SPORTS IN THE PARK

St. Louis Park has a long tradition of athletics. The following are just a very few examples. Please contact us with any additions, corrections, or stories. (See separate page for Golf history.)  Thanks to John Froom and Don Schimmel for their additions.

On June 25, 1894, the Village Council received a letter protesting the public playing of baseball on Sunday. Action taken unknown.

In 1910, L.L. "Doc" Brown was manager of the baseball team and remained active in baseball in the Park for many years. In the 1930’s he was the official scorekeeper for the Park team. Ben Brown says, “You could take his score book years later and follow the game right through the final out.”

In 1911, Bert Baston signed up for high school football at the age of 14 and made history as the first All-American from St. Louis Park.

In 1914, Mr. F.M. Moon, Manager of the St. Louis Park Base Ball Club, convinced the Village Council to provide $50 to grade the Ball Park. In 1916, the baseball team was reimbursed $50 for their work on the ballpark.

Parkites may have traveled to see the ill-fated Twin City Raceway, 1915-17.

The "Williams Brothers Independents" basketball team toured the Twin Cities and outstate areas in 1924-25.  The brothers were Pete, Howard, Spike, Stoge, Ken, and Warren Williams and cousin George Gibson.  The team was coached by Fred Ohde, and uncle. 

Earl Bartholome, 4140 Brunswick played 18 seasons of professional hockey, from 1933 to 1952, first with Rochester, NY, with the AHL.  Younger brother Kenneth Bartholomew was an outstanding speed skater.

Softball was organized into a league in 1934. The game, originally called “kitten ball” after the original team called the Kittens, was invented in 1895 at Minneapolis’s Engine House No. 19 by Lt. Louis Rober. The game was invented to pass the time at the fire station, and the teams were initially all sponsored by fire stations. The game became known as “Diamond Ball” in 1925, and in 1934 the Amateur Softball Association was formed and the game was renamed softball. But St. Louis Park still used the term kitten ball, as reported in a 1942 story of the Brookside Aggies (boys).

In 1934, the new Highway 7 cut right through the area that had been used for the high school's athletic field, so in September 1935 a new field was dedicated.  The Hennepin County Review reports that "A colorful procession was part of the occasion, in which flag bearers, faculty members, the 'peptimists' and the contesting teams took part."  The bad news was that "Wayzata emerged victorious, 36-0, in a game that saw many substitutions." 

The St. Louis Park football team of 1936 beat the Village of Bloomington 7 to 0 on the new Oriole football field. The two teams did not play each other again until 1954 when Bloomington became a member of the Lake Conference.

Don Schimmel reports:  "Park had a hockey team before WWII, introduced in 1940, and coached by Carl Carlson (honest). Carl also coached the 1941 team, but as far as I can figure out, hockey was discontinued after that, and wasn’t started up again until after WWII."

Boys' hockey resumed at Park in 1946 at a rink located where Central Community Center is now.  Boys' gym teacher Pete Zanna volunteered to coach the new team, even though he didn't even know how to skate.  Zanna was head coach from 1946-1968, and Assistant Coach frin 1968 to 1972.  Rex Pickett wrote an account of the development of the program, called "Outside to Inside:  The Origins of Lake Conference High School Hockey."  The article was published in the hockey newspaper Let's Play Hockey.  Thanks to John Froom for sending this to us. 

The Minneapolis Lakers, led by George Mikan, brought pro basketball to Minnesota in 1947.

The softball season was successful in 1948, with teams being fielded by the VFW, Christy’s, Rodgers Hydraulic, and the American Legion.

On December 14, 1948, the New York Giants baseball team announced that they were building a $1.5 million stadium called Candlestick Park on the corner of Highway 12/Wayzata Blvd. and Zarthan. The stadium ultimately got built in Bloomington and the Giants went to San Francisco.

Jim Mattson was all state for St Louis Park in 1949 State Hockey Tournament and had a 60 plus save performance or more at the tournament. He went on to All American goalie in the early '50s at the U of M with John Mayasich as a teammate. He played pro goalie for the Green Bay Bobcats minor league hockey many years after. Mattson is related to the great Passolt dynasty of the 1970s.

