Bob Broeg St. Louis Chapter meeting recap – 4/21/2014
Eighteen members and guests of the Bob Broeg St. Louis Chapter attended the April 21, 2014, monthly roundtable, held at its usual location, The Original Crusoe’s Restaurant in South St. Louis.
Chapter president Brian Flaspohler called the meeting to order.
Items noted in “Today in Baseball History” was the birth of Germany Smith in 1863, Ty Cobb’s professional debut with the Augusta Tourists in 1904, and the death of Johnny Beazley in 1990. Smith spent his final season, 1898, with the St. Louis Browns and Beazley was one of the heroes for the World Champion 1942 Cardinals.
This month’s featured player who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country was minor leaguer Marion Young. Young spent two years, 1941-42, playing in Concord, NC; Paducah, KY; Utica, NY; and Springfield, MA before joining the Marine Corps in December 1942. He served aboard the light cruiser USS Nashville. On the morning of December 13, 1944 a Japanese kamikaze plane crashed into the Nashville, killing 133 men including Young. Originally buried in the Phillipines, his remains were returned to the US in 1948 and now rest at Glendale Cemetery in Des Moines, Iowa.
Barbara Sheinbein informed the attendees of a new shuttle to and from St. Louis Cardinals games which runs from the South County Mall. Jeff Ecker distributed copies of St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bernie Miklasz’s recent column on the ability of Yadier Molina to cut down an opponent’s running game. Bob Tiemann gave a research presentation on Charles “Kid” Nichols and how in July and August of 1898 he was credited with pitching the Boston Beaneaters to the pennant.
Other topics of discussion were the early results of instant replay, the Yasiel Puig/Cuban player scandal, and the possible movement of the Oakland A’s.
Bob Tiemann’s baseball trivia quiz, “General Managers” was won by Mark Stangl with a score of 43 out of 51.
Monday, May 19 is the date for the next roundtable meeting at Crusoe’s. The meeting will be held in a downstairs location, so if the upstairs location is a detriment to attending our regular meetings, please do not miss this one.
— Jim Leefers