In honor of the Twin Cities premiere of "Jews and Baseball" – co-presented by the St. Paul JCC and the Minneapolis Jewish Film Fesitval in partnership with the Jewish Historical Society of the Upper Midwest, Beth Jacob Congregation and the Minnesota Twins – I will recount the story of a great performance by a Jewish pitcher in Minnesota, other than Sandy Koufax. Scott Rosenthal, for one day, was a right handed Sandy Koufax.

Some background, first, is necessary. University of Minnesota baseball has always been a part of the family sports kaleidoscope – dating back to doubleheaders at the Gopher Spring football game and Gopher baseball at Siebert Field. Years later, August 7, 1994, my wife (Jenifer Robins) and I were married at home plate at Siebert.

Growing up in St. Louis Park, the summer meant Little League baseball at Park Central Field off Highway 7 and intense interest in St. Louis Park athletes playing college sports after their graduation from Park. For the Twin Cities suburb with the largest Jewish concentration, sports were part of an assimilation process for a community largely marginalized as recently as the previous generation. Still, athletes such as Leonard "Butch" Levy, Len Druskin and Bob Stein among others were highly admired in the community for careers which took them to the University of Minnesota.

In retrospect, the 1978 Gopher baseball season has a fin de siècle aura to it. Its home – Bierman Field – was a little gem whose field was pristine despite the adversity of Minnesota weather. It had not been permitted to fall into dilapidation – unworthy of a program with three national championships to its credit. It would be the last and 31st season for baseball coach Dick "Chief" Siebert who, in tandem with outstanding amateur baseball in Minnesota, guided Minnesota to those national championships with lessons learned playing for the Hall of Famer Connie Mack of the Philadelphia A's. (Siebert would pass away early in 1978.) The 1977 Gopher baseball team would be the last to qualify for the College World Series winning a regional that year on Memorial Day weekend on a team led by Paul Molitor of St. Paul. Siebert's primary successor, Coach John Anderson, has done a remarkable job in his 30 seasons winning numerous Big Ten regular season championships and Big Ten tournaments. The balance of power in college baseball, though, has shifted to the south and west while the program has no on campus home and is dependent on the generosity of the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission and the Minnesota Twins.

All of this, though, was well into the future as we (father Richard Hunegs, cousin Dan Rotenberg and I) headed to campus from Minnehaha Circle to watch a Minnesota vs. Michigan State doubleheader on April 15, 1978. (This was also about the time Herb Brooks drove to Roseau arriving at 6:00 AM at the Broten home with a scholarship tender for Neal on the first day it could be signed putting in place a final piece for the Gopher's 1979 NCAA hockey championship and a future centerman for the 1980 Olympic hockey gold medal team.)

My mind's eye recalls a warm, sunny day if not breezy day at Bierman Field: the field's setting included the railroad marshalling yard with the rolling stock on the move adjacent to the industrial shops – long before Camden Yards was built with the warehouse in the background. Parking was an adventure with spots parallel to third base and left field on a dirt road filled with deep pot holes within windshield shattering distance of foul balls.

On this April day, Dick Siebert was facing one of his longtime opponents, Danny Litwhiler – longtime coach of Michigan State. (Litwhiler merited a reference in James Michener's book Sports in America.)

The teams present for the April, 1978 weekend of baseball were talented. Future major leaguers included Michigan State Kirk Gibson and Larry Pashnick (briefly a Twin in 1984); Michigan's Rick Leach and Steve Howe (briefly a Twin in 1985). (We looked forward to hooting at Rick Leach – on Sunday – who the Gophers practically ran out of Memorial Stadium in their astonishing 16-0 upset the previous October over Michigan with Leach as quarterback. (Gopher first baseman Mark Carlson quarterbacked the Michigan game for Minnesota.) The Minnesota roster contained no future major leaguers but included numerous standouts Dan McEachran, Perry Bauer and Jerry Udjer.

The game started poorly for Minnesota with Michigan State scoring seven runs in the first two innings and knocking Gopher starting pitcher Mike Laatsch from the game. St. Louis Park's Scott Rosenthal relieved in the second inning which appeared, at the time, to be the highlight of the opener for the Minnehaha Circle crew. (This information is courtesy of the scorecard I kept – in pencil – now somewhat faded.)

Bierman Field erupted in the bottom of the third as the Gophers routed Pashnick from the game with an eight run, seven hit inning featuring three doubles. Minnesota's huge home field advantage of Bierman Field had surfaced again.

As quickly as 15 runs were scored in the first three innings, the last half of the game developed into a taut pitching duel between Rosenthal and Spartan reliever Eric Rosekrans. Siebert dueled Litwhiler as Rosenthal pitched out of a first and second jam in the fourth inning and the traditionally stout Gopher fielding turned an around the horn double play to end the fifth inning.

Drama brewed again in the sixth inning with the imposing Gibson (an all Big Ten wide receiver for Michigan State) facing Rosenthal with a man aboard with two outs. I'll imagine a long battle between Rosenthal and Gibson ending with the latter infuriated after taking a called third strike as my scorecard notes a "K" for stikeout. For Minnesota baseball fans – in the aftermath of the Molitor era and the departure of free agents Larry Hisle and Lyman Bostock from the Twins after the 1977 season – it was a small moment of exultation.

Rosenthal wrapped up his long relief stint and the Gopher victory with a perfect seventh. The Rosenthal line was: 5 1/3 innings pitched, three hits, one walk and six strikeouts. It was possibly the greatest moment for a Jewish Gopher baseball player since Barry Effress drove in the winning run against USC to clinch the 1960 College World Series and Minnesota's second national championship. (In sharp contrast to the Gopher misery of 2010-2011, the baseball championship was followed five months later by a Big Ten and National Championship by Murray Warmath's Gopher football team.)

Between games, we talked to Rosenthal with Scott politely addressing my father as "Mr. Hunegs". He signed my scorecard. We ate our victory hotdogs and awaited the second game.

The "nightcap" provided an entertaining coda to the doubleheader. Gibson struck out his first at bat in game two provoking another round of comment from Gopher fans sitting in the grandstand and behind the Spartan dugout. The next time up, Gibson was greeted with more catcalls and derisive comments – at least by 1978 standards. Two runners were on base – but this time – he blasted the longest homerun I ever saw hit at Bierman and later Siebert Field. Gibson galloped around the bases, stomped on home plate, and on the way back to the dugout, stopped and told his maroon and gold hecklers what he thought of them. So, all in all, three decades later I remember the Gopher doubleheader when "Rosey Saved the Day" but "Gibson Laughed Last".