Local Little League started with a meeting at the home of Warren (Tup) Way of Minnetonka.  In attendance were Bob Reid and Howard Merriman (Edina), Carl Hensel and Harold Strot  (Minnetonka), Paul Jorgenson (Hopkins), and Fred and Lou Johnson (St. Louis Park).  Hensel had witnessed Little League on a trip to Williamsport, Penn., where it was founded by Carl Stotz in 1939 as a three-team league.  The league started in 1951 with one team each from Edina, Hopkins, Minnetonka and Park, and that year games were played at a temporary field in Hopkins. The coaches were Reid, Jorgenson, Strot, and the Johnsons.  The first Little League game played by St. Louis Park was against Hopkins.    

A meeting was held on January 23, 1952 at Village Hall to organize an Athletic Association. Shorty Dale was named Temporary Chairman.

Skippy Field made its debut for the 1952 Little League season when the Village leased part of Carpenter Park to Little League Baseball of Minnesota, Inc. In 1952, Park Department employee Elmer “Shorty” Dale convinced the park board to lease the property that would become Skippy Field, and convinced the Skippy Peanut Butter Plant on Highway 7 to provide the $4,000 needed to construct the park. Little League caught on fast, and by 1955, St. Louis Park had 8 teams. A minor league diamond was added in 1959 and dedicated to Shorty Dale, the godfather of Little League in St. Louis Park.  See the article about Skippy Field from the Re-Echo.

Adult slow pitch softball was also introduced in 1952, due to the efforts of Recreation Director Dorothea Nelson. From an initial four teams, as many as 240 teams have participated in later years.

1952 was the year the Park Athletic Association was formed, meeting for the first time on February 6. The group’s goal was to ensure that a program of competitive athletics was available to all boys and girls in the Park. First President of the organization was Otis Dypwick, sports information director at the University of Minnesota. Other officers were Dr. Walter Johnson, B.E. Stoltman, and Jack Dunsworth.

In June 1953, Jerry Longabaugh headed up the St. Louis Park Soft Ball Club.

Terry Bartholome, Class of 1954, signed with the Detroit Tigers in 1957 or 1958 for $40,000 and a bonus of $10,000. The contract had its plusses and minuses. Since Terry was also an outstanding hockey player at Park and the U of M (he roomed with Herb Brooks), he likely would have been chosen for the U. S. Olympic Team in 1960, as 1954 teammate Bob Owen was, but since he had "turned pro," he was ineligible to be on the U. S. team at that time.

In 1955, 6 ft. 7 in. center Warren Jeppesen scored 47 points against Edina in an 86-67 victory, a new Lake Conference individual scoring record.  Jeppeson made 17 field goals and 13 free throws.

Bob Reith was named to the all tournament hockey team at the State tournament in 1958.  He was also a star golfer.

1958 graduate Don Brose played in the State hockey tournament in 1958 with SLP (and Bob Reith) and is in the NCAA coaches hall of fame.  He started coaching as a 19 year-old player coach at Concordia and after a few years he coached for 38 seasons (1962-2000) at Mankato State.  He won a total of 540 games as a head coach.  

Babe Ruth Southern Baseball League (as opposed to Little League) played at Acme Field at Princeton and 36th in 1959.  The field was owned by the City.

Long-time MLB Pitcher Tom Niedenfuer was born in August 1959 at Methodist Hospital and lived his early years on Xenwood Ave. in the Park.  He pitched for the LA Dodgers and the Baltimore Orioles in his 9 year career from 1981-1990.

"Arnold Palmer Thrilled Park Fans in 1959 PGA."  He participated in the PGA tournament at the Minneapolis Golf Club.

In 1960, Bob Owen was on the U.S. Olympic hockey team and was the first Parkite to win a gold medal.  Owen was All-Lake Conference and All-State at Park High, where he graduated in 1954.  He went on to Harvard, where he was named All-Ivy League.  His St. Louis Park address was 4305 Brook Ave. So. His father was Ed E. Owen, who worked for Parks and Rec and served as a City Councilman.  He played hockey in Duluth in 1934, and had a brief stint as a professional in Duluth before coming to St. Louis Park.

Al Druskin, Class of 1960, signed with the Twins in 1964.

In September 1962, the championship Police Federation Little League team was honored at an award ceremony at Skippy Field, attended by Minnesota Twin Bob Allison. The Ewald team was runner-up.

1962 - St. Louis Park captured the State Boys Basketball Championship defeating over 480 schools for the prize. The tournament was a one-class 8 team event back then.

Lion’s Field was located at the SW corner of Highway 7 and the Minnesota Northfield and Southern Railroad. It had to be abandoned because of the pollution that came from National Lead.

