Minnesota Then
Minnesota Then
The Goofy’s, the Norsemen, and Minnesota’s Great Professional Softball Experiment
Every summer, thousands of Minnesotans came out to watch amateur softball. The players were their family, friends, and neighbors. Nobody had to be talked into it.
Then, in 1977, someone decided to charge admission.
Slo Is Pro is the story of what happened when the state’s best slow-pitch players turned professional: the Goofy’s and the Norsemen, the owners who paid the bills, the players who worked all week and swung on weekends, and a league that tried to turn a game anyone could play into one people would pay to see. They hit more home runs than anyone thought possible. They just couldn’t fill the seats.
It’s a book about a bad idea, a good team, and a game Minnesota loved just the way it was.
Built from newspaper accounts, box scores, and interviews, the book follows the franchise from its first pitch to its last.
The Goofy’s sign Zoilo Versalles and open at Midway Stadium. They start 12–4, finish 24–30, and change owners and managers along the way.
A new name, new management, and a 40–24 season. Minnesota earns a first-round bye and reaches the World Series, where Detroit sweeps them.
A helicopter cash drop, a manager fired midseason, and a league coming apart.
A former Twins MVP at shortstop, and Yankee great Whitey Ford as league commissioner.
A promotion that dropped cash from a helicopter, and an announced crowd of 5,413.
Game 1 of the 1979 league final, which became ESPN’s first live event.
Team rosters, season schedules, a timeline, and complete notes and sources.
In 2015, Matt sat down with his friend Rod Simons on K-TWIN radio to talk about his research into Minnesota’s professional slow-pitch softball team. This book is the finished product, and an homage to Rod. Listen to the interview below.
Available as a paperback from Minnesota Then Press.