Seasons
SEASON: 10 | YEAR: 1958
HEAD COACH: E. W. BOYER
Game 66 | January 30, 1958 | Ted Williams, Joe Cronin, Mike Higgins
For Williams, one of the greatest players in baseball history, it was a return to the city where he won the American Association Triple Crown with the Millers in 1939 when he hit.336 with 43 home runs and 142 RBIs. Cronin, a Hall of Fame infielder; was the Red Sox general manager in 1957, and "Pinky" Higgins was the manager.
(LtoR) Mike Higgins, Chet Roan, Ted Williams, Charlie Johnson (physician), Joe Cronin
Game 67 | February 7, 1958 | Jackie Robinson
The Dunkers was the place to be in early 1958 as Williams was followed a week later by Robinson, the first African American to play in modern Major League Baseball. He played his entire career with the Brooklyn Dodgers and announced his retirement at the end of the 1956 season. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1962 and died 10 years later at age 53.
(LtoR) Bruce Reinecker, Jackie Robinson, Phil Sieff
Game 68 | May 6, 1958 | Bob Richards
The only two-time Olympic winner in the pole vault, Richards later became the face of physical fitness in America when he became the face of the Wheaties Sports Foundation, which encouraged participation in Olympic sports. His connection with General Mills and Wheaties made him a frequent visitor to Minneapolis.
Game 69 | June 24, 1958 | Bob Mathias, Tobin Rote
The track theme continued as Mathias had won the gold medal in the decathlon at both the 1948 and 1952 Olympic Games. He became the first director of the U.S. Olympic Training Center. Rote, one of the great running pro quarterbacks of the 1950s, played for the Green Bay Packers from 1950-1956. He was traded to the Detroit Lions in 1957 and led the team to the league championship in his first season there.
Game 70 | July 9, 1958 | Jackie Pung, Margaret "Wiffi" Smith
A year earlier, Pung, a young Hawaiian golfer, thought she had won the Women's U.S. Open, only to be disqualified on a minor technicality. Smith was one of the top money winners on the women's pro tour in the 1950s.
Game 71 | July 23, 1958 | Calvin Griffith
Civic officials brought Griffith to Minneapolis to make a case for moving his struggling Washington Senators team into the new Metropolitan Stadium. Griffith was most impressed and did move the team here for the 1961 season. The key meeting with Griffith was at Cedric's Restaurant at Vernon Avenue and Highway 100 in Edina. The building today is a funeral chapel owned by long-time Dunker Bill McReavy.
(LtoR) Jerry Moore, Calvin Griffith, Chet Roan (physician)
Game 72 | December 9, 1958 | Nick Kahler
One of the top amateur hockey players in state history, Kahler also founded the enormously popular "Golden Gloves" boxing program and was a major promoter of sporting events throughout the region.