It has been way too long since I’ve posted. As with anything, there are plenty of excuses: work, COVID restrictions preventing access to archives, graduate school, editing a book. Fortunately for my other blog (IowaTownBall), more Iowa (and Battle Creek, MI) newspapers are online than the Minnesota side so I’ve been able to keep working on those projects while some of Minnesota projects languish on the back burner. Hopefully the Delta variant will soon pass and I can get back to the microfilm to figure out things no one else likely cares about like why was a a team based in Mankato called the Foresters and where did they play their games, why did Waseca have a black team mascot in 1939 called “Shine” Brown, and were any official Negro League games played at Mankato’s Tanley Field because there is a promotional flyer for a game played by the Kansas City Monarchs in Mankato on display in Birminghan’s Negro Southern League Museum.
Until the time when I have more time to write and more access to archives on a schedule that meets my needs, there may be more cross posting between my two blogs. When I originally started this blog, it wasn’t intended to be limited to Southern Minnesota in part because the border really had little to do with actual baseball played in Southern Minnesota because the border was really only mattered for eligibility for the Minnesota state baseball tournament. Southern Minny League teams frequently played against Iowa teams and in later years the League had teams in Mason City, Estherville and Bancroft. Savvy Minnesota managers often looked south for new recruits and most prized among them were the Menkes of Bancroft. This post from my Iowa Town Ball blog shows the many Menkes playing for Mankato but also connections that Mankato’s Squire Riddles and John Menke had to northern Iowa as well.
The number of posts on the blog may not indicate much progress on the Southern Minny front but last month I presented the Southern Minny League from the end of the 1953 season to the Class AA championship at the end of the 1957 season as part of the History Happy Hour held at the Hormel Historic Home. Following Emil Scheid and his band of traveling players through those seasons is a bit like playing Where’s Waldo?
Next month I present on integration / de-segregation in the Southern Minny between 1948 and 1957 at the Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference in Birmingham. Thinking about Birmingham, I was finally able to follow up on this amazing (but badly photographed) piece of baseball history from Southern Minnesota hanging in that ciyt’s Negro Southern League Museum.
North Mankato’s Tanley Field hosted Bill Tanley’s Key City Beverages team in the Southern Minny in 1938 and continued to host Key City Beverage teams into the summer months of the 1940 baseball season. The Key City team is interesting as they played an independent schedule in 1940 with that scheduling including the Kansas City Monarchs, the Ethiopian Clowns, and Cincinnati Buckeyes.
Interestingly, I found no actual advertisements in the Mankato Free Press for the August 20th match-up between the Monarchs and Clowns even though the NLSM obviously has an advertisement piece in the Museum’s collection. The Free Press did, however, promote the upcoming match-up between the Kansas City Monarchs and Ethiopian on its sports page, noting the two “Top-Notch Teams Play Here Tuesday in Colored Game.”[1] The two teams played each other at St. Paul’s Lexington Park the night before, making any potential match-up between Schoolboy Impo and Hilton Smith in Mankato unlikely.[2]
George Walker started for the Monarchs at Tanley Field instead of Smith, but the crowd of 650 paid attendees still had the opportunity to see two future Hall of Famers play with Turkey Stearns banging out a double and scoring on Leandy Young’s single in the fourth. New Hall of Fame inductee Buck O’Neil played first base for the Monarchs. The Monarchs won 5 to 2[3]
Hilton Smith would, of course, return to Southern Minnesota to play with Fulda very near the end of his stellar baseball career. Of special interest to me is the presence of former Algona Brownie Jesse Warren playing at second base for the Monarchs alongside three former Texas Black Spiders with Leandy Young hitting behind the legendary Turkey Stearns, the previously mentioned Buck O’Neil at first base, and Jesse Williams playing short. Now to find time to get to the box scores for the Monarchs and Clowns earlier visits to Mankato that year.
[1] “Top-Notch Teams Play Here Tuesday in Colored Game,” Mankato Free Press, August 16, 1940.
[2] Ibid; “Monarch-Clown Game Tomorrow, 2nd in Series,” Mankato Free Press, August 19, 1940.
[3] “Both Negro Teams Play Brilliantly,” Mankato Free Press, August 21, 1940.
John Virtue establishes Mickey Owen’s experiences in Mexico as much different than the barnstorming participants of Max Lanier’s All-Stars. Like them, however, Mickey Owen received an offer that was too good to refuse from Jorge Pasquel. Pasquel offered Owen a $12,500 signing bonus on top of a salary $15,000 per year for five years to serve as the player-manager for the Torreón team. Owen’s 1945 contract with the Brooklyn Dodgers paid him $12,500.[1] Owen tried to use Pasquel’s offer to leverage more money from the Dodgers, but Branch Rickey didn’t even return Owen’s call.[2]
At one time an all-star catcher, Owen was probably most infamous for allowing a passed ball on what could have been the last out of Game 4 of the 1941 World Series. Tommy Heinrich swung through strike three, but Owen couldn’t retrieve the ball in time to throw out Heinrich at first. Heinrich eventually scored and the Yankees took the game and eventually the series.[3]
Owen got cold feet on the way to Mexico and called Rickey. Rickey told him to look for another team and return to Brooklyn. Pasquel, meanwhile, was applying his own pressure, threatening to sue Owen for breach of contract. When Owen and his wife read a newspaper article suggesting that Rickey didn’t want him to catch for the Dodgers, they made their way to Mexico.[4] Needing a catcher to replace the injured Salvador José “Chico” Hernández, Pasquel assigned Owen to the Azules of Veracruz as a catcher.[5]
At that time, Ramón Bragaña was serving as the player-manager for the Azules and remained in the capacity until a dust-up following a supposed home run hitting exhibition by the legendary Babe Ruth. Ruth, visiting Mexico as a guest of Pasquel, was slated to demonstrate his home run hitting prowess against hittable balls thrown by Bragaña. Unable to hit any of Bragaña’s offerings for what would be a home run, Ernesto Carmona, serving as the Mexico City manager, accused Bragaña of trying to make Ruth look bad. Bragaña huffed off the mound, and he and Carmona came to blows in the clubhouse afterwards resulting in Bragaña’s suspension. Now needing someone to manage the Azules team, Pasquel appointed Owen as interim manager.[6]
Owen wasn’t happy in Mexico, however. John Virtue points to Owen’s upbringing in the Ozarks of Missouri and lack of exposure to Blacks as teammate or managers as being one source of frustration for him. Thomas Quiñones, a Black pitcher from Puerto Rico, quit the Azules because of Owen’s treatment of black players. Pacquel removed him as manager of the team after Quiñones quit the Azules but Owen as the team’s catcher. Owen’s status as catcher lasted until shortly after a July 25th game against Monterrey in which Claro Duany attempted to score from second on a double steal. Instead of simply tagging Duany at the plate, Owen knocked Duany to the ground. Duany jumped up swinging. and Owen received a beating for his questionable sportsmanship. Within the week, Owen and his wife left Mexico for Brownsville, Texas, paying a $250 taxi fare to get back to the United States.[7]
Once in Brownsville, Owen petitioned for reinstatement in major league baseball. His petition was denied by Commissioner Happy Chandler.[8] Unable to play major league baseball, Owen returned to the Ozarks and became “a farmer, not by choice, but by compulsion.”[9] Owen was happy to be with his family, but he missed baseball.[10]
It didn’t take long for Owen to get involved in baseball. By the end of June, he had organized the Mickey Owen’s All-Stars penciling himself in as catcher.[11] The All-Stars may also have been referred to as the Springfield Generals as team owner C. E. Russell, Owen, and his son Charley visited Sedalia to observe the drawing of teams for the state semi-pro tournament to be held at Sedalia.[12] Owen’s Generals ran into Hugh Bisges who had been cut for whatever reason by the Iola (Kansas) Cubs. Bisges struck out thirteen while allowing only five hits leaving Owen’s to wonder why a minor league manager would dismiss such a solid pitcher.[13]
Meanwhile, Owen and Pasquel duked it out in the courts. Owen sued for the remainder of his salary as a player-manager in 1946 and his potential salary for 1947 to 1950. Ultimately the suit didn’t end well for him as he was ordered to pay Pasquel $35,000, causing Owen to declare bankruptcy.[14]
To pass his time and earn an income while the case plodded through the court system, Owen entered Duncan’s National Auction school at Creston, Iowa. Once certified, Owen was expected to serve as a field representative for the Purebred Livestock Service Company of Des Moines.[15]
With weekends open while attending auctioneer school in Iowa, Owen decided to sell his services and baseball name to the highest bidder. The Council Bluffs Browns were the first bidder, hiring Owen to play against the Millard, Nebraska team in July.[16] Soon other teams started to jump on Owen’s bandwagon. Schuyler, Nebraska, hired Owen to catch against the Omaha Rockets on Labor Day and Humboldt, Iowa, hired him for a game to be determined.[17]
The Lenox Time Table suggested the Owen would don a Viking suit for two of the three games scheduled for Stanton’s Baseball Day on August 7th. Owen played with the Stanton Vikings on July 27th when the Vikings beat the Council Bluffs Boosters by a score of 11 to 9. The Time Table proclaimed it was a great thrill to see Owen in action.[18]
Owen was criss-crossing the Midwest as he was scheduled to play against the North Platte Plainsmen in a game played in Lexington, Nebraska, the following Sunday.[19] With his schedule filling up, he and the Humboldt baseball association settled on him appearing for Humboldt against the Bancroft Lions on August 18th.[20]
Des Moines Register, August 11, 1947, 9, Newspapers.com
1,700 fans gathered in Humboldt, Iowa, to see Owen catch.[21] 2,000 fans attended a Tuesday night game at Felber Park at Hartington, Nebraska.[22]
Owen was the hitting hero for Norfolk, hitting three inside the park home runs against Plainview. The Norfolk Daily News offers some insight into how a major league catcher legged out ab inside the park home run indicating that the landing point for the second home run was somewhere “back of the centerfield light poles” allowing the ball to roll “almost to the fence some 500 feet away.”[23]
Carroll Daily Times, August 29, 1947, 7, Newspapers.com
The Central City Republican hoped on September 4, 1947, that “a large crowd will turn out to give” Mickey Owen and Lefty Haines “a chance to show their skills.”[24] Owen hoped so as well as he was playing for a percentage of the take over and above the average crowd. If the crowd were to small, his take home pay could be quite small as he played for a grand total of $14.85 in a late September Sunday game for the Lyons club.[25]
Even after the end of the baseball season, Owen used his baseball fame to draw people to his auctions.
