Power of 2

There is a famous fable from India about the man who invented the game of chess. He presented it as a gift to the king. The king was so pleased he asked what he might want as a reward. The man requested that 1 kernel of wheat be placed on the first square, and a double amount on each successive square.  64 squares - seemed reasonable to the king but ...

Here is the arithmetic progression




For math geeks: 

Roughly 18 quintillion. To be precise, the total number of grains on the 64 squares equals 18,446,744,073,709,551,615 which represents about 6000 years of production by the world's current leading wheat producer, China.

Do you remember the 1980's Faberge commercial that started with a person on the screen and a voice over saying "she told 2 friends and they told 2 friends and so on and so on ..." and pretty soon the TV screen was filled with thumbnail sized images?  Same principal.

This is how social media works and how it can be used to propagate false and malicious information. I recently saw a post which made an outrageous claim regarding a politician's purported statements. (They are depressingly numerous). I would have thought that anyone would simply dismiss it out of hand - and yet, it had over 1000 reposts. People who believe everything they see on the internet  (or choose to believe) are the backbone of the Russian efforts to disrupt our democracy. I do not know if the post I saw originated in Russia, but the point is - they want to polarize and divide us. They post these things to "rile folks up", and it is working to divide us all too well. 

Before you repeat something you read on the internet, either to the internet or in polite conversation, VERIFY.  There are numerous fact checking facilities and when in doubt, stifle your urges. It is like the old adage, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. Likewise if it seems outrageously false, it probably is.

We need to restore civility to our conversations and it starts with you and me.  And if we tell 2 friends and they tell 2 friends, and so on ... we might just change the world.


Copyright © 2018 Dave Hoplin

6. Town Team - Epilog

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. 

Managers
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 Champs
Episode 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.

Copyright © 2018 Dave Hoplin

Let's be careful out there

The hazardous nature of some occupations is obvious.  Policeman, fireman, construction worker, race car driver, .... But you'all who sit at a desk all day?  What could go wrong? It turns out, you likely work in a pernicious environment - not just you, but most every office worker.  Did you know ...

Fluorescent lighting “saps your soul”.  A Thought Co study identifies multiple hazards from fluorescent lighting, from migraines, eyestrain, increased stress levels, sapping vitamins,  seasonal affective disorder (SAD) to even worse [On second thought, don't read the study. It's pretty depressing.]  People with a diet of daylight are significantly more alert.  Find a way to get some natural light into your space. 

Maybe not surprisingly room temperature is also an efficiency factor.  With temperatures @ 68F/20C, employees make 44% more mistakes than at an optimal temp (77F/25C) - the claim is “chilliness” keeps you distracted. [Editor comment: I am skeptical. Have these researchers never heard of sweaters? For me, 77F = nap time]  

This next thing will seem irrelevant - but bear with me.  A major chord - e.g. major third vs. a minor chord - e.g. minor third, are associated with music being “happy” or “sad”.

  

             

I tried to find some scientific rationale for this, but it’s pretty sparse & in fact is probably a “western” thing. But trust me - it just is. Listen to Lenten music - it’s all minor key. So what? Well ... it turns out that the combination of a spinning disk and a computer fan produces background noise in a minor key. So you are subjecting yourself to “sadness” producing sounds for 8-12 hours a day. But there’s an easy fix - crank up some Vivaldi on those headphones.  For those averse to classical, LinkedIn has even published a "songs to inspire you at work playlist".

Next item - sitting.  Sitting is hazardous to your health. The Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise journal reports that those of you who spend most of the day sitting have a 54% greater chance of a heart attack - and guess what, neither smoking nor regular exercise have a bearing on that risk. A New York Times Magazine report on a study by Dr. James Levine of the Mayo Clinic of 123,000 Americans found the death rate 20% higher for men who sat for 6 hours or more. For women - it’s 40%.  If you’re not ready for a career change to say ... a bartender, maybe you should consider a standup desk. Sitting .. is bad whether you are morbidly obese or marathon-runner thin. “Excessive sitting,” Dr. Levine says, “is a lethal activity.”  And while you’re at it, lobby for those rubber ball chairs for your school.  Or maybe try it yourself.

