{"id":97551,"date":"2017-09-02T14:30:29","date_gmt":"2017-09-02T19:30:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/?p=97551"},"modified":"2017-09-02T14:30:29","modified_gmt":"2017-09-02T19:30:29","slug":"weeds-by-randy-krzmarzick-the-story-of-marty-ledeboer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/weeds-by-randy-krzmarzick-the-story-of-marty-ledeboer\/","title":{"rendered":"Weeds by Randy Krzmarzick: The story of Marty Ledeboer"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Baseball can be a pleasant distraction from the weightier issues that surround us.\u00a0 The worst that can happen is your team loses, and the sun will come up tomorrow.\u00a0 But sometimes real life intersects with our games.\u00a0 That happened seventy years ago for the town of Sleepy Eye.<\/p>\n

When I was young, a lot of folks in town knew the story of Marty Ledeboer whose death on August 3, 1947 reads like a tragic movie script.\u00a0 Now that memory fades.<\/p>\n

Martin Ledeboer came to Sleepy Eye as a fresh faced, 18-year-old in the summer of 1945.\u00a0 He was recruited to play for the Sleepy Eye Indians.\u00a0 The nation was entering the post war period.\u00a0 Baseball was immensely popular, nowhere more so than around here.\u00a0 The New Ulm Brewers, Springfield Tigers, along with the Indians played in front of crowds in the thousands.<\/p>\n

The Western Minny League was a semi-pro league that hosted a high level of baseball.\u00a0 Each town mixed the most talented local players with hired talent from further away.\u00a0 Ledeboer came to Sleepy Eye out of high school to play for the Indians.\u00a0 He also played college ball at Moorhead State Teachers College and was talented enough to draw attention from pro scouts.<\/p>\n

It was common for hired players to be given a job to supplement their baseball earnings.\u00a0 Marty worked at Hollmer Drug Store on Main Street.\u00a0 Ray Hollmer was on the baseball association board and a big supporter of the Indians.\u00a0 By all accounts, Ledeboer was personable and liked by all he met.\u00a0 He was known for putting on an apron to work the soda fountain at the drug store and joking with the customers.\u00a0 Kids were especially drawn to Marty. \u00a0When I talked to folks who remembered him, it was invariably with a smile.<\/p>\n

In Ledeboer\u2019s first season in town, the Indians made the State Tournament.\u00a0 In that time before pro sports teams in Minnesota, the State Baseball Tournament was a big event, receiving front page coverage.\u00a0 Unfortunately, Sleepy Eye\u2019s ace pitcher in 1945, Chief Wonson, was declared ineligible for the tournament because he had played a few games early in the year for the Minneapolis Millers, and the Indians lost out.\u00a0 Regardless, a love affair had been cemented between the community and their team.\u00a0 Ledeboer was the fleet footed centerfielder and a fan favorite.<\/p>\n

On August 3rd<\/sup>, 1947, the Indians had an afternoon game at Redwood Falls.\u00a0 It was an important late-season match for playoff position, and hundreds of Sleepy Eye fans would make the trip to Redwood as they did for every road game.\u00a0 They liked their team\u2019s chances with Dick Lanahan on the mound.\u00a0 The 35-year-old Lanahan had pitched for the Washington Senators and Pittsburgh Pirates.\u00a0 The year before he had played with the St. Paul Saints before signing with Sleepy Eye.<\/p>\n

The team had a makeshift locker room in the basement of the Lincoln Tavern in downtown Sleepy Eye.\u00a0 As they were preparing to leave for Redwood Falls, Marty assured friends there that he would get a hit that day and break a mini-slump he was in.\u00a0 They wished him luck as he flashed his infectious grin.<\/p>\n

The game was something of a slugfest when Ledeboer led off the seventh inning.\u00a0 Sleepy Eye was ahead 9 to 4.\u00a0 Marty was still looking for his first hit.\u00a0 He laced a single to right, his Lincoln Tavern promise fulfilled.\u00a0 It was a hot, muggy afternoon and Marty was sweating as he pulled into first base.\u00a0 The Indians coach was Bugga Stellges, and he flashed the steal sign from the third base coach\u2019s box.\u00a0 Catcher Casey Dowling was coaching first and Ledeboer asked him to lift the sign.\u00a0 Something wasn\u2019t right.\u00a0 He felt fatigued.\u00a0 Worse, his heart was racing.<\/p>\n

