Found: A Mankato Merchants Jersey

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.

The Board Room Battles Continue with the 1949 Rochester Royals and Albert Lea’s Use of Arleigh Kraupa

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 8^th.[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.

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[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.

[6] Ibid.

[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.

[13] Ibid.

[14] “Locals Drop into Seventh in So-Minny,” Rochester Post Bulletin, June 3, 1949, 18.

[15] “Royals Seek 4^th 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 2^nd 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 2^nd 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.

[30] “16-Hit Attack Hands Packers 8-6 Victory, 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.

[36] “Austin Rips Royals Behind Kuhlman,” Austin Daily Herald, September 9, 1949.

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.

Waseca Draws an Ace

Even though Waseca finished the 1938 season with a 5 and 7 record, preseason pundits predicted a pennant for Waseca at the end of the 1939 season. Part of the optimism may well have been the off- season acquisition of Al Bell by Waseca.

Waseca’s usual battery – Al Bell and Jim McDermott – shown at Waseca’s Community Field

The season opened at the Waseca fairgrounds following a pre-game parade by the Waseca band and flag raising ceremony. Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Henry M. Gallagher, Mayor Brattrud and Benj Senske gave opening remarks honoring baseball’s centennial.[1]

Waseca’s opening day lineup featured Mueller, ss; Connelley, lf; Lowe, cf; Munson, 2b; McDermott, c; Sponberg, 1b; Groebner, rf; W. Gray, 3b; and Al Bell, p. Even though Waseca was favored to win the title, Owatonna was the defending state champions and played like it with Fred Ludke inducing plenty of pop ups and infield ground outs. Bell allowed only seven hits and struck out five, but Waseca’s defense was not sharp including two errors by Bell. Owatonna won the first game 4 to 0.[2]

Waseca traveled to Le Roy and was held to one hit until the sixth inning by George Dugan.  Le Roy drew first blood in the first inning when Bjortant drew a lead-off walk and advanced to second on a sacrifice by Stiles. Bell induced a pop out from Brown but Chapman’s single brought Bjortant home. Waseca drew even in the sixth with two out when Connelley reached on a walk. He was brought home on singles by Lowe and Munson.  Waseca took the lead in the seventh on a long double by Groebner and single by Herb Sponberg. Sponberg laced out a triple in the ninth and scored on Bell’s single for an unneeded insurance run. Bell allowed eight hits but struck out ten as Waseca entered the win column with a 3 to 1 win.[3]

The Waseca nine next traveled to Mankato for a Memorial Day match up with the Blue Sox. Neither team scored in the first two innings but the score stood at four all going in to the seventh. Bell walked in the third and scored on Hap Lowe’s triple. Mankato rallied for two in the bottom of the inning with the score going back and forth until the seventh. Bob Gray opened the inning with a bunt hit and advanced to third on Lowe’s single. Munson pounded out another single to score Gray. McDermott reached when the pitcher muffed his ground ball to fill the bases. Lowe was thrown out at the late on a fielder’s choice but Connelley and Bell drove in the base runners on successive hits.[4]

Bell gave up twelve hits on the day and struck out seven. Bell made up for it at the plate gathering in four hits in four trips. His catcher McDermott had three hits and the rest of the team contributed eight as Waseca beat the Blue Sox 8 to 4.[5]

Waseca traveled to Austin for a match up with Austin’s Ace Phil Golberg. The scoreboard reflects anything but a pitcher’s duel but a tail wind blew many pop outs in to base hits. Austin led by five going into the third but Waseca rallied for five runs on five hits and walk. Austin broke the tie with two runs in the fifth, but Waseca rallied for two in the bottom of the inning. Streak McKay broke the tie with a two run home run but Waseca again rallied in the bottom of the inning. Lefty Gunderson was called in to relieve Golberg but Waseca stuck with Bell in what eventually developed into a pitcher’s duel. Happy Lowe ended the game on the first pitch in the eleventh on a long home run off Gunderson. Bell struck out eleven in the game.[6]

Waseca next went to Faribault for a match up with the Fairies. The score stood at two all after two innings and things looked bad for Waseca as Faribault loaded the bases in the third. Bell recovered and struck out eleven on the day while walking only one. Waseca pushed two runs across in the eighth on two two out hits by Groebner and pinch hitter Connelley.[7]

Waseca’s next stop was a mid-week matchup with Bell’s 1938 team the Mankato Key City Beverages at North Mankato’s Tanley Field. The game featured a pitcher’s duel between former mound mates Al Bell and Squire Riddles. Both pitchers were on their game as each club earned only four hits. Thirty batters faced Bell while thirty-two faced Riddle. Waseca bunched three of its hits in the seventh inning and still failed to score. Key City won the game in the ninth when Johnson singled, stole second and scored on Nicklasen’s single.[8]

Waseca moved into first place in the Southern Minny League the following week when Austin beat Owatonna and Waseca beat New Richland in a rain shortened game. Al Groebner continued his hot hitting with a home run in the first inning that scored Bob Gray and Connelley. Chick Gray started the fifth with a single but was forced at second on Sponberg’s infield fielder’s choice. Bob Gray’s single moved Sponberg to third. Connelley singled scoring Sponberg. Gray scored on Groebner’s second hit of the day. Al Bell plated Waseca’s final two runs with a single in the sixth. Waseca won 7 to 0.[9]

Waseca maintained first place by beating Le Roy at the Waseca fairgrounds. Al Bell limited Le Roy to four hits with Piker Meyers gathering in three of them. Waseca scored their first run in the third inning after Sponberg advanced Munson to third. Munson scored on Al Bell’s single. The big blow in the game came off the bat of Hap Lowe as the ball cleared the fences, plating Lowe and Connelley. Le Roy’s lone run came in the ninth to rob Bell of shut out.[10]

Owatonna pushed Waseca out of first place in a head to head match up at Owatonna’s Baseball Centennial. Bell gave up only five hits but they were enough for Owatonna when combined with the three Waseca errors. Chuck Gray scored Waseca’s lone tally on a solo shot in the fifth inning. Owatonna’s final run scored without a hit on two errors by Gray and an infield ground ball.[11]

New Richland visited the Waseca fairgrounds on the Fourth of July for what may have been the last game played at the fairgrounds. This time Waseca benefited from the other team’s errors. Waseca scored three runs in the sixth on two walks and three errors to break open the game. Bell was again on the mound giving up ten hits but only two runs.[12] Unfortunately for Waseca’s place in the standings this appears to have been an exhibition game.

