Resources
Spring Chapter Meeting Draws Sitting-Room-Only Crowd
David Karpinski noted a benefit of our meeting site, Faith Mennonite Church: a library to provide books for illumanation and/or propping up a projector.
Thirty-seven people attended the Halsey Hall SABR spring chapter meeting (but don’t tell anyone since there was a 30-person limit on the room). The attendees were Jerry Janzen, Gregg Nelson, Jim Cox, Stew Thornley, Brenda Himrich, Dave Lande, Tom Merrick, Joe O’Connell, Corky Gaskell, Howard Luloff, Rich Arpi, Armand Peterson, Brian Larson, David Karpinski, Sarah Johnson, Terry Bohn, Kelly Bohn, Roger Godin, Fred Buckland, John Gallo, Steve Bratkovich, Paul Spyhalski, Doug Skipper, Bill Axness, Jim McKernon, Pete Gorton, Dan Levitt, Aaron Sinner, John Swol, Mike Haupert, John Buckeye, Art Mugalian, Al Strauss, Dick Westby, Bob Komoroski, Phil Lowry, and Gene Gomes.
Research presentations:
Brenda Himrich, who did the press box announcing in Spanish and English for Pool D of the 2017 World Baseball Classic, described the tournament and its environs. Featuring Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Mexico, and Italy, the games were played in Zapopan, Mexico, outside Guadalajara. Brenda made a case for this being the most exciting pool in the history of the World Baseball Classic.
Dan Levitt offered a preview of his forthcoming book, Intentional Balk, a presentation he plans on giving at the SABR convention in Baltimore this August. Dan pointed out that binoculars, invented in 1894, were used for sign stealing within a few years, an example of innovation that leads to cheating. He acknowledged that there often isn’t consensus on what is and isn’t cheating.
Pete Gorton presented on John Donaldson with recent updates and showed footage of Donaldson pitching for Bertha, Minnesota, in 1925. The Donaldson Network, is a living endeavor, being updated all the time, and Pete recently found another Minnesota city, New Richland, in which Donaldson played. Minnesota had been in a 131-131 tie with Iowa for games pitched in the state. The network has identified 746 cities that Donaldson has played in. Pete also gave his perspective the film 39 Seconds; however, it is based on only 29 seconds of footage, which Pete had acquired, but he pointed out that the producers apparently thought that 39 sounded better than 29.
KARE-11 sports director Reggie Wilson was the featured speaker in the afternoon.
During the business meeting David Karpinski, Jerry Janzen, and Bob Tholkes were elected to two-year terms on the chapter board of directors beginning July 1 to fill the spots held by expiring members Dave Lande, Stew Thornley, and Jerry Janzen.
Jim Cox led a drawing for door prizes. Dick Westby won the non-member prize of a Target Field book, donated by the Minnesota Twins. Though not a SABR member (yet), Dick is a member of our host site, Faith Mennonite Church. Dick is part of the Westby Family, which was inducted as a group to the Minneapolis Hockey Hall of Fame. While introducing himself at the start of the meeting, Dick mentioned his appreciation of Halsey Hall, who supported Dick’s sister, Judy, who played hockey but was being drummed out because of her gender.
Al Strauss won the door prize for first-year members, a copy of Bill Meissner’s book, Circling toward Home, donated by Dave Lande. Another new member, John Buckeye, was the recipient of photos of Buck O’Neil and Bob Feller donated by Rich Arpi. For the veteran members, Terry Bohn won a Rocco Baldelli rookie card donated by Jerry Janzen, and, with donations from the Minnesota Twins, Roger Godin won the book Hits, Hankies, and Homers: The Story of the Minnesota Twins, and Aaron Sinner won a 2021 Twins yearbook.
Howard Luloff led the trivia contest at the end of the meeting, won by Team A (or Team B, no one remembers which) 68-0.
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See Emma Charlesworth-Seiler Umpire August 13
SABR members from various chapters will descend on Beloit to see fellow member Emma Charlesworth-Seiler umpire a Beloit Sky Carp versus West Michigan Whitecaps Saturday night, August 13. If you want to go, please send me (Stew Thornley, 1082 Lovell Avenue, Roseville 55113) $11 for each ticket. Include your email address because your electronic tickets will be transferred to you that way. We hope to have lunch with Emma that day and have some afternoon activities before the game.
Brenda and I have booked a room at the Super 8, 2790 Milwaukee Road, Beloit 53511. It’s right off the interstate and a few miles from the ballpark. With a AAA membership, our rate (for a room with two people) was $102.63, which includes tax. You can reserve a room through the toll-free number, 800-454-3213, or directly with the hotel at 608-365-6000. There are nicer places than Super 8 although I found the hotels down there to be kind of pricey. But, if you want, you can rough it for one night. And it should be safe—they assured me that they cannot recall any axe murders taking place at their hotel over the last few months.
Phil Lowry is looking for someone who has room for a passenger in the car. If you are going and can accommodate Phil, contact him at philip.lowry7777@gmail.com.
