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Congrats to the 2013 Rock River Hall of Fame inductees below.
2013 Hall of Fame Inductees
Mike Bird - Brownsville
Lon Kreitzman - Hustisford
Curt Kuehl - Mayville, Horicon, Hustisford
Pat Rowoldt - Clyman
Bill Steinbach - Mayville
Posthumous Inductee
Ken Kluck - Hartford
Rock Diamond Award Winner
Ken Held - Neosho, Slinger
Hall of Fame Bios
Bill Steinbach - 70, is retired and living in Mayville. Bill was a catcher for the Mayville Merchants in 1962 and part-time in 1966 & 1967. Bill won the Northern Division batting title in 1962 with a batting average of .507. Bill said "I am honored to be nominated for the Rock River League Hall of Fame. I only played one full year (1962). I then signed a minor league contract with the Detroit Tigers and played in the minors for three years before being released. I attened UW Madison from 1966-1968 and only played part-time in 1966-1967". Bill enjoyed playing with very good players such as Dean Wilderman, Dave Finke, Lloyd Schwartzmiller, Email Baerwald, Bob Schellphepper, Gene Zangle, Jim Bartelt and his brother Gordie and all of his Mayville teammates. We enjoyed playing together and had a lot of fun. Bill's top opponents were Hugh Roberts - Randolph, Rudy Grahl - Campbellsport, John Westmas - Randolph and Don Held - Rubicon.
Curt Kuehl - 60, is a truck driver for Zuern Building Products in Allenton and lives in Hustisford. Curt pitched and played some infield/outfield for the Mayville Merchants in 1979-1980, the Horicon Honkers in 1981-1982 and the Hustisford Astros from 1983 - 2006. Curt started his playing career eight years after graduation due to a military commitment. Curt pitched his last game against Mayville on July 12, 2006 at the age of 52. He gave up 5 runs (1 earned), 9 hits, 1 walk and 2 strikeouts in 7 innings. Curt still has the newspaper article from teh game. His son Kevin was his catcher that night. Curt hit 10 home runs in 1982, including 3 in one game against Brownsville, and made the All Star team that year. Curt got 3 wins in 8 days as a pitcher with Hustisford and was a part of 4 Grand Championship teams with Husty in 1985, 1986, 1988 and 1990, capping a baseball career that spanned over 27 years. Curt recalls "In 1995 in a SWABA game at Hustisford against Brookfield, we were leading 7-3 going into the last inning. Kirk Kaul was on the mound (at age 40). He gave up 3 solo homers in a row. They brought me in to pitch from left field (at age 42). As I was walking to the mound, some guy from the Brookfield dugout shouts out - "what cemetery did they dig this stiff out of"? The first batter double off of the tip-top of the centerfield fence. That's as far as he got as I retired the next three hitters to win the game 7-6. Most important is that was the only time in my career playing with Hustisford that I got to save a game for Kirk Kaul! Curt's top opponents were Steve Oleshko of Clyman, Corey Held of Rubicon and Doug Gonring of Kewaskum & West Bend.
Lon Kreitzman - 59, is an analytical chemist with the Cedarburg Pharmaceutical Company and lives in Milwaukee. Lon played infield and pitched for Hustisford from 1973 to 1996. In the early 1980's, Lon led the RRL in home runs with 13, batting average .565 and probably stolen bases with 13. He made the All Star team that year and possibly again shortly before retiring. In a Grand Championship game at Oakfield, Lon greeted reliever Mike Zimmerman with a home run to help Husty to a 6-5 win. Lon was called on to pitch against a strong Sun Prairie team in the first SWABA tournament. Lon held Sun Prairie in check, had a couple RBIs in a 3-1 win. Humorous incidents - about 1/2 hours before a playoff game in Johnson Creek, manager Gregg Kuehl tells us the joke about the bear and the squirrel. I still haven't forgotten that. Another time during the 2 hour warm-ups and batting practice before a playoff game in Hustisford, Ross Roeseler and probably Pete Kuehl played the song "Don't worry, be happy" over the loudspeakers for the entire 2 hours as a joke and to psyche the opponent down. But they forgot to paint their dugout pink. Lon's top opponents were Dave Thimm of Neosho and Gary Wild of Juneau.
Mike Bird - 76, is retired and a volunteer at King Veterans Home and lives in Oshkosh. Mike was a first base coach/right fielder for Brownsville in 1964. Lowell Boelk needed a first base coach and someone that would be there every week to fill in if we were short. Mike got in a few games. The best games were against Oakfield, Eden, and Theresa, where we drank Pioneer beer with rusty caps out of a stock tank. Brownsville had a good team that year, with Tom Thomas, Ron Cole, Jayme Rose and others. Mike lived in Slinger from 1973-1983, he helped Butch Zimmerman keep his team hydrated. We had a playoff game at home against Oakfield which we thought we were sure to win. Mike bought the "bubbly" but Oakfield had other ideas. So we took the champagne to their dugout. They used it! Mike's top opponents were Rudy Grahl of Eden, Darold Collien of Oakfield and Hugh Roberts of Randolph.
Pat Rowoldt - 49, is a District Sales Leader for Edy's Grand Ice Cream and lives in Watertown. Pat caught and played third base for Clyman from 1981-2006. Pat was Southern Division Player of Merit in 1995 and once went 7-7 in a game against Johnson Creek in the mid 80's. Pat developed many during all his years in Clyman. Pat remembers Manager John Stueber getting all worked up before a night game in Waupun. Pat and Tim Fitzsimmons went water skiing for 1-2 hours before the game. John was upset because Tim was pitching, and Pat was catching that game. Pat's toughest opponents were Scott Pompe of Watertown and Dale Nehls of Hustisford.
Ken Held - 63, is retired and lives in Beaver Dam. Ken played every position, but pitcher for Neosho from 1966-1979 and Slinger from 1980-1987 and is currently a RRL umpire. Ken's top accomplishments were winning the RRL Grand Championship with Slinger in 193 and 1984, winning the Tri-County Nite League championship with Slinger in 1986 and winning the Tri-County Nite League batting title with Slinger in 1985. Ken's humorous incidents include catching his first game at age 15 and running back to the backstop the whole game, trying to hit Don Held's curveball on the first bounce and having an umpiring partner pick up a live ball. Ken's top opponents were Don Held & Gary Schwefel of Lebanon, Mike Zimmerman of Oakfield and Chuck Erdmann Jr. or Rubicon. Ken also acknowledges some of his top teams - Rubicon - 1962, the Lebanon teams of the 1970's and three teams of the 1980's with their top players - Hustisford - Kirk Kaul, Oakfield - Mike Zimmerman and Slinger - Jay Lenstrom.
