ManDak League

1950 - 1957

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News Archives - January 2007 through June 2007

June 2007

Ismael Sanchez 1996 Minot Mallard

Ismael Sanchez, 1996 Prairie League Mallard outfielder, contacted me in May after discovering the Mallards website.  He batted .297 in 70 games for the Mallards in 1996. Included were 34 runs scored, 65 hits, 7 doubles, 2 triples, 6 home runs, 39 RBI's and a .429 slugging percentage. He also appeared in 3 post season games. Ismael's home town was listed at El Centro, California.

Bob Immediato

I discovered a former Minot Mallard right under my nose in Wilmington, Delaware. Bob Immediato played first base for the Mallards as a Cleveland Indians farm player in 1960 was inducted in the Delaware Sports Hall of Fame on May 15.

Bob played three seasons of minor league baseball for the Cleveland Indians including the 1960 season with the Minot Mallards. He did well and moved up a class each year before leaving the organization. Afterwards, he played in the Delaware Semi-Pro Baseball League for 34 years. He is the leagues all-time leader in hits (923), RBI's (551) and runs scored (515). In 1972, he was the league batting champion with a .450 average. He was a six-time league all-star and was inducted into the Delaware Baseball Hall of Fame in 1996. In 1990, he was saluted by Wilmington's City Council for a distinguished career.

The Boys Who Came to Play

Bob Huculak, who recently finished a documentary on the Negro League players that came to play baseball in Canada (ManDak League) in the 1950's sent these photos (see last month's News below for more details):

Click on any of the above photos to see full size

I asked Bob about the uniforms that he used for the Documentary and here is what he had to say about them:

"Having no budget I had no choice but to make the crest for the uniforms myself, I had never done anything like this before but I figured I had to make it work.

The documentary is scheduled for Sunday, June 3rd at 730pm EDT and Saturday, June 9th at 6pm EDT on Winnipeg  CTV.

Grandpa Mel

I received a nice note and "fuzzy memories" from Mel Reierson of Minot:

I found your Minot Mallards site this morning and what memories! I spent 40 or so seasons watching the teams from the first base bleachers starting in 1949 with the Merchants and teams in the Minot Amateur league. I especially remember the Bowman brothers. My father-in-law was a transplanted Arkansas native and had a bunch of coon hounds and the Bowman boys and he would spend many nights coon hunting along the Souris River. I remember one Sunday afternoon game against the Winnipeg Buffalos with the Buffaloes leading by a couple of runs late in the game and the Mallards with the bases loaded. A hard thunderstorm went through the park and the umpires were considering calling the game. Ed Albosta was hauling sand to fill around home plate and Willie Wells, the Buffalos manager, was down on his knees praying for rain. These guys were not only stellar baseball players but top showman and filled the stands night after night. Thank you for the memories.

 Chris Coste (read more about Chris Coste on the  November 2006 News Page)

On May 13 Chris Coste was called up to the Philadelphia Phillies from their AAA team in Ottawa. Coste's latest promotion, nearly a year from last season's  promotion, came when the Phillies placed National League MVP,  Ryan Howard, on the Disabled List. Chris pinch hit several times and played first base for a game and then was optioned to the Phillies AA team in Reading when Ryan Howard was re-activated from the disabled list on May 26.

After last season's call-up, Coste batted .328 in 198 at-bats and caught the majority of the Phillies games down the stretch. But this spring he saw his chances for a spot on the roster dwindle away as the Phillies signed catcher Rod Barajas and then bench players Jayson Werth and Greg Dobbs.

Someday, Chris Coste will finish his second book of baseball tales, a collection still in search of an ending. For now, there's still the matter of playing the sport he loves for as long as he can.

Fortunately,  Chris didn't burn all his bats in his annual ritual at the Minnesota lake.

John Connors

Congratulations to "grown up Minot kid" John Connors upon his retirement on June 1! (See last month's News below).

