For a day, Ks and BBs upstage the ABCs in Apple Valley

One day every spring, students at Greenleaf Elementary School in Apple Valley forget about the general rule that wearing hats in class is disrespectful. Baseball hats are encouraged, and so many kids wear jerseys that each classroom looks like its own Little League huddle.

It's all because of principal Kevin Samsel, a die-hard fan who broadcasts his passion for the Minnesota Twins every year with a staff lunch and school-wide celebration of baseball.

The gym turns into a mini-Hall of Fame, with pennants strung from basketball hoops and tables cluttered with autographed balls. And teachers chow down on Dome Dogs, malt cups and nachos ordered straight from the Metrodome.

"It's almost like a holiday for him," said fifth-grader Drew Guebert, one of 800 Greenleaf students and parents who bought tickets to an annual school outing to a Twins game last year.

Greenleaf's 18th annual baseball lunch -- the school's last before Samsel retires this spring -- drew more than the usual fanfare. Guests included Twins organist Sue Nelson, District 196 Superintendent John Currie, and Dave Lee, WCCO radio's morning sports reporter.

And teachers surprised Samsel, 56, with a parting gift: the chance to throw the first pitch at the May 19 Twins game against the Texas Rangers.

Samsel, who said he was in shock over the gift, has never thrown out a first pitch in more than 40 years as a Twins fan. "I've thrown out the first insult at plenty of games, though."

He's also been to games at most of the nation's Major League Baseball stadiums, and last season he cheered at 33 Twins games.

Retiring won't put an end to the baseball luncheon, a tradition Samsel started the year he became principal at Park Brook Elementary in Brooklyn Park 23 years ago and one he plans to continue at least until he hits the 50-year mark.

Samsel fantasizes about inviting other principals in the district to submit bids to throw the party next year, much as cities compete to host the Olympics. That dream "probably won't come true," he conceded, but there's always his garage in Burnsville.

"I think the last couple will probably be in a nursing home," he said.

Samsel came up with his baseball party after years of missing afternoon season openers because of teaching. "When I became a principal, I thought, 'I'm in control of what goes on now. I'll just celebrate it school-wide.'"

"You can always count on the hot dog and the malt cup and good baseball talk," said David Limberg, a relative of Samsel's and regular attendee who came dressed in full Joe Mauer regalia this year.

The parties, which Samsel pays for and spends hours setting up for in the gym, feature different baseball jokes and gags every year. Last year, guests wore fake Mauer sideburns in honor of the Twins catcher.

And when drug scandals started dominating the news a few years back, Samsel issued specimen cups to guests that said, "You have been randomly selected for steroid testing."

The superintendent got a secretary to fill his cup with apple juice and turned it back in the principal, but Samsel wasn't fooled.

"I knew it was too cold to be real."

Sarah Lemagie • 952-882-9016