Halsey Hall
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Halsey Hall
This article was written by Stew Thornley.
One of the most beloved sports and media personalities Minnesota has ever known, Halsey Hall did a great deal of play-by-play announcing. In 1934 he hooked on with a pair of championship teams. One was Bernie Bierman's Minnesota Gopher football team, which was beginning a string of three straight national titles. He loved the Gophers, and it was Halsey who came up with the now familiar nickname of "Golden Gophers." He was also known to fans who grew up in the state as the color analyst on radio and television broadcasts for the Minnesota Twins. He was a newspaperman first and later combined it with other sidelines, including writing, public speaking, and sports officiating.
Halsey was a man of many trademarks. For many, a mention of his name conjures up images of green onions, cigars, and glasses full of scotch. Others, though, think of stories when they think of Halsey-stories told about him and the tales told by him. Halsey was the consummate raconteur.
For many fans in the 1960s, the best part of a Twins game was a rain delay. That's because Halsey filled the time with stories of baseball from an earlier era and of the colorful characters who had played for the Minneapolis Millers and St. Paul Saints. During rain delays, Halsey was in demand from the opposing team's broadcast crew, as well. They put him on their stations and, as a result, Halsey developed a following in other American League cities.
Just as Halsey could tell stories, there were many stories told about Halsey. Several revolve around his love of distilled beverages and the satchel full of liquor bottles that he lugged along on road trips. If asked about the contents of his bag, he would say it contained reference books. "If that was the case," said Dave Mona, who covered the Twins for the Minneapolis Tribune in the late 1960s, "they were the only reference books I ever knew of that clinked." A cub reporter asked the venerable Mr. Hall why he bothered carrying his own liquor; after all, every town they visited had a bar. "My boy," Halsey replied, "you never know when you'll run into a local election."
Some Halsey stories illustrate his irreverent nature, such as the manner in which he once described the arrival of the Michigan Wolverines onto the gridiron for a game against the Minnesota Gophers. "Michigan comes onto the field in blue jerseys and maize pants. And how they got into Mae's pants, I'll never know."
There was also his fear of flying. Halsey spent a lot of time studying train schedules, hoping to find a way to reach his destination without leaving the ground. He never did warm up to the idea of flying, nor did he endear himself to airline agents when he would approach a ticket counter and ask for "One chance to Chicago." His friends didn't help to ease his anxieties, either. Once, prior to a flight, they arranged to have a pilot walk past Halsey with a seeing-eye dog.
How did this captivating character get to be the way he was? Heredity may have played a part in the interests and aptitudes that Halsey was to develop. The Hall family tree is a fascinating one. Many of Halsey's ancestors were prominent citizens in their own right. His maternal grandfather was a distinguished Missouri judge and his mother, Mary Hall, a noted Shakespearean actress. In the 1920s, Mary Hall was described as the "greatest stock actress alive today."
Halsey had little contact with his mother throughout his life. His parents were divorced when he was a baby, and he was raised by his father's side of the family. On his father's side was a long line of newspapermen. Halsey's father, Smith B. Hall, was a publicist and newspaper reporter who chronicled the growth of Minneapolis. His great uncle, Harlan P. Hall, was a co-founder of the St. Paul Dispatch.
With this lineage, it's hardly surprising that Halsey was born with ink in his veins. He entered the newspaper profession upon his discharge from the Navy in 1919. His first byline appeared in the Minneapolis Tribune in November of that year. Halsey wrote for several newspapers in the Twin Cities on both sides of the Mississippi. He jumped to the St. Paul Pioneer Press in 1922; a few years later he came back to Minneapolis to join the sports staff of the Journal. After the Journal was purchased by the Minneapolis Star, Halsey's byline appeared in both the Star and Tribune. Halsey's descriptive and highly colorful writing style was enjoyed by fans not just in the Twin Cities but across the country. On several occasions, his articles were included in national publications that recognized the best sports stories of the year.
Halsey shared a half-hour news block with Cedric Adams on WCCO radio at 10 p.m. So popular was the duo that when their segment ended every evening, airline pilots reported that they could see the lights in homes darken in droves throughout WCCO's listening area. He also started broadcasting games for the Minneapolis Millers, a minor league baseball team that was in the midst of winning three American Association pennants in four years.
A full-time writing and broadcasting career would be more than enough to fill a person's time, but Halsey was able to fit in a couple of other sidelines into his schedule. He was one of the area's most highly regarded referees of football and basketball games. He officiated primarily at the high school and college level, although he also worked a handful of games in the National Football League on the two occasions that Minneapolis had a team in the NFL in the 1920s.
Halsey also stayed busy as a public speaker. He became the area's leading toastmaster, regaling hundreds of audiences throughout the region as a speaker and as a master of ceremonies. Hubert Humphrey, himself a prolific orator, once called Halsey "one of the few men who has given more speeches in Minnesota than I have."
