Halsey Hall Chapter meeting recap – 10/24/2015
Thirty-seven members and guests—Lee Temanson, John Gallo, Howard Luloff, Joe O’Connell, Tom Flynn, Brian Madigan, John Swol, Bob Komoroski, Stew Thornley, Brenda Himrich, Rich Arpi, Jim Hurt, Paul Spyhalski, Dave Jensen, Bob Tholkes, Art Mugalian, Gene Gomes, Steve Ginader, Roger Godin, Dave Lande, Frank Kadwell, Jay Fetyko, Hans Van Slooten, Mendal Mearkle, Emmma Charlesworth-Seiler, Sarah Johnson, Aaron Sinner, Gene Zavadil, Steve Elsberry, Lyn Elsberry, John Rosengren, Jerry Janzen, Brent Heutmaker, Lloyd Kepple, Kate Kepple, Josh Ostergaard, and George Rekela—attended the Halsey Hall Chapter fall meeting at Faith Mennonite Church in Minneapolis. Steve and Lyn came all the way from Windsor Heights, Iowa.
The featured guest was Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Mike grew up in West Palm Beach, Florida, on a thoroughbred horse ranch. He was the sports editor for his high-school newspaper and continued covering sports when he went to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After college he followed a sportswriting career in Charlotte and Durham in North Carolina. After a year in New York, Mike came back to Durham and was an assistant editor for Baseball America. One of his assignments was to spend a week following the Northern League in its first year of operation in 1993.
After a stint in Augusta, Georgia, Mike worked 15 years for the South Florida Sun Sentinel before being laid off in late 2012. The following February he took over as the Twins beat writer for the Pioneer Press.
Mike shared his insights on covering baseball and on the Twins and took the time to explained what happened last spring when Torii Hunter called him a prick during a press conference.
The meeting included the following research presentations:
- Bob Tholkes: The National Baseball Club of Washington’s Western Tour of 1867
- Emma Charlesworth-Seiler: Invisible Baseball: Why Baseball Isn’t America’s National Pastime
- John Rosengren: The Fight of Their Lives
The meeting concluded with Howard Luloff’s ever-popular baseball quiz.
For more information, click here for the Halsey Hall Chapter’s November 2015 newsletter.
— Stew Thornley