The Waseca Journal announced a shift in the location of the upcoming Mankato-Waseca ball game on July 5. The game was being moved from the fairgrounds to the athletic field diamond as “Completion of the new semi-circular grant stand is almost finished, and the diamond has been smoothed down into acceptable shape.”[13]

The Waseca men opened the new Athletic Field diamond in fine fashion pounding the Blue Sox in to submission. Groebner, hitting lead off, scored three runs without a hit. Twelve Waseca batters faced Mankato’s Smith in the first inning with seven of them scoring in the inning. Adding insult to injury, Happy Lowe blasted a pitch over the fence plating Groebner and Connelley. Waseca used fifteen men in the field but Bell went the distance giving up only one run in the ninth while striking out fifteen.[14]

Perhaps Bell could have used some rest as Waseca next traveled to Albert Lea. Waseca scored first when Munson singled, advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on a double by Bell. Waseca pushed across four runs in the fifth and two more in the sixth to lead 7 to 0 in the middle of the sixth. Bell limited Albert Lea to four hits to that point but the game soon turned in to a track meet with runners everywhere. Dolan opened the bottom of the inning and scored on a single by Hill and Schmidthuber followed him to the plate. The score stood at 7-2.[15]

Waseca scored four runs on five hits in the top of the next inning in what turned out to be insurance runs. Albert Lea scored two in the bottom of the inning off of four hits. McDermott scored for Waseca in the eighth on Bell’s second double of the game. Albert Lea plated two more in the bottom of the inning to bring the score to 12 to 6 in favor of Waseca.[16]

Groebner started the ninth with his fourth hit but was tagged out at second. Johnson and Gray still scored as Waseca pushed out to an eight run lead. Shanty Dolan drew a walk and scored on Hill’s home run in the bottom of the inning for Albert Lea. Hougard, Dammen and Anderson hit successive singles to plate one more run but Albert Lea simply ran out of outs. Bell went the distance giving up 19 hits but hitting four of his own.[17]

As the first place team, Waseca faced a dream team made of the star players selected from the rest of the League. The game was played at Owatonna as Owatonna won the championship the previous year. Al Bell faced off with the best of the rest of the league and gave up only four hits in pitching a shutout. The All-Stars used Ludke, Light and Gollberg with most of Waseca’s damage accruing against Light.[18]

Waseca got another crack at Golberg in Austin. This one was truly a pitcher’s duel with both Bell and Golberg pitching a shutout through regulation. A wild pitch with the bases loaded brought in one run in the tenth and Ike Sponberg tripled to left to clear the bases. Sponberg later scored as well to give Waseca a 4 to 0 win over Austin. Bell allowed only three hits and struck out seven.[19]

Waseca maintained its first place position despite committing five errors by collecting 14 hits against Light and Aase. Waseca beat Faribault 9 to 5 with Bell giving up only seven hits. Battery mates Bell and Bauman shared hitting honors with three hits a piece.[20]

Waseca again travelled to Mankato’s Tanley Field for another match up with the Bill Tanley’s Key City Beverages team. 1,250 fans attended the game and were treated to a back and forth battle between Lefty Nowacki and Bell. Nowacki struck out 15 while Bell got eight. Key City won over Waseca for the second time when Henry Micklasson cleared the right field fence leading off the eighth inning.[21]

With the season nearing its conclusion, the Waseca Journal announced that the Waseca teams would be barnstorming. The regular league team was scheduled to play at New Ulm while the “Scheid Plumbers,” a team supposedly composed of employees of Scheid Plumbing and Heating, would play at Austin. Al Bell, Jack Connelly and Lefty Schmidthuber were listed as possible pitchers for the Plumbers.[22]

Waseca traveled to New Ulm for a Thursday night game with some reinforcements. Bell opened on the mound with Bauman as his catcher. Bell held New Ulm scoreless for two innings but gave up four hits in the third that scored two runs. Waseca took the lead in the top of the third and that lead lasted until the fifth when Kusske drove out a two-run home run scoring Gallivan. Spellbrink hit a second home for New Ulm to bring the score to 5-3. Lowe scored in the seventh to get Waseca within one but two walks and a single by Kusske resulted in the final score of 6 to 4 in favor of New Ulm. Interestingly, this is one of the few games in the season in which anyone not named Al Bell shared in mound duties as Schmidthuber appears in the box score as a pitcher.[23]

Bell and Schmidthuber were back in their usual adversarial positions that weekend as Waseca faced New Richland to open the fair. Bell allowed only three hits but four errors kept New Richland in the game. Standinger of New Richland doubled to start the sixth inning. Munson then reached on an error advancing Standinger. Seacrist hit into a fielder’s choice and Chick Gray relayed to Bauman to cut Standinger down at the plate. Russ Schmidthuber doubled to plate two. Bob Gray homered for Waseca in the seventh to win the game.[24]

An interesting feature of the game was an intentional walk of Bell in the sixth inning. There were two out and Sponberg was perched on second base. Bell was not only leading the league in wins but also hitting over .400 at the time.[25]

Scheid’s Plumbers traveled to Austin facing most of Austin’s regular league team. Bell started for the Scheidmen giving up seven hits in five innings. Schmidthuber gave up only one hit over the final four innings. Three of those hits came in the second inning when Austin scored its lone run. Unfortunately for the Scheid men Austin’s Phil Golberg was hitting the corners and walked none as only three Scheid batters reached first base.[26]

The Scheid lineup from the boxscore:

Davison, lf

Gleason, ss

Foster, 2b

Carter, cf

Gray, rf, 3b

Munson, 3b

Connolley, 1b

Scheid

Bell, p

Schmidthuber, p

McDermott, c[27]

Community Field was the scene of Waseca’s regular season pennant clinching game against Albert Lea. Fittingly, Al Bell was on the mound and threw a three hitter and faced only 30 batters in the game. Mills of Albert Lea was also relatively sharp allowing only six hits and facing only 33 batters. McDermott was back behind the plate for Waseca and started the third inning with a single to center and reached second on an error by Kasper. Bell was intentionally walked again. Sponberg followed with a single that scored McDermott and advanced Bell to third. Bob Gray bunted to the pitcher but the relay to home was missed by the Albert Lea catcher allowing Bell to score the only run he would need. Waseca finished the season off with a 2 to 0 win, eliminated Albert Lea from the playoffs and finished the season in first place with a 12 and 2 record.[28]

The first game of the playoffs was postponed due to bad weather.[29] Some of the Waseca team did get in some game time practice by facing the Key City Beverages. Bell started as usual throwing six shut-out innings before being lifted after being hit in the pitching hand by a line drive off the bat of John Menke. Menke tied the score at 1 all in the eighth on a long triple and that score lasted in to the tenth when Heldor Munson bobbled Menke’s grounder and threw wildly to first allowing Bruhn to score from first.[30]

Bell was apparently fine and struck out eleven while allowing only two hits to New Richland. Unfortunately for Waseca it is difficult to beat any team four times in a row. Crain led off the eighth with a grounder to Bell and Sponberg dropped the throw to first. Bert Munson got New Richland’s second hit of the game with two strikes to put runners at first and second. C. Munson sacrificed to advance the runners. Bell induced the ground ball but W. Gray started to relay home and then decided to throw to first while in the air. The throw was wild plating another run. A ball also went through Bob Gray’s legs at second as four Waseca errors allowed three New Richland runs.[31]

Despite a dominant game from Bell and quite frankly a dominant season, Waseca was eliminated from the playoffs by having one bad game. Not surprisingly, the Southern Minny would move to best two out of three in the opening round of the playoffs following the 1940 season.

