A man of all seasons

Redwood Falls official has been making calls for 50 years

By Larry Magrath

Wayne Cook of Redwood Falls has found his own particular season the last three years. As a sports journalist, umpire and referee, accumulating accolades have graced the life of Cook, a fixture of the state’s baseball diamonds, basketball courts, and gridiron.

Wayne Cook of Redwood Falls with a plaque inducting him in the 2024 Minnesota Softball Hall of Fame. Cook has received recognition from multiple sports organizations for his work as an official, which dates back 50 years. Contributed photo

The recognitions have come from his college-on-the-prairie alma mater, two Hall of Fame (HOF) inductions, the Minnesota State High School League, a sold-out book, and the Minnesota Vikings.

The 1973 graduate of Southwest Minnesota State University credits early 1990s volleyball player Heather Hindt with kicking off his award era when she nominated him for a lifetime achievement award. The award is given out each year to alumni for their work and accomplishments after graduation.

Wayne’s accomplishment at the time was a sports journalist career of 35 years. He wrote at publications in Sleepy Eye; New Ulm; Forest City, Iowa; Northfield; Little Falls; Redwood Falls; and Marshall.

Cook knew Hindt, from Wabasso, from working as a sports reporter in Redwood Falls and covering her volleyball pursuits that eventually led to the Mustang’s 1991 appearance in the NAIA National Championships in Hays, Kan.

Mix in years of baseball following umpire school in Florida in 1978 and more recognition followed to get him where he is today.

“I’m 75 now, but I’ve really been blessed the last three years with a lot of awards that have been coming my way and I’m really humbled,” Cook said. “I think the stars were just aligned right.”

In 2023, he was among five alumni who were “treated like kings” at Southwest Minnesota State University during a day of festivities in recognition for a lifetime achievement award.

“We all had to give a speech and the guy next to me at our table said, ‘make it funny,’ so I was talking about the old days,” Cook said. “I was in the second graduating class at Southwest. We were talking about guys climbing the flag poles and burning flags... the Vietnam War. We talked about the disco place (Earth II), the Lyndwood Bar in Lynd, and I said, ‘does anyone remember this’ and a lot of hands went up.”

Earth II was a disco establishment next to Edward’s Pizza and tucked in behind Campus Religious Center.

“Guess who the best disco dancers were. The men’s basketball players. That place was wild.”

Also in 2023, Wayne and his brother Warren were inducted into the Minnesota Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame as the Glenn Carlson Distinguished Service Award winners in promotion of the sport.

Fellow Hall-of-Famer Bob VanHee of Redwood Falls helped with the nomination paperwork. They pared down the 2014 application from 110 letters of support to 55 and made the three-ring binder more appealing.

“We had a picture of my twin (Warren) and I in a black shirt working the All-Star Game at Chaska, and we had the whole left side of the cover empty,” Cook said.

The cover was filled out with “2023” in bold script to make it stand out. Both Cooks were inducted and recognized at a banquet in St. Cloud.

“Warren started out and he gave a six-minute speech, mine was five minutes. It was kind of a thank you speech,” Cook said. “It was nice to be recognized.”

It was his 50th year umpiring and Warren’s 40th, as well as being the 100th year of amateur baseball in Minnesota.

“That’s pretty good round numbers there, and I said it might be a good time to try to get us in and luckily everything worked out” Wayne said.

Wayne has umpired 52 years and worked 16 state tournaments. By the numbers, he’s worked 5,478 games for baseball and softball.

“Back when I was 67 years old in 2017, I did 200 games in one year, spring and summer. It was 80 in baseball and 120 in girls softball,” Cook said. “I’ve cut back since COVID and maybe the last five years I’ve done 70 games.”

Back Judge Wayne Cook (black hat) is one of the five-man crew with his son Jeff who serves as the head White Hat Referee in football. They have 12 games lined up this year. Contributed photo

Cutting back hasn’t always worked out though. He thought he’d cut his assignments last April but ended up working 60 games. From 2010 to 2019 he averaged 127 games a year.

