Play Ball! Stew Thornley to give talk on his new book “Minor Treasures: Diamond Gems from the Glory Days of Minnesota Baseball”

The Washington County Historical Society is excited to announce a free talk by Stew Thornley discussing his new book Minor Treasures: Diamond Gems from the Glory Days of Minnesota Baseball on Tuesday, June 28 at 7:00pm at the Washington County Heritage Center. Additionally, co-author and collector Taylor Simons will present pieces from his extensive collection of Minneapolis Millers and St. Paul Saints memorabilia. The Washington County Heritage Center is located at 1862 South Greeley Street, Stillwater, MN 55082. Minor Treasures: Diamond Gems from the Glory Days of Minnesota Baseball will be available for purchase at the event.

Thornley is a prolific author of over 40 nonfiction books for adults and young readers including, Baseball in Minnesota: The Definitive History; Minnesota Hoops: Basketball in the North Star State (co-authored with Marc Hugunin); Holy Cow! The Life and Times of Halsey Hall (named the Best Regional Book of 1991 at the Midwest Book Achievement Awards); The St. Paul Saints: Baseball in the Capital City; and Historic Ballparks of the Twin Cities, to name a few. For young readers Thornley has written biographies about legends from Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant to Derek Jeter and Randy Moss.

In addition to writing, Thornley does “datacasting” for the Minnesota Twins games for the Major League Baseball (MLB) website. Thornley writes, “They have a network of stringers throughout the country who transmit pitch-by-pitch data, which then goes out to the mlb. com website, where you or anyone else can follow the game live.” Thornley has traveled extensively throughout the country to visit the grave markers of every deceased member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

The Washington County Heritage Center will be open at 6pm for event attendees to experience the museum at a discounted rate prior to the event at 7pm. The program will also be available virtually on Zoom. Please visit wchsmn.org/events to register.

The program is free to the public. No reservations are required. For questions, contact Washington County Heritage Center Site Manager Emily Krawczewski at [email protected] wchsmn.org or 651– 439-2298. The Washington

County Heritage Center is open for visitors Tuesday- Sunday from 10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.

Founded in 1934, the Washington County Historical Society is a donor-supported, nonprofit organization with more than 750 individual, family, and business members. WCHS is supported by individual gifts, memberships and earned income, and foundation grants.

Stew Thornley 2021.

Submitted photo

Taylor Simons. Submitted photo

Stew Thornley visiting HIS gravesite! Submitted photo

Taylor Simons with artifacts. Submitted photo