The wall outside the Town Ball Tavern at Target Field features old photos of amateur baseball teams from all over the state.I took these photos when I attended my first Twins game there last weekend.
The town ball wall includes a photo of the 1982 Class B Champion Dundas Dukes. (The story of that year is featured on the this Dundas Dukes tournament history page.)
There are 17 people in the photo, 9 in the back row, 8 in the front row. The only one I’m sure of is Bill Nelson, back row, 6th from the left.
Other players mentioned who played on the teams of the early 80s: Doug Fuchs, Larry Johnson, Dave Howie, Jim Fuchs, Doug Fuchs, Terry Johnson, Davie Howie, Rick Sviggum, Jim Sviggum, Steve Sviggum, Don Freeman, Dick Grass, Bob Klefsaas, Robert Weber, Pete Maus, Jay Olson, Lew Olson.
Let’s see if we can identify all the players in that photo. Attach comments please.
Update 11:15 PM: Former Dundas Dukes manager Bill Nelson emailed me the names of everyone in the photo, including two people from the edges of the photo who were cut off:
Back row: Rory Rice (current President of Dundas Baseball), Kevin Sevcik, Dave Howie, Scott Nelson (1988 State Tournament MVP), Terry Johnson, Bill Nelson, Larry Johnson, Lew Olson (1982 State Tournament MVP), Steve Sviggum (former Speaker of the House).
Front row: Doug Fuchs (cut in half) Steve Hildebrandt, Galen Sevcik, Batboys ? Elofson and Brian Sherwin, Dan Brodin, Dan King and Dick Sviggum.
I sent the picture in and to put it on the wall they cut off two very important figures in the Dundas story. Jim Fuchs our manager was the first person in the back row and Greg Kozulla a drafted pitcher from Burnsville that came to pitch in Dundas in 1986 was cut off from the right side of the photo.
Update 12:15 PM: Bill emailed me a color version of the photo that includes everyone on the team.
Former Dundas Dukes manager Bill Nelson emailed me the names of everyone in the photo, including two people from the edges of the photo who were cut off. He also emailed me the original photo. See the updated blog post above.
Other town ball tidbits:
Bill Nelson is a member of the Minnesota Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame (see a much longer baseball bio of Bill by Adam Gurno on Northfield.org); Bill is a blogger for the MN Amateur Baseball Association -- recent post: No Bad Calls.
Nfld News April 2010 story: A Place in History, about the 1927 Fredrickson Brothers Baseball Team featured at the Town Ball Tavern at Target Field. "The team consisted of a set of 12 brothers who lived in Eidswold, which is just east of Interstate 35, across the highway from Elko. The group, all brothers, played games every Sunday for three years in New Market, Union Hill and Northfield."
Wikipedia Town Team Baseball entry features Minnesota amateur baseball
MNHS book: Town Ball: The Glory Days of Minnesota Amateur Baseball