Snow a no-show at Baseball Bazaar

A Leavenworth tradition continues

By FRITZ BUSCH

Journal Staff Writer

LEAVENWORTH -- The Leavenworth Baseball Bazaar -- an annual rite of winter passage -- came and went Saturday.

It included its usual menu of slow-pitch softball games and beer, hamburgers with fried or raw unions, raffles, card playing, and Duke Cook's baseball museum with guided tours.

The bazaar, which raises funds for girls and boys youth programs, was enjoyed by hundreds of athletic enthusiasts.

The only thing missing this year was the snow and cold. Instead of sliding on snow and ice on the base paths, ball players dug their cleats into the mud. They avoided sliding if they could.

In the first softball game Saturday morning, the Petersons team defeated a group of South Dakota State University students -- The South Dakota Jackrabbits.

The Jackrabbits included Leavenworth Oriole baseball player Tim Schwartz and his friends. The score of the game was unimportant to Schwartz.

"It's all about supporting Leavenworth baseball and softball," said Schwartz.

Petersons team member "Digger" Helget said he would have preferred snow and icy conditions for the softball games. He didn't miss the usual cold February temperatures. Last year's games were played with about three feet of snow on the ground.

One thing that was typical of the bazaar was 73-year-old Minnesota Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame member Donald "Duke" Cook.

He provided all comers with tours of his extensive baseball and sports history museum in a Church of the Japanese Martyrs Catholic school room.

The museum was created in 1992 as part of the church's 125th anniversary that included a parade and threshing bee.

Cook carries on the museum tradition started by the late Richard Mathiowetz and Lonnie Berberich in the early 1990s.

"Duke's" brother Mel, also a member of the Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame, was busy cooking hamburgers in the school basement.

Museum memorabilia included trophies, jackets, ball caps, jerseys, cards, team photos, posters, score books, patches, pins, programs, a Babe Ruth mirror, and posters advertising the 1948 baseball game between Evan and the Leavenworth Orioles.

Leavenworth team photos in the museum date back to the 1912 team. The ball park was located near the Mathiowetz Construction office at that time.

Babe Ruth's October 1922 visit to Sleepy Eye was noted in a newspaper story.

A newspaper game story and box score described when major league baseball hall of famer Ted Williams and the Minneapolis Millers came to Springfield to play an exhibition game with the Tigers on Sept. 22, 1938. The Millers won, 10-3.

A poster featured Max Lanier's All-Stars vs. the Springfield Tigers exhibition game on July 19, 1948 in Springfield.

That was the year a number of major league players played in the Mexican League and were barred from the American Major Leagues for a year. They formed an all-star team and barnstormed America, playing baseball.

On the lighter side, a copy of Minnesota athletic radio and public address personality Dick Jonkowski's "All-Water" baseball team line-up was included.

It featured manager Jimmy Dykes, catcher Steve Lake, pitchers "Preacher" Row and Bob Trowbridge, Rusty Staab at 1b, Rod Carew at 2b, ss Rocky Bridges, 3b Brooks Robinson, lf Tim Raines, cf Mickey Rivers, rf Curt Flood, and umpire Marty Springstead. Marvin Rainwater sang the National Anthem.

Jonkowski's "All-Polish" team: catcher Carl Sawatzky, right-handed pitcher Tom Poholsky, left-handed pitcher Ron Perranoski, first baseman Ted Clerzewski, Bill Maseroski 2b, Dick Trezewski ss, Ray Jablonski 3b, Carl Yazstremski lf, Greg Luzinski cf, Rip Ripulski lf, manager Eddie Popowski, and announcer Dick Jonkowski.

Cook's addition to the museum this year was a collection of Winter Olympic pins and mascots.

Last fall, Cook and the museum were featured on KSTP TV's "On The Road With Jason Davis" show.

Cook has been coaching softball and helping with the Leavenworth summer tournaments for 37 years. He started watching baseball games as a youth in Leavenworth in 1938.

Among his favorite memories was the 1938 Leavenworth team that lost just one game, but it eliminated them in the playoffs.

Cook began his baseball career with the Mulligan Township team, just south of Leavenworth, in the mid 1940s. He began playing for the Leavenworth Orioles in 1948. The team advanced to the state amateur tournament in Detroit Lakes in 1949.

Back then, the Leavenworth baseball field was where the softball park is now located.

Cook moved up to the Sleepy Eye Indians team of the Western Minny League several years later.

He entered the U.S. Marine Corps in the mid 1950s and played baseball for the Corps in Japan.

Still farming with his brother Mel near Comfrey, the Cooks remain active with Leavenworth baseball and softball. You want to find Duke, chances are good you'll see him at any youth, high school, or amateur ball game involving Leavenworth and Sleepy Eye teams.