Sports Memories by Tom Jones
Some of the readers of this weekly column may remember or even have a copy of a special section put out by the Albert Lea Tribune celebrating the 100th anniversary of Freeborn County in 1957.
Tom Jones
Inside this edition was a story with the headline of “American Gas plant burns as 3,000 watch ball game,” which was a look back at a big fire on Aug. 3, 1913, at the plant that was near Fountain Lake about where City Hall now stands. The article stated even the firefighters stayed to watch the game as the fire was going on.
The account of the game said trains, horse and buggies and every conveyance imaginable had worked their way to West Clark Street for a big game between the Albert Lea and Owatonna baseball teams.
It was going to be quite a match of pitchers as Owatonna was starting Bill (Chesty) Beyers, who had recently signed with the Boston Red Sox for the hefty sum of $2,500, facing off with Albert Lea’s “Doc Griffin.” Beyers was set to pitch this game before heading east to further his baseball career. In searching online sites, I don’t find a record of Beyers playing in the big leagues. Earlier in the season, Beyers had held the Albert Lea team to two-hits in a 3-0 victory for Owatonna.
Owatonna scored first when a player named Gatwick stole home in the first inning. The same player hid the game ball in his shirt after Albert Lea’s Jack Hill had doubled in the third inning and tagged him out after he had left the base. In the fourth inning, a couple of errors and a wild pitch from Beyers, along with a double by Albert Lea’s Nysteun, gave the locals a 2-1 lead. Owatonna scored two in the sixth, but Albert Lea jumped right back with two runs of their own to lead 4-3 after six.
It was in the eighth inning when everything broke loose. It was during this inning that the fire alarm rang, signaling the fire. It was also in this frame that Albert Lea collected eight runs on five hits including a home run from Joe Lynch that led Albert Lea to a 12-3 win. For his big round-tripper, Lynch earned a box of cigars, a $10 check from the baseball association and $19 in cash from the fans.
In the game Joe Kutina played right field for Albert Lea after coming off a two-year stint with the American League’s St. Louis Browns, where he had played in 95 games in 1911 and 1912, hitting .222 with four home runs. Records show he also played part of 1913 with the Montgomery Rebels of minor league baseball’s Southern Association.
Besides the damage Albert Lea did to the Owatonna team, the estimated fire loss at the American Gas Company was $35,000.
Alumni accolade
Gretta Melstad, a 1994 graduate of Albert Lea High School who just completed her 19th season as the head coach for the Augustana University softball team in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, was recently honored for the sixth time as the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference’s Coach of the Year after leading the Vikings to a 50-11 record this spring.
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