The Millers & The Saints

A Baseball Documentary

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  • Approaching the end of the 3rd Edit.

    Approaching the end of the 3rd Edit.

    June 25, 2021

    Today is Thursday June 24th. I didn’t sleep much last night. My mind was turning over the points and phrases I was planning on writing as soon as I got up. This turning started about 4am. I forced myself to stay in bed and at least rest until 6am. Then I got up.

    After feeding my dog and myself I climbed the stairs and sat in my office. As soon as the computer lit up I had the narrator’s words jumping off of my fingers.

    Working on a page at a time, I’d write, then record, then edit the narration and drop the appropriate images in place. By three o’clock I was able to sit back and watch a little over eight new minutes of the documentary.

    The screen shot accompanying this post displays the 1959 Junior World Series between the Minneapolis Millers and the Havana Sugar Kings. Spoiler alert – the Millers lost the series.

  • The Rebirth of the Millers and Saints Rivalry

    The Rebirth of the Millers and Saints Rivalry

    June 2, 2021

    The photograph attached to this post doesn’t show much. It’s just my computer screens displaying images of Willie Mays and a subway map of New York City from the 1940’s. But what it means is that I have accomplished a rewrite of the Millers and Saints story up to the beginning of the 1946 season. With the start of that season, the Saints were the affiliate of the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Millers had just become the affiliate of the New York Giants. These affiliations signaled the rebirth of the Millers and Saints rivalry.

  • 2nd Edit Competed

    2nd Edit Competed

    April 3, 2021

    Today is April 3rd, 2021. The 2nd edit of my baseball documentary that I started almost a year ago is now complete. Within a day or so I will be inviting a few members of the cast and crew to watch this work-in-progress and provide feedback. This entire process is nerve rattling. I so want the film to be good but I fear what I have made is barely watchable. This fear of mine is due to the isolation of the pandemic and so due to the nature of the documentary process. One holes up in your edit room and spins what should be easily consumable short stories that are then combined with other consumable short stories that finally should be a feature documentary. And the only way one can find out if the effort invested is actually what was envisioned is to “put it out there”. So, tomorrow I will be sending out some invites for some to view the edit. If the first reviews are promising I’ll expand the invitations. If the first reviews force me under the protection of my bed covers, then the 3rd edit will commence soon thereafter.

    Oh and the element of this 2nd edit I really dreaded was the casting of the narrator. I was only voice over talent I could find. Hmm. I don’t know about you but I cringe at the sound of my own voice.

  • Filming The Cities At Night

    Filming The Cities At Night

    September 30, 2019

    Early on in the planning for this baseball documentary I knew I would want and need beauty shots of both Minneapolis and Saint Paul at dawn and dusk.

    I scouted locations for cinematic views.  I visited various locations quite often once in the morning and then once again at dusk.  The shots at dawn were easy.  The sun creeps over the horizon and lights up the city.  Beautiful.  The shots of night were not so easy.

    I discovered my camera was not able to record acceptable images of the cities after the sun went down.

    This meant if I wanted a shot of the city with the streetlights on then I’d have to film at the magic hour; the 30 minutes or so between when the sun disappearance below the horizon and when the sky turns black. 

    It sounds like enough time but when you’re working all by yourself, one little hiccup in the plan can snowball into a lost opportunity and a lot of cursing.

    I considered enlisting a crew.  Having a crew could have smoothed out the learning curve and shortened the number of hours spent filming. I’ll never know if any of my crew would have been willing to help.  I didn’t ask.

    I didn’t ask because it felt like it’d be an imposition.  When I reverse the roles and placed myself in the position of answering the request to operate a camera from a moving car, through the heart of the city, at dawn and then again at dusk, for no money, in both cities, I know I would’ve found a reason to be busy. 

    So I committed to “a one-man trial and error” approach to filming both cities at dusk. 

    Now I could have easily rented a car-mount and attached it to the hood of my car.  But, because I’m a cheap S.O.B., I decided to only use what I had and “Mac Gyver” the setup.

    My first attempt ate up almost an entire day.  Crawling into and out of the car, getting the seats into position so the tripod could fit into the open moon roof, and then weighting the tripod and camera to minimize any bounce caused by the road, was excruciating.  My car is not that big, my camera is heavy, and I’m not 20 years old anymore. 