Globe-Gazete (Mason City, IA), October 20, 1947, 17, Newspapers.com.
Owen’s ban from major league baseball for challenging baseball reserve clause ended in June of 1949. He eventually returned to the majors with the Chicago Cubs. Ironically, he actually had no actual contract with the Dodgers when he left for Mexico, but his ban allowed towns across Iowa and Nebraska to add major league talent to the roster if only for a single game.
[1] John Virtue, South of the Color Barrier: How Jorge Pasquel and the Mexican League Pushed Baseball Toward Racial Integration (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc.), 137.
[15] “Owen to Join Iowa Semi-Pros; Then Learn Auctioneering,” Oelwein Daily Register (Oelwein, IA), July 19, 1947, 3, Newspapers.com; “Mickey Owens to Join Council Bluffs Semipros,” Courier (Waterloo, IA), July 20, 1947, 31, Newsapers.com.
[16] “Owens to Join Iowa Semi-Pros;” “Mickey Owens to Join Council Bluffs.”
[17] “Mickey Owen to Appear Labor Day,” Colfax County Call (Schuyler, NE), July 31, 1947, 1, Newspapers.com; “Mickey Owens to Catch for Local Ball Team Soon,” Humboldt Republican, August 1, 1947, 1, Newspapers.com.
[18] “Mickey Owens Comes to Stanton on August 7,” Lenox Time Table (Lenox, IA), August 7, 1947, 1, Newspapers.com.
Another casualty of the recent Hall of Fame selection process was Curt Flood. Flood had previously been considered by the Veterans Committee in 2003, 2005, and 2007. An outstanding hitter and fielder during the 1950s and 60s, Curt Flood sacrificed much of his career by challenging Major League Baseball’s reserve clause.[1] This time around, Flood’s name wasn’t even placed before the Golden Day Era Committee for their consideration.
The reserve clause, inserted into every white professional player contract and many semi-professional contracts including those in the Southern Minny Baseball League, tied each player to their current team for the duration of the contract and beyond as the team retained the sole right to negotiate with the player.[2] The St. Louis Cardinals elected to trade Flood to the Philadelphia Phillies after the 1969 season. The Phillies offered Flood more money to play in Philadelphia, but for Flood it was about more than money. Refusing to accept the contract, Flood said that a well-paid slave was still a slave.
Instead of accepting the Phillies’ contract offer, Flood wrote to Baseball Commissioner Kuhn demanding that he be allowed to negotiate with any major league team. Kuhn denied his request resulting in litigation that eventually reached the United States Supreme Court. Ultimately, the Supreme Court avoided the issue, finding that Congress was in the best position to regulate baseball’s interstate commerce activities. In 1975, an arbitrator effectively ended the reserve clause after two players played an entire year without contracts, allowing those players to argue there was no contract for their clubs to renew.[3]
Flood’s challenge to the reserve clause was the second such case to work its way through the courts. With major league baseball united in favor of the reserve clause, Jorge Pasquel and the Mexican League offered an alternative, although a potentially costly one, for the players that accepted Pasquel’s offers. New York Giant Danny Gardella was one of the first white major leaguers to travel to Mexico after being cut by the Giants in spring training.[4]
Gardella called back to his New York teammate Sal Maglie to see if Maglie would travel south as Maglie had already been contacted by Pasquel. Maglie wasn’t interested in playing in Mexico, but Roy Zimmerman and George Hausmann were. Zimmerman and Hausman made their call to Mexico from Maglie’s room. When word of the contact with Mexico got back to the Giants’ management, all three players were cut. All three wound up in Mexico and eventually barnstormed through Austin during the Austin Packers 1948 season.[5]
Other players soon followed them south including the St. Louis Cardinals’ Max Lanier. Lanier was off to a great start for the Cardinals with six wins with no losses while holding a 1.93 ERA. Lanier wanted a larger increase from his $10,500 salary than team owner Sam Breadon was willing to give Lanier while holding the apparent leverage of the reserve clause. Breadon offered Lanier a raise of only $500 while Pasquel offered Lanier a $25,000 signing bonus and $20,000 per year for five years to play in Mexico.[6] At thirty years old, the money was just too good to pass up even as Major League Baseball Commissioner announced that any player that “jumped” to Mexico would be banned for five years.
Those bans would last until June 5, 1949, when Commissioner “Happy” Chandler withdrew them while Danny Gardella’s litigation against major league baseball worked its way through the courts. Even so, Gardella’s suit against Major League Baseball remained in play. To prevent any adverse ruling and fearing the chaos of free agency if the reserve clause was ruled illegal, Gardella was offered a $60,000 settlement.[7]
While the ban was in place, baseball players did what baseball players do: play baseball. They just couldn’t play in the major leagues or against team controlled by major league teams. Designated as baseball outlaws, many of them barnstormed across the United States as the Max Lanier All-Stars in 1948. The All-Stars visited Austin’s Marcusen Park on July 8, 1948.
The All-Stars lineup included Stan Beard at short, George Hausmann at second, Lou Klein at short and Roy Zimmerman at first base. The All-Stars starting outfield included James Steiner, Danny Gardella, and Max Lanier. Sal Maglie started for the All-Stars with Austin’s Bob Albertson tasked with holding the major leaguers in check.[8]
Albertson generally pitched well, giving up eleven safeties while walking only one. The Packers’ defense committed three errors behind him.[9]
The All-Stars took an early lead in the first on Klein’s double and Zimmerman’s run scoring single. The All-Stars added another run in the second as Myron Heyworth scored on Stan Beard’s double after reaching on a walk. Austin’s three errors in the fourth and Beard’s single resulted in two more runs in the fourth.[10]
Sal Maglie, starting pitcher for the All-Stars, would ultimately win 119 games in the major leagues. The Packers managed to tag Maglie for nine singles with Bob Beckel, Red Lindgren, and Roy Heuer collecting two hits a-piece. Beckel scored the Packer’s only run after his single, Earl Mossor’s ground out, and Heuer’s run scoring single through the box that reached centerfield.[11]
Maglie struck out ten using his curveball effectively. The All-Stars won, 5-1. Gardella, the first player to challenge baseball’s reserve clause, went 1 for 4.[12]
Maglie returned to the Giants after Chandler withdrew the ban and became one of baseball’s dominant pitchers in the early 1950’s. He started the 1954 World Series Game in which Willie Mays made “the catch” in center. He also started and pitched a complete game in a loss to Don Larson when Larson threw the only perfect game in World Series history. It was Maglie’s second complete game of the Series.
