Seasons
SEASON: 40 | YEAR: 1988
HEAD COACH: SCOTT MEYER
Game 354 | January 18, 1988 | Jim Kaat
Five years after he retired from a major-league baseball career that lasted 25 years, Kaat joined the Minnesota Twins broadcast crew. His straight-shooting insightful style earned him a promotion to the CBS network two years later, teaming with Dick Stockton and Greg Gumbel. He served two stints as an announcer with the New York Yankees, in 1986 and from 1994-2006.
Game 355 | February 18, 1988 | Lou Nanne
In 1988 George and Gordon Gund named Nanne President of the North Stars. The team finished last in the Norris Division that season with a record of 19-48-13. Dino Ciccarelli and Brian Bellows led the team in scoring, while Don Beaupre and Kari Takko shared the goaltending duties.
Game 356 | March 24 | Dave Peterson
A three-time Minnesota High School Hockey Coach of the Year at Minneapolis Southwest, Peterson was named to coach the U.S. Olympic Hockey team in 1988 and again in 1992. The 1988 team won two and lost three in Calgary, Alberta. The 1992 team finished fourth in the Albertville, France, games.
Game 357 | April 28, 1988 | Tom Kelly
The Twins traded popular Tom Brunansky to St. Louis for second baseman Tom Herr a week before Kelly appeared at Dunkers. The team won six more games than the 1987 World Championship team, but finished in second, 13 games behind first-place Oakland, which lost to Los Angeles in the World Series. Kirby Puckett finished second to Wade Boggs in the batting race with a .356 average. Frank Viola led the league with 24 victories. Herr hit .263 with one home run and 21 RBIs and was traded for Shane Rawley at the end of the season.
Game 358 | May 13, 1988 | Jim Finks
The former general manager of the Minnesota Vikings left pro football in 1983 to become the president and chief executive officer of the Chicago Cubs. Under his leadership the team won the National League's Eastern Division crown in 1984. Two years later he took over a New Orleans Saints team that had never had a winning season in its 19-year history. His first move was to hire Jim Mora as head coach, and, in just Finks' second season, the team won 12 games and he was named NFL Executive of the Year for the second time.
Game 359 | May 20, 1988 | Lee Meade, Jill Halstead, Ruth Lewanson
The Minnesota Monarchs were the class of the newly formed Major League Volleyball circuit. Meade, a veteran sports promoter; was the general manager of the team which played to large crowds at Augsburg's Melby Hall. Halstead was a former Gopher star; and Lewanson, who had a 37-inch vertical jump, was the league's best player: The team dominated the league and played an independent schedule after the demise of MLV in 1989.
Game 360 | June 16, 1988 | John Gutekunst
With Rickey Foggie gone, the Gopher football team had a rough season in 1988. Chris Gaiters and Darrell Thompson anchored a strong offense, but the defense struggled, and the team slipped to a record of 2-7-2 and failed to win a single Big Ten game.
Game 361 | June 22, 1988 | Kathy Hutchinson, Dean Kutz
Born in Harvey, North Dakota, Kutz rode more than 2,800 winners at Canterbury Downs. Beset by numerous injuries, Kutz, diagnosed with throat cancer in 1999, returned to Canterbury to win his 2,000 race in 2001. He died in 2004, and the Memorial Chapel at what is now Canterbury Park carries his name. Hutchinson was the leading trainer at Canterbury in the early years of the track.
Game 362 | July 19, 1988 | Jerry Burns
The Vikings continued to play well in Burns' third season as head coach. The team compiled an 11-5 record in the regular season and defeated the Rams in the first round of the playoffs before losing to a San Francisco team led by Joe Montana and Jerry Rice. First-round draft choice Randall McDaniel made an immediate impression on the offensive line in front of Wade Wilson, Darrin Nelson and Anthony Carter.
Game 363 | August 9, 1988 | Duane Netland, Patty Berg
It had been 37 years since Berg had been the first female guest speaker in Dunkers history. She won her last tournament in 1962, but continued to appear at clinics around the country, putting on some 16,000 clinics in her career. Netland, a former Minneapolis Tribune sports writer from Willmar; Minnesota, was working on a profile of Berg when they appeared together at Dunkers.
Game 364 | September 22, 1988 | Bill Musselman
Although he coached briefly and successfully for the Gophers from 1971-1975, it was Musselman's more recent success in minor league basketball that appealed most to the new Minnesota Timberwolves ownership when they hired him as their initial coach. ln 1984-'85 he coached the Tampa Bay Thrillers to a 45-18 record. He was 46-19 the following season and 46-16 the next year in Rapid City. His Albany Patroons went 48-6 in 1987-'88. The T'Wolves went 22-60 under Musselman in 1989-'90, their first season in the NBA.
Game 365 | December 13, 1988 | Lou Nanne
One of Nanne's greatest contributions to the Minnesota North Stars came in 1988 when he drafted Mike Modano, a 17-year-old American, with the very first pick in that year's draft. The North Stars finished third in the Norris Division in 1988-89 and lost to St. Louis in the first round of the playoffs. Dave Gagner and Neal Broten were the team's leading scorers, and John Casey played a majority of the games in the nets.
Game 366 | November 15, 1988 | Clem Haskins, Doug Woog
The Gopher basketball team made a major improvement, finishing fifth in the Big Ten in Haskins' third season. Led by Willie Burton, Melvin Newbern and Kevin Lynch, the team won its first two rounds in NCAA post-season play before losing to Duke 87-70 in the Eastern Regionals. Woog's hockey Gophers, led by Tom Chorske, Robb Stauber and Dave Snuggerud, finished with a 34-11-3 record, winning the WCHA and losing in overtime to Harvard in the Frozen Four final in St. Paul.