    When I looked at the footage I recorded that day, I muttered a profanity, took two aspirin, and committed to trying again.  Three attempts later, I had ironed out the bumps and perfected the car speed, camera speed, lens angle, and chosen the best cinematic route, for both cities.

    I’m now looking forward to the time when I can place these gorgeous trucking shots of both Minneapolis and Saint Paul at dusk into the edit.  

  • The Baseball Legacy Of “The First Kelley”

    The Baseball Legacy Of “The First Kelley”

    May 27, 2019

    “The Second Kelly” spelled his last name with only one “E” but will always be remembered for the two World Series his Minnesota Twins won in ’87 and ’91.  That Kelly’s first name was Tom.  Most everyone knows him as “TK”.

    “The First Kelley” (Michael Joseph Kelley) piloted the 1920 Saint Paul Saints to 1st Place in the American Association Minor League with 115 wins and only 47 losses.  He went by Mike.

    They were different Kelley’s in different eras but both earned profound respect from all the fans in both Minneapolis and Saint Paul.

    Mike Kelley was born on December 2nd, 1875 in Templeton, Massachusetts. 

    At the age of 19 he started playing for the Augusta Kennebecs of the New England League (minors).  He made his major league debut in 1899 with the Louisville Colonels of the National League. On that team he played first base.  His teammates included several famous players of the day: Honus Wagner, Rube Waddell, Fred Clarke, and Tommy Leach. 

    1899 was Mike’s only year in the majors.  By 1901 he had joined the St. Paul Saints of the Western League becoming its manager late in the season and then stayed with the Saints as they became founding members of the American Association in 1902.

    He managed 5 different Midwestern teams during the next 17 years spending twelve with the Saints.  After the war-shortened season of 1918 he was managing the Saints and was able to pack the 1919 roster with talented veterans many returning from overseas. 

    His 1920 St. Paul Saints is considered by many historians to have been the second best minor league team ever.  The Baltimore Orioles of the International League are listed as the best winning 7 consecutive pennants between 1919 and 1925. 

    While managing the Saints Mike guided them to back-to-back American Association pennants in 1903-1904.  His teams won three more championships in 1919, 1920, and 1922.  His 1923 club won 111 games while finishing second, two games behind the Kansas City Blues.  At the end of the 1923 season Kelley purchased the Minneapolis Millers and became their manager.

    It must have given Kelley and his new Minneapolis fans a bitter-sweet satisfaction to watch his old team (and new rivals) beat the Orioles in the Saints’ last Junior World Series appearance in 1924.

    Kelley led the Millers from 1924 through 1931, but never won a pennant; his highest finish was second in 1928 to the Indianapolis Indians.  After a sixth-place finish in 1931 Mike turned the reins of the team over to Donnie Bush, but he continued to own it until 1946.  That off-season he sold the Millers to the New York Giants. His over-all record during his 30 years as a manager was 2,390 wins and 2,102 losses for a .532 winning percentage.

    In his retirement Michael Joseph Kelley attended celebrations and banquets of all kinds permitting his admirers to raise a glass to his longevity and celebrate his dedication to a game they loved.

    It is impressive that he worked both sides of the river, first as a player/manager of the Saints and then as an owner/manager of the Millers and never lost the respect of the fans in both cities.  But his most impressive feat was to navigate the rough and tumble times of early 20th Century baseball and along the way compile an impressive career spanning 30 years.  There were many seasons where his teams topped more than 200,000 attendants when other cities, with major league teams no less, could barely attract half that number.

    Kelley was an honorary president of the Millers and lived in Minneapolis until his death on June 6th of 1955.  A Massachusetts boy by birth he took the Twin Cities as his adopted hometown.  He is buried in Lakewood Cemetery. 

    I think the man deserves a monument.

    (Photo Caption:  Elmer Foster, a former Minneapolis Miller who went on to play outfield for the New York Giants, is the guest of honor at the dinner of the Old Guard of the Diamond at the West Hotel, 1924.)

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All Rights Reserved Copyright © 2021 Lakeside Productions LLC
Historic images courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society and the Hennepin County Historical Society

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