Earl Mossor and Maglie would meet again. Maglie was the starting pitcher for the New York Giants when Earl Mossor made his major league debut as a relief pitcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1951.
[2] John Virtue, South of the Color Barrier: How Jorge Pasquel and the Mexican League Pushed Baseball Toward Integration (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2008), 158.
My research in townball was triggered, in part, by Peter W. Gorton’s article “John Wesley Donaldson, A Great Mound Artist” in Swinging for the Fences: Black Baseball in Minnesota[1]combined with the text on card #104 of the 1994 of The Ted Williams Card Co. The back of that card reads as follows: “In 1914 Donaldson no-hit Austin, Minnesota then returned in May of 1915 to hurl two no-hit games in the same month.”[2] My quest to identify those members of the Hall of Fame that had played in the Austin was officially “on.” Surprisingly, Donaldson actually lost the no-hit game at Austin, the game’s only run scoring after a walk, stolen base, and throwing error by the All Nations’ third baseman Crow who threw wildly to first. Donaldson struck out fifteen in the game.[3]
Donaldson’s amazing career started in 1908 and he would continue to play baseball until 1941. His career as a pitcher includes 413 verified wins, 5,091 strikeouts, 14 known no-hitters, and 2 perfect games.[4] When not on the mound, he played in centerfield and is also credited with mentoring Satchel Paige. Donaldson was passed over for the Hall of Fame in 2006 as much of his career pre-dates the formation of the Negro Leagues and he was compared with players whose prime years were in the Negro Leagues. Since that time, the Donaldson Network continued to document a seemingly ever-rising total of appearances, wins, and strikeouts. This year, he was on the final ballot for the Early Baseball Committee along with many other worthy candidates.
Last Sunday, John Donaldson somehow did not meet the high hurdle of selection not because he isn’t worthy of selection but because the Hall of Fame established an unduly restrictive system for the election of candidates. The Early Baseball ballot included ten players all of whom were deemed Hall-worthy by a screening committee. There were sixteen members appointed to the Early Baseball Committee that afforded a broad cross-section of interests and experiences, including former players and baseball historians. The process, however, was seriously flawed as each committee member was given only four votes to use and a candidate had to receive affirmative votes from at least twelve of the committee members to gain admittance. As such, the committee could elect, at most, five of the candidates otherwise deemed worthy of consideration by the selection committee and then only if there was clear consensus from the Early Baseball Committee that only those four or five candidates were the ones worthy of admittance. What transpired in the committee voting remains unclear as the Early Baseball committee was only able to elect two new members to the Hall of Fame: John “Buck” O’Neil and “Bud” Fowler.
Donaldson received the fourth highest vote total, receiving affirmative votes from eight of the committee members. The vote totals, however, suggest that there was some horse trading involved as Committees wrangled with ballots filled with worthy candidates and a very limited opportunity to admit enough of them. The end result likely being that worthy candidates were not considered on their own merit and, instead, considered against the rest of the pool of candidates. As such, the process seems flawed especially when the Golden Days Era Committee was pointed to as a “court of appeals” for those passed over the Baseball Writers Association of America. In the cases of players like Donaldson, Vic Harris, and Cannonball Redding, none of them ever received their first day in court as the BBWAA could not consider them as they were not allowed to play in the American or National League because of their skin color.
I suppose we should be grateful that Buck O’Neil finally received his due. After all, it is shocking that it took until 2021 for him to be elected to the Hall of Fame. I consider the failure to admit him in 2006 when Negro League players, managers and owners were last considered for admission as one of baseball’s many travesties particularly as Buck passed away so shortly after the subsequent inductions. He may not have been the best player or manager to ever be involved in the game, but he was a tireless promoter of baseball including black baseball. Without Buck, Ken Burn’s Baseball would be far less interesting, and we would know far less about the Negro Leagues. One of my fondest memories as a baseball fan is seeing Buck work the crowd at Miller Park following his induction into Milwaukee’s Wall of Fame many years ago. Other honorees might disappear to their box seats but not Buck.
Playing for and managing the Kansas City Monarchs, Buck crossed Iowa many times. He also crossed Iowa and into Minnesota before he signed with the Monarchs. In 1936, he played with a team nominally called the Shreveport Acme Giants. I say nominally as they played part of their season as the Dunseith Giants in North Dakota and many of the players including Buck eventually joined with the Texas Black Spiders for a later season tour of Texas and Mexico. Before heading south to Texas and beyond, Buck’s Acme Giants and the Black Spiders played across Iowa facing local competition and each other numerous times.[5]
Hoping to make the Monarchs team in 1937, he settled for the Memphis Red Sox and ultimately settled in with the Zulu Cannibal Giants. The Giants played to racial stereotypes “appearing in full festive regalia consisting of grass skirts, ornamental headgear, painted faces, and in some instances, even bare feet.”[6] The players adopted African sounding names such as King Chebami, Wahoo, Nyassass. O’Neil’s assumed name when played with the Cannibal Giants was Limpopo. Despite the carnival-like costumes, the Giants players and teams were solid, advertising 104 games won out of 129 games played during the 1936 season.[7]
O’Neil traveled to Austin with the Cannibal Giants in 1937, but the weatherman did not help the situation at Marcusen’s Park. Excessive rain provided a muddy field for the teams. Hitting lead off for the Giants was “Limpopo,” playing first base. Buck, playing as Limpopo, fielded his position flawlessly despite a muddy field.
Buck would join the Kansas City Monarchs in 1938 and be forever tied to Kansas City and the Monarchs. It is certainly possible that Buck and the Monarchs may have come to Austin as well as they continued to play until 1965 and I’ve only worked Austin’s microfilm through 1957. It is also entirely possible, and, quite frankly, likely that between the Shreveport Acme Giants in 1936, Zulu Cannibal Giants in 1937, or Monarchs thereafter, that Buck played elsewhere in Southern Minnesota during what is now a Hall of Fame career.
With his election, Buck O’Neil can be added to the list of Hall of Fame players that played in Austin at some time during their career, joining Burleigh Grimes, Jose Mendez, and Satchel Paige as players and potentially J.L. Wilkinson as a team owner / manager. As to when John Donaldson might join Buck and his teammate Mendez on that illustrious list, under current Hall rules the Early Baseball Committee does not meet again until 2030. Let’s hope that the Baseball Hall of Fame realizes that four ballots per member is far too few when considering the quality of the candidates already deemed Hall-worthy and accelerates further consideration of those players not eligible for consideration by the Baseball Writers Association of America.
[1] Peter W. Gorton, “John Wesley Donaldson, a Great Mound Artist,” in Swinging for the Fences: Black Baseball in Minnesota, edited by Steven R. Hoffbeck, St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2005,
[2] “John Donaldson,” Card 104, The Ted Williams Card Co., 1994.
[3] “Two Great Games,” Austin Daily Herald, September 17, 1914, 4.
[5] Paul R. Spyhalski, “How Buck Became a Texas Black Spider: John “Buck” O’Neil’s 1936 Baseball Season,” Black Ball: A Negro League Journal 8 (Dec. 2015): 82-95.
[6] “Cannibal Team to be Here for Baseball Stew,” Austin Daily Herald, June 23, 1937.
[7] “Zulu Cannibals Will Meet Austin Packers Here Friday,” Austin Daily Herald, June 24, 1937, 10.
Research on the Southern Minny remains a bit stagnant as I adjust to my fall graduate study workload. I hope to get back into the microfilm shortly as I will be presenting on the Southern Minny from 1954 to 1957 or 1958 at the Hormel Historic Home in April of next year. Even so, the Minny remains in my thoughts and Ebay searches.
Working on a very regional semi-pro baseball league, you take whatever you can find. Earlier this year, I thought a pencil with the schedule of the 1940 Owatonna Aces was quite the find. Ebay went above and beyond in September, however.
One of my routine searches for area baseball artifacts found an item listed as a 1950s vintage Mankato Baseball Jersey. From there, the dilemma starts – is it from the Southern Minny, from one of potentially many high schools, colleges, or an altogether different summer team? Fortunately, I purchased a photo of legendary Southern Minny manager Shanty Dolan wearing a 1954 Mankato Merchants uniform a few years ago. A quick comparison led me to pull the trigger on what I hope and will call a game used Mankato Merchants uniform until someone proves otherwise.