Bud Fowler Stillwater Tour on Induction Day
Jim Cox is organizing a tour of Stillwater in conjunction with the induction of Bud Fowler on Sunday, July 24. The event will begin at 10:15 a.m. at the site where Fowler played with the Stillwater team in the Northwestern League in 1884, then proceed to the sites of the barber shop where Fowler cut hair and the boarding house where he lived, and it will end at a local watering hole where members can watch the induction ceremonies on television. Interested participants may contact Jim, jcox321@hotmail.com.
The field (Old Athletic Field) where people will meet at 10:15 is at Orleans Street and Sixth Avenue South (park on Sixth Avenue). After a stroll by where Fowler cut hair and lived, the group will meet at 11:00 at Brian’s Bar & Grill, 219 Main Street South in Stillwater to party and watch the induction ceremonies, which being at 12:30, on MLB Network. People are invited to come to any or all of the festivities.
Brent Peterson and Bob Tholkes present on Bud Fowler.
Bob Tholkes and Brent Peterson spoke on Fowler at Brookdale Library May 9. The day before, Bob and Brent were quoted in an article by Curt Brown on Fowler in the Minneapolis Star Tribune: Black Baseball Pioneer Who Once Played in Stillwater Will Get Cooperstown Honors.
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Other Upcoming Events
The New York Giants Preservation Society has been having mostly weekly Zoom events every Thursday at 6 p.m. Central Time, some of which are by Halsey Hall Chapter members. One such member will team with Dan VanDeMortel on June 2 for A Foremost Part In the Work of Relieving Distress: The Week New York, the Giants, and the Yankees Offered a Lifeline to The Titanic’s Survivors. On August 4, Tom Flynn will talk about his great-great uncle, Tom Sheehan, a longtime member of the Giants as a scout and manager. To get notifications of these meetings, contact Gary Mintz, giantsguru@gmail.com.
The Toni Stone Invitational girls baseball tournament will be held at Toni Stone Field in St. Paul (on Marshall Avenue west of Lexington Parkway) June 11-12. Several members are planning on attending as a group on Sunday, June 12. Join them if you can.
The book club will meet at Barnes & Noble in Har Mar Mall at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, June 11 and discuss The Wax Pack: On the Open Road in Search of Baseball’s Afterlife by Brad Balukjian.
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 next Research Committee meeting, via Zoom, will be Monday, June 20. Contact co-chairs Dave Lande or Gene Gomes if you would like to attend. Other Research Committee members are Brenda Himrich, Sarah Johnson, Dan Levitt, Doug Skipper, Stew Thornley, Rich Arpi, Anders Koskinen, Hans Van Slooten, Mike Haupert, Bob Tholkes, Daniel Dorff, Darryl Sannes, Tom Swift, David Karpinski, and Bob Komoroski.
Howard Luloff is organizing a chapter trip for a Northwoods League game on Saturday, June 18. The 6:05 p.m. game will be the Mankato MoonDogs versus the St. Cloud Rox at Joe Faber Field in St. Cloud. As usual, Howard will try to line up pre-game activities at the ballpark with possible guest speakers from the Rox. In addition, members may want to come a little earlier to tour the Minnesota Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame at the city convention center, where we will be able to see the display for one of the inductees in the Hall of Fame, chapter member Brian Larson.
If you haven’t had enough baseball yet, you could join Jim Cox and Corky Gaskell for a nooner in Rochester Tuesday, June 28. The Rochester Honkers will host the Bismarck Larks in a Northwoods League game at 12:05 p.m. The trek will include a visit to Moonlight Graham’s grave (before or after the game) and possibly a trip to the brewery (also before or after the game). If you are interested, contact Jim, jcox321@hotmail.com.
That evening (Tuesday, June 28), a chapter member will be speaking with collector Taylor Simons on a new book, Minor Treasures: Diamond Gems from the Glory Days of Minnesota Baseball at 7:00 p.m. at the Washington County Historical Society, 1862 S. Greeley Street, Stillwater 55082. From the Twin Cities, take Minn. Hwy. 36 and go east to Greeley, turn left, and go about a third of a mile. The center will be on your left.
The book (shown below) contains photos of art and memorabilia pertaining to Minnesota baseball history. Many of the artifacts are from Taylor’s collection, and he will be bringing some items to show. SABR member Damain Schaab is profiled in the book with some of his baseball art displayed in it, and some of the items in the book were from the collections of members Pete Gorton, Randy Krzmarzick, and Tom Flynn. The event is free. The books will be for sale for $20, including tax (cash or check only).
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, July 9 at 9:00 a.m.
The Women in Baseball Conference will be September 16-18, 2022 in Rockford, Illinois. Sponsored by SABR and the International Women’s Baseball Center, the conference has Title IX and Women’s Baseball: Where We’ve Been, Where We Are, and Where We’re Headed as its theme. Abstracts for oral or poster presentations are being accepted until June 27. Abstracts of approximately 200 words, along with contact information and a short biography, may be submitted to Leslie Heaphy, lheaphy@kent.edu.
The Nine Conference will be held on-line September 29-30, and a call for presenters is out.