May 2007

The Boys Who Came to Play

After seven years in the making, Bob Huculak has finished his documentary titled  "The Boys Who Came to Play" about. the Negro League baseball players that came to Canada in the 1950's. Bob wrote, directed and produced the documentary which features Minot Mallards pitcher Dirk Gibbons and other ManDak League players. Gibbons played for the Brandon Greys before coming to Minot to play for the Mallards. Recently it was announced that "The Boys Who Came To Play" has been nominated for a Golden Sheaf Award at the Yorkton Short Film Festiva, the oldest film festival in Canada. The films nominated are selected by a jury of filmmakers from across Canada.

The documentary will be broadcast on CTV Manitoba on June 3 and 9. Bob reports that a DVD of the documentary will be available in the future. Watch this site for more information on that.

Minnesota Town Ball (see March and April News below for additional information).

I found another Minot Mallard in the Minnesota Town Ball Book by Armand Peterson and Tom Tomashek. (See March and April News below.) Connie Juelke played for the Mallards during the 1951 season  before he played in Minnesota and was named to a 1952 all star team. For more information on this great book see their website @ www.minnesotatownball.com .

1952 Southern Minnesota League East All Star Team

Connie Juelke is in the first row, 8th player from the left (Royals uniform)

 photo copied from the Minnesota Town Ball Book

Other Mallards mentioned in this book include Ev Faunce, John Kelly, Mickey Rocco, Dean Scarborough, Mike Shultz and Cread (or Gread) McKinnes. There were a dozen or so other Mallards that played on some of the nearly 800 teams covered in the book. Those Mallards not mentioned include Bill Anderson, Lou Ciola, Don Corcoran, Bob Danielson, Norm Felde, Charlie Griffith, John Kennedy, Lou Lombardo, Marly Strong and Brad Tolson.

John Connors "Grown up Minot Kid"

John Connors, who grew up in the Hiawatha/Soo  street area just behind the ball park is retiring on June 1 from the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Minneapolis. John is planning to write a book about his childhood in Minot including some of his "fuzzy memories" of the Minot Mallards. I remember John very well as he was in the class ahead of me at St. Leo's and Ryan High School. He stays in contact with several other Minot kids including Joe and Jim Gavett, Jerry Keating, Gary Ahmon, Ron Baldner and Pat Reinharts. John sent me some of the papers that he has written about growing up in Minot. Included is this "fuzzy memory" of the Minot Mallards from a paper written after a visit to Minot several years ago.

Sunnyside Grade School was still there and the ball park where we watched, from the left field bleacher "Knothole Gang Section", the Minot Mallards play other  teams in the Manitoba-Dakota League. Guys like outfielder Zoonie McLean, Lyman Bostock, Yogi Giammarco, who hit a record 11 home runs in 1952. Joe Massero, catcher, Duke Bowman, second base, Don Corcoran, outfielder, Sugar Cain, relief pitcher, my favorite and one of the few black men in the league.

Fuzzy Memories

"Fuzzy Memories" is a term that I coined for the memories passed on to me by grown up Minot Kids and former players. I call these "fuzzy memories" for two reasons. First, they aren't always that clear and accurate, and secondly, people have a "warm and fuzzy" feelings about them. People that have read the Minot Mallards book or visited this website often comment that these memories are the best part of the work. Fuzzy memories can be at the end of each season's History Page  and on the News pages.

April 2007

Town Ball, The Glory Days of Minnesota Amateur Baseball

Last month I reported on a new website and book that chronicles baseball history in Minnesota (see below). The book is co-authored by Armand Peterson and Tom Tomashek who grew up and played "town ball" in Minnesota.

By coincidence, Tom Tomashek lives in Newark, Delaware, less than ten miles from my home in Hockessin. Tom is a retired sportswriter for our local newspaper, The Wilmington Journal. We contacted each other in early March and arranged to meet and discuss research methods, information sources and other topics about our interest in baseball history.

Both of us make extensive use of newspaper microfilms and Tom was interested to find out that I am able to borrow Minot Daily News microfilms through inter-library loans from the North Dakota State Historical Society. This allows me to research the microfilms in Delaware instead of traveling to North Dakota. Tom researches microfilms on trips back to Minnesota. Tom and Armand develop more information than I do through interviews with players, fans and league officials. I probably have more difficulty contacting  players because the Minnesota teams had fewer "imported" players than the Mallards. The Minnesota teams were limited to two to three players that did not live within 15 miles of the town they played for. (There were some exceptions with college players and military personnel). So this gives Tom and Armand an edge in making contacts for interviews, scrapbooks and photos. The original Mallards roster had only two local players and this was typical for the team. The other players were from the Negro Leagues and other "professional" leagues. I was surprised and impressed by the 200 - 300 high quality photographs in the "Town Ball" book .They were found in scrapbooks and local historical societies. My photographs, from newspaper microfilms and scorebooks, are not as good.