Waseca’s Arleigh Kraupa was part of last month’s blog post on baseball in the boardroom. Earlier this month, I presented to the SABR Field of Dreams Chapter on Iowa Town Ball including some of the research for my other baseball blog (iowatownball.worpress.com) on semi-pro and town teams in Iowa. I’m going to stick with both themes a bit and give some background on Arleigh Kraupa’s pre-World War II baseball background in Iowa focusing largely on his 1942 season with the Charles City Elks.
Arleigh was born on May 1, 1921 in Iowa. He attended high school in Nora Springs and his high school baseball coach was former Western League pitcher Fred “Zebe” Larson. Those of you that have read my article on “The Black Bats of Mason City and Beyond” or followed my Iowa Town Ball Blog may recognize Fred Larson for his work with the Charles City Semi-Pro championship team in 1932 as well as with the Mason City Bats.
Arleigh had a strong mentor in “Zebe” Larson and occasionally pitched for Charles City during the 1938 summer season. After high school graduation, Arleigh attended the Mason City Junior College before transferring to Luther College prior to the 1941 baseball season.[1] He would pitch or play first base for the Norsemen for two seasons.
The 1942 season is interesting as the Charles City Elks appear to have played in the Mason City Commercial League and the Northeast Iowa League. The Northeast Iowa League included Oelwein, Lawler, and Elma. The Commercial League includes the Elks and three teams from Mason City.
The Elks won the Northeast Iowa League posting a 10 win and 2 loss season with Kraupa and Dave Roberts sharing mound duties.[2] Kraupa tossed a five hitter in one of the losses but was bested by a two-hitter from Oelwein’s Dale Alderson.[3] This was Alderson’s last game with Oelwein as he had signed with the Cubs and subsequently assigned to Janesville in the Wisconsin State League.
Kraupa’s work on the mound also drew the attention of the Chicago Cubs. The Cub’s offer, considered “an exceptionally good one” by Mason City’s Globe-Gazette, involved pitching in Zanesville in the Class C Ohio State League. Kraupa, showing exceptional self-confidence, turned down the offer believing he didn’t need to be farmed out to a farm club.[4]
Kraupa’s confidence was likely bolstered by his no-hitter against Decker Iowana in the Commercial League the week before. Kraupa won his own game with a double in the fifth plating the Elks’ two runs.[5] Showing no signs of wear and tear, Kraupa went 12-innings against Holsum Bread striking out 27 Bread men. Unfortunately, he took the loss on an extra inning triple.[6]
The Commercial League season finished with a flurry as the Elks loaded the bases in the seventh. Ollie Webb singled with one out. Johnny Finch followed with another base hit and Mully Finch walked to load the bases. Kraupa doubled to right to plate all three Elks’ runs. Kraupa also pitched three innings striking out seven. The Elks finished the Commercial League season with a 3-2 win and establish a League leading 12 and 2 record.[7] The Elks also managed to defeat the Minnesota State Champion Austin Packers at least once with Kraupa on the mound.
The St. Louis Cardinals held a scouting combine at Charles City in late August. Only four pitchers were able to tryout due to wet field conditions, but Kraupa was able to demonstrate enough to get an offer from the Cardinals. He was to report to Pocatello in Class C Pioneer League if allowed to report all.[8] The contingency being the local draft board. Kraupa was eventually re-assigned to the Rochester Red Wings in the International League during the off-season.[9]
Arleigh’s draft number came up and he and his brother Creighton both joined the service. They were both featured in the Globe-Gazette on September 16, 1943 (photo below). Arleigh took part in the landing on Omaha Beach and was eventually promoted to sergeant. He received five battle stars for participation in the Normandy, Northern France, Ardennes, Rhineland, and Central Germany campaigns.[10]
Following the war, he taught and coached at Cambria, Iowa before joining Waseca in the Southern Minny in 1946. A special “Arleigh Kraupa Appreciation Day” was held in Waseca in late July with his parents and many others from Nora Springs in attendance.[11] Kraupa would enjoy many more days on Waseca’s mound and as a hired gun throughout his lengthy career in the Southern Minny.
This article from the Globe-Gazette of October 1, 1946 illustrates the contributions of Kraupa and others from Iowa in establishing the Southern Minny as one of the dominant semi-pro leagues in Minnesota:
Albert Lea retained the State baseball title in Minnesota and it was pretty much an Iowa show as the winners defeated Springfield 7-2. . . Arleigh Kraupa, formerly of Nora Springs, pitching 6-hit ball and collected 12 strikeouts, while the Menke brothers, Johnny and Wally, via Bancroft, got 5 of Albert Lea’s 9 hits and drove in 3 runs.[12]
[1] “Seven Lettermen Pace Coach Reque’s Luther Baseball Squad in First Drills; Norse Season Opens Here April 22,” Decorah Journal, March 27, 1941, 29.
[2] “Sumner and Elks Win Grass Loop Baseball Titles,” Courier (Waterloo, IA), December 27, 1942, 46.
[3] “Alderson Blanks Chas. City, 2-0,” Courier (Waterloo, IA), July 13, 1942, 10.
[4] “Arleigh Kraupa Rejects Offer from Chicago,” Globe-Gazette (Mason City, IA), July 25, 1942, 9.
[5] “Kraupa Twirls No-Hitter; Elks Player Injured,” Courier (Waterloo, IA), July 17, 1942, 10.
[6] “Holsum Beats Elks 4-3 in 12th,” Globe-Gazette (Mason City, IA), July 22, 1942, 9.
[7] “Holsum, Charles City Win 2-1, 3-2,” Globe-Gazette (Mason City, IA), August 1, 1942, 17.
[8] “Cardinals Sing Arleigh Kraupa,” Courier (Waterloo, IA), August 28, 1942, 9.
[9] “Nearby News,” Globe-Gazette (Mason City, IA), December 21, 1942, 13.
[10] “5-Battle Yank En Route Home,” Globe-Gazette (Mason City, IA), November 6, 1945, 4.
[11] “Attend Kraupa Day,” Globe-Gazette (Mason City, IA), August 3, 1946, 8.
[12]Globe-Gazette (Mason City, IA), October 1, 1946, 11.
Last month’s post featured the 1945 Southern Minny season with a focus on the role that player eligibility ultimately played in setting the League’s final standings, playoff eligibility and maybe even the League Championship. This month I am featuring the 1949 Southern Minny season because of Rochester’s heavy reliance on members of the Negro Leagues to reach the postseason since it is Black History Month. Along the way, player eligibility issues again impacted team rosters and the playoffs and perhaps even impacted Ben Sternberg’s reliance on so many Negro League pitchers during the season.
To be sure, Ben Sternberg planned on keeping Rochester integrated in 1949 with plans to bring Gread “Lefty” McKinnis back to Rochester along with Negro League veteran Marlin “Mel” Carter to the Royals infield.[1] With McKinnis delayed, Sternberg brought in Negro Leaguer Al Spearman from Chicago to face the St. Paul Studebakers in an exhibition game. Spearman, Jonny Creevey and Jim Sullivan split mound duties giving up only five singles.[2]
McKinnis never arrived and Sternberg turned the ball over to Florian (Lefty) Cassuit for the Royals season opening game at Faribault. Cassuit gave up only four hits but walked seven. Even so, he and his infield defense were good enough to begin the season with what seemed to be a 4-0 win.[3]
Big John Creevey started the home opener for the Royals against the Austin Packers. The Royals scored nine against the Packers but were forced to use both Creevey and Jim Sullivan in relief. The Packers blew them both up.[4]
The use of both pitchers and Faribault’s protest of Florian Cassuit’s eligibility caused Sternberg to “live on the long distance line the past couple of days” to line up a starting pitcher.[5] Abe Saperstein recommended Othello Strong to Saperstein with Sternberg declaring that Strong would be on the mound “against the Merchants” “unless the train is derailed or Strong is hit by a car while crossing the street.”[6]
Othello was the younger brother of Harlem Globetrotter and Negro Leaguer Ted Strong Jr. Othello and Alvin Spearman were also childhood friends.[7] Strong settled into the Royals’ roster up either pitching or playing left field or sometimes both in the same game.