Years later I talked to Marty\u2019s sister when I was doing work for the Brown County Historical Society.\u00a0 She told me that a doctor had identified a weakness in his heart.\u00a0 Marty also had high blood pressure, and the doctor recommended Ledeboer stay away from strenuous activity.\u00a0 His family talked about him quitting baseball, but Marty said he loved playing too much.\u00a0 He knew there was risk.\u00a0 He even told his parents once that if he was going to die he would just as soon it be in his uniform.<\/p>\n

Carlie Sperl was the next man up for the Indians.\u00a0 There would be no chance for Marty to catch his breath.\u00a0 Sperl pounded a ball that got all the way to the fence for a triple.\u00a0 Ledeboer took off as best he could. \u00a0Fans noticed that he began to weave as he rounded third, and appeared to stumble across home plate.\u00a0 He turned toward the Indian dugout, but only made it part way before collapsing onto the grass.<\/p>\n

Marty\u2019s father Garret had travelled from Moorhead for the game.\u00a0 He was sitting with family friend and Marty\u2019s pastor Hillis Slaymaker.\u00a0 As the crowd grew silent, they raced on to the field and knelt over Marty who was conscious yet.\u00a0 When he saw his father he said, \u201cDad, I got a hit, didn\u2019t I Dad?\u201d\u00a0 Then, \u201cDad, I\u2019m leaving.\u00a0 Say goodbye to Mom and the kids and Millie for me.\u201d\u00a0 Millie was Marty\u2019s girlfriend back home.\u00a0 Marty looked up at Pastor Slaymaker and said a small prayer and then lost consciousness.<\/p>\n

Marty was taken to the hospital in Redwood Falls where the town\u2019s two doctors did what they could for him.\u00a0 He briefly came to and told Ray Hollmer that he would have to take care of the store now.\u00a0 Marty passed away soon after.<\/p>\n

Word spread quickly in Ledeboer\u2019s adopted town.\u00a0 Al Anderson of the baseball board said, \u201cLedeboer had the best disposition of any player we have ever had here.\u00a0 He will be a tremendous morale loss to the team and the town.\u201d\u00a0 Marty had many friends among players in the Western Minny.\u00a0 Hank Nichlasson of the New Ulm Brewers said, \u201cWhat a swell chap Marty was.\u00a0 If every player conducted himself like he did, what a pleasure it would be to play baseball.\u201d<\/p>\n

A funeral service was held Wednesday to a packed church in Prinsburg, the town where Marty was born 21 years before.\u00a0 Besides Marty\u2019s parents, three brothers, and seven sisters, all his teammates and many fans from Sleepy Eye attended.<\/p>\n

A lot of us talk about doing something we love in our final moments, dying in the saddle, so to speak.\u00a0 Few of us get that chance.\u00a0 In Marty Ledeboer\u2019s case that is exactly what happened.\u00a0 The death of such a personable and talented young man is of course sad.\u00a0 But there is a nobility in the story.<\/p>\n

Later in August, 1947, the Sleepy Eye Herald Dispatch printed a tribute to Ledeboer.\u00a0 It was a poem written by a handicapped man from Lake Lillian who Marty had befriended.\u00a0\u00a0 Here are a few verses:<\/p>\n

The final game is over, the ninth inning has been played,\u00a0 And our centerfielder has laid his bat away.<\/p>\n

He went out, as God would have it \u2013 among a sporting throng, With his fans and pals around him \u2013 after a run so very long.<\/p>\n

It was not the opposing pitcher who did finally him retire, It was Death who made the putout, and God was the Umpire.<\/p>\n

Now the Angels are his teammates, and they\u2019ll see him safely thru To a richer, better ballfield, where all men are tried and true.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Baseball can be a pleasant distraction from the weightier issues that surround us.\u00a0 The worst that can happen is your team loses, and the sun will come up tomorrow.\u00a0 But sometimes real life intersects with our games.\u00a0 That happened seventy years ago for the town of Sleepy Eye. When I was young, a lot of …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[162],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-97551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-weeds-by-randy-krzmarzick"],"aioseo_notices":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-22 20:41:40","action":"change-status","newStatus":"trash","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97551"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97551\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97553,"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97551\/revisions\/97553"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}