The Minnesota story closely parallels the Mallard/ManDak League story. Both begin with the return of military personnel at the end of WWII. At that time there was great interest in baseball. Many soldiers played baseball at the military bases during their service time. They returned home eager for recreation and there were few competing opportunities. Even the smallest towns fielded baseball teams and Minot with a population of 21,000 fielded four teams in 1947, five teams in 1948 and eight teams in 1949. Communities were anxious to improve their baseball facilities with grandstands, bleachers, better playing fields and the addition of lighting. Minot added a grandstand roof, lighting and and other major upgrades in 1947 - 1949 (see Ballpark). Fans filled the ballparks and baseball enjoyed a golden age.

Fergus Falls Red Sox 1950 Minnesota Class AA State Champions    Photo from Town Ball Book

That's future Mallard left handed pitcher John Kelly  in the center of the photo (just to left of pole). Kelly was 21-1 that season.

Also, future Mallard Ev Faunce played for this team earlier in the season. The book credits Faunce with recruiting three fellow Minnesota Gopher football players for the team. None of these four players are in the above photo as they left for  football prior to the state baseball tournament.

Steve Horlacher - Rigth Handed Pitcher for the Minot State University Beavers

On March 22 I was interviewed by Steve Horlacher, a freshman right handed pitcher for the Minot State University Beavers. Steve is writing a paper on Corbett Field and was interested in what I personally remember about the ball park and what I learned  from my research over the past few years. I hope to post his report on this website for the April News update.

Jim Gavett - Grown up Minot Kid

Jim Gavett, who grew up on the corner of Hiawatha and Soo streets, contacted me this month after visiting the Mallard website. Jim graduated from St. Leo's High School in 1955; so he followed the Minot Merchants and Minot Mallards before I was old enough.

Jim has been playing ball since he played for the Minot American Legion team and then fast pitch softball after high school. He has continued to play softball his entire adult life and currently plays on several Boise senior and tournament teams. He is president of Boise Senior Softball

Here is Jim's "fuzzy memory" of the Mallards

I don't remember a whole lot about the Merchants and Mallards except that I did get to go to many games.  Most of the time me and my pals were either behind the grandstand waiting for foul balls or outside the wall in left field waiting for a home run ball.  Since I lived on the corner of Soo and Hiawatha street the lights from night games lit up my neighborhood.  Some of my favorite players were Zoomie McLean, Sugar Cain and Yogi Giammarco.  I remember little Bob Tiller who was a catcher but not for long. He was a local guy.

March 2007

Jonas Gains

Mallard pitcher Jonas Gains is featured as the February 2007 Negro Leaguer of the month on Kyle McNary's Pitchblack Baseball website At www.pitchblackbaseball.com/pitchblacknlotm.html . Gains played for several North Dakota teams including the Mallards. He joined the Mallards in 1951 and pitched a 7 wins, 4 losses record. He re-joined the team for the 1952 season and pitched the Mallards opening day game beating the Winnipeg Giants 3 - 1 with a 4-hitter. He finished the 1952 season with a 4 and 2 record.

See other Mallard player cards on Images 1 and Images 1A

Prairie League 1997 Season Page

The 1997 Season  page was completed in February. The last paragraph covers the disbanding of the league and Minot's consideration to join a newly forming league. I don't believe this new league ever formed. I'm sure that Minot did not join.

At this point I've exhausted all the information that I have on the Prairie League Mallards. So unless new information comes in, I don't expect any more updates. I will continue with monthly website updates and report anything new.

Prairie League 1996 Player Cards

The twenty three player cards shown on the 1996 Season page are available from Butch Jungling by emailing him at loyddebby@msn.com . The price is $7 ( including shipping and handling). This is a very nice set of cards. Although representing the 1996 season, many of the players played in 1995 and 1997. It's the only set for a Mallard team of any of the three eras.

