Remembering 1978

NOTE: This is the second in a four-part series leading up to

the 2003 Central Plains Baseball Tournament

to be held August 14-18 at Johnson Park in New Ulm.

By JIM BASTIAN

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- The 1978 New Ulm Legion Baseball team that went 23-9 and won the Second District title (one of 24 Second District titles won by New Ulm) the Minnesota State championship (one of five state titles) and earned the first of two trips to the American Legion World Series will celebrate its 25th anniversary during the Central Plains Tournament.

The 1978 team will be honored prior to the New Ulm game against the South Dakota State Champion on Saturday, August 16th.

Red Wyczawski was the manager of that 1978 team. Now one of the co-chairmen, along with Gordy Palmer, of the 2003 Central Plains Tournament, Wyczawski recalled that the 1978 team was "not really special from the get-go.

"We knew that New Ulm High School had a successful team that year -- they got beat by Grand Rapids in the state tournament, so the combination of that team and players from New Ulm Cathedral and then-Martin Luther Academy (now Minnesota Valley Lutheran) made that team strong," he said. "We had Greg Weier, Doug Palmer, Bob Garies and Mike Savat from Cathedral and Jeff Gronholz from MLA."

"We did not start out well," said Jim Senske who took over the team that year. "We lost our games early -- we lost to a Mankato team that was strong back then."

Wyczawski said that the team struggled during the regular season going 8-6 before entering sub-district and district play. In fact, New Ulm nearly saw their season end in the sub-districts as they hung on to beat Hanska 7-6 in the only year in which Hanska had a Legion team. New Ulm had split with Hanska during the regular season.

"We knew that the team had talent, but we were uncertain," Wyczawski said. But New Ulm rolled through the district with wins of 9-0 over Lamberton, 12-1 over Windom and 6-2 over Mankato West. New Ulm had beaten West just once in three games during the regular season.

New Ulm opened state tournament play in Austin with a 3-2 win over Atwater before rolling over all comers the rest of the way. They beat St. Cloud 12-1 and Grand Rapids 7-3 before topping future Twin Kent Hrbek and Bloomington Gold 12-4.

But the success that New Ulm had during the state tournament, and would have in the 1978 Central Plains Regional, may have been determined years before on the baseball playgrounds of New Ulm.

"What made this team so special was that a lot of the hard work that we had put in came to fruition," said Doug Palmer who would win the Louisville Slugger award for the Central Plains going 17-for-21 in the tournament -- still a record. "When we were kids, we would all get together and go find an open field, and throwing batting practice to each other for days on end finally paid off."

Senske also recalled that the team hit the ball exceptionally well.

"I remember throwing batting practice to those kids -- this was before they had the pitching screens that you see now, and I would take some shots off of my shins and chest from them," he said. "This was probably the last group of players that took it upon themselves to go out and take hitting on their own."

Senske added that one other person, Lloyd Steinbach, had a hand in the success.

"He always had the kids playing baseball and coached them," Senske said. "He was a big reason for the success."

"Everybody who was on that team had a passion for the game of baseball," said Palmer. "We all loved the game of baseball."

And that love and passion for baseball showed as Palmer, Jeff Schugel, Tom Steinbach and Terry Steinbach were all drafted by major league baseball.

And Jeff Schugel, now the Assistant to the General Manager with the Los Angeles Dodgers, agrees that a large part of the success that this team had began when they were younger.

"We all basically grew up together -- more so than ability that we had was the chemistry," Schugel said. "We just got on a roll and believed that we could beat anybody. You don't see that type of thing (going out and playing baseball on their own) anymore, and I think that is what made it special. It makes guys realize the importance of these reunions and the success that they had."

What also hits home for Schugel and the rest of his teammates from that 1978 squad is that one of the players, Randy Ulrich , passed away several years ago.

"He was our sparkplug," Schugel said. "He kept us loose, yet kept us focused. It will be strange not having Randy with us that night."

New Ulm entered the Central Plains Tournament in Rapid City where they earned the nickname "The Minnesota Lumber Company." They rolled over all opponents. They disposed of Hays, Kan. 13-1, Cedar Rapids, Iowa 14-9, Rapid City, S.D. 7-1 and Aberdeen, S.D. 7-3 before having to beat Rapid City again for the Central Plains title.

"The Rapid City fans had already reserved 50 rooms in Yakima,Wash. (the site of the 1978 World Series) prior to the game," recalled Wyczawski. But those reservations either went unused or were humbly sold to New Ulm fans as New Ulm hammered Rapid City 11-6 to advance to what once was only a dream but had now become a reality in the World Series.

There, New Ulm lost two heart-breakers, falling to South Houston, Texas 7-5 on a home run before dropping a 9-8 loss to Corvalis, Ore. 9-8.

"Winning that Regional was the highlight of Legion baseball in New Ulm," Wyczawski said. "We scored 52 runs in five games of the regional and had 70 hits. It was a marvelous journey that [not only] this New Ulm team took, but all of New Ulm [took]."

NEXT WEEK: What teams will we probably see here -- who has dominated the Central Plains. And in our final installment, we will follow daily all six state tournaments as they head for "Destination: New Ulm."