Not ready to end the season, Waseca faced off with Owatonna for two games. Bell faced the minimum numbers of batters in seven of the nine innings as Krahulec reached first base on an error in the sixth and Fichten reached first on an error in the eighth. No one reached based by any other means as Bell tossed a no hitter walking none.[32]

Bell was maybe not quite so sharp but Happy Lowe’s home run in the first inning was enough for Bell as he tossed his second consecutive shutout of Owatonna. Bell did allow six hits but walked none and struck out eleven.[33]

Waseca finally broke the jinx against Key City in the final game of the season. The match up featured former mound mates Al Bell and Squire Riddles. Bell allowed only six hits and McDermott’s home run in the sixth plated three to break the tie and set the winning margin at 4 to 1. The Key City team featured both Walt Menke and John Menke in its lineup. Both would feature in later Southern Minny teams.

Significantly, Al Bell demonstrated that he was an ace among Southern Minny pitchers. He led Mankato Key City and Waseca to back to back regular season titles winning at least ten games in each season. His 1939 season with Waseca may have been even better, however, posting a 12 and 2 regular season record while also featuring in many of Waseca’s exhibition games and still leading the league in strikeouts.

---

[1] “Waseca Loses First League Game,” Waseca Journal, May 17, 1939, 4.

[2] Ibid.

[3] “Waseca Rally Late in Game Beats Le Roy,” Waseca Journal, May 24, 1939, 4.

[4] “Waseca Wins Memorial Day Game at ‘Kato,” Waseca Journal, May 31, 1939, 2.

[5] Ibid.

[6] “Lowe’s Home Run Ends 11 Inning Game,” Waseca Journal, June 7, 1939, 4.

[7] “Waseca Trips Fairies in Errorless Game,” Waseca Journal, June 14, 1939, 4.

[8] “Mankato Wins in 9^th on 2 Hits, Stolen Base,” Waseca Journal, June 14, 1939, 4.

[9] “Owatonna Drops Lead As Waseca Triumphs,” Waseca Journal, June 21, 1939, 1.

[10] “Waseca Hangs Tough in First Place Position,” Waseca Journal, June 28, 1939, 4.

[11] “’Tonna Outhit; Drubs Waseca to Take Lead,” Waseca Journal, July 5, 1939, 4.

[12] “New Richland Boots Game to Waseca on 4^th,” Waseca Journal, July 5, 1939, 4.

[13] “Play Sunday on Athletic Field,” Waseca Journal, July 5, 1939, 1.

[14] “Waseca Climbs into 1^st Place as Tonna Loses,” July 12, 1939, 2.

[15] “Teams Collect 39 Safe Hits as Waseca Wins,” July 19, 1939, 4.

[16] Ibid.

[17] Ibid.

[18] “Waseca Takes Dream Team In All Star Game,” Waseca Journal, July 19, 1939, 4.

[19] “Sponberg Triples in 10^th to Nose Out Austin,” Waseca Journal, July 26, 1939. 6.

[20] “Waseca Commits Five Errors as They Hold League Lead,” Waseca Journal, August 2, 1939, 6.

[21] “Circuit Clout in Last of Eighth Gives Mankato 2^nd 1 Point Win Over Waseca,” August 2, 1939. 6.

[22] “Waseca Teams Barnstorming,” Waseca Journal, August 2, 1939, 6.

[23] “Waseca Loses Night Game to New Ulm Club,” Waseca Journal, August 9, 1939, 7.

[24] “Bob Gray’s Homer Wins Sunday’s Game,” Waseca Journal, August 9, 1939, 7.

[25] Ibid.

[26] “Plumbers Lose Close Game to Austin 1 to 0,” Waseca Journal, August 9, 1939, 7.

[27] Ibid.

[28] “Waseca Kills Tiger Chance for Playoff,” Waseca Journal, August 16, 1939, 6.

[29] “Heavy Rains Halt Picnic and Ballgame,” Waseca Journal, August 23, 1939, 1.

[30] “Plumbers Lose Encounter to Key City Club,” Waseca Journal, August 23, 1939, 6.

[31] “New Richland Blasts Waseca Title Chances,” Waseca Journal, August 30, 1939, 1.

[32] “Bell Enters Hall of Fame Sunday,” Waseca Journal, August 30, 1939, 7.

[33] “Give Owatonna Hits But Clamp Down on Scores,” Waseca Journal, September 12, 1939, 4.

Mankato’s Key City Beverages Team Made a Big Splash in the Southern Minny in 1938

Bill Tanley, a bottler for Key City Beverages, came up with the idea of building a baseball field at the corner of Monroe Avenue and Center Street in North Mankato. The field was originally called “Key City Park” but was renamed Tanley Field in 1937. Improvements were made to Tanley Field in a relatively short period of time and the Field was considered one of the ballpark gems at the time.

(Reprinted with Permission from City of North Mankato)

The Austin Daily Herald reported that “Tanley Field is the finest baseball plant in southern Minnesota. … Ample grandstand space, bleacher room and a press box are part of the features. … A nine-foot wall surrounds the entire park, which is equipped with lights for night baseball. … A loud speaker system informs fans of batters and players”.[1]

Tanley also developed a baseball team appropriately called the “Key City Beverages” team. The Key City team joined the Southern Minny League in 1938. The biggest splash made by the Key City team may, however, have been the signing of Al Bell away from the Waseca team.  Bell was dominant for the Owatonna Aces during the 1936 season and in state tournament. Bell and his 1937 Waseca teammates finished the League season with a 9 wins against 4 losses and made it to the League Championship Game before yielding to Phil Golberg and the Austin Packers.

First a little background on the Southern Minny in 1938. There was a fair amount of transition within the League during the 1930s. Lakeville, St. Peter and West Concord had teams in the League in 1937 but none of them would return in 1938. Le Roy, Northfield and the Key City nine were added as replacement teams but Northfield dropped from the League the week before the season began leaving the seven teams in the League.[2] With an uneven number of teams, teams were given an open date on their schedule whenever they would have played Northfield.

Key City visited Waseca for the opening game of the season. Bell, opening day pitcher for Key City, gave up 15 hits. Fortunately for Bell the Key City offense was better was far better pounding out 21 hits to win 20-11.[3] It wasn’t pretty but it was a win.

The second scheduled game of the season was washed away bringing Al Bell and the Key City Nine to Austin’s (old) Marcusen park. The Key City Batsmen were rampant pounding out three home runs among their thirteen hits. Bell gave up only two hits – a home run to Streak McKay in the third inning and a double to Ray Gohde in the ninth. Key City won 13-1.[4]

Key City came away with Mankato bragging rights in their next League game as the Key City nine pushed a run across in the bottom of the ninth to beat the Mankato Blue Sox 2-1. Bell scattered eight hits well in every inning other than in the third.[5]

Following an open date, Key City hosted Faribault at Tanley Field. Bell secured his fourth straight league win allowing only five hits. His mates meanwhile drove Faribault’s starting pitcher Reint from the game in the early innings with five runs in the second frame alone. Key City won 7 to 1.[6]

Key City next travelled to Le Roy. Even though undefeated, League pundits expected a good game as Le Roy had started to show some promise as a developing team.[7] The pundits were correct as Bell and Weber locked up in an old fashioned pitcher’s duel with the only score of the game coming in the tenth inning. Weber gave up only four hits while Bell was one better giving up only three. Fortunately for Bell his team scored the only run in the extra frame to give him his fifth win on the season.[8]

It didn’t get any easier for Bell and Key City as Fred Ludke and the Owatonna Aces came to Tanley Field. Ludke was the MVP of the state baseball tournament in 1936. Mankato scored first in the fourth inning and held that lead until the seventh when Owatonna pushed across a run. Mankato scored the final run of the game in the bottom of that inning as the starting pitchers didn’t disappoint. Bell scattered five hits while Ludke gave up only seven. The defenses likely made the game far more interesting committing eight errors behind the two star pitchers.[9] Even so, Bell now stood at six wins giving up more than one run only once.