Strong won his first game against the Mankato Merchants which ultimately was the Royals first win of the season as Cassuit was determined to be an ineligible player having also signed a contract with Owatonna.[8] Strong followed up with a win over Winona giving up only eight hits before being relieved by Creevey.[9] Strong took his first loss days later as the dangerous Lambert Kowalewski launched a high inside pitch over the short right field fence at Winona’s Gabrych Field to plate three.[10]
Still in need of pitching and facing a heavy schedule, Sternberg turned to Negro League veterans again obtaining the services of Gene Bremer of the Cleveland Buckeyes.[11] Bremer started for the Royals at Owatonna but had control issues causing Strong to come in in relief.[12] Unable to finish what he started, he was called in to start the next game against Faribault. Bremer lasted in to the sixth when he hit Hockey Mealey with a pitch, gave up two singles and was charged with a wild pitch. Strong relieved him and Bremer moved in to left. Strong eventually moved back to left to replace Bremer for a second time when Bremer injured himself on a slide into first base.[13]
Strong continued to get his work but lasted only in to the fourth inning at Mankato before giving way to Johnny Creevey. Strong took over at first base.[14] With Strong faltering, Sternberg went recruiting again bringing Sam “Red” Jones in from Cleveland. Jones arrived on June 8th.[15] Jones started against the League leading Austin Packers and held the Scheidmen to five singles. Strong played in left.[16]
Jones became the featured chucker for the Royals with Strong generally consigned to the outfield. The reliance on Jones was well-founded as he limited the hard-hitting Austin Packers to three hits at Austin.[17] Jones beat the Faribault Lakers easily aided by a nineteen-hit hitting spree by the Royals. The big news of surrounding the game was the signing of Sam Hill from Chicago to play centerfield. With Hill’s signing, Strong was released and joined the barnstorming Harlem Globetrotters in Minot. The Royals were in fourth place at the end of the game.[18]
Along the way, the Royals got a bit of revenge against Lefty Cassuit by way of Sam Jones. Jones threw his first no-hitter of the season while he and his mates pounded the Aces for twelve runs on twelve hits.[19]
Sam Jones following his no-hitter against Faribault at May Field. Emil Nascek went 4-5 and Marlin Carter had two singles and a home run.
The pending departure of Stan Partenheimer from the Royals forced Sternberg to find another starting pitcher. Sternberg brought in Frank Veverka. That decision would have an impact on Jones in the playoffs and the final issue of player eligibility for the season as Veverka pitched for the Fort Wayne Voltmen in the 1949 National Baseball Congress posting a 2 and 0 record in 18 innings pitched.[20]
With Marlin Carter and Sam Hill hitting and Jones, Partenheimer, and Veverka splitting pitching duties, the Royals climbed up to second place,[21] with Austin drawing Albert Lea and Rochester drawing Faribault in the opening round.[22] Interestingly, the Scheid men faced Waseca’s Lefty Kraupa in the first round when Shanty Dolan claimed his regular pitcher Russ Messerly was unavailable similar to Faribault’s use of Max Molock in 1945. Scheid played the game under protest which was fortunate as Kraupa did his usual damage to Austin’s hopes as Albert Lea won the first game 6-5.[23] Sam Jones started for the Royals limiting Faribault to eight hits.[24]
Faribault came back in the second game pounding Jones and the rest of the Royals pitching staff for four home runs at Faribault’s Bell Field. Olie Lucken was the hitting hero for Faribault with two home runs.[25] The Austin Packers ultimately won the protest, the game, and managed to have Kraupa declared ineligible for any remaining game.[26] With a new lease on the series and Dolan unable to call on Kraupa, the Packers were unstoppable.
Earl Mosser tossed a three hitter and Mel Harpuder drove in all four Packer runs to take Game 1.[27] Veverka started for the Royals and gave up ten hits as the Royals took the series lead. The Royals capitalized on two hits and five errors in the seventh to score six runs.[28] It took thirteen innings, but Sam Jones eliminated Faribault 7-6 on Sunday.[29] The Packers meanwhile finished off Albert Lea with sixteen-hit attacks in Game 2[30] and 3.[31]
The Packers went with 13 game winner Bob Kulhman with the Royals relying on Sam Jones. Dick Seltz provided the decisive blow in the fifth that drove in three. It was Austin’s first victory against Jones as a starter.[32] Needing a win to tie the series, Sternberg was going to have to rely on Creevey or Veverka until the weatherman intervened pushing the game back enough days for Jones to start.[33]
The rest did wonders for Jones and the Royals as he no-hit the hard-hitting Austin Packers at Mayo Field. Jones struck out 15 and walked seven while facing only 33 men on the evening.[34] The series was tied at one game a piece but the decisive blow in the series may well have been the ruling that Veverka was ineligible to participate due to having played with the Fort Wayne at the National Baseball Congress.[35] The Royals turned to Creevey for game four with disastrous results as the Packers won 13-1.[36]
With Veverka unavailable, Sternberg was forced to use Jones on one day’s rest. Jones lasted in to the seventh inning before giving way to the ineligible Veverka simply because the Royals were out of pitching options. As the game was already likely lost, the threat of protest no longer mattered.
It is, of course, difficult to argue that the Royals would have won the series and League championship if Veverka would have been eligible to pitch. After all, the Packers lost only seven regular season games out of thirty-five games plays and ultimately swept through all competition at the state meet. It is, however, interesting to consider the role that player eligibility again played in league play and setting team rosters in again in 1949.
It is also interesting to consider during Black History Month how player eligibility likely impacted integration in the Southern Minny in 1949. The two black ballplayers slated to start the season at Rochester were Gread McKinnis and Marlin Carter. The ineligibility of Cassuit and McKinnis’ decision to stay in Chicago put the Royals pitching staff in disarray for much of the season with Al Spearman, Othello Strong, and Gene Bremer all taking turns in the rotation before the arrival of Sam “Red” Jones.
Both Jones and Carter were named League All-Stars despite Sam Jones arriving part way through the season. The only real threat to their eligibility would have been an earlier arrival of Sam Hill as Rochester could only provide two all-stars under existing league rules. Rochester’s ultimate success did not go unnoticed as other teams proposed a new league by-law provision on player eligibility preventing black ballplayers from joining the League if they had played recently played in the Negro Leagues.
In hindsight, the position taken by seven of the eight League teams could arguably be supported by Major League Baseball’s recent recognition of the 1948 Negro American and Negro National Leagues as Major Leagues equivalents. The problem, of course, is that none of the Negro Leagues or teams are recognized as major league after 1948 as the best talent moved to affiliated baseball. Even though the provision was adopted after the 1950 season, black ballplayers including Gread McKinnis, Sam Hill, Orinthal “Andy” Anderson, Dick Newberry and Art “Superman” Pennington continued to draw all-star nods and assault the record books.
[1] “Game Opens Loop Season at Mayo Field,” Rochester Post Bulletin, April 30, 1949, 10.
[2] “Locals Score 14-1 Victory in Game Here,” Rochester Post Bulletin, May 4, 1949, 20.
[3] “Locals Blank Faribault by 4-0; Austin, Albert Lea Also in Loop Wins,” Rochester Post Bulletin, May 9, 1949, 14.
[4] “Weak Pitching Costs Locals Defeat Here,” Rochester Post Bulletin, May 12, 1949.
[5] “Mankato Nine Moves in for Loop Battle,” Rochester Post Bulletin, May 14, 1949, 9-10.
[7] Sherman L. Jenkins, Ted Strongs, Jr.: The Untold Story of an Original Harlem Globetrotter and Negro Leagues All-Star (New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 2016), 105-110.
[8] “Victory is First in Loop for Rochester,” Rochester Post Bulletin, May 16, 1949, 12.
[9] “Locals Rack Up 16 Blows in Exhibition,” Rochester Post Bulletin, May 19, 1949, 20.
[10] “Winona Nine Rallies for SM Loop Win,” Rochester Post Bulletin, May 23, 1949, 15.
[11] “Royals Acquire Hurler for Owatonna Argument,” Rochester Post Bulletin, May 27, 1949, 20.
[12] “Locals Play Good and Bad Weekend Ball,” Rochester Post Bulletin, May 31, 1949, 15.
[14] “Locals Drop into Seventh in So-Minny,” Rochester Post Bulletin, June 3, 1949, 18.
[15] “Royals Seek 4th Loop Win in So. Minny,” Rochester Post Bulletin, June 9, 1949, 20.
[16] “Jones Holds Packers to Five Bingles,” Rochester Post Bulletin, June 13, 1949, 13.
[17] “Packers Lose Second Game in SM League,” Rochester Post Bulletin, June 22, 1949, 18.
[18] “19-Bingle Spree Gives Locals Win,” Rochester Post Bulletin, June 27, 1949, 15.