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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New Members
Brian “Bookie” Larson was a charter member of the Halsey Hall Chapter in 1985 and recently rejoined SABR. A native of Dassel, Minnesota, Bookie is retired after 42 years as the internet analyst for Holiday Station stores. He was married twice, his first wife (of nine years) dying in a car accident and his second from diabetes complications after 33 years. He had one boy—who passed away due to phenomena at age 37— from his first marriage and a daughter from his second marriage. Brian has one granddaughter and a grandson to be born in November.
Brian has been inducted in the KDUZ Sports Area (Hutchinson) Hall of Fame, the North Star Baseball Hall of Fame, and the Minnesota Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame. He has been one of the official scorers for the state amateur baseball tournament for 37 years, served on the state amateur baseball board and been a region commissioner for nine years, and is currently the secretary-treasurer of the North Star League, which he has been involved with for 47 years. Brian has self-published three books: History of Dassel Baseball, History of North Star League, and History of Minnesota Amateur Baseball Tournament.
As for what he has witnessed in pro baseball, Brian saw both Jerry Koosman and Sam McDowell win their 20th games. “Bob Allison never got the bat off his shoulder against Sudden Sam that day,” he recalls.
Born in 1955, Bookie shares his November 22 birthday with Selva Lew Burdette, Greg Luzinski, Joe Nathan, Griffin Jax, Lyman Bostock, Dick Bartell, Wally Tauscher, Minneapolis-raised Robert Vaughn, Jamie Lee Curtis, Mariel Hemingway, Chaz De Gaulle, Wiley Post, and Rodney Dangerfield.
Also new to SABR: Darryl Sannes
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
A number of books were shown behind Lindsay Berra on the MLB Network on May 20. You’ll note that one of them is In Pursuit of Pennants by Dan Levitt and Mark Armour.
Carl Rogan was interviewed and featured in a report on his grandfather, Bullet Rogan, on KMBC-TV in Kansas City: Effort Underway to Recognize Wilber “Bullet” Rogan. (Note below that there is a game story involving Bullet Rogan.)
Sarah Johnson was featured in an article about women being official scorers on Opening Day this year: “Beyond My Wildest Dreams”: Women Official Scorers Break another Barrier
Terry Bohn has written about George Starnagle and Jack Hickey for the SABR BioProject.
The SABR Games Project has some new entries:
July 19, 1922: Fans Hoist Rogers Hornsby to Their Shoulders after His Game-Winning Home Runs and August 1, 1920: Bullet Rogan Pitches and Bats Kansas City Monarchs over Chicago American Giants in Front of Record Crowd by Tom Merrick
September 5, 1959: Jim Lemon Aids Senators’ 14-2 Rout of Red Sox by Joel Rippel
March 11, 2017: Venezuela Outlasts Italy in Wild World Baseball Classic Game and July 19, 1962: Kaat Shutout, Allison Home Runs Lead Twins to Sweep of Cleveland by Stew Thornley
March 12, 2017: Jose Berrios Pounds the Curves Past Italy as Puerto Rico Remains Undefeated in World Baseball Classic by Brenda Himrich and Stew Thornley
The May 2022 edition of Keltner’s Hot Corner, the newsletter of the Ken Keltner Badger State Chapter is on-line:
Keltner’s Hot Corner, May 2022
For past Keltner’s Hot Corner newsletters:
Keltner’s Hot Corner
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Calendar
June 11—Book Club, Barnes & Noble, Har Mar Mall, Roseville, 9:30 a.m., The Wax Pack: On the Open Road in Search of Baseball’s Afterlife by Brad Balukjian.
June 11-12—Toni Stone Invitational, Toni Stone Field, St. Paul. (SABR group planning to attend June 12.)
June 18—Mankato MoonDogs vs. St. Cloud Rox, Joe Faber Field, St. Cloud, 6:05 p.m. (with possible pre-game activities). For more information, contact Howard Luloff, 952-922-5036.
June 20—Research Committee meeting, 7:00-9:00 p.m. via Zoom. For more information, contact Dave Lande or Gene Gomes.
June 28—Bismarck Larks at Rochester Honkers, Mayo Field, 12:05 p.m. For more information, contact Jim Cox.
June 28—Diamond Gems book presentation, Washington County Historical Society, Stillwater, 7:00 p.m.
June 26—Halsey Hall Chapter Board of Directors meeting, 6:00 p.m.
July 9—Fred Souba Hot Stove League Saturday Morning, 9:00 a.m., Bunny’s Northeast.
July 24—Bud Fowler Stillwater tour with induction viewing, 11:00 a.m. For more information, contact Jim Cox.
August 13—West Michigan Whitecaps at Beloit Sky Crap with Emma Charlesworth-Seiler umpiring. For more information, contact Stew Thornley.
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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
Ass. Editors—Jerry Janzen and Brenda Himrich
Webmaster—John Gregory
Ass. Webmasters—Frank Kadwell, Hans Van Slooten, and Stew Thornley
Social Media Directors—Bob Komoroski, Facebook; Hans Van Slooten and Tom Flynn, Twitter
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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