The key is to keep moving.  Or as an 89 year old lady I met on a recent bike ride said: "keep it wigglin'".

And this is just the start of the hazard list:  the disease risk of indoor circulating air; repetitive motion disorders; eyestrain; the color of the walls - get rid of beige; toxic fume emissions from your computer or the carpet; ...  So,

Let’s Be Careful Out There

P.S. Take an alcohol wipe to your keyboard and work surface. But, on the other hand, "the American Medical Association discourages the use of antibacterial agents in consumer products because they may encourage the development of "superbugs" - antibiotic-resistant bacteria".  So strike that - wash your hands - frequently - with good old soap and hot water.

Author note: I spent 35 years basking in fluorescent light and the glow of a computer screen. Well, except early on, it was punch cards - not much glow there.

Copyright © 2018 Dave Hoplin

5. Town Team - A Tale of Two Pitchers

The Lowry club was optimistic entering the 1960 season. They had finished 1959 on a hot streak, winning 8 of 10 down the stretch.  Glenwood, having finished in the cellar in '59 opted out of the '60 season, replaced by Holloway.

The PDT had some great pitchers - with longevity.  Pete Bright of Cyrus (or Morris or Kensington when Cyrus did not field a team), Larry Krienke of Kensington, Dean Olson of Glenwood, Dick Starner of Hoffman, Lloyd Heil of Hancock, Jerry Hayenga and John Bosek of Lowry all were outstanding and pitched for a decade or more.

But the PDT also produced two young pitchers with comparatively short careers that were exceptional and one which was meteoric.

Lowry's 21 year old right hander, Paul Quitney, possessed a sneaky fastball, a wicked overhand 12-6 curve that Bert Blyleven would later copy to good effect and a third nameless pitch that looked like a fastball but at the last second slid to the end of a right-hander's bat or onto the handle of a left-hander, resulting in a swing and a miss or a weak ground ball, a pitch so devastating it would make Mariano Rivera a one pitch Hall of Famer. Quitney's masterpiece came in game 2 of the 1960 PDT season. At home against Holloway, Quitney pitched a no hit, 20 strikeout game for an 11-1 victory, winning Paul "State Star of the Week" honors. Behind Quitney, the Leghorns rolled, winning 8 in a row. But Paul came down with a sore arm after week 8. Pitch counts? Limits were an unheard of thing in 1960, and in game 9, without Quitney, Hancock dropped Lowry 13-12. Quitney came back to win games 10 & 11, giving him a 10-0 record for the regular season.

The second shooting star was Holloway's teen-aged fireballing left-hander, one Jerry Koosman. Koosman's fastball was in the 90's and his curve resembled Koufax's. But his control tended to be an issue, with a typical line being 15 K, 12 BB, 2 HBP.  PDT fans were pleased when Koosman joined the army after high school and starred in Fort Bliss rather than Minnesota.

In later years, Koosman overcame the control problems and in 1969 won 2 games in the NY "Miracle Mets" World Series win over Baltimore, teaming with Nolan Ryan and Tom Seaver to form one of the best pitching staffs in MLB history. Yup - same Jerry Koosman.  He also won a game in the Mets World Series loss to Oakland in 1973, giving him a 3-0 World Series record. In 1979, the 36 year old Koosman was traded over to the Twins and won 20 games for them. (The Twins have had only 13 20 game winners in their history and I suspect that number will stand for the duration.) And as lefthanders are wont to do, Koosman pitched 19 seasons for the Mets, Twins, White Sox and Phillies with a lifetime ERA of 3.36, retiring at age 42.

But in 1960, there was no question which pitcher had MLB potential. Quitney in a runaway.

