Welcome to New Ulm, where baseball mixes with polka, civic pride, German potato salad

NEW ULM, MINN. – This occupation for beyond a half-century has allowed me to be in an inner sanctum once in a considerable while.

I've long felt No. 1 on the list was being in a corner of Tom Kelly's Metrodome office early in the morning of Oct. 28, 1991, well after the champagne-spraying had ended, and various Twins came in to give the manager a firm handshake, or even a bearhug, over a second World Series title in five seasons.

That moment now has serious competition.

At midweek, I was in the studio of New Ulm's hometown station, KNUJ-860 AM, and was able to witness the magic that Tom Wheeler puts into the "Dinnerbell Hour'' from 11 a.m. to noon, Monday through Friday.

It is then KNUJ returns to the days when it was the "Polka Station of the Nation'' — so infamous that, on rare occasion, the dial on the AM radio in the Reusse family station wagon in the 1950s was allowed to dart slightly upward from 830 (WCCO) in order to hear my dad's favorite, Whoopee John Wihlfahrt.

It was surprising to learn that Wheeler's polka choices came spontaneously during the hour, including reaching into his personal collection of albums.

Inside info: The guy nearly dances from his chair in joy when he hears a clarinet take over the tune. (Note: Thanks to this seminar, I won't be confused the next time someone is talking about a ''Hupfata.'')

"I did volleyball last night,'' Wheeler said. "It's a great sport. It was different at first, but after years, I've gotten pretty good at it.''

He nodded, chose a new tune, and as it started, said: "Wait until you hear the clarinet in this one.''

There remains a strong commitment to baseball at KNUJ. The station received the John Gordon Award as the Twins' radio affiliate of the year in 2020, staying strong during the 60-game mini-season caused by the pandemic.

Wheeler does play-by-play on dozens of regional ballgames in the spring and summer. Jim Bartels retired in 2020 as the station's general manager, but he still contributes plenty of play-by-play, including wrestling.

Good reason for that: He was a college wrestler and this belt of Minnesota remains filled with "wrestling towns.''

The New Ulm Brewers, from a city of 14,000 with two great ballparks, is in the 12-team Class C Tomahawk East for amateur baseball — in which the longest commute is 40 miles to Lamberton.

Stark, Courtland, Hanska, Searles and Essig are extra small and within 12 miles.

"We started a Tomahawk East game of the week on Sunday afternoons a few years ago,'' Wheeler said. "The deal is, the league chooses the teams, and we do that game, and it has been extremely popular.''

What happens to the Twins on summer Sundays? "We put them on our FM,'' he said.

Kaiserhoff, a Class B team in New Ulm for 48 years, folded before the 2017 season. The reason given was "lack of players.''

"I think people looked at that as a reflection on baseball interest in our town,'' said Al Flor, manager of the Brewers. "In fact, there are a handful of teams within the allowed radius (30 miles) that are stacked with players from New Ulm.

"Players get out of school, they go to college or start jobs, they get married, they start families … they like playing in our league. There was a lot more travel with Kaiserhoff.''

Local referendums to add temporary half-cent sales taxes for recreation facilities passed in New Ulm with 70% of the vote twice in this century.

The last came in 2016, and included $2 million to be spent for improvements at historic Johnson Park and, Flor said, to make games at adjoining Mueller Field "also a great experience for fans and players.''

The result led to New Ulm being awarded the Class B/Class C baseball tournaments for state amateur baseball 2020.

The board found Milroy and Shakopee as replacements for the two New Ulm ballparks, to go with Springfield.

All signs point to the state baseball board still containing animosity toward New Ulm and with no foreseeable chance for this great town of beer, baseball and Germanic heritage to be awarded a make-up tournament.

How much money did your baseball association lose getting ready for the tournament, then being forced to cancel?

"I don't want to get into it,'' said Flor, a blue-collar owner of a construction firm.

What Flor and the baseball boosters do is let fans in free for Brewers, high school, Legion and VFW games, and provide what neutral observers say are tremendous concessions at reasonable prices (including $3 beer for the Brewers).

And those fans have to get there early to make sure the German potato salad or sauerkraut prepared by Flor's mother Linda has not been bought out.

What makes the potato salad German? "Served warm, not cold,'' Flor said.

Is the sauerkraut to put on brats? "No, we sell it in a cup, and people devour it,'' Flor said.

I don't know if the state board will end its animus and some year award New Ulm a make-up state tournament.

What I am sure about, after sharing in the fruits of the Dinnerbell Hour of polka, that my baseball life will not be complete until I'm at Target Field and this happens:

. . .

Correction: Whoopee John Wilfahrt's last name was misspelled in an earlier version of this column.