Harman among HOF inductees

(Editor's note -- Six men will be inducted into the New Ulm Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame in a ceremony at 5:30 p.m. Saturday at the Kaiserhoff in New Ulm. Following is a profile of the final three of the six men. Ticket cost for the ceremony is $11, and interested people should contact Bob Skillings for ticket reservation.)

NEW ULM -- Joseph Harman, James Bastian and Bob Wendland III will be three of the six members inducted into the New Ulm Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame Saturday.

JOSEPH HARMAN

Harman, who is now deceased, is one of two nonplayers chosen this year by the selection committee. He was involved in local recreation activities in New Ulm for almost four decades.

Because of his long involvement, the city council honored his memory by renaming West Side Park to Harman Park. A plaque in the park near the First North Street driveway along Garden Street tells some of the background of the long-time city recreation director.

Harman came to New Ulm in 1928 as a teacher and coach, and utilized his own funds to start a park and recreation program in the depression of the 1930s. He was named recreation director in 1936, and held that position until his retirement in 1966.

A large part of Harman's work involved baseball on the playground, high school, American Legion, and amateur levels. A selection committee member said of Harman: "His contribution to New Ulm amateur baseball is a grassroots program that led to the development of almost every local person who played for New Ulm teams over the years."

In 1933, Harman initiated both the American Legion baseball program and the New Ulm High program -- serving as coach for both until 1939. He coached the New Ulm Brewers to a state championship in 1941.

American Legion Post 132 in New Ulm has also recognized Harman's contributions to the Legion baseball program -- inducting him into the Legion Hall of Fame in 1988.

JAMES BASTIAN

Bastian is the other nonplayer chosen by the selection committee, and has been involved in the New Ulm Baseball Association on and off since 1973.

He was a board member from 1973 to 1978, then returned to the board in 1985 and remains there today in his position as president. In his first stint as director, Bastian did public address announcing and kept the press box scorebook. He also served time as board secretary.

Baseball board members average several nights a week at Johnson Park from May into August as they handle the concession stand and press box for high school, Legion, and amateur baseball games. Bastian has also helped promote amateur baseball through his position as a sports writer at The Journal.

A selection committee member said this about Bastian: "He is a strong booster of New Ulm baseball with a positive attitude toward it."

BOB WENDLAND III

Wendland may not have had outstanding statistics as a baseball player during 12 seasons for the New Ulm Brewers and Kaiserhoff, but his work ethic allowed him to play in 162 career games.

His appearance on the mound in 109 contests ties him with 1998 inductee Bruce Johnson for the most pitching performances by a New Ulm player. He was best noted as a pitcher and had five years with an ERA under 2.00, finishing his career with a 2.56 ERA over 447 innings. He never had a losing record as a pitcher, ending with a 35-11 career mark, and averaged just shy of one strikeout per inning -- 421 Ks in 447 innings.

When not pitching, Wendland played more than 50 games in the outfield and ended with a .198 career batting average. His best year was a .294 mark in 1976.

His highlights included a playoff win over Courtland in 1972 and was also part of a combined no-hitter against St. Peter in 1974, going five innings. He also had five career shutouts.

As a high school pitcher for New Ulm Cathedral, Wendland had a 14-6 record with an ERA of 0.96. He also played one summer of Legion ball with a 4-0 mark and a 1.19 ERA.

Wendland's pitching statistics

Year G W-L IP H R ER ERA

1971 18 4-3 61.0 39 21 11 1.62

1972 12 5-1 51.0 24 37 23 1.06

1973 7 4-0 27.1 32 14 11 3.62

1974 17 6-3 86.2 80 48 30 3.12

1975 13 4-2 44.0 48 34 22 4.50

1976 11 4-1 52.0 57 33 23 3.48

1977 7 2-0 29.0 20 16 4 1.24

1978 8 1-1 28.1 22 13 6 1.91

1979 9 4-0 52.2 38 18 10 1.71

1981 4 1-0 11.1 7 6 0 0.00

1982 2 0-0 3.0 2 4 4 ---

1985 1 0-0 1.0 1 0 0 ---

Total 109 35-11 447.1 383 230 127 2.56