The 1945 Season – Battles Between the Lines and in the Board Room

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 20^th 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 5^th 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 12^th 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 9^th 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.

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[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 3^rd 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] “9^th 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.

Carl DeRose: A Packer With a Perfect Start

On June 20, 1951, the Winona Republican-Herald wrote of Austin’s Big Carl DeRose that

“Never before has a Southern Minnesota league hurler notched a record to equal DeRose’s current string. Colossal Carl took home his ninth straight victory without a loss.”[1]

Carl DeRose deserved all of the many accolades he receives for his 1951 season with the Austin Packers.  His victory string actually extended beyond nine games and he was truly a dominant and durable pitcher that season. He was the pitcher of record in 22 of the Packers 42 regular season games. He won 17 of those 22 games and one of the losses was a game he started on one days rest. 

Lamenting another loss to Big Carl DeRose and the Austin Packers the Winona Daily News  wrote:

“Carl DeRose wrote another chapter in his book, ‘How I Handcuffed Winona in ’51,’ at Marcusen Park Tuesday night.”[2]

If Big Carl DeRose wrote a book on every team he handcuffed during his career, there would be a Carl DeRose library. His career not only featured an unblemished win streak  to the Southern Minny season in 1951 but absolute perfection when he completely handcuffed the Minneapolis Millers with no hits, no runs and no base runners in a perfect game pitched for the Kansas City Blues in 1947. That amazing feat, the first perfect game in the history of the American Association, was accomplished with an ailing arm and under the threat of surgery. 

What seems to truly stand out about Big Carl DeRose, however, is his unwillingness to give up the game of baseball. That stubbornness may have led him to many places other than the promised land of Yankee Stadium but he never gave up the game of baseball and continued to work hard to get back to being a pitching ace after years of arm trouble.

The first rumors of Carl’s signing with the Austin Packers appeared prior to the final game of the 1950 Iowa State League Playoffs. [3] DeRose built up his arm strength during the ISL season to become one of the dominant pitchers on the Spencer Cardinals staff and he was expected to pitch the next playoff game for Spencer against the Carroll Merchants. The Carroll Daily Times Herald followed up with its own report following the conclusion of the 1951 Iowa State League Playoffs that DeRose would “move to Austin and work in the meat packing plant this winter and pitch in the Southern Minny league next summer.”[4] DeRose won the Cardinals’ final game of the season to claim the ISL Playoff Championship after setting aside the regular season champion Carroll Merchants 10-1.[5]

In promoting the Packer’s upcoming 1951 season, Tom Koeck wrote that DeRose left professional baseball when his arm went sour.[6] Koeck may have been slightly off as to the timing of when DeRose’s arm went sour and when he left professional baseball but Koeck was certainly accurate in reporting that DeRose had “once been considered the pitching plum of the New York Yankees’ farm system” and that he was “best known for his perfect no-hit game with the Kansas City Blues of the American Association.”[7]

Gary Cieradkowski describes Carl’s background in Milaca, Minnesota and his status as a can’t miss prospect for the New York Yankees in his article “Carl DeRose: Aboslute Perfection.” Carl returned to Yankees spring training camp in 1946 after missing time due to service in World War II. A broken knuckle likely prevented him from staying with the Yankees as he was assigned to Kansas City for the season. He posted a 12 and 6 record with a 3.16 ERA for a team that finished 23 games out of first place.[8]

Carl returned home to California for the offseason and worked construction. Most of his work was heavy labor and he actually became too muscle bound. As a result, he was tabbed for Kansas City again instead of New York City when he wasn’t able to get loose.[9]

Slated to pitch an exhibition game in Denver on his birthday (April 12^th), he made it through half a game before his arm began to ache. It was a cold and snowy day and he was unable to throw his fastball. He tried to get by on curveballs and change ups.[10]

Seeking an explanation, DeRose sought out a medical help. By the end of June he was told he had calcium deposits in his shoulder and he might never pitch again. The Yankees arranged for a surgery that might have been career ending.

