Category: SABR
Pictures from SABR44 Convention in Houston
I am way behind in doing this post on the SABR44 convention in Houston. I did posted pictures from the event on Tweeter, IG and Facebook but I did not do a blog post.
I had a marvelous time in Houston. Weather was not too bad either. The hotel was away from Downtown but it all worked out. I am sorry that I missed going to see the minor league team “the Sugarland Skeeters”
This year I debated whether to go to the convention because I’ve known for a few months now that I will be out of job soon, but I am glad I did go. Once you go to one of the SABR conventions, it is hard to stay away. It is always a big pleasure seeing fellow SABR members and meeting new ones. Also of course I enjoy the lineup of speakers, going to see an MLB and a minor league game if possible. Also I try to attend as many baseball sessions as possible realizing that it is impossible to attend all.
The local chapters always do a great job of hosting and organizing the convention. In Houston it was hosted by the Larry DierkerChapter and greatly assisted by the Horsny Chapter.
This was my fourth convention in a row. I enjoyed every one of them. My first one was the Long Beach convention where I volunteered with our local Chapter, the Allan Roth Chapter. Hopefully I can make it next year to Chicago for SABR45.
Here are some pictures from the SABR convention:
SABR44 Houston
Art Howe
panel of former Astros players Alan Ashby, Larry Dierker and Art Howe
Eddie Robinson, longtime player, general manager and baseball executive;
Bob Aspromonte signing my baseball. Picture from RyanPollack.com
Bob Watson
SABR ladies
Marie “Red” Mahoney. The only women from Houston to play in the AAGPBL.
It was great chatting with Larry Dierker prior to the panel discussion.
Lesley Heaphy selected as Bob Davis award winner!
A SABR member was so nice giving me this baseball card so that Enos could sign it for me.
A kid took this picture of Jose Cruz and myself. It is a little blury.
Dodgers Jim Wynn and Bob Aspromonte signed my baseball.
Buck Martinez, broadcaster of the Toronto Blue Jays.
Max Kates dressed like Charlie Finley, had a presentation titled “The Bikers Beat the Boys Scouts”: Facial Hair and the 1972 World Series. I think his dress attire helped him get Roger Clemens to sign his book.
Selfies with Roger Clemens in the background.
The Toy Cannon, Jim Wynn.
Brooklyn Dodger Bob Aspromonte. Also a Colt .45 .
We got this huge book free.
Vivian L Smith, statue on the outside of the Astrodome. The plaque reads “She loved the Astros”
Jose Cruz and Enos Cabell
Art Howe. I talked with both Jose Cruz and Art Howe on how debasted I was that Monday extra playoff game in 1980 between the Dodgers and Astros. I told him I cried that Monday. Art (or was it Jose) said “Better you than us.”
I can’t read this signature. Hmm. Roger Clemens?
Selfie at Minute Maid Park with Astro in the background.
Since SABR42 in Minnesota, we (Norm, Kent, Abby and I) have been taking a picture at a stadium with the team’s mickey mouse. This year Abby could not make it so we invited Evelyn to post with us.
These are only a part of the pictures I took at SABR44. It is always so much fun attending the convention. I hope to make it to SABR45.
Sidenote: Today Wednesday, September 24, I can’t wait to head to Dodger Stadium to see Clayton Kershaw go for win #21 against the Giants and clinch the National League West! Go Dodgers!
SABR Day: January 25, 2013
SABR Day is an annual event that brings together SABR members and friends on the same day, regardless of where they live. The fifth annual SABR Day is scheduled for January 25, 2014.
I know I missed last year”s SABR Day because the date was same date as the Dodgers first FanFest at Dodger Stadium. This year the date coincides with the King s and Ducks breaking the ice at Dodger Stadium. Update: I am going to SABR day but now realized I could have gone to both events. The hockey game is not until 6:30 but I did not get a ticket 😦
Here is a map from www.sabr.org on the locations where they are having SABR Day:
The red marks (Seattle and San Francisco) are holding theirs on Sunday January 26. In addition, some chapters are holding their SABR Day meetings on other days because of conflicts with team FanFests or availability of preferred venues.