The 1960 Lowry team advanced to the Region 9 State Amateur Tournament but was matched up against a powerful Willmar Kernel team, which defeated Quitney in game 1 for his first loss of the season, ending with a record of 13-1. Willmar came back in game 2 to beat Koosman, drafted from Holloway, to eliminate the Leghorns.

What a year!

Previous posts in this series 

Episode 1: The Ballpark

Episode 2: '55 Champs
Episode 3: '56-'57 Seasons

Episode 4: Pomme de Terre...

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

4. Town Team - Pomme de Terre

PDT Teams

In the four years, 1954-1957,  Lowry's Resorter's League town team compiled a 36-3 record, won 3 league championships and made the State Amateur Class B Regionals twice. Perhaps at the behest of the other teams in the Resorter's League, in 1958, when both Cyrus & Clontarf dropped out of the Pomme de Terre League, Lowry opted to move to that league, which in addition to Lowry, included Hancock, Morris, Starbuck, Hoffman, Glenwood, Chokio and Kensington.

Pomme de Terre?  What do the french know about baseball?  English translation: Potato.  The Potato League. Really? And with most of the towns having a sizably greater population than tiny Lowry, well .. disappointment awaits.

And my fears were realized in PDT game one, when the other new member of the league, Hoffman, dropped the Leghorns 6-5.  But I began to feel confident (over-confident) when Lowry took the next 2 games, 6-2 over Chokio and 5-4 over Kensington. But then things went south. A loss to Starbuck (13-12) with 7 errors committed, followed by losses to Morris, Hancock. But the season (for me) was salvaged by a 12-4 win over Glenwood under the lights at Barsness Field.

Lowry finished 7th in the 8 team league in 1958, but - schadenfreude - Glenwood was on the bottom.

So going into the 1959 season, it seemed the boys were over-matched, confirmed to me on opening day when Morris trounced Lowry 11-2, followed by a 15-2 drubbing by Glenwood (ouch) and a 7-5 loss to Kensington.  Lowry stood 0-3.  But Holy Cow, Lowry notched consecutive wins over Alberta, Starbuck AND the seemingly unbeatable Morris Tigers.  Lowry stood at 3-3. But reality set in in game 7 when Dean Olson of Glenwood twirled a shutout for Lowry's 2nd loss to Glenwood (double-ouch). But they then won a 18-17 slugfest over 2nd place Kensington to get them to 500, 4-4.  A shutout over Alberta and an extra-inning 5-4 loss to Starbuck evened the record at 5-5. Then followed 4 straight wins - 8 of their last 10 - to finish tied for 2nd at 9-5 and a place in the playoffs.  Despite defeating Lowry twice, Glenwood finished 7th with a 5-9 record. tsk tsk. Lowry faced Kensington in the playoffs winning 1 game but coming up short in the 2 of 3 series.

1959 Final Standings

But a pretty respectable season for the boys of summer.

Previous posts in this series 

Episode 1: The Ballpark

Episode 2: '55 Champs
Episode 3: '56-'57 Seasons
...

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

3. Town Team Baseball - '56-'57

George Dieter's 1955 uniform (author's collection)

In 1956, Lowry's high hopes for back to back Resorter’s League pennants took a blow when star center fielder and team MVP, Georgie Dieter, jumped to the Glenwood nine in the Pomme de Terre league. A star on both offense and defense, the speedy Dieter stole 15 bases in 10 games in 1955, scored 15 times and drove in another 15. A gaping hole in the lineup.  I am pretty sure that the nefarious Lakers enticed him away with a signing bonus, perhaps upwards of 100 bucks.

