A great coach must be humble and selfless, as the successes of their pupils will often be attributed to the efforts of the player more so than the teacher.

 

A great coach must be passionate and dedicated. While a player may commit an hour or two to a practice, the coach commits even more time to planning and setting up beforehand and then cleaning up and putting away afterwards.

 

A great coach encourages a culture where players want to work and improve themselves and to play their best for their teammates.

 

If you can find a person with all these attributes to lead your team, success will follow.

 

The Two Rivers Polar Bears had a run of success in the 1960’s and 1970’s unequaled by many other amateur baseball teams. Over a period of 16 years, they won eight championships across three different leagues. Certainly, the talent of the players was pivotal to this success as evidenced by the many individual awards they won; but, the efforts of their manager, Howie Timm, cannot be discounted.

 

Born in 1923, a native of Shepley, Wisconsin, Howard “Howie” Timm was an accomplished boxer at Wittenburg High School. In the ring, he won 13 of 16 fights with two draws. After graduating from high school, he moved to the Lakeshore area and served in the United States Army during World War II.

 

Howie began his career in the then-Manitowoc County Baseball League in 1947, playing for Francis Creek, where he won the league’s batting championship in 1948.

 

In 1950, together with his brother-in-law Woody Guetschow as manager, he started the Two Rivers Cubs. The Cubs were now the second team in town, along with the previously established Two Rivers Polar Bears. The Cubs quickly bested the league, and the Polar Bears, and captured the MCBL title in 1952, the first of many championship teams Timm would be a part of.

 

Howie moved on to play with Mishicot from 1955 to 1957. In 1958, he came back to Two Rivers; this time to manage the Polar Bears while also serving as general manager of the Cubs.

 

(Howie took over the dugout for the Polar Bears in 1958.)

 

His family always knew he loved the game and they admired his dedication to the team. It was not uncommon to walk into the living room and see him with a baseball game on TV and a radio playing a different game at the same time. Baseball was a big part of his life.

 

Even more than his love of baseball, though, he was a wonderful husband and father and willing to help anyone in need. A man his family described as “a very honest and gentle soul.”

 

Howie himself would set up the field and make sure it was ready to play. He would get sponsors to donate prizes to give out at games and he came up with promotions to bring fans to the park. 

 

One such event was Tavern Night where local taverns would donate kegs of beer, and buying an admission ticket to the game awarded fans with a free beer. Another was Bi-Centennial Night in 1976, during which 76 prizes were raffled off to those in attendance.

 

As manager of the Polar Bears, Timm led the team to championships in the Cherry League in 1962 and 1966 and the Tri-County League in 1973 and 1974.

 

However, a Shoreland League title would elude Howie for several years after taking over the skipper role. That changed in 1974 when the Polar Bears won their first of three consecutive championships.

 

Looking back on winning the 1974 championship, Polar Bear’s pitcher Denny Hrdina remembered what it meant to Howie.

 

“That was the happiest I’ve ever seen him,” Denny recalls.

 

(Howie showing off the championship trophy at Howards Grove.)

 

There was a strong bond between the players both on the field and off. They formed a bowling team in the winter, they attended each other’s weddings, and after games they would still find things to do together.

 

This bond extended from the players to the coach and back.

 

“He was like our dad...and we had fun,” according to Denny. “Playing for Howie was great.”

 

(Bat boy Scott Paulow is presented with his jersey.)

 

His daughter, Sharon, added that her father would occasionally invite the team to his home after games, including not just the players and their families, but also the helpers who had done so much for him. Those helpers included Ed Mandel, Bernice and Bernie Sinkula, and Betty and Lloyd Wilker, who made prizes for the games, sold tickets, and did whatever they needed to do to help. Howie’s wife, Ione, would cook a great meal for those invited.

 

The Polar Bears would add another trophy to their case in 1978, the franchise’s last title until 2012. Prior to the 1978 championship game, Howie announced he was stepping away from managing after the season, although he remained general manager until 1985.

 

Howie worked for many years at the Mirro Aluminum Company in Two Rivers, but ended up doing what he loved best, working for the City of Two Rivers and dedicated to youth sports. In 1980, he started a little league at Vietnam Veterans Memorial Park in town, often stopping to coach the kids. He also taught bowling at the Community House, teaching the young and organizing men, women, and couples leagues. He worked with all who wanted his help.

 

“I think he thought it was good for the kids...who had it tough,” Sharon said.

 

It was important to Howie that kids had a place to play and for the game of baseball to grow.

 

According to Hrdina, “The kids were special [to Howie].”

 

(Howie helping coach his grandson, Jesse Vanne.)

 

Recently, a man shared with Sharon a story about her father. The man, as a boy, was throwing a tennis ball against his garage door making believe he was a pitcher. Howie was driving by and stopped. He then spent an hour with him working on pitching.

 

The Shoreland League will hold an event in recognition of the league’s 50th anniversary on Saturday, June 25, at Walsh Field in Two Rivers. As part of the festivities, Howie Timm will be honored and inducted into its Hall of Fame.

 

There could be no more perfect place than Walsh Field for the legacy of Howie Timm to be celebrated. The field has hosted hundreds of Timm’s Polar Bears and Cubs games and his name is already memorialized on the grounds.

 

A family friend, Terry Peterson, along with many other locals, led a movement to honor Howie’s legacy in town and in 1990, a year after he died, a monument was placed just outside the fence down the right field line at Walsh Field to honor Howie. The baseball-shaped statue features his picture and lists his baseball accomplishments along with an inscription his daughter, Mary Timm, wrote that reads:

 

“The wins and losses, the championship seasons come and go but the ongoing dedication and true spirit of providing guidance, instruction, and genuine concern for our youth is what Howie Timm was all about. May the spirit of baseball live within our youth forever.”

 

(Monument dedicated to Howie and all coaches at Walsh Field.)

 

Howie’s family would like it to be known that the monument stands, not just for him, but for all coaches who dedicate themselves to others, as they are truly special people and we admire and thank them all for their service.

 

They would also like to thank all players who showed such sportsmanship and made sacrifices. And to always remember, “The game isn’t over til it’s over!”