The Allan Roth Chapter in Los Angeles will hold SABR day at the La Habra library.
Below are prior year highlights found at the SABR.org page for the Allan Roth Chapter:
Los Angeles, California (Allan Roth Chapter): 24 members and guests convened at the La Habra Library for SABR Day. Ed Hart discussed his brief career as the general manager of the Fullerton Flyers of the Golden League. He mentioned the difficulty and expense of starting a team from scratch and gave us nine rules for success. Finding players was the easy part. He enjoyed working in baseball and maintains a continuing friendship with manager Garry Templeton. Dick Beverage auctioned off a box of Bob McConnell’s books, raising $70 for the chapter. Rick Smith presented a challenging trivia quiz entitled “Little Known Facts About Hall of Famers.” Don Zminda had the high score. We each filled out a Hall of Fame ballot, and there were no blank ballots. Mike Piazza and Craig Biggo were “elected”, and no one else came close. Ron Selter presented a detailed talk about Negro League Ballparks. Barry Mednick reviewed 2012 Outliers. — Barry Mednick
2012 LOS ANGELES, California (Allan Roth Chapter): 46 members and guests convened at the La Habra Library as Milwaukee Braves All-Star catcher Del Crandall (see picture at right) entertained for an hour with stories about his teammates and his career. We heard about spitballs, managerial moves, how Crandall aided Robin Yount’s career, and Crandall’s home run in Game 7 of the 1957 World Series. Crandall was a most engaging and delightful speaker. Chuck Polizzi described “The Big Game”, a movie he is working on, about the actual 1929 confrontation between the 12 Fredrickson brothers of Eidswold, Minnesota, and the House of David touring team. Daryl Grigsby challenged us with trivia from his book, Celebrating Ourselves: African Americans and the Promise of Baseball. High school coach Eddie Alvarez talked about the problems he faced trying to implement sabermetric concepts into the staid world of high school baseball.
2011. LOS ANGELES, California (Allan Roth Chapter): 1969 Mets outfielder Rod Gaspar spoke to about 30 people at the Second Harvest Food Bank in Orange County, and host Robert Wright recorded members talking about their most memorable baseball moments. (note to me: I never did hear the recording . I remember I got a little emotional while Robert recorded me. Having problem accessing the link)
1969 Mets outfield Rod Gaspar talks to SABR members at the Allan Roth Chapter’s SABR Day gathering at the Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County (California) on January 29.
I was looking for pictures from pior SABR Days I have attended but I got to dig further. I did find these pictures from a meeting last year in June.
june 2013 meeting George Genovese, the scout who first recommended Donnels, discussed his brief major league career with the Senators and his preference for the Pacific Coast League. He talked about how he had saved the careers of Jesus Alou and Bobby Bonds by assuring the Giants that these players had the talent to play.
Check out the SABR website and try to attend a SABR Day.
Ref: www.SABR.org
Brooklyn Dodgers. Where are they now. Don Lund
I am getting back to honoring the Brooklyn Dodgers that are alive so here is #12 in my list from oldest to youngest.
Don Lund then
Donald Andrew Lund was a backup outfielder for the Brooklyn Dodgers, St Louis Browns and Detroit Tigers. He was born in Detroit on May 18, 1923. He shares a birthday with my dear aunt Nora and my friend Sandi who is a St. Louis Cardinal fan.
From Baseball Reference.com:
Outfielder Don Lund earned nine letters at the University of Michigan and was also drafted by the Chicago Bears. After his playing career ended, he was a Detroit Tigers coach in 1957 and 1958. He was then the Tigers’ farm director in 1963, Scouting director in 1964, and director of player development from 1965 to 1970.
The young Lund attracted attention in 1947, a pennant-winning year for the Brooklyn Dodgers, when he went 6 for 20, slugging .700 with 2 doubles and 2 homers. He did not appear in post-season play. Lund was one of 11 players used in left field by the Dodgers that season, who never did pick a regular left-fielder in the late 1940s.
His year with the most major league at-bats was 1953, when he hit .257 in 421 at-bats with the Tigers. Al Kaline was an 18-year-old rookie that year, and the following year Kaline became a regular, while Lund was a backup.