But astonishingly, the '56 version of the Lowry Leghorns, lineup pretty much unchanged from the '55 squad (less Dieter) not only repeated as Resorter's pennant winners, but went undefeated to boot: 10-0. Jerry Hayenga & John "Jeener" Bosek continued to be a solid 1-2 pitching staff, with Dennis "Donuts" Bosek filling the closer/mop-up role. Stan Brosh moved from the corner outfield to centerfield and from the leadoff slot, his bat ignited. At home against Miltona, Stan registered a 5 hit, 3 homerun, 7 RBI day in the 12-6 win.  However, in the season end Resorter's League playoffs, that same Miltona squad gave Lowry a scare, taking game two 9-8 for Lowry's first league loss, forcing a game three. But Lowry romped 16-4 in the finale.  Lowry then went on to defeat Brandon to advance to the Class B Region 14 tournament in Perham hoping to gain a spot in the State Amateur Tournament to be held in Little Falls.

From the Little Falls transcript: The State Amateur Baseball board "decided to continue the usual practice of charging 75 cents a session for adults and 25 cents for children under 12. A session includes only games played in an afternoon or evening, not the whole day".

Region 14 entries were Lowry, New York Mills, Ashby, Perham, Deer Creek and Detroit Lakes.  Lowry was shutout by Ashby in game 1 but came back in the losers bracket to defeat New York Mills 13-5 but then were eliminated by Detroit Lakes.  Region 14 champ Perham advanced to the State Tourney, won their first 2 games but lost to the eventual State Champion Bemidji which featured 3 high schoolers as starters.

But a thrilling '56 season.  Could they possibly 3-peat?

1957 brought a bit of a youth movement to the Leghorn squad.  Youngsters Davey Troen, Paul Quitney, Roger Hayenga and Chuck Thompson all saw playing time. And lo and behold at the end of the 10 game regular season, Lowry stood 10-0, 3 games ahead of 2nd place Millerville, the third league title in a row and 2nd straight undefeated season.

In midseason, at Millerville, a scary scene. Millerville's fireballing left-hander, Joe Byrne, hit Lowry catcher, left handed hitting Glen Herrlinger,  in the head - no helmets of course. Glen was taken unconscious by ambulance to Alexandria hospital.  I believe he played in the following Sunday's game. (Every lefty I ever faced scared me. None of them seemed to have any idea where the ball was going.)

And an end of season bonus. In a sweet exhibition game before the playoffs, Lowry took a 4-3 11 inning win over the Glenwood Lakers (yes, those Glenwood Lakers) for their 11th straight win. The game was highlighted by a fantastic outfield catch by Glenwood batboy Jimmy Kunz who was forced into into the lineup in right field because only 8 Glenwood players showed up for the mid-week night game.  In the 9th, Jimmy robbed Ben Troen of a sure extra base hit (possibly a homerun, although with Ben's speed, if it didn't clear the fence, a double would be the best case) to send the game into extra innings.

But then in the Resorter's playoffs, shockingly, 4th place Brandon, who finished the season 4-6, ousted Lowry. Millerville then defeated Brandon to claim the Resorter's crown and advance to the regional tournament.

Disappointment. Say it ain't so , Joe.

Previous posts in this series 

Episode 1: The Ballpark

Episode 2: '55 Champs
...

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

Classic Lowry Photos

Copyright © 2018 Dave Hoplin

2. Town Team Baseball - '55 Resorters League Champs

'55 Resorters League Champs

Lowry's inaugural 1954 baseball season had been pretty good, finishing 2nd in the Resorter's League with a 7-2  record behind Evansville and losing to them in the playoffs, with one game the wrong end of a 19-0 score.


1955

The '55 club was managed by Dr. Lawrence Wright, a St. Olaf grad who had completed his service in the US Air Force in 1953 and started a dental practice in Lowry. There were high expectations for the season and the boys did not disappoint. The season turned on a marathon 14 inning home win over Miltona just a week after a loss to Brandon. Jerry Hayenga pitched a complete game, facing 55 hitters. He recorded 20 strikeouts. (Apparently, pitch counts were not in vogue in 1955. They didn't keep track of such esoteric statistics then, but 55 hitters must translate to 250 or more pitches.  Ice that arm.) Georgie Dieter hit a 3 run walkoff homer in the bottom of the 14th. Lowry finished the season with a 9-1 record, 1 game better than runner-up Brandon.

