Here we are, the week of high school graduations, the week before Memorial Day and less than two weeks from June. The increasing daylight and warming temperatures of May, along with the blooming of the trees, make this time of the year among the best.
There are lots of conflicting viewpoints over the course our nation, state, and local communities should take in the coming weeks as the coronavirus continues to be a threat. There have been signs of it slowing down in some areas. Let’s continue being careful and doing the right things to keep this from flaring up and forcing more shutdowns.
I ended last week’s column with a question about how the Twins did their first year, 1961? After going 73-81 (.474) in their last season as the Washington Senators in 1960, the Minnesota Twins slipped to 70-90 (.438) in ’61 and finished seventh in the expanded 10-team American League. They ended up 38 games behind the Yankees, who were a stellar 109-53 (.673).
The Tigers were second, 101-61 (.623), eight games behind, while the “new” Washington Senators (later to become the Texas Rangers) and the Kansas City Athletics (later moving to Oakland) shared the cellar with records of 61-100 (.393), 47 ½ games from the Yankees.
Wins improved quickly for the Twins who finished second in 1962 with a record of 91-71 (.562), just five games behind the Yankees. They were third in ’63 (91-70, .565), 13 games out, and after slipping to sixth (79-83, .488, 20 behind) in 1964, the Twins had their best regular-season ever in 1965, going 102-60 (.630) and winning the AL by seven games over the second-place Chicago White Sox, 95-67. After winning five straight AL titles, the Yankees slipped to sixth (77-85) in 1965.
Last year’s record of 101-61 (.623) was Minnesota’s second-best ever. The Twins have won 90 or more games 11 other times, including 1967 (91), ’69 (97), ’70 (98), ’88 (91), ’91 (95), ’92 (90), 2002 (94), ’03 (90), ’04 (92), ’06 (96) and 2010 (94).
The Twins worst record in a full season? Recently, 2016 — 59-103 (.364), 35.5 games out of first. When was the only other time with 100 losses? It was during 1982, the team’s first year playing in the Metrodome, when they were 60-102 (.370), 33 games out.
Saluting Cathy!
The end of another school year marks the completion of an amazing career as a teacher and coach for Heron Lake’s Cathy Henkels, who is retiring after many years of teaching physical education at the Alternative Learning Center (ALC) in Windom.
Graduating from HLHS in 1977 as Cathy Garoutte, she was a two-time All-Conference setter in volleyball and a steady two-year starting guard on a basketball team which won 39 of 41 games during the ’75-76 and ’76-77 seasons.
After completing her college degree from Mankato State, Cathy was the assistant volleyball coach for the 1982 Heron Lake-Okabena Scarlet Knights, who capped a brilliant 20-5 season with District 7 and Region 2 championships before finishing third at the state tournament.
A rare accomplishment, Cathy was an important part of two third-place state tournament teams — as a player in basketball in 1977 and as a coach in volleyball in ’82.
A few years later, she was an assistant track and field coach for the combination of Heron Lake-Okabena (known as Southwest Star Concept or SSC then) and Sioux Valley-Round Lake-Brewster when the girls won the 2001 State True Team Championship.
Prior to that, Mrs. Henkels was the head volleyball coach, head girls basketball coach and head track and field coach (both boys and girls) for more than a decade at Sioux Valley-Round Lake-Brewster. More recently, she has been a junior high volleyball and girls’ basketball coach at Windom. After several season as an assistant track coach, specializing in teaching the hurdles, Cathy has been Windom’s head track and field coach for more than a dozen years.
I was fortunate to have the experience of coaching Cathy as a junior in volleyball (fall of ’75) as a senior in basketball (winter of ’76-77) and had her as an assistant track coach at Windom (spring of 2006) and she was terrific in all three capacities. A genuine leader and great teammate as a player, she was such a motivator and an excellent teacher of technique as a hurdles coach.
A former teaching partner at SV-RL-B, John Koller, perhaps summed up Cathy’s steady demeanor best: “She always had a lot of energy and seemed super organized in her work.”
Student-athletes at HL-O, SV-RL-B and Windom were blessed to have been taught and coached by the organized skills and patience of Cathy Henkels — best of luck in your retirement!