Lund briefly managed the 1956 Jamestown Falcons. He returned to his alma mater as head coach from 1959 to 1962, leading the school to the 1962 College World Series.
checking the Dodgers media guide, Mr. Don Lund wore uniforms #8 #17 #25 #40. He was in 4 games in 1945, 11 games in 1947 and 27 games in 1948. He went to the Tigers in 1948.
Don Lund now.
I did not know that there is a SABR chapter called Don Lund Chapter! the Don Lund Chapter serves the Southeastern Michigan area. Very nice!
Also in 1997 SABR conference #27 in Louisville, Kentucky saw a player panel highlighted by Pee Wee Reese that also featured Ed Stevens and Don lund. Jim Bunning was the keynote speaker.
Found this book also about Don Lund:
James Robert Irwin
Saint James Books, 2009
From everything I read about Mr. Lund, he is another terrific person.
Ref: Baseballreference.com mgoblue.com, Annarbor.com
United States Presidents and Baseball
United States Presidents and Baseball
Happy Election Day!
To commemorate the election, SABR member Rick Smith prepared the trivia below and gave it to us at the SABR meeting November 3, 2012. Thanks Rick!
Each President listed below is an answer to a question, except Eisenhower, who is the answer to two.
A)William Taft, B) Woodrow Wilson, C) Calvin Coolidge, D) Herbert Hoover, E) Franklin Roosevelt, F) Harry Truman, G) Dwight Eisenhower, H) John F. Kennedy, I) Lyndon Johnson, J) Richard Nixon, K)Gerald Ford, L) Jimmy Carter, M) Ronald Reagan, N) George Bush, O) Bill Clinton, P) George W. Bush, Q) Barack Obama, (Fill in the blank on #18). \
1. This president only attended four games while in office, but he stayed nine innings each time. His brother has a stadium named after him ___
2. Upon meeting this president, babe Ruth said, “Hot as hell, ain’t it Pres.” ___
3. This president was not much of a baseball fan, but he enjoyed pitching slow pitch softball. In 1995 he said, “It’s time to forgive Pete Rose.” ___
4. Name the president who is credited with starting the tradition of standing for the seventh inning stretch? ___
5. This president holds the record of attending 16 games while in office. He is the first president to attend a night game, and a game on the Fourth of July. ___
6. Which pres. Threw out the first pitch at Cleveland’s brand new Jacob’s Field, and was in attendance when Cal Ripken played his 2,131st game. ___
7. Name the president who wrote the “Green Light” letter. ___
8. Babe Ruth grounded out as a pinch hitter in his first ever World Series appearance. Name the president who was in attendance that day. ___
9. This future president served as the team captain of the Yale Bulldogs. They made it to the final round of the very first College World Series. ___
10. Which president said? “when I was a boy growing up in Kansas, a friend of mine and I went fishing. As we sat there in the warmth of a summer afternoon on a river bank, we talked about what we wanted to do when we grew up. I told him I wanted to be a real major league baseball player like Honus Wagner. My friend said that he’d like to be President of the United States. Neither of us got our wish. ___
11. A reporter once asked this president to name his favorite players and he rattled off his favorite stars. A few days later he named four all teams; a team for each league, both before and after World War II. ___
12. HE was the first president to have played Little League Baseball. ___
13. This pres. Signed a bill allowing girls to play Little League Baseball. ___
14. This future president was employed to produce studio broadcasts of Cubs games, based on telegraph reports. ___
15. This president attended the first game ever played in the Astro Dome. ___
16. Which president said “Baseball is the greatest of American sports” ___
17. Name the president who sent a Secret Service agent to intercept Mickey Vernon on his way back to the dugout after he hit a walk off homerun to beat the Yankees. He simply wanted to congratulate him. ___
18. President Obama threw out the first pitch at the 2009 All Star Game. Which team jacket was he wearing? ______
update: Oops! I forgot to include the answers.