In 1961, Halsey became a member of the original broadcast crew for the Minnesota Twins. For many years his partners on Twins broadcasts were Herb Carneal and Ray Scott. They both loved Halsey even though they may not of been too fond of some of his habits-particularly his copious consumption of green onions and his cigars. "Halsey always enjoyed a good cigar," Herb Carneal once said. "Unfortunately, those weren't the kind he smoked."
Halsey's cigar caused all kinds of discomfort for his broadcast partners. During a game in Chicago in 1968, the ashes of Halsey's cigar ignited a large mass of ticker tape paper that had piled up on the press box floor. Smoke drifted upward, and Halsey turned to see his sport coat, which was draped over his chair, in flames. The fire was brought under control, but not before a large hole had been burned in his jacket.
News of the conflagration reached Minnesota and, when the Twins returned from their road trip, the 3M Company of St. Paul presented Halsey with an asbestos sport coat. Twins catcher Jerry Zimmerman said, "Halsey's the only man I know who can turn a sports coat into a blazer."
His colleagues maintain that life with Halsey was always an adventure-both on and off the air.
Many fans recall his mixed-up description of a promotion at the ballpark in which all those attending received a free pair of pantyhose. "In promotions here tonight," he announced, "it's pantywaist night."
Halsey received numerous awards through the years, but his greatest may have come in 1966 with a testimonial dinner at which more than 1,700 people turned out to honor him. Bill Veeck, the former baseball executive, was one of the speakers on the program and commented on the size of the gathering. Veeck referred to his days as owner of the hapless St. Louis Browns and said, "With this kind of a crowd, we would have played a doubleheader!"
Besides "Holy Cow!" another favorite saying of Halsey's was "Same house, same wife, same suit-must be the gypsy in me!" This expression may well have summed up the simple approach to life he followed away from the public eye. While he may have owned more than one suit in his life, Halsey and his wife, Sula, did live in the same house on Alabama Avenue in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, for 55 years.
In 1985, Minnesota members of the Society for American Baseball Research organized themselves into a regional chapter and named themselves after Halsey. In November of 1989, Halsey was inducted into the Minnesota Sports Hall of Fame. But the greatest encomiums are the memories that remain in the minds of those who knew him best. Upon Halsey's death, Dick Cullum, his newspaper colleague and close friend, provided what may be the most fitting eulogy: "Halsey Hall laughed his way through life, and he kept the rest of us laughing, too."
This article was written by Stew Thornley.
One of the most beloved sports and media personalities Minnesota has ever known, Halsey Hall did a great deal of play-by-play announcing. In 1934 he hooked on with a pair of championship teams. One was Bernie Bierman's Minnesota Gopher football team, which was beginning a string of three straight national titles. He loved the Gophers, and it was Halsey who came up with the now familiar nickname of "Golden Gophers." He was also known to fans who grew up in the state as the color analyst on radio and television broadcasts for the Minnesota Twins. He was a newspaperman first and later combined it with other sidelines, including writing, public speaking, and sports officiating.
Halsey was a man of many trademarks. For many, a mention of his name conjures up images of green onions, cigars, and glasses full of scotch. Others, though, think of stories when they think of Halsey-stories told about him and the tales told by him. Halsey was the consummate raconteur.
For many fans in the 1960s, the best part of a Twins game was a rain delay. That's because Halsey filled the time with stories of baseball from an earlier era and of the colorful characters who had played for the Minneapolis Millers and St. Paul Saints. During rain delays, Halsey was in demand from the opposing team's broadcast crew, as well. They put him on their stations and, as a result, Halsey developed a following in other American League cities.
Just as Halsey could tell stories, there were many stories told about Halsey. Several revolve around his love of distilled beverages and the satchel full of liquor bottles that he lugged along on road trips. If asked about the contents of his bag, he would say it contained reference books. "If that was the case," said Dave Mona, who covered the Twins for the Minneapolis Tribune in the late 1960s, "they were the only reference books I ever knew of that clinked." A cub reporter asked the venerable Mr. Hall why he bothered carrying his own liquor; after all, every town they visited had a bar. "My boy," Halsey replied, "you never know when you'll run into a local election."
Some Halsey stories illustrate his irreverent nature, such as the manner in which he once described the arrival of the Michigan Wolverines onto the gridiron for a game against the Minnesota Gophers. "Michigan comes onto the field in blue jerseys and maize pants. And how they got into Mae's pants, I'll never know."
There was also his fear of flying. Halsey spent a lot of time studying train schedules, hoping to find a way to reach his destination without leaving the ground. He never did warm up to the idea of flying, nor did he endear himself to airline agents when he would approach a ticket counter and ask for "One chance to Chicago." His friends didn't help to ease his anxieties, either. Once, prior to a flight, they arranged to have a pilot walk past Halsey with a seeing-eye dog.
