From the beautiful shores of Howard Lake we bring you baseball, Orphans Baseball! If it's
not a great lakeshore view, the voice of the Orphans, Dan Fogarty, announcing the
"beer-batter", or a free Bergie's pizza that draws you to Memorial park, it must be the boys of
summer in red and gray named the Orphans. The O's have come a long way since the days of
the Howard Lake Blue Sox, which was the team's nickname when they started in 1905.
The question comes up every year from visiting fans, how exactly did Howard Lake get
labeled the Orphans. In 1947 Howard Lake had no home field to play on because of new
lights going up and a remodeled outfield, and as a result played all of their home games in
Cokato. So what do you name a team that has no home? Why not call them Orphans? So
that is what the Howard Lake team came to be known and the name has stuck.
Amateur baseball has had quite a nice history in Howard Lake. Over 65 years of baseball has
been played by the local boys, and four state tournament appearances have come as a result,
the first being in 1951. Three of them have been in the past nine years, 1995, 1998, and most
recently in 2001.
The Howard Lake teams of the 1920's played at the Fairgrounds in Howard Lake, until in the
late 1920's when Gawn Workman purchased Memorial Park for $300. Howard Lake finally
had a true home field of their own. The war years of 1942-1946 ceased town team baseball in
Howard Lake, but as the soldiers came back, so did baseball in Howard Lake. Orphan
baseball thrived for twenty years in Howard Lake until the team folded in 1967. A long period
without baseball lasted through the '70's and '80's until 1991 and '92 when they had a short
two year stint in the Crow River League.
In 1995, after two years without amateur baseball in Howard Lake, Mike Gagnon and Kevin
Gruenhagen started the team back up again. With a few experienced vets, namely Kevin
Brown, Bill Kinziger, Chad Gagnon, and Paul Wackler, as well as some recent graduates from
Howard Lake High School, the Orphans raised some eyebrows and made it to state as a
rookie team out of the North Star League. They traveled north to Perham, MN and were
beaten 7-4 by the Gaylord Islanders that year. Three years later the Orphans were back at
state, only to beaten by the Watkins Clippers 4-1 in Hamburg, MN. The O's most recent state
tourney appearance occurred in 2001, when they lost a heartbreaker to the Sleepy Eye
Indians by the score of 8-7 in Miesville, MN.
Over the past nine years, the Orphans have posted a 158-121 record, for a .566 winning
percentage. The O's have had eight out of nine winning seasons, including two twenty plus
win seasons, which occurred in 2001 and 2003, with twenty-one, and twenty-four wins
respectively.
The Orphans home, Memorial Park, located on the shores of Howard Lake has been
transformed into one of the premier ballparks in Minnesota amateur baseball. In the past ten
years there have been many new additions to Memorial Park, such as a grass infield, an
announcer's stand, a sprinkler system, a permanent outfield fence, various signs, logos, and
decorations, a new scoreboard, and the newest addition to the ballpark, a seating area behind
home plate. All of these projects would not be possible without the dedication and help of
many volunteers, who have given so much for their Orphans. To all of those volunteers -
Thank you.
See you at the ballpark!