Tintor joins his brothers with hall of fame induction

HIBBING—Mike Tintor now joins his brothers Rick and Tim into a hall of fame.

That’s because Tintor will be inducted into the Hibbing High School Hall of Fame in a ceremony to be held Saturday at the Hibbing Memorial Building.

Rick is already in the Hibbing Hall of Fame, and Tom is in a hall of fame in Florida.

In no way did Mike think this honor would be bestowed upon him.

“It was a surprise,” Tintor said. “I never thought of going in, especially with Rick and Debbie (Houghton). It wasn’t life or death, but it’s going to be an honor having my picture on the wall.

“Now, my grandson can walk down the hall and that picture is hanging on the wall.”

With two brothers and sister, Kathy, sports was a way to whittle away the time in the Tintor household.

“We all played together, the older kids and the younger guys,” Tintor said. “We had a big group of guys like Frank Russ and Gary Southgate. Sports used to be in the neighborhood all day long.”

Tintor made a name for himself in football as Hibbing’s place kicker. He kicked a 42-yard field goal in high school.

“I was 215 pounds, but I ran well,” Tintor said. “For some reason, I had a great leg to kick. It was an honor to play with good guys like George Spanish, Tom Kukheisen and Martin Maki. It brings back a lot of memories for my teammates.

Tintor was named All-State, then he went to Bemidji State University for two years.

In baseball, Tintor said that was his best sport, but he never played it in high school, going out for track instead.

Even so, Tintor did receive a Major League Baseball tryout.

“It was all word of mouth,” Tintor said. “They were scouting Rick, then they noticed my arm. I used to help Rick tryout. I did play with the Greyhounds, and I had a better-than-major-league average arm. That’s why I had the tryout.”

Tintor tried out at Metropolitan Stadium for the Minnesota Twins, then Pittsburgh and Kansas City brought him in to tryout.

“They had me hit and throw,” Tintor said. “Kansas City gave me an offer to go to the Rookie League, but I didn’t want to go. I went to football.”

That’s when Tintor ended up at Bemidji State where he stayed for two years.

Now, Tintor is being recognized for his exploits.

“I’ve never been really big on awards and stuff like that,” Tintor said. “When I played, I just liked to play, but when they told me, it felt good. It will be emotional because my grandson and daughters will be there.

“My brother, Tom) and daughters were the ones that told me about it. I don’t know if they did the paperwork, but they’re thrones that let me know. When I see them, It’ll be emotional.”