How did this captivating character get to be the way he was? Heredity may have played a part in the interests and aptitudes that Halsey was to develop. The Hall family tree is a fascinating one. Many of Halsey's ancestors were prominent citizens in their own right. His maternal grandfather was a distinguished Missouri judge and his mother, Mary Hall, a noted Shakespearean actress. In the 1920s, Mary Hall was described as the "greatest stock actress alive today."
Halsey had little contact with his mother throughout his life. His parents were divorced when he was a baby, and he was raised by his father's side of the family. On his father's side was a long line of newspapermen. Halsey's father, Smith B. Hall, was a publicist and newspaper reporter who chronicled the growth of Minneapolis. His great uncle, Harlan P. Hall, was a co-founder of the St. Paul Dispatch.
With this lineage, it's hardly surprising that Halsey was born with ink in his veins. He entered the newspaper profession upon his discharge from the Navy in 1919. His first byline appeared in the Minneapolis Tribune in November of that year. Halsey wrote for several newspapers in the Twin Cities on both sides of the Mississippi. He jumped to the St. Paul Pioneer Press in 1922; a few years later he came back to Minneapolis to join the sports staff of the Journal. After the Journal was purchased by the Minneapolis Star, Halsey's byline appeared in both the Star and Tribune. Halsey's descriptive and highly colorful writing style was enjoyed by fans not just in the Twin Cities but across the country. On several occasions, his articles were included in national publications that recognized the best sports stories of the year.
Halsey shared a half-hour news block with Cedric Adams on WCCO radio at 10 p.m. So popular was the duo that when their segment ended every evening, airline pilots reported that they could see the lights in homes darken in droves throughout WCCO's listening area. He also started broadcasting games for the Minneapolis Millers, a minor league baseball team that was in the midst of winning three American Association pennants in four years.
A full-time writing and broadcasting career would be more than enough to fill a person's time, but Halsey was able to fit in a couple of other sidelines into his schedule. He was one of the area's most highly regarded referees of football and basketball games. He officiated primarily at the high school and college level, although he also worked a handful of games in the National Football League on the two occasions that Minneapolis had a team in the NFL in the 1920s.
Halsey also stayed busy as a public speaker. He became the area's leading toastmaster, regaling hundreds of audiences throughout the region as a speaker and as a master of ceremonies. Hubert Humphrey, himself a prolific orator, once called Halsey "one of the few men who has given more speeches in Minnesota than I have."
In 1961, Halsey became a member of the original broadcast crew for the Minnesota Twins. For many years his partners on Twins broadcasts were Herb Carneal and Ray Scott. They both loved Halsey even though they may not of been too fond of some of his habits-particularly his copious consumption of green onions and his cigars. "Halsey always enjoyed a good cigar," Herb Carneal once said. "Unfortunately, those weren't the kind he smoked."
Halsey's cigar caused all kinds of discomfort for his broadcast partners. During a game in Chicago in 1968, the ashes of Halsey's cigar ignited a large mass of ticker tape paper that had piled up on the press box floor. Smoke drifted upward, and Halsey turned to see his sport coat, which was draped over his chair, in flames. The fire was brought under control, but not before a large hole had been burned in his jacket.
News of the conflagration reached Minnesota and, when the Twins returned from their road trip, the 3M Company of St. Paul presented Halsey with an asbestos sport coat. Twins catcher Jerry Zimmerman said, "Halsey's the only man I know who can turn a sports coat into a blazer."
His colleagues maintain that life with Halsey was always an adventure-both on and off the air.
Many fans recall his mixed-up description of a promotion at the ballpark in which all those attending received a free pair of pantyhose. "In promotions here tonight," he announced, "it's pantywaist night."
Halsey received numerous awards through the years, but his greatest may have come in 1966 with a testimonial dinner at which more than 1,700 people turned out to honor him. Bill Veeck, the former baseball executive, was one of the speakers on the program and commented on the size of the gathering. Veeck referred to his days as owner of the hapless St. Louis Browns and said, "With this kind of a crowd, we would have played a doubleheader!"
Besides "Holy Cow!" another favorite saying of Halsey's was "Same house, same wife, same suit-must be the gypsy in me!" This expression may well have summed up the simple approach to life he followed away from the public eye. While he may have owned more than one suit in his life, Halsey and his wife, Sula, did live in the same house on Alabama Avenue in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, for 55 years.
In 1985, Minnesota members of the Society for American Baseball Research organized themselves into a regional chapter and named themselves after Halsey. In November of 1989, Halsey was inducted into the Minnesota Sports Hall of Fame. But the greatest encomiums are the memories that remain in the minds of those who knew him best. Upon Halsey's death, Dick Cullum, his newspaper colleague and close friend, provided what may be the most fitting eulogy: "Halsey Hall laughed his way through life, and he kept the rest of us laughing, too."