The win streak stretched to seven games even though Bell gave up more than one run for the first time in a League game in nearly two months. Key City was leading 2-1 when Waseca knotted the score in the bottom of the ninth. Bell was still the pitcher of record in the tenth when Anton’s grounder scored Hamilton from second base for Key City.[10]

The streak reached eight when Key City scored two runs in the eighth to break a 1-1 tie in a rematch with Owatonna.[11] The streak ended when the Austin Packers visited Tanley Field. Home runs were a feature of the game with Austin’s being of the two run variety. Streak McKay put Austin out front with his home run in the first inning scoring Kulawik. Key City tied the game in the sixth on a home run by Hamilton and run scoring single by John Menke. The big damage was done by Ray Gohde in the eighth when he hit is two run shot to put the game just out of reach despite a furious rally by Key City in the ninth that drew Phil Golberg in the from the Packer bullpen to put out the fire.[12]

Bell and the Key City Nine returned to winning ways with a 7 to 1 defeat of the cross town Blue Sox to reach nine wins on the season.[13] Key City then received a bye week where Northfield would have been on the schedule. Following the break, Key City traveled to last place Faribault with a new pitcher in hand in the form of Squire Riddle. It was almost unfair as Faribault managed no hits or runs against Riddle as he pitched the second no-hitter of the Southern Minny season.[14] Fred Ludke had thrown the first no-hitter in the League earlier that season.

Bell was back on the mound for the League finale against Le Roy. Normally a work horse, perhaps there was a bit of rust as Le Roy scored four runs and Riddle relieved late in the game. Even so, the Mankato Key City team was triumphant capping an amazing regular season that saw them lose only one game while winning the regular season pennant by three games in a twelve game season.[15]

Waseca won the replay of the 14 inning tie to set the final playoff brackets and standings as follows:

Mankato Key City            11           1              .917

Owatonna                           8             4              .667

Austin                                 8             4              .667

Waseca                                5             7              .417

Mankato Blue Sox            4             8              .333

Le Roy                                 4             8              .333

Faribault                            2             10           .167

Momentum is a big part of sports and momentum seems to have played a large role in determining the playoff champion in the Southern Minny over the decades. Waseca played what amounted to a tie breaker for the fourth and final playoff spot was in better form for the single game elimination match than the Key City nine who had to wait for the fourth place finisher to be determined.

Things started well for Key City when they scored three runs in the second and one more in the fifth. Waseca scored one in the fourth, four in the seventh and one in the ninth to eliminate Key City from the playoffs despite a great regular season. Al Bell went the distance for Mankato.[16]

Not surprisingly, the Southern Minny would replace the one and done single game format for the opening round playoffs with a best two out of three series in the very near future. Even so, the Key City Beverage team was truly dominant in what turned out to be their only season in the Southern Minny as

Tanley would move his team to an independent schedule in 1939 and eventually join the Western Minny League.

The Key City Beverages played a number of games with Southern Minny teams in 1939 winning two games from Al Bell and the Waseca nine by one run reach time. A number of the Key City players would later migrate to Southern Minny teams including 1938 battery mates Bell and John Menke with Menke being named the MVP of the state tournament in 1940 while catching in Albert Lea.

The greatest legacy of Bill Tanley and the Key City Beverage team, however, may actually be Tanley Field in North Mankato. Tanley Field pre-dated most of the ballparks in the Southern Minny including Waseca’s Community Field that opened in 1939 and was dedicated in 1940 with many more parks added or upgraded after that. Tanley Field would also host Southern Minny League games for many years as the host field for various Mankato entries including the Mankato Merchants into the 1950s.

Tanley Field was torn down in 1958. Sadly few pictures of the park exist with the most common one to be found being the Field underwater from a flood in 1951. Monroe Elementary School sits on the site of Tanley Field today.

---

[1] “Rubbin’ Elbows with the Rube,” Austin Daily Herald, July 11, 1938, 6.

[2][2] “Key City, Mankato and Loop Champion Austin Team Wins,” Austin Daily Herald, May 2, 1938, 8.

[3] Ibid.

[4] “Key City Batsmen Pound Out 13-1 Decision Over Hapless Packers,” Austin Daily Herald, May 16, 1938, 6.

[5] “Key City, Waseca, Owatonna Take S-M League Contests,” Austin Daily Herald, May 23, 1938, 12.

[6] “Waseca, Owatonna Nines Play 4-4 Tie in 14 Innings,” Austin Daily Herald, June 6, 1938.

[7] “Key City Team Leads S-M Loop Pennant Scrap,” Austin Daily Herald, June 7, 1938.

[8] “Key City Holds League Lead With 1-0 Win Over LeRoy,” Austin Daily Herald, June 13, 1938, 6.

[9] “Key City Defeats Owatonna and LeRoy Beats Blue Sox,” Austin Daily Herald, June 20, 1938.

[10] “Key City Boosts Win String in 3-2 Decision Over Waseca,” Austin Daily Herald, June 20, 1938.

[11] “Key City Team Takes 3-1 Test from Owatonna,” Austin Daily Herald, July 5, 1938.

[12] “Home Runs Give Locals One-Run Edge in Contest,” Austin Daily Herald, July 11, 1938, 6.

[13] “Owatonna Club Takes 5-4 Win Against Le Roy,” Austin Daily Herald, July 18, 1938, 6.

[14] “No-Hit, No-Run Performance Turned in by Key City Star,” Austin Daily Herald, August 1, 1938, 6.

[15] “Owatonna Faces Waseca in Test for No. 4 Berth,” Austin Daily Herald, August 9, 1938, 8.

[16] “Waseca Blasts Key City Hopes in Playoff Test, “Austin Daily Herald, August 22, 1938, 6.

Marcusen Memorial Park – “The House that Scheid Built”

Austin’s town ball teams have at times been truly dominant. The 1912 edition that featured future Hall of Famer Burleigh Grimes claimed a state championship prior to the state tournament even being created. When Burleigh returned to Austin with his Brooklyn teammates in 1921 the Austin team was playing at what was called the Hormel Ball Park near what later became the Terp Ballroom.

Austin featured a Southern Minny League team and a “Hormel Good Foods” team playing an independent schedule during the 1930’s. Those games were generally played at what is referred to as the “Marcusen lot.” When the Austin Baseball Association made the commitment to field one primary team in the Southern Minny, the team responded by winning the State Class A Championship behind the stellar pitching of Phil Golberg and hitting and fielding of tournament MVP Johnny Hulet.