Town Ball, The Glory Days of Minnesota Amateur Baseball

A new website on amateur baseball in Minnesota and featuring a 400-page book is now available . The book written by Armand Peterson and Tom Tomashek covers a 16 year span starting at the end of World War II . I occasionally  receive questions about Mallard players that played in the Minnesota Leagues. There were quite a few including Dean Scarborough who Peterson and Tomashek named to their All Star team:

Photo is from Armand Peterson and Tom Tomashek website

Dean Scarborough, second baseman from Windom High School. After World War II spent four years in the minor leagues. Led Western Minny in hitting three consecutive years 1950 - 1952 with .419, .404, .438 averages respectively. Spent the next four years in the ManDak semi-pro leagues, winning a batting title in 1953.

You can find this website and information about the book at www.minnesotatownball.com

Here is Dean Scarborough's Mallard player biography:

Signed by the New York Yankees in 1946. Southern Minnesota League batting average leader for three years (1950 –1952) with Springfield prior to joining the Mallards on June 22, 1953 as a shortstop to fill in for the injured Zoonie McLean. Played one game at that position and after that played first base when Mickey Rocco resigned from the team. Led the league in hitting with a .357 batting average in 1953. Played again in 1954 and did some pitching along with playing first base and right field. Pitched opening day 1954 at Brandon and was credited with a 13 – 3 win. On July 18, 1954 he had 5 RBI’s in a 18 – 7 Mallard win over the Carman Cardinals at Minot. Played again in 1955. On July 20, 1955 he had three doubles and three RBI’s in a 6-5 win over the Dickinson Packers at Minot. His pitching record was 1-2. Joined the team in late 1956 to replace Bob Van Eman and batted .386 in the remaining three weeks of the season.

February 2007

We are having a very easy winter here in Delaware. My snow shovels are still in the attic and that just great as far as I am concerned. Tomorrow is Groundhog day and we'll find out if winter is soon over. Spring Training is just around the corner. Pitchers and catches report to Phillies spring training on February 14 and the first spring training game is with the Tigers on February 28. Everyone out here has high hope for the Phillies. It looks like they have a very good team this year. Fargo native Chris Coste will be fighting for the 24th and 25th spot on the roster.

I just heard from fellow baseball history enthusiasts Jay Dell Mah and Barry Swanton. So things are livening up in the baseball world.

Ryan Kragh, Head Baseball Coach - Bethany Lutheran College

Ryan Kragh contacted me this month for a copy of the Mallard Book on CD. Ryan is a "grown up Minot kid" with an extensive baseball background. He is currently the baseball coach at Bethany Lutheran College in Mankato, Minnesota. He graduated from Minot High School and played five seasons of baseball at the University of North Dakota. He was also the pitching coach at UND for three seasons before moving on to Mankato. He played professional baseball for the Thunder Bay Whiskey Jacks of the Northern League. He played against Chris Coste (see the November News page on this website) and that is interesting to me. Thanks to Ryan for a nice baseball  hat!!

Connie Juelke

I exchanged emails with Mallard outfielder Connie Juelke (1951, 1953 and 1954. Also, Bismarck Barons 1955). I plan to report on this in a future News update.

Butch Jungling

Thanks to Butch Jungling of Minneapolis for sending me a 1997 Minot Mallards score book. I have won several Mallard items from Butch on eBay. So, if you are looking for Prairie League memorabilia, check eBay from time to time. Also, I am checking to see if these item can be purchased directly from Butch.

John Kelly

Former Mallard Player John Kelly died on January 21 in Mesa, Arizona. John was 79 years old. He was born in Woodside, New York, and raised in the Long Island area. He began his baseball career after serving in the Navy during World War II.

