Molly Baum

Molly Baum – Chatfield – Molly Baum graduated from Blue Earth High School in 1961 and Luther College in 1965. His first teaching and coaching position was in Climax, Minnesota where he spent four years before moving to Chatfield. Molly spent the next 31 years there before retiring in 1970. His teams had great success, winning 420 games and losing just 171, a winning percentage of over 70 percent. At Chatfield his teams won 17 conference titles and nine district titles, along with a section championship and a state tournament appearance in 1998, along with a couple of near misses. Molly is a former Dick Siebert Award recipient and coached in the Lions All-Star games in 1998. He won several district and section Coach-of-the-Year awards. He founded the American Legion baseball program in Chatfield in 1990. The baseball field in Chatfield was re-named Molly Baum Field in 2006. Molly still runs the sub-section high school baseball tournaments in Section One. Molly is a member of the Luther College Athletic Hall of Fame.

 

Bill Hare

Bill Hare – Greenway of Coleraine – Bill Hare graduated from St. Paul Park High School in 1961 and Hamline University in 1965. Bill started his career at Edgewood Junior High in Mounds View before moving to Greenway in 1973. Bill served as B Squad baseball coach there for eight years before taking over as head coach in 1981. He stayed in that position until he retired in 1999. He is still in coaching as an assistant coach at Itasca Community College in Grand Rapids. His coaching career in baseball has reached 40 years and is still going strong. Bill’s Greenway teams had tremendous success, winning 342 games while losing just 101, a winning percentage of over 77 percent. In his 19 years as head coach Greenway won 17 conference championships, nine district or sub-section titles and 12 section championships. Bill coached Greenway to four state championships, in 1986, 1987, 1991 and 1993. They were also runner-up in 1992. At one time, Greenway held the state record for consecutive wins at 31 before losing to Waseca in the 1988 state tournament. Bill was Minnesota Coach-of-the-Year four times and was named district or section coach-of-the-year 16 or 17 times. Bill is a member of the Hamline Athletic Hall of Fame, the Minnesota State High School Athletic Directors Hall of Fame and the Minnesota State High School Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

 

Bob Karn

Bob Karn – St. Cloud Cathedral – Bob Karn graduated from St. Cloud Cathedral in 1959 and St. John’s University in 1964. Bob has spent his entire coaching career at St. Cloud Cathedral, 35 years as head baseball coach. He also coached football for five years in the 1970’s and was head basketball coach two different times, totally 20 years. Bob has run the St. Cloud Park & Rec baseball program since 1985, coached Legion baseball for a few years, took a 13 year old team to the Babe Ruth World Series in 1996 and also started an amateur baseball team in St. Cloud. Bob has the third most wins of any coach in Minnesota High School baseball history with 514 wins with just 235 losses. His teams have enjoyed much success with numerous many conference titles, 18 district or sub-section titles, 12 section titles. Bob’s Cathedral teams have won five state championships, in 1977, 1980, 1988, 2001 and 2003. He has been Minnesota Coach-of-the-Year four times. Bob is a member of the St. Cloud Cathedral Athletic Hall of Fame.

 

Buster Radebach

Buster Radebach – Bloomington Kennedy – Buster Radebach graduated from Minneapolis Central in 1949 and graduated from Augsburg College after attending the University of Minnesota. Before entering the teaching and coaching profession, Buster spent four years as a player in the Boston Red Sox organization, hitting over .300 in three of the four seasons. Buster started his teaching career at Robbinsdale before moving to Bloomington. Buster served 30 years as head baseball coach, four at Bloomington before moving over to Bloomington Kennedy for 26 years when that school opened up. He also served three more years as an assistant at Kennedy after he retired as head coach after the 1991 season. At the time he was the all-time wins leader in one of the toughest conferences in the state. Buster’s record was 368 wins and 211 losses with seven Lake Conference championships and six section championships. His Bloomington Kennedy team won state titles in 1966 and 1975. In 1966 they won the title game despite a no-hitter by Dan Carey of Hastings. Buster said the 1975 team might have been one of the best hitting teams he’s ever seen. Probably the best known player he coached was Kent Hrbek.