Austin won the Southern Minny playoffs in 1939 playing its last games at the “Marcusen lot.” Despite the general airing of grievances about the conditions at the Marcusen lot, the next available option and the option used until Marcusen Memorial Field was built was the use of the Mower County fairgrounds. At least one drawing shows the baseball diamond in the infield area of the old track. The use of the fairgrounds effectively made the teams homeless as they physically could not play during the fair and usually didn’t play at home after the fair as the “field” was trampled and rutted.

Austin claimed an additional state championship in 1942 when Phil Golberg returned from playing in New Richland and shared pitching duties with Fred Ludke. Even though games continued to be played in the Southern Minny during the war, those games were played under travel restrictions with far fewer players let alone the best players available to play the games as many stars of the League entered military service. Austin’s baseball teams still lacked a permanent home.

With the end of the war, thoughts turned to recreational opportunities for the returning soldiers. With more players available, the Austin Baseball Association decided to field a team in the Southern Minny League and a team in the Cedar Valley League in 1946. Emil Scheid was given charge of the newly (re) formed Austin Merchants in the Cedar Valley League.

Emil had been involved in town ball in Waseca prior to moving to Austin. He knew how to build a team and his Austin Merchants were dominant in 1946. They won the Cedar Valley League and advanced to the Class A state tournament. But for an ankle injury to Bud Stanek, they might have claimed the championship before settling for runners-up status.

Emil was given charge of the Southern Minny entry in 1947 and set the stage for his later teams bringing in Earl Mosser and Ray Riley from out of town replacing Austin hometown players in the process. The transition to out of town players didn’t always sit well with the locals especially when Ray Riley replaced Bernard Stanek in center field. Even though Emil’s Packers didn’t always hit to the standards expected by the Austin fans the team record improved from a 6 and 8 in 1946 to 9 and 5 in 1947.

The problem was that the Austin teams were still largely homeless and it took revenue to pay top talent to play baseball. When paying players to play, it also made sense to play more games than just on Sunday. The problem being that of all of the teams in the league, Austin was the town without a ballpark and with no ballpark there were no lights. With no lights, there was no night baseball and with no night baseball. With no night baseball, playing opportunities on weekdays were also limited.

That stadium situation was finally rectified on June 8^, 1948 when Scheid’s Austin Packers welcomed Sam House’s Spencer (IA) Cardinals to Marcusen Memorial Park. Lights were installed and tested on June 7^th. With no time to build stands, bleacher seats accommodating up to 1,000 fans were installed.[1] 1,084 fans attended the game and hopefully were on hand to see Red Lindgren hit the first home run in the new park in the eighth inning.[2]

Even though the park was open for business, there was the matter of a formal dedication. The Local 9-CIO sponsored the ticket sales for the dedication game with the proceeds to be given to the city to help pay for the lighting system.[3] The game was initially scheduled as an exhibition game against Faribault to be held during the evening of June 27^th.[4] The game was washed away by the weatherman.

The dedication was finally rescheduled to July 25^th after another attempt was washed away. The event featured the municipal band and remarks by Mayor Merril Rolfson and Frank Schultz as union chief. The dedication included not only the field but the scoreboard and flag. The flag was donated by the American Legion and the scoreboard was provided by funds from the Earl Peterson estate.[5]  Red Lindgren homered twice and Dick Seltz held Faribault in check as the Packers beat Faribault 9-3.[6]

Even though the park was open for business, the matter of fan accommodations remained an issue. This photo from the Mower County Historical Society files shows the park as built but without the grandstand or, quite frankly, much in the way of fan seating:

Marcusen Park under Construction (Courtesy Mower County Historical Society)

The lack of fan accommodations had no impact on on- the-field performance. Scheid’s Austin Packers fell one out short of claiming the Southern Minny postseason title in 1948. His 1949 Packers utterly destroyed the Southern Minny losing only 7 of 35 games played and swept through the rest of the field at the state tournament to claim the state class AA championship.

Marcusen Memoral Park would finally have a grandstand during the 1950 season. Construction of the grandstand was scheduled to be completed in time for the season opener but as with many things baseball related, the weatherman intervened.[7] The season opened on May 21^st without the grandstand being available even though its construction greatly impacted parking. The Packers won 4-3 in extra innings with 1,505 fans in attendance.[8]

The Packers then went on the road for an extended period of time. By the time the Packers returned home to face Faribault, sections A,B and C and part of section D were available to the public.[9] Extra seating was needed because the Austin Queens team hired Negro League great and former Cleveland Indian Satchel Paige to pitch an exhibition game for them against Scheid’s Austin Packers on June 7^th.[10]

Work continued on the grandstand and all seats became available to the public for the Packers June 25^th game against Owatonna.[11] With the grandstand finished, the matter of dedicating it was scheduled for August 1^st[12] along with an announcement that an additional 1000 bleacher seats were being added down the first and third base lines to raise the Park’s capacity to 5,000. A previous crowd of 4,423 greatly exceeded the capacity of the new grandstand.[13]

The full page advertisement in the Austin Daily Herald announced the dedication of Marcusen Memorial Field.

Part of the dedication advertisement read:

Filling a long felt need Marcusen Memoral Field brings to Austin and Southern Minnesota a baseball field unsurpassed by any of its contemporaries. Seating capacity exceeds 4700. Accommodations for home and visiting teams. Concession stand and rest rooms for the public provide for every need.[14]

The one thing needed was a roof over the field as rain delayed the dedication until August 3^rd. Claude Moore, chairman of the park and recreation board served as master of ceremonies and introduced the speakers that included M.G. Rolfson, mayor, Waldo Swanson, president of the Southern Minny, and John Mayer, president of the Austin Baseball association. 4,057 fans turned out to see the Packers do their part on the field by defeating Waseca 8-7 with some late hitting heroics by Harry Elliot.[15]

Scheid’s Packer teams continued to dominate the Southern Minny in 1950, 1951 and 1953 advancing to the state Class AA finals in each of those years. With that success came crowds to Marcusen Memorial Park as this photo from the archives of the Mower County Historical Society amply illustrates:

(Courtesy of Mower County Historical Society)

Somewhat ironically, between 1949 and 1953 the Austin Packers made the finals of the State Class AA tournament every year except one:  1952. That was the year that Austin and Marcusen Memorial Field actually hosted the state tournament. It was also the only year during that time frame that Scheid’s Packers failed to even reach the tournament.

The House that Scheid Built was the scene of countless battles in the Southern Minny until the League’s demise in the 1960’s. Marcusen Park was, however, much more than just the home of the Austin Packers. Marcusen Park was and is the hub of baseball in Austin hosting a countless number of high school, American Legion, VFW games since its construction and continues today thanks almost entirely to the volunteers of the Marcusen Park Baseball Association that maintain the Park.

Thanks to those volunteers, Marcusen Memorial Park remains as a monument to a time before baseball on television and the internet. Even now, Austin’s Greyhounds remain atop of the Twin Rivers Conference after a hard fought victory over the Waseca Braves reminiscent of games between the Austin Packers and Braves in the old Southern Minny.

