kevin Horrigan. In addition, the group will discuss the telecast of Game Six of the 1986 World Series. The complete game is available for purchase from iTunes or for viewing on YouTube: 1986 World Series, Game 6: Red Sox @ Mets.

Twin Cities Public Television will be airing Lost Twin Cities 4, which includes a segment on the history of black baseball in Minnesota, at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, August 13 at 8 p.m. on channel 2.

Also on August 13, No-No: A Dockumentary (about Dock Ellis) will have a screening at the Trylon microcinema, 3258 Minnehaha Avenue in Minneapolis, with an introduction by Peter Schilling at 7 p.m. Tickets for No-No: A Dockumentary are $8 each.

The next Fred Souba Hot Stove Saturday Morning, an informal breakfast gathering for the purpose of talking baseball, will be at 9:00 on September 6 at Bakers Square in Richfield (66th Street to the east of York Avenue).

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Josh Ostergaard’s The Devil’s Snake Curve in New York Times Sunday Book Review

A big honor came for Josh Ostergaard when The Devil’s Snake Curve was in the New York Times Sunday Book Review on June 27, 2014. Josh’s book received high praise from reviewer Jeff Turrentine, who wrote, “The Devil’s Snake Curve is formatted in discrete chunks—most about the length of a maximalist Facebook status update—such that one can imagine reading it at an actual ballgame, absorbing and enjoying its brief bursts of energy during the many long and languorous gaps in the action.” Turrentine also reveals that the book has a surprise ending but doesn’t give it away; you’ll have to read the book yourself for that.

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Under the Sun

William Binga grave marker

Pete Gorton presided over ceremonies to dedicate a grave marker for William Binga at Crystal Lake Cemetery in Minneapolis on Saturday, June 28. Binga was a star third baseman for, among other teams, the Page Fence Giants, Philadelphia Giants, Chicago Leland Giants, St. Paul Colored Gophers, and Minneapolis Keystones. Pete tracked down the location of Binga’s grave and then worked with the Negro Leagues Baseball Grave Marker Project to get a marker installed. Below is a photo of the Page Fence Giants, with Binga on the team, in Adrian, Michigan.

Photo of Page Fence Giants

The All-Star Game was in Minnesota July 15, in case you didn’t notice:

Scoreboard with final line of the game
SABR Panel at FanFest
FanFest had several panels with SABR members, including this one on Minnesota baseball history with John Swol, John Bonnes, Joel Rippel, and Doug Skipper.
Rainbow over the Home Run Derby
Brian Dozier tries to hit one over the rainbow in the Home Run Derby.
Mike Trout
Mike Trout pulls up in style during the Red Carpet Parade.
Flag unfurling
Brenda Himrich and Jerry Janzen were among the flag unfurlers before the game.
Derek Jeter at bat
Derek Jeter got two hits in the game (including one when the opposing pitcher was actually trying).
Interview on WCCO radio
A local D-list personality and media whore got summoned to the WCCO Radio booth at FanFest for some cogent comments about scoring the game.
Interview on WCCO radio
Sarah Johnson (left) was a volunteer at FanFest and got to meet all sorts of important people.
Josh Ostergaard
On the night of the All-Star Game, Josh Ostergaard read from The Devil’s Snake Curve at the Clean Zone BBQ at Grumpy’s in Minneapolis. So named because the event was within Major League Baseball’s “Clean Zone,” which prohibited the use of any designation of “All-Star” for promotional purposes, the barbecue included Kansas City ribs with the secret ingredients being infield dirt from Kauffman Stadium, Target Field, and Wrigley Field. Below are the artistic fingers of Brandon, who won a rack of ribs as a door prize.
Brandon with his knuckle tats

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Research News

Brian Madigan passed on information on a portal for on-line information from the Hennepin County Library. From the main site, click on Reference & Research or go directly to the Reference & Research page. In the second column is a link for “Search online magazines and newspaper articles” under “Online resources A-Z.” This link leads to a page on which a number from a library card is needed. “Shouldn’t be a problem for most people and I can help anyone get one who doesn’t have one,” says Brian. “Whatever you search for will comeback with anything the library has available. So if the subject is in a book, those will come up along with all the scholarly journals, newspapers and magazines the library is subscribed to.”

The next Research Committee meeting will be Monday, August 25 at 7 p.m. at Southdale Library. The committee will focus on research and poster presentations for the fall chapter meeting. All members are welcome. For more information, contact Brenda Himrich or Sarah Johnson.

The committee is continuing with its Spread of Baseball project, started by Rich Arpi. Two webpages have information on the spread of baseball, Pre-pro Baseball and Pre-pro Clubs and Games in Minnesota. The Research Committee will also be coordinating poster presentations at future chapter meetings.

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Calendar

    August 9—Northwoods League Road Trip to Eau Claire, 6:355 p.m. (leave mid-afternoon from the Twin Cities with pre-game dinner at Pizza Hut). For more information, contact Stew Thornley, 651-415-0791.

    August 9—Book Club and Vintage Game Video Club, Barnes & Noble, Har Mar Mall, Roseville, 9:30 a.m., White Rat: A Life in Baseball by Whitey Herzog and Kevin Horrigan, and Game Six of the 1986 World Series. For more information, contact Art Mugalian, 612-721-2825, and Gary DeSmith, 320-286-5127.

    August 25—Research Committee Meeting, Hennepin County Southdale Library, 7001 York Avenue, Edina, 7:00 p.m. For more information, contact Brenda Himrich or Sarah Johnson.

    September 6—Fred Souba Hot Stove Saturday Morning, Bakers Square, 66th and York, Richfield, 9:00 a.m. For more information, contact Mark Johnson, 952-831-1153.

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Board of Directors 2014-2015
President—Doug Skipper
Vice President—Steve Ginader
Secretary—Gary DeSmith
Treasurer—Jerry Janzen
Scott Cummings
Gene Gomes
Leanne Rohrbach

The Holy Cow! Editor—Stew Thornley
Webmaster—John Gregory 
Ass. Webmaster—Stew Thornley
Social Media Director—Tom Flynn

Halsey Hall Chapter Web Page

Past issues of The Holy Cow! are available on-line.

  

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