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.
[9] “Packers Protest 16-5 Shellacking,” Austin Daily Herald, July 30, 1945.
[10] “Protest Lost; Packers Play Mankato Tuesday and Waseca on Friday,” Austin Daily Herald, August 6, 1945.
[11] Ibid.
[12] “Sports Stir-Up,” Austin Daily Herald, August 7, 1945.
[13] “Grant Packer’s Protest,” Austin Daily Herald, August 10, 1945.
[14] “State League Declares Owatonna Stars Illegal,” Austin Daily Herald.
[15] “9th Inning Error Beats Austin 4-3,” Austin Daily Herald, August 12, 1945.
[16] “Good Pitching, Hitting and Fielding Trips Kato 13-2,” Austin Daily Herald.
[17] “Sports Stir-Up,” Austin Daily Herald,
[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.
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