Marcusen will host more baseball this season as the Greyhounds host the Dodge County Diamondjacks on July 24^th at 7:30. That final game of the Conference regular season may well be a battle for the top seed in the conference playoffs. Let’s hope Marcusen Park will be hosting playoff baseball once again.

---

[1] “Packers Open New Ball Park Against Spencer,” Austin (MN) Daily Herald, June 8, 1948.

[2] “Packers Gain 9-5 Decision Over Spencer,” Austin (MN) Daily Herald, June 9, 1948.

[3] Tom Koeck, “Success of Baseball Park Dedication Must be Credited to Local 9-CIO,” Austin (MN) Daily Herald, June 16, 1948.

[4] “Marcusen Park Dedication Sunday,” Austin (MN) Daily Herald, June 26, 1950.

[5] “Dedicate Diamond Sunday,” Austin (MN) Daily Herald, July 24, 1950.

[6] “Packers Win and Lose as They Roll Up Hits and Runs,” Austin (MN) Daily Herald, July 26, 1950.

[7] “Attendance Trophy Hopes at Marcusen Given Spur,” Austin (MN) Daily Herald, May 18, 1950.

[8] “Packers Win 4-3 in Extra Innings,” Austin (MN) Daily Herald, May 22, 1950, 8.

[9] “Faribault Lakers Play Here Sunday,” Austin (MN) Daily Herald, June 3, 1950, 5.

[10] “Austin Raps Paige for 3 Hits, 2 Runs,” Austin (MN) Daily Herald, June 8, 1950.

[11] “All Seats Available in New Grandstand,” Austin (MN) Daily Herald, June 24, 1950.

[12] “Dedication Scheduled at Marcusen Park,” Austin (MN) Daily Herald, August 1, 1950.

[13] “Additional 1000 Bleacher Seats Available Tonight,” Austin (MN) Daily Herald, August 1, 1950.

[14] Austin (MN) Daily Herald, August 1, 1950.

[15] “Elks Reward Scheid With Watch, Plaque,” Austin (MN) Daily Herald, August 4, 1950.

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.

---

[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.

Jack Shepard’s Many Paths Included One Summer in Austin

• 

  Jack Shepard with the Pittsburgh Pirates MLB Debut on June 19, 1953

When I present on baseball in Southern Minnesota, I am often asked about whom and how many made it to the big leagues. Jack Shepard came to the Southern Minny after Moose Skowron and actually made it to the major leagues before Moose.  With Jack’s unique speed and versatility, he may have been able to have a lengthy major league career himself. Instead, Jack decided to go in a different direction at age 25 after three major league seasons and being assured of the number one catching spot in the upcoming season for the Pirates.[1]

Jack’s collegiate varsity career got underway with a splash at Stanford in 1951. Jack hit .368 while playing in the outfield. He was named the team’s MVP during his sophomore season. He caught and played first base as a junior.[2] Between his junior and senior year, he would go in a different direction joining Emil Scheid’s Austin Packers in the Midwest.

The Austin Daily Herald announced on Jun 12 that a new outfielder would be here on Sunday. That outfielder was Jack Shepard of Stanford University. The Herald noted his versatility having played in the outfield and first base along with some catching. [3] The Packers were in unfamiliar territory at the time – fourth place in the Southern Minny.

Shepard made his Southern Minny debut against Winona on June 17. He was 1 for 4 at the plate and fielded two balls to the outfield.[4] He had his first multi-hit game against Waseca collecting two hits including a triple.[5] He scored the winning run the following night against the Rochester.[6]

Shepard demonstrated his base running skills against the Faribault Lakers. He singled in the seventh and stole second. He scored on Campeau’s single. Shepard had two hits on the night.[7] He hit his first home run against Albert Lea on June 29.[8] By July 1 his average stood at .407. He collected two hits against Winona including a stinging single against future major leaguer Paul Giel.[9]

He was playing and hitting well enough to keep Mel Harpuder in a utility role. His speed on the base paths likely also contributed to Scheid’s decision to keep him in the starting lineup. Jack had three stolen bases against the Royals while Harpuder drew the bulk of the newsprint for his home run off the bench.[10]

His base running savvy was again on display against Albert Lea. He reached on a fielder’s choice and advanced on a ground out. He stole third base and came home on an errant throw trying to catch him at third.[11]

With Bill Campeau ailing, Jack went behind the plate for the Packers. The Packers won 6-3 with Jack being charged with only one error after spending the summer in the outfield.[12] Even as his batting average levelled off, he continued to help the team filling in for Red Lindgren at first base.

In the thick of a playoff race, the Packers pounded the Royals into submission to end the month of July. Shepard was part of the onslaught hitting his second home run of the Southern Minny season – a two run shot in the third.[13]

Winona’s Dick Hoeksema had the Packers under control until the eighth. Joe Raso reached on an error. Shepard followed with a single advancing Raso. Raso scored on Red Lindgren’s ground ball to break the ice after being moved into scoring position by Shepard. The wheels came off for Winona in the ninth as the Packers rallied to retain second place.[14]

The Packers would fall to Waseca 5-2. Shepard, however, was 2 for 4 at the plate. Shepard got the Packers’ first hit of the game – a single in the fourth inning. Shepard advanced to third on Roy Gilmore’s infield hit and scored on Olin Martin’s hit into centerfield. His double in the ninth plated Joe Raso.[15]

He continued his hot hitting leading the Packers hitting attack against the Faribault Lakers with a two run home run.[16]  The hits kept coming with three more against the Mankato Merchants[17] and a home run against Rochester in the eighth inning.[18] He contributed a double to a seventeen hit attack against Winona as the season wound down.[19]

He fattened up his batting average against the Owatonna Aces going 3 for 4 in the second to last game of the season.[20] With the rest of the offense failing to produce, the Packers dropped their final game to Mankato dropping them to two games back of first place and into the fourth seed in the playoffs.

Scheid’s Packers drew Albert Lea in the first round and the Albert Lea Packers demonstrated why they took first place shutting down Austin 6-1 and 6-0. Shepard had two hits in the second game.[21] He was on the basepaths in the eighth in the third game when Big Bill Campeau homered off former Austin Packer Sam House as the Austin Packers beat the Albert Lea Packers.[22]

Unfortunately for the Scheid men, Albert Lea was able to call upon Carl Ferullo, the League’s best pitcher for game four. Austin countered with Ray Rosenbaum and Ray did not disappoint. The score was knotted at zeroes in the ninth when Shepard led off the ninth with a single. Red Lindgren and Gilmore struck out and Ferullo induced a long fly ball out to end the threat.[23]

Rosenbaum was almost the better pitcher throwing a no-hitter through six innings. He struck out Billy Sundblad with the bases loaded in the seventh and left a runner stranded in the tenth. Rosenbaum walked Ferullo to start the fateful eleventh and Ferullo advanced on a ground out to third. He scampered home on a shot to the right of first base that Red Lindgren knocked down but Ferullo scampered home before Raso could retrieve the ball and relay home. Rosenbaum was touched for only four singles in eleven innings with two of the singles coming in the fateful eleventh.[24]

Shepard finished the season with a .302 average with five home runs and seven stolen bases in 28 games. He was third on the team in batting in the playoffs.