[19] “’Tonna Aces are Victims in 12-3 Win,” Rochester Post Bulletin, August 5, 1949, 12-13.
[20] National Baseball Congress of America, Official Baseball Annual (1950), 87. Ververka’s Voltmen teammate was NBC Tournament MVP Bill Ricks who would become a Winona Chief in 1950.
[21] “Locals Cinch 2nd in Fast League Race,” Rochester Post Bulletin, August 17, 1949, 16.
[22] “Lakers Close Out Campaign with 9-5 Win,” Austin Daily Herald, August 19, 1949.
[23] “Albert Lea Edges Packers, 6 to 5,” Austin Daily Herald, August 23, 1949.
[24] “Lakers and Royals Meet in 2nd Game,” Austin Daily Herald, August 23, 1949.
[25] “Lakers Even Playoff Series,” Austin Daily Herald, August 24, 1949.
[26] “S-M Board Upholds Protest by Austin; Kraupa Ineligible,” Austin Daily Herald, August 25, 1949; “Protest by Albert Lea Refused by State Board,” Austin Daily Herald, August 30, 1949, 7.
[27] “Harpuder Drives in All of Austin’s Runs,” Austin Daily Herald, August 26, 1949, 8.
[28] “Royals Down Lakers, 8-2 to Take Lead,” Austin Daily Herald, August 26, 1949, 8.
[29] “Royals Need 13 Innings to Defeat Lakers,” Austin Daily Herald, August 29, 1949.
[31] “Homers Help Club Defeat Albert Lea, Austin Daily Herald, August 31, 1949.
[32] “Kuhlman Outpitches Jones, 4 to 3,” Austin Daily Herald, September 2, 1949. 7.
[33] “Austin Plays at Rochester Tonight,” Austin Daily Herald, September 6, 1949, 9.
[34] “No-Hitter for Jones Against Austin,” Austin Daily Herald, September 8, 1949.
[35] “Royal Hurler Ineligible,” Austin Daily Herald, September 8, 1949. A state by-law declared a player that participated in the NBC ineligible for 15 months.
1945 State Championship Team including draftee Max Molock
The 1945 Southern Minny Baseball League season is interesting for a variety of reasons. The exit of New Richland and West Concord from Southern Minny play during[1] and after the season left Waseca as the smallest community participating in the Southern Minny beginning in 1946. The additions of the Rochester Aces and Winona PNA teams in 1946 would finally bring franchise stability to the Southern Minny with consistent League membership from 1946 to 1954.
The use of the boardroom to resolve on field battles was also a hallmark of the Southern Minny League. At one point the Rochester Post Bulletin suggested in the 1950s that Emil Scheid had hired private detectives to investigate player eligibility. The 1945 season set the tone for many of those later board room battles over player eligibility and contracts with an argument about the definition of a road and a lawyer bringing a number of briefs and affidavits to a protest hearing reminiscent of the courtroom scene in Alice’s Restaurant.
To be sure, the Southern Minny was already a power in Minnesota amateur baseball with the Southern Minny’s champion claiming the State Class AA title in 1940 (Albert Lea), 1941 (Owatonna), 1942 (Austin) and 1944 (Albert Lea). Albert Lea’s Hajek Field hosted the state tournament in 1945 and Albert Lea would claim its second state consecutive state championship as part of its impressive run from 1943 to 1948.
One factor holding back the Southern MInny’s development into the semi-pro powerhouse of the 1950’s was the lack of dedicated baseball fields. Austin’s teams were still renting the Mower County fair grounds for home games. The shared grounds caused groundskeeping nightmares in addition to the scheduling issues. The Austin Packers obtained the #2 seed in the playoffs and the Austin Daily Herald had this to say of the condition of the field and the efforts to get the grounds ready:
“Officials of the Austin Baseball association and players worked until 9:15 last night trying to get the outfield at the Fairgrounds into playable condition for the deciding playoff game in the Austin-Mankato playoffs Sunday. Had enemy bombers flown over, the ground crew would have found foxholes enough to jump into as the result of the damage done by the circus equipment Tuesday.”
“No the holes weren’t all filled last night, and the club had to call for help today for some black dirt to be hauled in. Work today is scheduled to get the field in good shape, however, so that Mankato players won’t break their legs and then sue.”[2]
With West Concord returning to the League, Paul Matti elected to play with his home club instead of returning to Albert Lea.[3] Shanty Dolan brought in Charles “Lefty” Johnson from the Western Minny as Matti’s replacement. The final standings imply that the season was an easy walk for Albert Lea and Austin. It wasn’t. Despite a strong pedigree, Lefty Johnson kept fans worried by giving up hits. Albert Lea was outhit by New Richland in the opener with Johnson giving up 11. Fortunately, his mates bunched their hits professionally winning 5-3.[4]
The season did have a few good humor moments. Fred Ludke and John Butorac joined Waseca from Austin as Waseca’s feature battery. They returned to Austin on May 20th and Butorac came prepared. He brought earmuffs to drown out the “ribbing” from the fans.[5]
Owatonna used “Cannonball” Haug of New Brighton and Dale Haug of Ellendale in the opener with Max Molock behind the plate.[6] Shortly after, the Austin Daily Herald included a discussion on “outside” players as part of its “Sports Stir-Up” on May 23, 1945. The “Stir-Up” offers two reasons for the two outside player rule even during the war years: first, it allowed the small town teams to compete financially with the larger clubs and second, it protected home town players from being replaced on game day by an outside player.[7] The outside player rule ultimately played a significant factor in establishing the final League standings.
Even with the outside player rule in place to protect its competitiveness, West Concord’s record was not all that competitive despite hiring on a pitcher of Paul Matti’s pedigree. Having won only 2 games out of eleven League games played, West Concord cut Paul Matti. It didn’t take long for Matti to land and he landed at Owatonna.[8]
Right on cue, Matti and Owatonna came to Austin. The Packers got to Matti for 15 hits but got only 5 runs despite four Owatonna errors. Owatonna, however, pounded Laverne Austinson for five runs in the sixth after giving up five earlier in the game. Austin, however, protested the game due to claims of the use of an outside player.[9]
The standings after 12 or 13 games played:
Albert Lea 13 0
Mankato 8 4
Owatonna 8 5
Faribault 7 6
Austin 6 6
Waseca 3 9
New Richland 2 9
West Concord 2 11
The initial protest hearing was heard on August 5th with Lefty Ringhoefer reading the minutes of a meeting that stated “After a discussion, it was decided that Bergman should be permitted to play for Owatonna for the duration.”[10] There was, however, no real basis to suggest that Bergman lived within the 15-mile limit to be considered a home player. As to Dale Haug from Ellendale, Owatonna argued that the Steele County Engineer considered Ellendale to be 14.8 miles from Owatonna even though the house in which Haug lives was more than 15 miles from Owatonna. The protest as to Haug was also denied but Austin was permitted to revisit the issue if more evidence could be found.[11]
The “Sports Stir-Up” in the May 7, 1945 Austin Daily Herald suggests that Austin’s Baseball Association should obtain the services of a live wire attorney. According to the Herald, the meeting at which Bergman’s eligibility was initially decided took place as part of the 1944 season. The issue was complicated further by Owatonna’s addition of Matti from West Concord after the deadline for signing players.[12]
Austin renewed its protest as to Haug and this time the League Directors found in Austin’s favor. Austin was awarded two additional wins and Mankato one to propel Austin into second place with a 10 and 4 record after Waseca forfeited a game that needed to be replayed.[13]
Owatonna appealed to the State Board using the services of Attorney James Reitz. Rietz came armed with 18 briefs and 3 sworn affidavits but had neither facts nor law on his side. Under League Rules, no team can have more than two players who live more than 15 miles by road from the teams’ town. Attorney Reitz argued that anything could be defined as a road including an Indian trail, a cow path, a rail line, or anything else and that by using that “definition,” two of the four disputed players lived within the fifteen-mile limit. The arbitration board stuck to a more traditional definition of a road and Austin’s protest was upheld.[14]
The State Board’s ruling kept Owatonna out of the playoffs. Austin lost to Mankato in the first game of the playoffs with Albert Lea beating Faribault as expected.[15] Austin got back on track beating Mankato 13-2. The fireworks of the day came from Faribault with a revamped lineup finally knocking Lefty Johnson from the mound. The Fairies lineup included Max Molock and Bill McGrann from Owatonna.[16]
The problem was again League by-laws that prevented signing new players after the 12th league game except due to injury of a battery member.[17] McGrann played in left for Faribault so clearly was not part of the battery. It also appears that Englehardt, Faribault’s regular catcher, was merely out of town and not injured. Apparently League President Ray Ackland initially authorized the substitutions but later rescinded his decision after reviewing the rules. Ackland apparently rescinded his decision and notified Faribault. Faribault elected to play with those players anyway with Shanty Dolan notifying the umpires that Albert Lea was playing under protest. The protest was, however, not filed with the League office within 24 hours as required by League rule.[18]
Laverne Austinson and Austin won their game between the foul lines eliminating Mankato to reach the League playoff finals.[19] Faribault won on the field aided by 8 errors by Albert Lea’s normally steady infield and Max Molock behind the plate. Dolan served notice of his protest before the game.[20]
The “Sports Stir-Up” of August 29, 1945 provided a little more detail suggesting that Hockey Mealey was barred from acting as a catcher in any game umpired by the Northwest Umpires due to prior acts of verbal abuse. It was also claimed that Faribault’s regular season catcher Walt Englehardt had a sore arm in addition to being on vacation.[21] The first ballot was 3-1 in favor of Albert Lea’s protest and awarding Albert Lea the win. A Faribault attorney argued that the protest could be upheld but that the game must then be replayed with eligible players. Ultimately Faribault forfeited rather than replay the game to allow the finals between Albert Lea and Austin to commence.[22]
Albert Lea eliminated the Packers in two straight to claim another Southern Minny crown. Johnson and Austinson tangled with Johnson coming out on top 4-3 in regulation. Lee Jasper held Albert Lea in check for eleven innings before losing 2-1 in the twelfth. The story of the games was Austin scores first, but Saints score more.[23]
Any concerns about Lefty Johnson giving up too many hits were set aside at the state tournament as Lefty nearly no-hit the Drivers Union in the Saturday match-up. A home run in the 9th spoiled a no-hit bid.[24] Somewhat ironically, Max Molock was behind the plate and scored the winning run for Albert Lea in the finals. Molock singled in the ninth with one out. Bob Carter walked. Mankato’s Monk Stier won his own ball game with a single that scored Molock from second as Albert Lea won its second consecutive state title.[25] The irony became even thicker a few years later when Shanty Dolan used the same sore arm claim to use the services of Waseca’s Arleigh Kraupa against Emil Scheid’s Austin Packers in later years.