Lowry & Brandon had split their 2 games during the season, but Lowry advanced to the double elimination Region 9 Class B tournament with 2 straight playoff wins over Brandon. The tourney, held in Morris, was for the right to advance to state tourney in Chaska. Region 9 teams included: Resorters League (Lowry), Chippewa River (Elbow Lake), Land-o-Ducks (Wheaton); Pomme de Terre (Clontarf) and Corn Belt (Willmar). Because of the number of games in a short period, teams were allowed to "draft" 2 pitchers and a catcher from other teams in their league. Corky Sherrer and Dean Plaster from Brandon and Larry Wilke from Miltona joined the roster for the tournament.

 "Among standouts on Lowry's roster are George Dieter, a hard-hitting outfielder; Al Sell, a smooth fielding 2nd baseman; Jerry Hayenga, pitcher and infielder; and Glen Herrlinger, catcher."

Lowry dropped the first game to Wheaton 10-9 in 12 innings. Wheaton scored 6 runs in innings 7-8-9 with 2 in the 9th to send the game to extra innings. With 2 out in the bottom of the 12th, Wheaton pushed across a run on a misfired pickoff play to take the win. The Wheaton catcher recorded 18 putouts - I suspect almost all would have been strikeouts and Lowry committed 5 errors. What's that adage about pitching and defense? Disappointment awaits.

Lowry battled back in the losers bracket, beating Clontarf 4-1 behind the pitching of Jeener Bosek, but were eliminated by Willmar 6-3 in the evening tilt.

Wheaton won 4 straight Region 9 games, defeating Willmar in the championship game taking them into the State Tournament. However, Wheaton got clobbered by Rollingstone in the 1st round of the state tourney. Cold Spring was the eventual 1955 Class B Minnesota State Champion.

The following April, the Resorters champion Leghorns were feted with a banquet sponsored by their fans and hosted at the Dahl House in Lowry with about 45 attendees. Mayor Chester Bennett lauded the players fine performance in the '55 season, stating "their skill and sportsmanship were an asset to the community."  He then presented the Resorters League championship trophy and the Region 9 sportsmanship trophy to the team.

John "Jeener" Bosek was awarded a medal for the highest league batting average. Gary Boldenow was awarded a medal for the highest batting average in the playoffs. George Dieter was voted MVP with his 15 hits, 15 runs & 15 stolen bases during the regular season.

With the departure of Doc Wright, Al Sell was elected manager; Jerry Hayenga & George Dieter co-captains; Ray Hayenga, secretary-treasurer and Arnie Gunness director along with Ray for the '56 season.

With everyone committed to returning, there were great hopes for a repeat title in '56.

*1955 Lowry Leghorn playoff team photo
(I'm guessing on some of these - indicated by a "?" and some I cannot place the name with the face. Help me out - corrections welcome)

Back Row - left to right
Dr. Lawrence Wright, mgr; Dean Plaster, Brandon pitcher (draftee), Burdell Benson?, Dave Opheim?, Corky Scherrer, Brandon catcher (draftee), Dennis Bosek, Jerry Hayenga, unidentified, Gary Boldenow, Glen Herrlinger, Larry Wilke, Miltona pitcher (draftee)

Front Row - left to right
John "Jeener" Bosek, Georgie Dieter, unidentified, Solie Erlandson?, Al Sell, unidentified, Stan Brosh

Bat Boy - who was that lucky kid? Bruce Hayenga (Jerry's little brother)

Candidates for the "unidentifieds":  Benjie Troen, Frank Bosek, Arnie Gunness ...

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.

Previous posts in this series 
Episode 1: The Ballpark
...

Copyright © 2018 Dave Hoplin