From 1965 until 1983, the Parkettes were cheerleaders for the Vikings.

1965 graduate Bob Stein was an All-American football end at Park High where he also played varsity baseball and basketball. Stein went to the U of M where he was a 2-time All-American and was drafted in 1969 by the KC Chiefs of the NFL. He played in January of 1970 in Super Bowl IV against the Vikings and is the YOUNGEST person ever to play in a Super Bowl still. He was born January 22, 1948 and was only 21 years old at Super Bowl IV. He went on to play six more years in the NFL, with the Chiefs, Los Angeles Rams and finished in 1975 with the Minnesota Vikings. His last NFL game was the 1975 NFC playoff game against Dallas (Hail Mary catch game). He went on to get a law degree and was an NBA player agent for many years. In 1987 he was named the first President of the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves, a position he retained until 1994, when the team was sold to Glen Taylor.

In 1968, Parkite David Skoog was drafted by the Minnesota Twins.

In 1970, Parkite Bruce Wachutka was drafted by the Minnesota Twins.

Jeff Diamond, 1971 grad, was a long time President of the Tennessee Titans NFL team and was formerly the president of the Minnesota Vikings.  He worked in the NFL for over thirty years. 

In 1972, Parkite Rick Dominik was drafted by the Chicago White Sox.

Boxer George Foreman’s wife Adrienne gave birth to daughter Michi on January 6, 1973 at Methodist Hospital. Mrs. Foreman lived in South Minneapolis. George beat Joe Frazier for the Heavyweight Championship on January 22, 1973.

Al Beal, a Park graduate who attended St. Olaf, was on the all-Midwestern Conference football team 3 times (at least) as of 1973. He was also on the Lutheran Brotherhood All-Lutheran team.

1973 graduate Chuck Engel was MVP of the State American Legion tournament and played four years of baseball at St. Cloud State.  He played two years of minor league ball in 1978-79.

Mark Trestman was a 1974 graduate who played college football and became the head football coach for CFL's Montreal Allouettes.  He also coached for the Vikings, North Carolina State, and the University of Miami. 

In 1974, Parkite Larry Goldetsky was drafted twice, including in the third round to Montreal in 1975 and the Kansas City Royals.  He was a minor league player and coach for 8 years. 

1974 Park graduate Scott Rosenthal pitched for Dick Siebert's Minnesota Gophers from 1975-1978. 

1974 grad Danny Passolt was a 9 letter winner and captain of the 1974 Hockey team and All Conference in hockey and Soccer. He went on to play for the University of North Dakota Sioux for two years after high school.

Danny Johnson was a Golden Gloves boxer (1975) who had been on the varsity football and wrestling teams at Park High.

1975 grad Jeffrey Passolt played hockey at St Louis Park then went on to play at St. Cloud State for four years in 1977-80. He is inducted in the SCSU Sports hall of Fame and is FOX 9 News Lead Nighttime Anchor.

1976 graduate Reid Goldetsky was an All-American gymnast in high school at Park High and was a scholarship gymnast for the Golden Gophers.

1978 graduate Johnny Passolt lead the Lake Conference in scoring (hockey) with 35 goals 23 assists in 1978.  He was a member of the NCAA Championship team at Minnesota State - Mankato in 1980, coached by Park Alumnus Don Brose. Johnny was all conference in hockey and soccer and is in the Minnesota State-Mankato Athletic Hall of Fame. He is the fourth leading scorer (hockey) in the history of the school. Johnny is also the head golf pro at a course in Hayward, Wisconsin and also designed the course.

In 1980, Mike Olson was the second round draft pick  for the Kansas City Royals (38th overall). He was considered the greatest fastball in the history of Minnesota high school baseball.  He could throw 98 mph.  He went on to play three years of minor league ball.  Mike is now the Head Varsity Coach at Edina High School.

1980 graduate Jim Peterson was the first McDonalds High School All-American basketball player ever from Minnesota.  He played for four years for the U of M and nine seasons in the NBA.  He is currently a WNBA coach for the Minnesota Lynx and commentator during Timberwolves broadcasts.

1980 graduate Terry Leinendecker was a first team all-state soccer goalie at Park and went on to become a three-time All-American goalie at St. John's.  He also played professionally.

The Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome opened in 1982.

1983 graduate Benjy Kent played college soccer at the University of Wisconsin and later professionally.  He is currently (2010) the Head Coach for the SLP girls soccer team.