[1] West Concord forfeited its last game of the season to Albert Lea.
[2] “Somebody Fell Down,” Austin Daily Herald, August 24, 1945.
[3] “Matti to Hurl for W. Concord,” Austin Daily Herald, April 4, 1945.
[4] “New Richland Gets 11 Hits Off Johnson but Loses 5-3,” Austin Daily Herald, May 7, 1945.
[5] “Jasper-Compton Combination Works as Waseca Bows 2-0,” Austin Daily Herald, May 21, 1945.
[6] Ibid, “Auspicious Start,” Austin Daily Herald, May 9, 1945.
[7] “Sports Stir-Up,” Austin Daily Herald, May 23, 1945.
[8] “Faribault 3rd in S-M Chase,” Austin Daily Herald, July 23, 1945.
[18] “Sports Stir-Up,” Austin Daily Herald, August 22, 1945. League rules required filing of the protest in the League office along with a protest fee.
[19] “Packers Eliminate Kato in Playoff Competition,” Austin Daily Herald, August 27, 1945.
[20] “Saints Will Protest Loss in Wild Game,” Austin Daily Herald, August 27, 1945.
[21] “Sports Stir-Up,” Austin Daily Herald, August 29, 1945.
[22] “Sports Stir-Up,” Austin Daily Herald, August 30, 1945.
[23] “Packers Barely Miss Wins in Both of Holiday Contests,” Austin Daily Herald, September 4, 1945.
[24] “Sports Stir-Up,” Austin Daily Herald, September 19, 1945.
[25] “Albert Lea Champ; to Play Excelsior,” Austin Daily Herald, September 17, 1945.
The 1940 Southern Minnesota Baseball League started with transition among the member teams. The Rochester Aces replaced the Mankato team on short notice.[1] Mankato’s departure also apparently caused issues in Waseca as the Waseca Journal announced on April 17, 1940 that “Clubs Unite as Baseball Season Nears.” The compromise placed only a single Waseca entry into the Southern Minny that season with Hap Lowe served as field manager and Don Herbst as business manager. Emil Scheid would receive the club’s reigns in 1941 under the compromise.[2]
The season also brought transition on the field. Russ Schmidthuber moved from New Richland to Albert Lea, Fred Ludke moved from Owatonna to Le Roy and Phil Golberg moved from Austin to New Richland. Personnel changes also took place on the Waseca nine, but Waseca stood pat with its Ace in the Hole: Al Bell.
Shanty Dolan’s reconfigured Albert Lea team opened the season at Waseca’s Community Field. A capacity crowd filled the grandstand and bleachers as Al Bell and Schmidthuber matched up for the first time in 1940. Albert Lea scored three unearned runs in the first on a ball Sponberg dropped at first, Bell’s errant throw, and a dropped a relay to home by McDermott allowing a run to score. Albert Lea scored four runs on four errors. Al Bell gave up seven hits while striking out four.[3]
Al Bell and the Waseca nine traveled to Austin. Waseca scored their initial run in the first on Groebner’s single, McDermott’s roller followed by Sponberg’s single and Connelly’s free pass. Austin’s Bernard Stanek evened the score on a solo home run in the fourth inning. Waseca broke open the game in the seventh putting pressure on Austin’s defense with the bunting game. Four runs scored in the eighth and three more in the ninth. Bell may have lost focus in the ninth with a 9-1 lead as Austin pushed across three runs.[4]
Waseca beat back the cellar-dwelling Rochester Aces in an extra inning pitcher’s duel. Bell went the full 14 innings for Waseca striking out 16 while walking only one. Bell allowed only one single after the 11th inning. The time of game was 2:40.[5]
Bell was back on the mound on Thursday as Owatonna traveled to Community Field for a Memorial Day match up. Bell went the distance for Waseca striking out eight. Waseca’s batters lashed out 11 hits with six being doubles. Connelly collected three of Waseca’s hits and two of the team’s doubles. Waseca won 8 to 1.[6]
The following Sunday, the Waseca nine traveled to Wagner Field at New Richland for a presumed pitcher’s duel. Waseca scored four in the first but gave away the lead on three singles and two errors in the bottom of the inning. Bell gave up twelve hits in the final nine innings of his 32 innings in eight days. Waseca’s defense contributed to his demise with nine errors.[7]
Bell was back on the mound at Mankato’s Tanley Field the following Tuesday as Waseca faced the Key City club. Bell allowed ten hits and struck out twelve keeping the game even through the eight.[8]
The extra rest apparently suited Bell just fine as he had a near no-hitter against Le Roy. Le Roy’s lone hit came on a disputed safe call on a relay from second. Even so, he faced only twenty-eight batters while his mates collected eleven hits off Ludke. Waseca won 6 to 0.[9]
Bell kept up his torrid pace allowing only two hits against Faribault. He struck out eighteen in nine innings. Waseca pushed ahead in the sixth when Munson reached on an error, Connelley singled and McDermott walked. Sponberg singled to score Munson and Connelley and Sponberg scored on Gray’s single. Waseca’s final run scored in the eighth on a walk by Lick followed by McDermott’s single.[10]
Bell gave up only six hits to Owatonna but trailed in the eighth. Connelly singled to start the inning followed by walks to Lick and Sponberg. Jim McDermott was the hero of the night poling out a grand slam just to the left of the foul pole in right.[11]
Waseca took a two-run lead at New Ulm the following Thursday. New Ulm earned one back in the second and tied the game on three hits in the seventh. Both starting pitchers were stingy for four more innings before New Ulm was able to push across a run on a single and double in the twelfth inning. Bell struck out 18 through nine innings and 20 on the day.[12]
Austin came to Waseca for the dedication of Community Field. Bell was on the mound and outdueled Austin’s Grossman 7 to 2. Happy Lowe took hitting honors with a home run in the fifth before giving way to Mueller in the seventh. Bell struck out a pedestrian eight batters.[13] Not surprisingly, Bell was named an all-star by League President Little along with shortstop Eddie Lick.[14]
Waseca next traveled to Albert Lea with a potential first place finish on the line. Albert Lea drew first blood as Menke scored on a sacrifice fly by West following Menke’s triple. Albert Lea followed up with three runs on three hits in third on two singles and a home run by White. Waseca drew one run back when Lick singled and scored following singles by Sponberg and McDermott. Groebner drew Waseca another run closer on one of the longest home runs seen by Jack Connelley but Waseca couldn’t push the tying runs across the plate in the eighth. Albert Lea pushed across two insurance runs in the eighth to maintain sole possession of first place.[15]
New Richland came to Community Field for a Fourth of July exhibition game. The game featured 11 errors. The comedy of errors includes Chick Gray’s grounder to short that resulted in an overthrow of first base. Gray, however, never ran to the base as he broke his bat and stopped to inspect the bat. Bell struck out twelve as Waseca won 4 to 1.[16]
Waseca fared much better against the Rochester Aces scoring enough runs in the first to win the game outright. Waseca led 4 to 1 going in to the seventh before Bell gave up runs in the seventh and eighth. Waseca answered in the bottom of the eighth with eight runs including a home run by Lick in his second at bat of the inning. Waseca won 12-2.[17]