Instead of walking away, Big Carl DeRose went to Kansas City Blues skipper Billy Meyer on July 25^th asking for one more chance to pitch the following day. Meyer, a baseball lifer (and former Winona Pirate), felt he had no choice when DeRose “begged for just one more chance.”[11]

Not surprisingly, DeRose was in pain before even trying to warm up. While warming up, he found he was missing his fastball. All he had was curves, a change up and a lot of guts. His manager gave him the chance to bow out but DeRose would not back out.[12]

He didn’t have his fastball but he still had great control. He retired the first three batters and the Blues scored in their half of the first inning to stake him to a lead. He set the Millers down in the second inning but Meyer knew his pitcher was in trouble. Meyer had a pitcher warming in the bullpen and pleaded with DeRose to leave the game. With tears in eyes after every painful pitch, DeRose refused to throw in the towel and reached a three ball count only once and that being the last batter of the game. DeRose struck him out on a 3-2 fastball for only his second strikeout of the game.[13]

On the day, DeRose had faced and retired 27 Minneapolis Millers in row becoming the first American Association pitcher to throw a perfect game since 1902. He and his teammates celebrated in the locker room until they had to say goodbye. They were off on a northern road trip while DeRose had an appointment with a surgeon.[14]

As he signed with the Austin Packers in 1951, his arm trouble was clearly not career ending. It was, however, the end of any likelihood of making the major leagues. Big Carl split time between Portland and Kansas City in 1948 logging a total of 70 innings over 26 appearances. He appeared in three games with Portland in 1949 before spending the remainder of the season in AA Beaumont. He found himself back at Beaumont to start the 1950 season and appeared in five games[15] before deciding to make a change.

That change was signing with the Spencer Cardinals in the semi-pro Iowa State League for the 1950 season.[16] The only known connection between DeRose and Spencer, Iowa was eventual team manager Bill Burgess who had spent some time with Beaumont several years prior.[17]

The 1950 ISL season started slowly for DeRose as his arm was still sore and he wasn’t in top form for hurling. He was, however, one of the top sluggers in the league early in the season.[18] He played first base or in right field as he continued to work his way back to pitching form. He smacked a two run home run against Estherville.[19]

By July his arm was starting to warm up but he still lack consistency. He held the hard hitting Carroll Merchants in check striking out 13 over 11 innings.[20] Carroll got the better of him the next time battering him for 8 runs on 10 hits in the fifth inning alone.[21] It certainly wasn’t lack of effort. John Hart, longtime Spencer baseball supporter, described a half hour batting session thrown to him by DeRose.[22]

The hard work started to pay off in August when DeRose shut out the Schaller Red Caps on four hits. Only eight batters “dented the infield” off of him.[23] He even worked out of the pen throwing 4 2/3rds against the Estherville Red Sox in a losing effort.[24]

Facing Schaller again late in the season he gave up one hit less than his earlier outing as Spencer drubbed the Red Caps 18-1. DeRose also homered to help his own cause.[25]  He had a near no-hitter against Storm Lake on September 1^st giving up only two hits on a single and pop up that fell in front of home plate after the seventh inning.[26] The win eliminated the Storm Lake White Caps from the playoffs and advanced the Cardinals to the ISL finals which they took four games to one finishing off the Merchants 10-1 behind DeRose.  

As the 1951 preseason progressed the Austin Daily Herald asked “Can Slabmen Go Distance? Reply Awaited.”[27] To that point, Emil’s pitchers had generally been splitting 3 to 4 innings of each game to get ready for the season. When the season arrived, at least one of the slabmen was ready to go and that was Big Carl DeRose.

The season actually started fairly inauspiciously for DeRose. His first pitch of the season was tagged for a double into left field. Carl got a strikeout but gave up a single and double to be down two runs. He then beaned John Ewaniak with a wild pitch that put Ewaniak’s entire season in jeopardy. Carl recovered to retire the side as he scattered six hits for the rest of the game.[28]

He followed up with a five hitter against the Fairmont Martins securing a shutout in a non-league game.[29] After that, he started writing the book about handcuffing Winona for a hard earned 4-3 win.[30] The Rochester Royals fell next 6-2 with DeRose allowing only seven hits.[31]

Against Albert Lea he was a dual threat holding the visitors to two singles over nine innings for his fourth straight win. He homered in the seventh to give himself the lead. The Packers were 1-3 on days when Big Carl didn’t start.[32]

Winona and Rochester fell in succession. Dick Seltz broke up a 1-1 tie in the ninth with a “spanking homerun over the rightfield fence” to give DeRose his fifth victory.[33] Carl gave up only seven hits to Rochester to win 5-2. He was working like an ace winning four of the last six games played by the Packers who were playing three games a week.[34]

DeRose limited Albert Lea to eight hits while Roy Gilmore lashed out a pair of home runs and a triple to pace the Austin offense to a 5-3 victory.[35] Big Carl picked up his eighth straight win giving up only one run on six hits to Waseca.[36] His ninth straight victory game included another chapter in the book against Winona. This time he won 5-3 pitching steady ball.[37]

He beat Waseca again to gain his 10^th straight win. He had a shutout going into the ninth before giving up three runs late. He told that Austin Daily Herald that “It doesn’t make any difference what the score is, just so you win.”[38] He certainly did that in 1951.

