This series of posts on the Lowry town team is dedicated to Ray Hayenga, one of the founders of the Lowry ball team and whose scrapbook provided much of the detail for these posts. Sadly, Ray passed away in 1962 from a stroke at the young age of 56. Unfortunately, I don't have a photo of Ray, so here's one I do have - me, in the choke up, 2 strike, make contact pose.
Lowry won the PDT title in 1962, but by 1963 all the 1st generation players had retired and their slots were taken largely by recent Glenwood high school grads. Sort of like Craig Kusick replacing Harmon Killebrew or Babe Dahlgren for Lou Gehrig - just not quite the same for me. Coupled with the arrival of major league baseball in Minnesota in 1961 - the Washington Senators becoming the Minnesota Twins - and the emergence of slo-pitch softball (the Lowry State Bank team was a perennial league power and went to a state tourney - a story for another day) as well as American Legion ball, interest in town ball waned in Lowry and spelled doom for many Minnesota town teams. However, Minnesota town ball remains robust in the state with 53 leagues actively competing for a spot in a 3 class state tourney in August of each year.
Roster 1954-1962
I am trying to compile a list of all the members of the Lowry Leghorn team from 1954-1962. This list is of course fraught with the danger of omission.
Please examine the list below and if you know of someone I have not included, please add their name as a comment below. Corrections welcome as well.
Thanks.
Lawrence "Doc" Wright
Al Sell
Ray Hayenga
Glen Herrlinger
Catchers
Al Sell
Arnie Gunness
Ben Troen
Glen Herrlinger
Curt Anderson
Pitchers/Infielders
Jerry Hayenga
John "Jeener" Bosek
Dennis "Donuts" Bosek
Burdell Benson
Paul Quitney
Denny Danielson
Kenny Moe
Infielders
Floyd Bosek
Gary Boldenow
Dave Opheim
Chuck Thompson
Roger Hayenga
Wayne Anderson
Rodney Swenson
Bill Starr
Outfielders
George Dieter
Harold "Solie" Erlandson
Stan Brosh
George Sauer
Dave Troen
Ben Motis
Phil MacIver
Kenny Hagen
Dave Cooley
Larry Hedlin
Batboy
Bruce Hayenga
Gordy Wagner
Official Scorer
Myrtle Benesh
Concessionaire
Leo Dahl
Groundskeeper
Glenn Hoplin
Dave Hoplin - rock picker
Sponsors/Directors
Ray Hayenga
Dave Nelson
Arnie Gunness
Previous posts in this series
Episode 1: The Ballpark
Episode 2: '55 ChampsEpisode 3: '56-'57 Seasons
Episode 4: Pomme de Terre...
Episode 5: A Tale of Two Pitchers
Note: This series of posts is supported by Ray Hayenga's scrapbook which came to me from his son Bruce by way of Dave Chan. Ray collected every Park Region Echo clipping on the Lowry ball team from 1954 to 1962. I have digitized this scrapbook. If you want a look, here's a link:Ray Hayenga's Scrapbook. Caveat: It's a large .pdf file. Your browser may not be able to preview it but you should be able download it.
Episode 5: A Tale of Two Pitchers
Note: This series of posts is supported by Ray Hayenga's scrapbook which came to me from his son Bruce by way of Dave Chan. Ray collected every Park Region Echo clipping on the Lowry ball team from 1954 to 1962. I have digitized this scrapbook. If you want a look, here's a link:Ray Hayenga's Scrapbook. Caveat: It's a large .pdf file. Your browser may not be able to preview it but you should be able download it.Copyright © 2018 Dave Hoplin
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