He returned to Stanford for his senior year primarily playing catcher. He led his Stanford team to its first College World Baseball Series Appearance.

He signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates on June 16, 1953 and made his major league debut three days later taking over behind the plate in the fifth against St. Louis. Shepard finished the 1953 season with Denver in the Class A Western League catching 82 games in succession including 12 doubleheaders. He finished the season with a .324 batting average and just as importantly for the critical catching position he held a .986 fielding rate.

Showing he was on a different path than most major leaguers, Shepard returned to Stanford in the off-season for graduate school. He returned to the major leagues in 1954 and was named the all-star catcher on an all-rookie team that included Hank Aaron and Ernie Banks. Things looked bright for Shepard and the Pirates as he rebounded from injury and he appeared ready to assume the mantle of the team’s number one catcher.

That is, until Shepard abruptly changed direction and retired from baseball on the eve of spring training in 1957. He had the opportunity to stay nearer to family by working in the development department at Stanford. He became its director in 1957 after leaving baseball.

In thinking about Shepard’s change in direction, one needs to remember that the National League in 1957 was entirely an east half of the United States proposition. The Boston Braves moved west to Milwaukee in 1953. The Dodgers and Giants would not move west to California until 1958. Once the season started the closest the Pirates would play to his home in California would be St. Louis.

In 1967, he left Stanford to become the CEO and GM of a telecommunications firm. After thirteen years, he returned to his baseball roots as chairman of the Athletic Training & Equipment Co. in Nevada.

---

[1] Jack Zerby, Jack Shepard biography, https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/bbffffed (assessed April 12, 2020).

[2] Ibid.

[3] “New Outfielder Here Sunday,” Austin Daily Herald, June 12, 1952.

[4] “Campeau Cracks Homer to Hand Austin 5-4 Win,” Austin Daily Herald, June 18, 1952.

[5] “9 Hits and 4 Austin Errors Aid Waseca,” Austin Daily Herald, June 23, 1952.

[6] “Down Rochester, 3-1 as DeRose, Sack Star,” Austin Daily Herald, June 23, 1952.

[7] “Packers Defeath Lakers 4-2 and Gain on Leaders,” Austin Daily Herald, June 27, 1952.

[8] “Homers by Harpuder, Shepard Fail to Help,” Austin Daily Herald, June 30, 1952.

[9] “Giel’s Relief Pitching Slams Door; Fans 14,” Austin Daily Herald, July 2, 1952.

[10] “3-Run Homer by Harpuder Turns Back Rochester, 6-4,” Austin Daily Herald, July 5, 1952.

[11] “Kuhlman Tips Albert Lea on 3 Hits,” Austin Daily Herald, July 9, 1952.

[12] “Austin Turns Back Owatonna, 6-3,” Austin Daily Herald, July 21, 1952.

[13] “Packers Rap Hapless Royals, 13-1,” Austin Daily Herald, July 30, 1952.

[14] “Rally Gives Packers 3-2 Win Over Aces,” Austin Daily Herald, August 4, 1952.

[15] “Thomas and Kraupa Wreck Packers, 5-2,” Austin Daily Herald, August 5, 1952.

[16] “Austin Gains 5-3 Win Over Lakers,” Austin Daily Herald, August 6, 1952.

[17] “Packers Turn Back Mankato, 9-3,” Austin Daily Herald, August 8, 1952.

[18] “Rosenbaum Stops Rochester, 7-4,” Austin Daily Herald, August 12, 1952.

[19] “Austin Gains 17-9 Win Over Chiefs,” Austin Daily Herald, August 13, 1952.

[20] “Aces Wallop Austin, 26-0; Cinches Title for Albert Lea,” Austin Daily Herald, August 19, 1952.

[21] “No Hit, No Pitch, No Win … Packers,” Austin Daily Herald, August 25, 1952.

[22] “DeRose Tames Albert Lea, 3-0; Campau Homers,” Austin Daily Herald, August 27, 1952.

[23] “Albert Lea Eliminates Austin, 1-0,” Austin Daily Herald, August 29, 1952.

[24] Ibid.

Johnny Blanchard Was a Merchant Who Could Deliver

Moose Skowron may well have the most name recognition of any of the Southern Minny alumni.  Interestingly, Moose actually only played part of the 1950 season with the Austin Packers playing his first game for Emil Scheid in June and ultimately appearing in 23 (of 35) regular season games. Moose’s future Yankee’s teammate Johnny (Doc) Blanchard played in far fewer games for the Faribault Lakers in the Southern Minny in 1951 before signing with the Yankees.

New York Yankees 1961 Home Run Heroes: Roger Maris (61), Yogi Berra (21), Mickey Mantle (54), Elston Howard (21), Bill Skowron (28), Johnny Blanchard (21)

There are likely two reasons why Blanchard signed with the Faribault in 1951. The team was managed by Shanty Dolan and Blanchard shared the left side of the Carroll Merchants’ infield with Shanty’s son Bobby Dolan in the Iowa State League the previous summer. Second, Faribault was much closer to his home in Minneapolis than Carroll, Iowa.

Shanty was also likely looking for extra power in his Faribault lineup after outfielder John Ewaniak was hit by an errant fast ball from Austin’s Carl DeRose and lost for the season in the season’s first game. Interestingly, DeRose and Ewaniak also both played in the Iowa State League in 1950. Ewaniak was the leading batter in the Iowa State League in 1950 winning the ISL batting title with a lusty .413 average and tying for the League lead in home runs with 14. DeRose spent the summer with the Spencer Cardinals and won the final game of the championship series for Spencer after spending the early part of the season building up arm strength.

In actuality, Blanchard actually only played in a few games in the Southern Minny for the Lakers in 1951 hitting .333 in just 12 at bats with a single home run. The pro scouts were already on to him based on his performances for Minneapolis Central High School and with the Carroll Merchants in 1950. Ultimately the Yankees won him over.

 Blanchard made his debut for the Carroll Merchants on June 29, 1950. Joe McDermott, New York Yankees scout, was in attendance at the game.[1] Blanchard played third base and had one infield hit.[2] The 17 year old from Minneapolis Central High School was just warming up.