Despite tiring in the ninth against Waseca, he was strong on the mound against Owatonna tossing a two hitter for his 11^th straight victory.[39] All things come to an end, however, and the end of the consecutive wins streak came on July 3^rd at Rochester.  The Royals collected six hits in the first three innings. DeRose still went the distance and kept his team in the game only losing 4-2 despite not getting on track early in the game.[40]

To put some additional perspective on DeRose’s perfect winning streak of 11 straight wins to start the season, three pitchers tied for second in the league for games won with twelve games won for the entire season. Big Carl DeRose won nearly that many before the first of July.

The Packers’ offense took away any pressure in his next start collecting 21 hits. Even so, Carl kept Albert Lea’s hits fairly well scattered.[41]  He dropped only his second game of the season on July 10^th.[42] Not surprisingly Big Carl was named to the East All-Star Team.[43]

Big Carl got his revenge against the Royals blanking them on five hits.[44] He was asked to come back on only a day’s rest against Faribault. Not surprisingly he wasn’t quite as effective giving up 13 hits.[45]

Given a few more days rest and Winona as an opponent, he was good to go. He gave up only two hits in shutting out Winona for his 14^th win in 17 starts.[46] Showing his durability, he went the distance in a 13 inning loss to Waseca.[47] He next set down Winona 9 to 1 for his 15^th victory.[48]

He gave up only 10 hits and had three extra base hits of his own to spark a victory over Mankato.[49] He got his 17^th win of the season by tossing a six hitter against Owatonna.[50]

It certainly wasn’t surprising that 17 game winner Big Carl DeRose got the ball for the first game of the Southern Minny Playoffs against Waseca. He didn’t disappoint fanning seven and walking only two while scattering seven hits. Roy Gilmore plated the winning run in the ninth on a towering home run.[51]

DeRose lost the third game 6-2 but rebounded to take the decisive fifth game 7-0.[52] He won game two of the League Finals 6-1. He was used a pinch batter in both games three and four.

Having reached their third consecutive state tournament, the Packers naturally turned the ball over the DeRose. He gave up a solo home run in the seventh while Bill Campeau’shomer in the same inning plated Bob Kuhlman for a hard fought 2-1 victory.[53] Carl lost a heartbreaker to Marshall to force the Packers to win out if they were going to claim the title.[54]

Carl did his part setting back Litchfield 4-2 to keep the Packers in the tournament in the afternoon game.[55] Unfortunately for the Packers DeRose was unavailable for the evening final game having pitched the early afternoon game and Arleigh Kraupa had been used to get to the Sunday games. With those two pitchers unavailable, the Packers were forced to use three pitchers while Litchfield needed only one to claim the state AA championship.

Big Carl DeRose was truly colossal for the Austin Packers in 1951. His string of consecutive wins is simply magical in the night baseball era of the Southern Minny. His 17 wins were 65% of the 26 total Packer wins during the regular season. In fact, the combined record of all Packer pitchers not named Carl DeRose was 9 wins and 11 losses. Without Big Carl’s perfect winning streak the Austin Packers may not have even made the Southern Minny Playoffs that season let alone the finals of the state AA championship for the third straight year.

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[1] “DeRose Notches Ninth Straight Before 2,656,” Winona Republican-Herald, June 20, 1951, 16.

[2] “Winona Remains Game From 4^th,” Winona Daily News, August 1, 1951, 12.

[3] Mason City Globe-Gazette, Sept. 8, 1950, 17.

[4] “To Austin,” Carroll Daily Times-Herald, Sept. 11, 1950, 3.

[5] “Spencer Wins Iowa State Playoffs,” Mason City Globe-Gazette, Sept. 9, 1950, 11.

[6] “Defending Champion Austin Packers Set for 3^rd Title Effort,” Austin Daily Herald, April 26, 1951.

[7] Ibid.

[8] Gary Joseph Cieradkowski, “Carl DeRose:  Absolutely Perfect,” https://studiogaryc.com/2019/01/17/carl-derose-absolutely-perfect/

[9] Ibid.

[10] Ibid.

[11] Ibid.

[12] Ibid.

[13] Ibid.

[14] “Pitches Perfect Game with Sore Arm,” Daily Times (Davenport, IA), June 27, 1947, 31.

