Upon entering Hamburg, you immediately notice ten giant towers hovering over the city like a flying saucer in a science fiction movie. Upon further investigation, you observe that those towers illuminate one of the best and most ultra-modern baseball facilities in the State of Minnesota. You ask yourself, “How did such a sleepy little village become the home of such an awesome ballpark?” The answer to that question lies in the long and storied history of baseball in Hamburg and its surrounding area.
The Early Years
The game of baseball in Hamburg goes back so far that nobody really knows when it began. We do know that there was a team called the Hamburg Stars around the turn of the century. The well-known battery of pitcher Otto Siewert Sr. and catcher Jerry Englen highlighted Hamburg teams from 1900 through 1920.
Great pitching has always been the hallmark of Hamburg teams. It was no different in the ‘20s and early ‘30s when George “Shorty” Schrader took the mound. In fact, Schrader was drafted by Chaska and played a prominent role helping them to a Class B state championship.
It was about this time that the Crow River Valley League, one of the oldest and most respected in the state, decided to allow teams to hire pitchers. Seeing that this would not be in their best interest, Hamburg decided to play in the Tomahawk League for a couple of seasons. In 1935, Hamburg became a charter member of the Dairy Belt League along with Plato, Winsted, Lake Marion and Lester Prairie. This league only lasted a few years; however, so the locals decided to tough it out against the hired guns of the Crow River Valley League. Despite the absence of hired pitchers, the Hamburg team did very well. The teams in the late ‘30s had to play their home games in Norwood because a housing development replaced the original Hamburg Park. As you will see, this may have been the most significant event in Hamburg Baseball history.
The birth of a “Yard”.
Immediately following World War II, Hamburg became a member of the S-C-S league, which was composed of teams from Arlington, Green Isle, Belle Plaine, Cologne, Carver, Chanhassen, Hydes Lake, Norwood and Hamburg. Because Hamburg still did not have its own park, it played its home games at Green Isle. In 1947, the club purchased four acres on the north side of town and started to build a ballpark. The standing joke around here is that the club has been building it ever since. The park was completed in ’48 and in true Hamburg style a celebration with a parade was held to recognize the event. Many big events have been held at “the best looking 50 year old in the state” since then.
The Hamburg Baseball Club incorporated in April 1950 and has operated as a not-for-profit organization since that date. The Crow River Valley League also re-entered the picture. By this time the league had gone away from hiring pitchers. The ‘50s also saw team fortunes improve somewhat with several second place finishes and a league championship in 1961. In regional play, that team eliminated Rogers, but was beaten by Saint Bonifacius, the eventual state champions.
Going to “The Show”
The ‘60s began what has been a common theme in Hamburg Baseball -- constant improvement of the park. The first lighting system was purchased from Glencoe in ’65 and installed on new 90-foot poles. This was all done with volunteer labor, another common theme in the club’s history. Night baseball seemed to bring out the best in the locals. Under the direction of Manager Loran “Lefty” Graupmann, the team made the state tournament at Jordan in 1969. The ’69 team also decided to adopt Lefty’s other nickname “Hawk”, as their own. On that day “Hawkamania” was born. Hamburg’s first tournament team defeated Windom, but lost to Alexandria by one run in the second round.
Lefty led the club back to the state tournament at St. Cloud in 1974. That team won two games before losing 3-1 to Cyrus in the quarterfinals. 1975 saw the Hawks make another run at the state championship in Delano before losing to Dundas in the semi-finals. These clubs where again known for great pitching with the likes of Jerry Stuewe, Bob “Schpitz” Mueller and drafted Green Isle ace Don “Pumper” Sauter. Hamburg also had its share of sluggers during these state tourney years with Darv Rolf, Doug Will, Tom Kloempken and Mark Willemsen just to name a few. Lefty Graupmann’s contributions as a player, manager and league official were recognized years later when he was named to the Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame.
Building a Legend
The successes of the ‘70s were a financial springboard to the Hamburg Club. A new lighting system was installed in 1977 and a new grandstand was erected in 1981. At the request of long time Hamburg Club player and member Marv Scheele, who was elected to the State Board of Amateur Baseball in 1976, Hamburg began to pursue being a host city to the State Amateur Baseball Tournament. Under the direction of club president Harlan Dammann and long time baseball booster George Droege, Hamburg co-hosted with Arlington the 60th State Amateur Baseball tournament. At the time, many wondered how such a small community could host such a big event. Hamburg is the smallest city to ever do so. Concerns were quickly put to rest as players and fans came in record number to see baseball. The event was such a success that the Board awarded the tournament to Hamburg and Chaska in 1988. Again, records fell. In 1998 Hamburg again co-hosted the 75th Minnesota State Amateur Baseball Tournament along with Chaska. In baseball terms, Hamburg went three for three with yet another modern day attendance record.
The ‘80s and early ‘90s saw the club continue to make constant improvements to the park. When the Metrodome took out their lighting system in 1990, the Hamburg club was waiting at the door. Again with volunteer labor, the club installed another set of new lights. These lights have an impressive history; they hung above the 1987 World Series.
But that wasn’t enough. Knowing far in advance that the club would again be hosting the 1998 state tournament, plans where drawn up by long time club officer Wendell Stuewe for a new grandstand facility. Many long days and nights where spent by, you guessed it, volunteers in the fall of 1994 and spring of 1995 to complete the project. The names of people who made contributions to help build the structure are engraved in its seats for eternity. In the fall of 1997 a new, fully electronic scoreboard was installed thanks to the philanthropy of a couple of Hamburg Baseball boosters.
It should be mentioned that all of this is done without one dime of city or taxpayer money.
Back to the Game
On field success during the ‘80s and ‘90s came and went. Although Hamburg teams are always competitive, league championships were sparse, coming in 1981 and years later in 1992. Again pitching was the theme. Hard throwing Jim Brazil, knuckle-curving Jay “Sudsy” Sutherland and a young John Wroge continued the Hamburg tradition of fine pitching. All of these men where drafted and appeared in state tournaments for other Crow River Clubs.
In the early ‘90s the nucleus began to form for the current Hawk team. 1997 started out disappointing as the club began the season not playing up to expectations. But like a lot of young clubs, improvement can happen as quickly as turning on a light switch. The Hawks defeated Young America in a three game series to earn a regional birth. As the least respected team in the regional, the Hawks quickly turned heads by defeating Glencoe in the first round, and arch rival Green Isle in the second. Hamburg topped it off by defeating New Germany in the final round to achieve its first tournament birth in 22 years. Ironically, it was held in Delano and Maple Lake, where the last Hawk tourney teamed played some two decades ago. Several Hamburg players are the sons and son-in-laws of the players on those glory year teams.
After appearing in the region tournament in 1998 and 1999, the Hawks again broke through to the state tournament held in 2000 at Fairfax and Sleepy Eye. This time losing an extra innings thriller to Elko in the first round.
So now that your questions have been answered, we would like you to sit back and enjoy some exciting baseball action. It is through your continued support that we can improve and invest in the promotion of that great American pastime – Baseball!
Welcome to Hamburg!