Marlin 'Mandy' Helget
2025 Hall of Fame Inductee
Stark/Essig, MN
Stark/Essig, MN
Marlin ‘Mandy’ Helget’s roots in baseball run deep. Long before he would go on to play for the well-known Stark teams that featured a starting lineup of mostly Helget's, he played baseball at home with his brothers on the farm. His first organized baseball didn’t come until 1961 with Stark’s Bi-County team, and he played only his senior year of high school baseball at Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s in 1963. Mandy’s amateur playing career began the following year at Stark and spanned 24 seasons.
His teammates and opponents knew Mandy as a very tough competitor. He played every position except catcher throughout his career and was an outstanding right-handed pitcher and solid hitter. He was a playoff draftee several times before Stark finally made it back to the state tournament in 1971 after a 28-year absence. After that, Stark had a seventeen-year run of prominence where they appeared in nine state tournaments and were consistently one of the best teams in the state. Mandy was a player/manager for six of those years and was a major contributor where his leadership helped put Stark on the map. Perhaps no one exemplified the grit and heart of those Stark teams more than Mandy.
When his playing career at Stark concluded after the 1987 season, Mandy took over as manager of the Essig Bluejays from 1988-1994 where he had coached his sons’ Bi-County team the previous year. He brought instant credibility and success to a team that had been struggling for many years. He also involved himself in the Essig baseball and softball programs as a board member for 15 years. On Essig’s board, Mandy was a key contributor in significant upgrades to fencing, grandstand, scoreboard, dugouts and construction of a new youth field to help make Essig Ballpark one of the best complexes in the area. He was also a member of the committee that brought lights to Essig in 2015.
Mandy served in the U.S. National Guard from 1967-1973 and has been a member of Holy Trinity Cathedral in New Ulm since 1968. He is a member of the Knights of Columbus and a member of New Ulm American Legion Post 132 where he has been their gambling manager since 2007. He was Tomahawk League Secretary for over 15 years and Region 2C Commissioner for two more. For nearly 20 years after his playing and coaching days, he umpired softball and baseball at the high school and amateur levels with many section and state tournament assignments.
Through it all, Mandy was supported by his wife, Carol, eight children and 14 grandchildren.
His teammates and opponents knew Mandy as a very tough competitor. He played every position except catcher throughout his career and was an outstanding right-handed pitcher and solid hitter. He was a playoff draftee several times before Stark finally made it back to the state tournament in 1971 after a 28-year absence. After that, Stark had a seventeen-year run of prominence where they appeared in nine state tournaments and were consistently one of the best teams in the state. Mandy was a player/manager for six of those years and was a major contributor where his leadership helped put Stark on the map. Perhaps no one exemplified the grit and heart of those Stark teams more than Mandy.
When his playing career at Stark concluded after the 1987 season, Mandy took over as manager of the Essig Bluejays from 1988-1994 where he had coached his sons’ Bi-County team the previous year. He brought instant credibility and success to a team that had been struggling for many years. He also involved himself in the Essig baseball and softball programs as a board member for 15 years. On Essig’s board, Mandy was a key contributor in significant upgrades to fencing, grandstand, scoreboard, dugouts and construction of a new youth field to help make Essig Ballpark one of the best complexes in the area. He was also a member of the committee that brought lights to Essig in 2015.
Mandy served in the U.S. National Guard from 1967-1973 and has been a member of Holy Trinity Cathedral in New Ulm since 1968. He is a member of the Knights of Columbus and a member of New Ulm American Legion Post 132 where he has been their gambling manager since 2007. He was Tomahawk League Secretary for over 15 years and Region 2C Commissioner for two more. For nearly 20 years after his playing and coaching days, he umpired softball and baseball at the high school and amateur levels with many section and state tournament assignments.
Through it all, Mandy was supported by his wife, Carol, eight children and 14 grandchildren.