“You really gotta like it to be involved that much, and for me it’s kept me young. And, you know me, I’ve always had a passion for baseball,” Cook said.

He started the amateur streak in 1974 while working his day job.

Switch to softball where he was among 19 inducted into the HOF in 2024 at a banquet at Jackpot Junction. Inductees were from southern Minnesota.

The nomination came from HOF softball pitcher Jim Prestholdt of Dawson.

“With 19 members going in, only two umpires, everybody’s gotta give an acceptance speech. It took an hour-and-a-half to get through the acceptance speeches,” Cook said.

The HOF induction means he’s now part of the committee to review applicants each year. The review of nominees is rewarding and more comprehensive than he thought it would be. A point system is used to rank and narrow the candidates, and the numbers fluctuate each year. This past year there were 32 nominees and 16 made it.

In softball, Wayne participated in 13 national tournaments including Minnesota, North and South Dakota, Kansas, and New Mexico.

“It was fun. You get to see some pretty good facilities and the softball is amazing,” Cook said.

“You get in the national tournament and they have anywhere from 50 to 70 teams and there’s a parade of champions that first night. All the teams are lined up and march on the field. It’s just like the Olympics. It’s really impressive, takes your breath away.”

At the banquet, the initial printing of his book on fastpitch softball was ready for a look-see. “Southern Minnesota Fastpitch” served as a scrapbook for players and their families.

The book is full of color photos and game stories of notable team tournament appearances. The six teams were Lake Lillian (1981),  Wabasso (1986), Ruthton (1987-90), Vesta (1997), Dawson (2006), and New Ulm (2023). He put it together over two years and sold them all, but noted that more can be printed if needed.

In 2025, Cook was recognized by Minnesota State High School League for 50 years as a sports official. He was awarded a watch, as well as a certificate from the Minnesota Vikings. In fact, there were nine people in the state that received the 50 Club award.

On the gridiron, his son Jeff, 38, joined his father five years ago and is the white hat of the five-man officiating crew. This year, they have 12 games lined up to work together.

“The five guys will stay together all season and that’s good,” Cook said. “You want to have uniformity and do the same thing every week, so you get good at it and you’re not interchanging, and everybody’s got a new position. He took a liking to football like I did and he watched me and I think some of that rubbed off on him.”

Wayne has refereed all five positions on the field, but has fallen into the back judge position for his remaining years on the field.

“As a back judge, I’m responsible for long passes. The last guy back,” Cook said. “You gotta stay out of the way. You don’t want to get in the middle of a play. People ask me, can you keep up with the football players? I tell them if I can’t, they’re going to run me over.”

More recognition from the Minnesota Vikings popped up late last year. In December, Cook received an e-mail inviting him to a week 18 home game.

He was given passes for two to attend a game in honor of being the longest-tenured official from a five-state region. The Vikings were playing the Green Bay Packers for the second time that season and although the game was considered meaningless for post-season play, Cook and his brother enjoyed the recognition.

Wayne Cook sports a Hall of Fame ring and silver watch from the Minnesota State High School League. Contributed photo

The game-day experience included a football and some pregame sideline time where they watched Justin Jefferson catching fade passes in the back corner of the end zone thrown by the quarterbacks coach. Also included were concessions, parking, and back elevator access with a stadium host.

Due to delays associated with game-day start time as well as the holiday mail, his tickets, passes, and materials never arrived. Parking was a challenge and walking the long distances was another story, Cook said.

“We get in the stadium; we go through security and they say, ‘Where’s your ticket?’ I said ‘We don’t have any, we’re special guests.’ He said, ‘You need a ticket. Go to the ticket window and the guy will help you out.’ We got a ticket even though we never saw a ticket.”

The sidelines were packed with special-access guests five deep on both sidelines. They took enough pictures to make a collage that sits in a crowded sports memorabilia room at his home.