Blanchard was 2 for 4 with a triple against Audubon in the next game. “Doc” Blanchard was hitting eighth in the Merchants line up. Bobby Dolan was 2 for 5 while hitting third in the Merchants lineup.[3]

 Blanchard continued to move up the line-up card going 3 for 5 against Storm Lake with 2 runs batted in. Doc was now hitting seventh in the Merchants’ lineup.[4]

Blanchard had one of Carroll’s five total hits against former St. Louis professional Bob Eisiminger. He was four for six in an exhibition game against Coon Rapids.[5]

The Daily Times recognized his batting prowess on July 6 referring to him as the “Youthful John Blanchard, the Twin Cities third sacker with the dynamite in his bat.”[6] Blanchard, now hitting third, went two for four with four runs batted in on two home runs. [7]

 Facing Carl DeRose and the Spencer Cardinals, Blanchard batted in three runs. Blanchard was hitting .462 at the time.[8]  He followed up with a 3 for 5 night with two runs batted in against Bancroft.[9]

Of his start in the Iowa State League, the Carroll Daily Times noted on July 11 that “John Blanchard leads the Carroll batters, compiling a .444 average for eight contests … and that’s not bad for a 17-year old high school youth who will be a senior at Minneapolis Central high school next year.”[10] Even though the Merchants were in the midst of a losing streak, the Daily Times of July 13 noted Blanchard to be one of the bright spots as he had “not been checked in nine games for the Merchants.”[11]

Unfortunately the Daily Times article had the same effect as talking about a no-hitter as Blanchard had his first 0-fer that evening. He was robbed of a hit on a vicious drive to center and a hard hit ball to right tailed foul before he took first base on a walk.[12]  His batting average would continue to level off at .329 throughout the month of July. Even so, he would trail only player-manager Tom Sheehan for the team lead.[13]

 There were still bright spots with him going 3 for 5 against Schaller with a single, triple and a home run.[14] He collected four hits against Schaller with three of them being doubles. He also knocked in three of Carroll’s ten runs.[15]

 In August, he moved further down in the line-up to hit behind Sheehan and also out to left field on occasion. He responded well in his first game in left hitting a home run (his fourth) and a double.[16] Back at third base but still hitting behind Sheehan he blasted a three run homer to right-center and a double to single-handedly outscore the Lakes team.[17] He was four for five including two doubles against Estherville on August 14. He knocked in four of the Merchants runs.[18]

 He cleared the bases with a triple against Mason City and started a big inning against those Legionnaires with a double in the eighth.[19] He hit his sixth home run of the season against Storm Lake on August 23.[20] With the top spot in the League standings on the line, Blanchard “had a field night collecting four hits in four trips to the plate.”[21]

Winning the regular season title was certainly a team effort but the 17 year old Blanchard certainly had an impact. He hit .345 in 171 trips to the plate. His production included seven home runs and 46 runs batted in which tied him for second best on the team. He led the team in doubles with 14 and had more extra base hits than anyone else on the squad.[22]

The big three of Bill Evans, Dick Giedlin and Tom Sheehan were held in check in the first round of the League playoffs by Mason City. Blanchard, however, was one of Carroll’s top hitters in the series posting a .417 average on five hits in twelve trips.  The Merchants finished off the Legionnaires for the right to face the Spencer Cardinals in the finals.[23]

 Before even facing a pitch from the Cardinals, Lou Schweers was lost for playoffs after crushing two fingers on his pitching hand. The popular Dick Giedlin also left the team for a tryout with the Tigers before returning to Notre Dame for school. With all the changes to the roster, Blanchard was expected to play somewhere in the outfield.[24]

Spencer’s roster was also in triage mode with injuries to several key players. Spencer was fortified by Faribault’s Augie Schlaffer among others for the final month of the season and playoffs.

The walking wounded of Carroll did manage to take Game 4 of the series. Tom Sheehan sat out his second game of the series and shortstop Bobby Dolan left Game 2 in the fourth with a sore arm.[25] Spencer’s Carl DeRose finished off the depleted Carroll team with a 10-1 win with rumors of DeRose’s signing by Emil Scheid in full view in the Iowa newspapers.

 For his efforts throughout the 1950 ISL season the young Johnny Blanchard was named a second team all-star in the League by Jim VanHeel of Mason City.[26] His batting average was good enough for seventh in the League. He was also on the leader board for triples with four, runs (41) and runs batted in (46).  Given that level of success as a 17 year old, it is no wonder that he was pursued so heavily by major league scouts throughout his senior year at Minneapolis Central.

Even though Johnny (Doc) Blanchard ultimately left the Faribault Lakers after only 12 official at bats, he serves as a prime example of players spending a year or two in the Iowa State League and moving up to the Southern Minny.  Joining Bobby Dolan at Faribault would be Ewaniak and Audubon hurler Bob Eisiminger. Carl DeRose would have a season for the record books with Austin in 1951 but I’ll leave that story for another day.

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[1] Carroll (IA) Daily Times, June 30, 1950, 3.

[2] “Audubon Here Tonight as Rivalries Start to Materialize in Loop Play,” Carroll (IA) Daily Times, June 30, 1950, 3.

[3] “Carroll Host to Storm Lake in Crucial Contest Sunday,” Carroll (IA) Daily Times, July 1, 1950, 3.

[4] “Merchants Increase League Lead to Three Full Games,” Carroll (IA) Daily Times, July 3, 1950, 3.

[5] “Merchants Meet Lakes Here After 5 to 0 Loss at Audubon,” Carroll (IA) Daily Times, July 5, 1950, 3.

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

[7] Ibid.

[8] “Merchants Bang Spencer, 11 to 1, Leave on Trip,” Carroll (IA) Daily Times, July 7, 1950, 11.

[9] “Bancroft Comeback Sends Carroll to 9 to 8 Defeat,” Carroll (IA) Daily Times, July 8, 1950, 3.

[10] “The Leaders,” Carroll (IA) Daily Times, July 11, 1950, 3.

[11] “White Caps Hope to Snap Losing String Here Tonight,” Carroll (IA) Daily Times, July 13, 1950, 3.

[12] “Carroll Collapse Complete as Storm Lake Rolls, 15-4,” Carroll (IA) Daily Times, July 14, 1950, 3.

[13][13] Carroll (IA) Daily Times, August 1, 1950, 3.

[14] “Early-Inning Splurge Lets Carroll Whip Schaller, 10-5,” Carroll (IA) Daily Times, July 21, 1950, 3.

[15] “Carroll Beats Spencer Again, Meets Audubon Here Sunday,” Carroll (IA) Daily Times, July 22, 1950, 3.

[16] “Evans Has Big Night as Carroll Beats Fonda, 8 to 3,” Carroll (IA) Daily Times, August 3, 1950, 10.

[17] “Southpaw Has Given Only 11 Singles in Three Games,” Carroll (IA) Daily Times, August 9, 1950, 3.

[18] “Merchants in 9-1 Win; to Hit Road,” Carroll (IA) Daily Times, August 15, 1950, 3.

[19] “Carroll Trips Legionnaires,” Carroll (IA) Daily Times, August 23, 1950, 3.

[20] “Cardinals to Send Ace, Don Opperman, to Mound,” Carroll (IA) Daily Times, August 24, 1950, 3.

[21] “Carroll Meets Audubon Tonight; Needs Win,” Carroll (IA) Daily Times, August 28, 1950, 3.

[22] “Legionnaires Here Tonight in Playoff Series Opener,” Carroll (IA) Daily Times, August 30, 1950, 8; “Statistics,” Carroll (IA) Daily Times, August 30, 1950, 8.

[23] Howard Brantz, “A Sporting Glance,” Carroll (IA) Daily Times, September 2, 1950, 3.

[24] “Merchants Add Petrazelka, Dunagan to Baseball Roster,” Carroll (IA) Daily Times, September 6, 1950, 3.

[25] “Merchants Get Off Floor After Near Knockout, 4-3,” Carroll (IA) Daily Times, September 7, 1950, 6.

[26] Carroll (IA) Daily Times, September 12, 1950, 3.