[15] https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=derose001car

[16] “Spencer’s Champions Again May Have a Strong Team,” Mason City Globe-Gazette, June 8, 1950, 20; “Iowa State Loop Pennant Race Underway in Earnest,” Estherville Daily New, June 9, 1950, 6.

[17] Brad Wilson, “Sports Parade,” Des Moines Register, August 21, 1950, 12.

[18] Mason City Globe-Gazette, June 14, 1950, 21.

[19] “Estherville Mauled in State Loop Game,” Sioux City Journal, June 14, 1950, 17.

[20] “Blanchard’s Bat Proves Difference, Carroll Wins; Spencer Plays Here Tonight,” Carroll Daily Times, July 6, 1950, 3.

[21] “Fifth Inning Explosion is Good for 10 Hits, 8 Runs,” Carroll Daily Times Herald, July 7, 1950, 11.

[22] Carroll Daily Times Herald, July 26, 1950, 3.

[23] “Spencer Cardinals Battle Carroll at Home Friday,” Ruthven Free Press, August 9, 1950, 4.

[24] “Locals Stave Off Enemy in 8^th and 9^th,” Estherville Daily News, August 19, 1950, 3.

[25] “Spencer Obliterates Schaller Nine, 18-1,” Sioux City Journal, August 26, 1950, 8.

[26] “Spencer’s In; DeRose Hurls 2 to 0 Shutout,” Carroll Daily Times, September 2, 1950, 3.

[27] “Packers Whip Mankato,” Austin Daily Herald, May 7, 1951.

[28] “Packers Rap Faribault, 22-5,” Austin Daily Herald, May 13, 1951, 10.

[29] “DeRose Scatters 5 Blows as Packers Rout Fairmont, 10-0,” Austin Daily Herald, May 19, 1951.

[30] “Late Rally Wins for Packers, 4-3,” Austin Daily Herald, May 23, 1951.

[31] “Harpuder, Gilmore Homer in 6-2 Win, Austin Daily Herald, May 28, 1951.

[32] “Packers Win 2 S-M League Contests,” Austin Daily Herald, May 31, 1951.

[33] “Seltz’s Homer Beats Winona,” Austin Daily Herald, Jun 4, 1951, 4.

[34] “Packers Defeat Rochester, 5-2, Behind DeRose,” Austin Daily Herald, June 8, 1951.

[35] “Gilmore and DeRose Pace 5-3 Victory,” Austin Daily Herald, June 11, 1951.

[36] “Austin Tightens Hold on S-M Lead,” Austin Daily Herald, June 15, 1951.

[37] “DeRose Bumps Chiefs 5-3 for 9^th in a Row,” Austin Daily Herald, June 20, 1951.

[38] “Packers Defeat Waseca, 4-3, Austin Daily Herald, June 25, 1951.

[39] “One-Hitter by DeRose,” Austin Daily Herald, June 29, 1951.

[40][40] “Packers Fail in Two League Starts,” Austin Daily Herald, July 3, 1951, 10.

[41] “Collect 21 Hits for 17-4 Edge,” Austin Daily Herald, July 9, 1951.

[42] “First Win for Chiefs over Austin Since ’49,” Austin Daily Herald, July 11, 1951.

[43] “DeRose, Campeau, Lindgren and Gilmore on East Team,” Austin Daily Herald, July 14, 1951.

[44] “Gilmore and Campeau Spark Batting Attack,” Austin Daily Herald, July 16, 1951.

[45] “Riedesel, Faribault Rap Austin, 7-1,” Austin Daily Herald, July 18, 1951.

[46] “DeRose Blanks Winona Chiefs, 2-0,” Austin Daily Herald, July 23, 1951.

[47] “Waseca Nips Austin in 13 Innings,” Austin Daily Herald, July 27, 1951.

[48] “DeRose Handcuffs Winona, 9 to 1,” Austin Daily Herald, August 1, 1951.

[49] “DeRose Sparks Packer Victory,” Austin Daily Herald, August 6, 1951.

[50] “Austin Gains on Aces in Flag Chase,” Austin Daily Herald, August 10, 1951.

[51] “Packers Take Lead in S-M Playoff,” Austin Daily Herald, August 24, 1951, 8.

[52] “Faribault, Austin in Final Playoffs,” Austin Daily Herald, August 30, 1951.

[53] “Carl DeRose Stops Springfield, 2-1,” Austin Daily Herald, September 8, 1951, 5.

[54] “Austin Drops 7-6 Test to Marshall,” Austin Daily Herald, September 11, 1951.

[55] “Packers Spill Litchfield, 4-2 Behind DeRose,” Austin Daily Herald, September 18, 1951.