John was a  left handed pitcher with six years of pro experience when he joined the Mallards in 1952. . He was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers chain in 1948 and assigned to Abiline of the Class C West Texas-New Mexico League. Later, he had a 7-17 record with Three Rivers of the Canadian –American League and  a 10-5 record with Wilmar, Minnesota. In 1950 was 22-2 with Fergus Falls of Minnesota’s Class AA amateur league. John won his first game as a Mallard in 1952 and went on to win his first six games; ending up with a 7-2 record. . He played first base in an  August  1952  game that the Mallards won 5-0 against the Carman Cardinals to clinch their first pennant in the league. He pitched a six hitter in a 6 – 2 win over the Carman Cardinals in game two of the 1952 championship series. He played for the 1953 team but was out June 10 to August 16 with a sore pitching arm

January 2007

Looking back on Year 2006

The year 2006 was another great year for the Minot Mallard website. Thank you to the average 40 website visitors a day and to those that contacted me with new information. Here are some of the highlights:

1. I heard from or met Mallard players including Duke and Ed Bowman, Yogi Giammarco, Gerry MacKay, Dirk Gibbons and Connie Juelke.

2. I exchanged emails or letters with many people with connections and/or interest in the Mallards. Thank you to:

 Mark Rasmuson, Dale Brown, Barry Swanton, Jay Dell Mah, Bob Huculak, M. Torgeson, Bob Morf, Douglas Culbreath, Dave Fadley, David Trombly, Peter Papps, Scott McClung, Patrick Lewis, Tony Contreros, Eric Pastore, Jon Wefald, David Smith, Shelly Adams, Steve Lipe, Steve Bowman, Wayne Strivers, Richard Halvorson, Stanton Henderson, Connie Juelke Erickson, Bruce Anderson, Rich Feldner, Nancy Schmidt, Todd Newville, Bill Cash, Jim Rostad, Wilbur Aiken, Gene Severson, George Rokusek, Bruce Walker, Tom Mueller, Ralph Bolstad, and Jack Morris.

3. Attended The Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame banquet in Morden, Manitoba and induction of Dirk Gibbons and Barry Swanton.

4. Visited the National Baseball Museum in Cooperstown, NY and induction of  Mallard outfielder Willard Brown to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

5. Publication of Barry Swanton's book The ManDak League: Haven for Former Negro League Players. There is a recent report that Barry is working on a second book. I'll find out about this and post more information on this website in the February update.

6. Expanded the Minot Mallard website to include information on the Northern League and Prairie League Mallards. This work is unfinished and will continue in future updates.

7. Discovered  a photo that included Othello Renfroe (wearing a Mallard uniform) along with an elite group of Major League players.

8. Received an autographed baseball by the 1953 Mallards from Jim Headrick and a photo of the same 13 Mallards' autographs from Jim Stadick.

9. I visited Minot and the ballpark in June and met with head groundskeeper Mike Littler.

I hope 2007 brings more of the same. Especially:

• Emails and shared memories with grown-up Minot kids.

• Old photos of Mallard players.

• Mallards memorabilia.

• Information about the 1995 Prairie League Mallards.

Western Canada Baseball Website

Jay Dell Mah continues adding to his Western Canada Baseball Website   www.attheplate.com/wcbl/. My new-found interest in the Minot Mallards started out as a contributor of Minot Mallard information to this very extensive website. Jay's encouragement led me to research the Mallards, my book and this website. Jay's latest update to his website (published December 25, 2006) includes player profile pages for Zoonie McLean and Sugar Cain. You can find these at:

News of Dirk Gibbons

Barry Swanton sent me an email late in December with a report that Dirk Gibbons suffered a heart attack since his induction into the Manitoba Baseball Hall of Fame last June. Dirk is recovering nicely and we wish him the best.

Prairie League

The 1997 Season write-up was expanded this past month but is still incomplete. Work will continue in January.

The 1997 Mallard vision statement (letter to Editor Minot Daily News) by Jim  Rostad and  Ken Keller has been moved to the Prairie League Page.

Negro Player Baseball Documentary

Through the internet we are learning more about the 200 or so Negro League baseball players who came to play in Manitoba and North Dakota from 1948 through 1957. These baseball players are still remembered for their exciting and entertaining play. And now, efforts to have them recognized for their spectacular achievements on the field, are about to begin. Bob Huculak is developing a documentary on these Negro League players. It's a story that captures the essence of the era and the excitement the game brought. The heart and soul is about the player's experiences on and off the field and how they affected a culture through baseball.

 I will add more details as they become available.

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