1 H, 2 C, 3 L, 4 A, 5 F, 6 O, 7 E, 8 B, 9 N, 10 G, 11 J, 12 P, 13 K, 14 M, 15 I, 16 D, 17 G, 18 White Sox.
SABR #42 in Minneapolis
One of the best things about SABR is meeting with friends you have made thru SABR. After meeting Abby and Kent last year at SABR41 in Long Beach, you would always see the three of us together. The three of us said we would keep in touch with each other. Less than a month later, Abby emailed us about a SABR/Baseball Prospectus event at Citi Field. Kent could not make the trip in August but I did. In addition to seeing Citi Field, Abby and I went to watch a Cyclone game.
Kent is a Dodger fan and a Red Sox fan. Abby is a Yankee fan and you all know I bleed Dodger Blue.
I was remembering that last year Kent wanted to try his first In-N-Out burger. Well, he asked the front desk how far was the closest In-N-Out. The shuttle did not make it that far so we took a taxi. Because we did not want to miss the next session, we had the taxi go thru the drive thru. We quickly ate at the hotel and headed to the next session.
The following day as the bus tour was heading to Lake Elsinore where we were going to catch the Storms against the Rawhides, I looked out the window and saw an In & Out place, I suddenly remembered that I had my car parked at the hotel! I turned to Kent and told him that I had remembered about my car a day late. I remember the taxi was not cheap. Funny I can remember baseball facts but had completely forgotten about my car.
I did not need a car in Minneapolis. I had been there the year before when the Dodgers played there 6/27/11 to 6/29/11. Both Abby and I arrived in Minneapolis in time to take the library tour and the tour of downtown that Brenda was given. This library has a piano! I love libraries!
To be continue… Pictures coming.
Dodgers Select a Seat Open House and SABR Day.
Checking back at the Dodger Open House last year http://crzblue.mlblogs.com/2011/01/27/dodgers-select-a-seat-open-house-and-sabr-day/ it coincided with SABR Day. This year again Dodgers Open House coincides with SABR day (Saturday 1/28/2012) so why not have it at Dodger Stadium?
The Dodgers annual Select a Seat, an event for season ticket holders, started Thursday 1/26/2012 and it will conclude with the Open House on Saturday 1/28/2012. It is our first chance to have a Dodger dog at the stadium. Don’t they just taste better at the Stadium. The Dodgers sent us this picture of the sunrise at Dodger Stadium:
Although I was not feeling well, It was great seeing my Dodger fan friends there like William (Deuce’s dad), Dee, Sylvia and Jeanine to name a few. Also Darryl and Leslie who recently became season ticket holders. Jeanine and I met Darryl at the SABR Fall AFL conference. Darryl said that we convinced him to get season tickets. Welcome to the Dodger fan family Darryl & Leslie. Other friends like Lorena, Rosie and Rene will go to tomorrow. Will miss them.
SABR Day Saturday 1/28/2012. I was going to the SABR website at http://sabr.org/ when I ran into this picture! haha, that is me chatting with yes, SABR members, the most knowledgeable baseball fans. Down below in a Tiger hat is Max, another very knowledgeable fan.
If you can make it go SABR Day. There are many locations that are hosting SABR Day from Washington to Vermont to Toronto, to Puerto Rico. For more information go to http://sabr.org/sabrday:
SABR Day is an annual event that brings together SABR members and friends on the same day, regardless of where they live. The third annual SABR Day will be held on January 28, 2012. Regional SABR meetings are open to all baseball fans — though we encourage you to join SABR if you like what you find — and are usually free to attend. Guest speakers often include current and former baseball players, managers, umpires, executives, scouts, writers and authors.
In Seattle, SABR Day will be held in conjuction with the Mariners FanFest. In Minneapolis, the chapter will participate with the TwinsFest. in Arizona it will be at Tempe Diablo Stadium, in New York at the New York Public library. Check the site for more information. I counted 39 locations.
Looking forward to the event at La Habra library. I have never been to this library and I love visiting new libraries! From SABR:
Former Milwaukee Braves All-Star catcher Del Crandall will be joining us for SABR Day at the La Habra Library. High school coach Eddie Alvarez will speak and Eric Dearborn will present photographs of final games at various ballparks. Authors Daryl Grigsby (“Celebrating Ourselves: African-Americans and the Promise of Baseball”) and Ron Selter (on .400 hitters) will also speak.
(note to me: grr…second time Ido this post as I lost my original post).
Dodger Blue World 