1985 graduate David Solseth attended Grandview College in Iowa and was slected in 30th round of the 1989 draft.  He played three years of minor league baseball hitting over .300 in 1989.

Amy Davidson, a 1986 Park graduate, led her team to the state title and played four years of college ball at Kansas State.

1987 graduate Kathy Blair participated in three state basketball tourneys at Park and attended Indiana University on a basketball scholarship. She was a state qualifier in several track events as well.

The Historical Society has a framed proclamation recognizing Dennis Koslowski, who won a bronze medal in Greco-Roman wrestling in the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, Heavyweight Division. This was the first medal won by an American in Greco-Roman wrestling in an Olympics attended by Eastern European competitors. His brother Duane competed in the Super Heavyweight division. Since 1984, Dennis had won five national Greco-Roman titles, two silver medals in the Pan American games, and a silver at the 1987 World Championships.

1992 graduate Amber Dewall was a star guard on the Park girls basketball team and attended Northwestern University (Big Ten) on a basketball scholarship.

Erik Rasmussen, class of 1995, was named "Mr. Hockey" for the State of Minnesota.  He went on to play two years at the U of M and nine years in the NHL. 

1998 Park graduate T.J. Bohn became the first Park graduate to ever play in the majors when he appeared in games in 2006 for the Seattle Mariners and 2008 for the Philadelphia Phillies.

1998 graduate Aaron McEachran was all-conference in hockey and baseball at Park. He attended Northern Iowa (D1) on a baseball scholarship and was a 17th round draft pick of the Toronto BLue Jays in 2001. He played three years in the minors with the Jays and three additional years in independent baseball.

In 1998, Park went to the Boys' State Hockey Tournament. 

In 2001, Parkite Aaron McEachran was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team.

In 2002, Parkite T.J. Bohn was drafted by the Seattle Mariners baseball team.

In 2003, Park went to the Boys' State Hockey Tournament.

2006 graduate Andy Sackrison currently plays D1 hockey for Minnesota State-Mankato. Andy was a 5th round pick in the NHL draft in 2006 by the St. Louis Blues.

In 2009-10, St. Louis Park High School had three All-American hockey players that attended Gustavus Adolphus College. Park became the FIRST high school in the USA, to EVER have more than two players honored in the same year. Quite a feat. David Martinson (2004 graduate) was named a 1st Team All-American and was the Hobey Baker Award winner for being the "Best Division 3 Player in the USA" during 2009-10.  Josh Swartout (2006) and Mitch Carlson (2004) were second-team All-Americans.

BOYS' HEAD HOCKEY COACHES

1946-1968:  Pete Zanna

ST. LOUIS PARK ATHLETIC HALL OF FAME

One of the originators of this program, Don Schimmel, describes how it came to be:

It was Bill Hammerlund's idea in the first place, and he was encouraged by the real guru of Twin City High School Athletic Halls of Fame, Don Swanson, both of whom were teammates on the Gustavus football team in the early 1950s. Don was the long-time football coach at Patrick Henry (the football field at Henry was named for him). He was a 1949 graduate of Mpls. South, and I think he got a HOF going there, as well as at Henry, and Mpls. Edison, too. And there are probably others--Washburn and Roosevelt come to mind.
 

In 2003 or 2004, the 3 of us met with Andy Ewald, the High School Athletic Director, to discuss the idea, and it took off from there. I put together the bylaws, Andy contacted Deb Wold and Phil Frerk, and the 5 of us got it going. Other original members of the HOF Committee included Linda Gust (coach of the Girls Synchronized Swimming), Monika Schmitz Fraser (Class of 1980), Ben Brown (Class of 1934), and Al Wachutka (Class of 1979).

The 2005 induction event was held on September 29 at the Minneapolis Golf Club, with 26 inductees.

The 2007 induction dinner was held on October 4 at the Minneapolis Golf Club with 22 inductees. 

The 2009 ceremony was held on September 10 at the Doubletree Hotel with 15 inductees.

The 2011 ceremony was held on September 22 at the Doubletree Hotel with 11 inductees.  Channel 9 news anchor Jeff Passolt was the master of ceremonies.  A new feature was the Team of Distinction, won by the 1962 boys' basketball team, which won the State championship that year. 

The inductees with the year inducted are:

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This information comes from a variety of sources: newspapers, books, yearbooks, phone directories, interviews, etc. Given the varied sources, we cannot guarantee that all of this information is correct, and welcome any additions and corrections. Please contact us with your contributions and comments.