Waseca traveled to New Richland to face Phil Golberg and former-mate Lloyd Carter. Carter put on a show in right field making two spectacular catches in the first inning alone. Waseca drew first blood with two runs in the seventh. New Richland tied the score on two unearned runs in the eighth when Abraham reached on an error and he and Munson scored after two were out. New Richland’s winning run came on a single, stolen base, advance on a ground out and sacrifice fly. Waseca now trailed Albert Lea by three full games.[18]
Waseca traveled to Tanley Field for the fifth time in two seasons. Bell started for Waseca but left after three innings with a 2-0 lead. Jack Connelley took over on the mound and took the loss.[19]
The extra rest likely didn’t hurt Bell as he and Fred Ludke matched up for an extra inning duel at Le Roy the following Sunday. Bell gave up only five singles and no runs through seven. Le Roy bunched together two doubles and a single to tie the game in the eighth. Ludke won his own game with a double in the fourteenth as he scored on Sawdey’s single to end the two hour and 45 minute marathon.[20]
The Austin Daily Herald provided an additional detail on the game indicating that Waseca’s Jim McDermott launched a long fly ball that would likely have cleared the fence in any park except for a wire stretched between two light poles. The ball struck the wire and dropped in the field of play. The umpire refused to give McDermott home plate and he died on the based before Ludke’s heroics in the bottom of the inning.[21]
Waseca finished in second place in the League by beating Faribault the hard way. Al Bell and Gil Aase threw regulation shutouts and Bell gave up only three hits in the eleven innings it took Waseca to score. Ludke beat New Richland 3-0 to give Waseca sole possession of second place.[22]
1940 League Standings
Albert Lea
11
3
Waseca
9
5
Austin
8
6
New Richland
8
6
Faribault
5
8
LeRoy
5
9
Owatonna
5
9
Rochester
4
9
The first round of the Southern Minny playoffs moved from single elimination to best two out of three that season. Austin drew the unenviable task of facing League leaders Albert Lea while Waseca and New Richland met in the first round.
Bell continued his hard luck in the first game of League playoffs. New Richland sprayed the ball all over the field for fourteen hits and four errors. Goldberg was on his game giving up only four hits including a long home run to Hap Lowe. New Richland won the first game 12 to 2 but this year, they had a chance to come back.[23]
The second games of each series were far more competitive. It took 17 innings for Albert Lea to beat Austin 2-1. Bell gave up nine hits and Golberg gave up seven, but Waseca’s hits were bunched better in the fourth. Waseca won 2-0 to force a third and final game at Waseca the following week.[24]
The Northern States Envelope club of St. Paul came to Waseca for a Thursday night tune up. Bell started and went three innings giving up two runs. Ed Evans pitched the final six innings giving up three runs.[25]
Phil Golberg was in complete control in the third game giving up only a single to Hap Lowe in the second. Otherwise, the contact was weak resulting in pop flys or ground balls. New Richland took the lead as Waseca was Carter-ized once again. He singled and stole second. He reached third on Hendrickson’s grounder to short when Lick’s relay to third was dropped by Gray. New Richland’s Abraham dumped a bloop over the drawn in infield to score two runs with the bases loaded. New Richland advanced to the League finals winning 6 to 0.[26]
Once again, Waseca missed the League Playoff Finals, but it is hard to blame Bell. He missed the League lead in wins by one trailing only Russ Schmidthuber of Albert Lea. He pitched every inning of every league game including 15 extra innings to reach 145 innings pitched. Bell was the only pitcher to strike out more than 100 batters reaching 134. He has solid control walking only ten and hitting no batters in 145 batters with two of the walks being intentional.[27]
Waseca fans had one more chance to see their team play that season and perhaps a sneak peek at the 1941 team as Emil Scheid led Waseca to Albert Lea for an exhibition game. Waseca’s lineup included new faces Davidson, Standinger, Foster, Carter, and Cox. Waseca stole three bases off Menke in the game.[28] Eddie Lick and Jim McDermott played well enough to be drafted by Albert Lea for the state tournament. They shared the left field garden in the state tournament finals.[29]
Manager Hap Lowe gained a new title after the season as he was named Sheriff of Waseca County in October. Lowe was credited with sixteen years of service with the Waseca baseball club to that point including many years as the League’s leading hitter.[30]
[1] “Waseca Plays Albert Lea in Opening Game,” Waseca Journal, April 17, 1940, 4.
[2] “Clubs Unite as Baseball Opener Nears,” Waseca Journal, April 17, 1940, 1.
[3] “Errors Cost Waseca Club Initial Game,” Waseca Journal, May 8, 1940, 1.
[4] “Waseca Uses Strategy to Trim Packers,” Waseca Journal, May 15,1940, 2.
[5] “Waseca Sweeps to Victory in Extra Innings,” Waseca Journal, May 29, 1940, 3.
[6] “Waseca Dumps Owatonna Here Memorial Day,” Waseca Journal, June 5, 1940, 4.
[7] “New Richland Wins Alleged Pitchers Duel,” Waseca Journal, June 5, 1940, 4.
[8] “Key City Club Beats Waseca in Night Game,” Waseca Journal, June 5, 1940, 4.
[9] “Bell Pitches One Hit Ball Against LeRoy,” Waseca Journal, June 12, 1940.
[10] “Bell Torrid as Faribault Gets Two Hits,” Waseca Journal, June 19, 1940, 7.
[11] “McDermott’s Homer Plates 4 in 8th,” Waseca Journal, June 26, 1940, 4.
[12] “Bell Fans 20 in 12 Inning New Ulm Game,” Waseca Journal, June 26, 1940, 4.
[13] “Lowe’s Homer Helps Waseca Down Austin,” Waseca Journal, July 3, 1940, 2.
[14] “Select Bell Lick Sponberg for All Stars,” Waseca Journal, July 10, 1940, 4.
[15] “Tough Breaks Cost Waseca Game Sunday,” Waseca Journal, July 10, 1940, 7.
[16] “Waseca Beats New Richland in Loose Game,” Waseca Journal, July 10, 1940, 7.
[17] “Lick Homers as Waseca Down Rochester 12-2,” Waseca Journal, July 17, 1940, 2.
[18] “Waseca Carter-ized in New Richland Victory,” Waseca Journal, July 24, 1940, 1.
[19] “Waseca Fails to Hold Lead Over Key City,” Waseca Journal, July 24, 1940, 1
[20] “Waseca Loses 14-Inning Ball Game at LeRoy,” Waseca Journal, July 31, 1940, 4.
[21] “LeRoy Contest Produced Story,” Austin Daily Herald, July 31, 1940.
[22] “LeRoy Wins From New Richland 3-0,” Austin Daily Herald, August 5, 1940, 6.
[23] “New Richland Cops Initial Playoff Game,” Waseca Journal, August 14, 1940, 1.
[24] “New Richland Drops Second Playoff Game,” Waseca Journal, August 21, 1940, 1.
[25] “St. Paul Club Beats Waseca in Exhibition,” Waseca Journal, August 28, 1940, 2.
[26] “New Richland Wins Play Off Semi-Final,” Waseca Journal, September 4, 1940, 1.
[27] “Bells Fans 134 to Top League in Strikeouts,” Waseca Journal, September 4, 1940, 7.
[28] “Waseca Loses to Albert Lea in Exhibition,” Waseca Journal, September 18, 1940, sec. 2, 1.
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