 

Jerry Raddatz

Jerry Raddatz – Winona – Jerry Raddatz graduated from Kasson-Mantorville High School in 1956, just one of many outstanding athletes to come out of Kasson-Mantorville, and from Winona State University in 1966. Jerry started his coaching career at Wykoff High School where his team had the first winning season in the history of the school. Jerry’s success continued when he moved to Winona High School. In 27 years of coaching, Jerry’s record was 330 wins and 205 losses. His teams won Big Nine championships in 1971, 1974 and 1983. Jerry took four Winona teams to the state tournament, finishing second in 1973 and third in 1978. His teams were always known for their outstanding fundamentals. Jerry can be seen at games just about any place in the state as he has served for many years as a professional baseball scout, first for the Cincinnati Reds and now for the Los Angeles Dodgers. One of Jerry’s proudest accomplishments is getting double elimination started in Section One, the first section in the state to have double elimination which is now the norm in most sections. Jerry is also a member of the Winona High School Athletic Hall of Fame.

 

George Sawyer

George Sawyer – Wheaton – George Sawyer graduated from Fergus Falls High School in 1953 and from Concordia College in Moorhead in 1957. George may hold the distinction of the longest tenure as a head baseball coach in Minnesota high school baseball. George began his career as the head coach in 1959, after one year as an assistant, and retired in 1993 after 45 seasons in that position, all at Wheaton High School. During that time he won 402 games and lost 290. He won three conference titles and seven district or sub-section titles. He also served as head wrestling coach for two years before switching over to basketball as an assistant for about 25 years. He was also an assistant football coach for over 20 years as well as Athletic Director for 15 years. Over the years he also coached Little League, the Babe Ruth team, the VFW team and the local amateur team, all for no monetary compensation, just for the love of the game and for the kids. George is also a member of the Fergus Falls High School Athletic Hall of Fame.

 

Jerry Boldt

Jerry Boldt – Columbia Heights – Jerry Boldt graduated from St. Paul Wilson High School in 1950, and from Macalester College in 1959. Jerry was named St. Paul’s outstanding high school baseball player in his senior season. Jerry played professional baseball for two years before ‘Uncle Sam’ called and he spent the next two years in Korea. Upon his discharge from the service he entered Macalester College where he was ineligible to play baseball because of his professional baseball experience so he played football and hockey. Jerry started teaching at Columbia Heights and after two years he took over as head baseball coach and was in that position for 29 years, winning 235 games and losing 214. His teams won three Suburban Conference championships and his 1978 team went to the state tournament. Jerry retired from coaching after the 1989 season. In 1996 he received the MSHSBCA Jim Dimick Retired Coach of the Year award and in 1998 he was named one of the top 100 most outstanding athletes of the past 100 years in the St. Paul City Conference. Jerry is a member of the Macalester College Athletic Hall of Fame and the Columbia Heights High School Athletic Hall of Fame.

 

Ken Sundstrom

Ken Sundstrom – Coon Rapids – Ken Sundstrom graduated from Minneapolis South in 1951 and from St. Cloud State in 1957. Ken started college at Western State College in Colorado before transferring to St. Cloud State. Ken was the first baseball coach at Coon Rapids High School, starting in the spring of 1964. Ken served 28 years as head coach, retiring after the 1991 season with 377 wins and 160 losses for a winning percentage of over 70 percent. His teams won 12 conference titles, including six in a row from 1970-1975, one district title in 1969, and three section titles, participating in the state tournament in 1980, 1981 and 1988. Coon Rapids won the state championship in 1980, winning all three games by shutout, one of only two times that accomplishment has happened. Ken started the American Legion baseball program at Coon Rapids in 1968 and worked with the summer recreation baseball program for about 15 years. The baseball field at Coon Rapids High School is named Ken Sundstrom Field in his honor.