Babe Ruth/Connie Mack Chapter meeting recap – 8/24/2019
Forty SABR members and friends attended a special gathering co-organized by the Baltimore Babe Ruth Chapter and Connie Mack/Philadelphia Chapter on Saturday, August 24, 2019, at Frawley Stadium during Negro Leagues History Day in Wilmington, Delaware. We socialized, drank, ate and watched a Single-A game twixt the Wilmington Blue Rocks and the Down East Wood Ducks from North Carolina [not Maine]. The Rocks won because of a meltdown of a Wood Ducks pitcher in the seventh inning.
The Baltimore Chapter co-sponsored the event with the Connie Mack Chapter and a few of the Bob Davids Chapter joined us in the Bluewinkle Diamond Suite of the Judy Johnson Field. We were hosted by members of the Blue Rocks. Group sales man Ryan Blaire arranged appearances for Rocks’ chaplain, Tony Graffino, announcer, Cory Nidoh, data analyst Tony Medina, media man Matt Janus and pitcher, Kris Bubic. Bubic was recently named the Royals’ Player of the Year for their minor league system.
A tie game vanished when Ducks pitcher J. Beras, allowed a walk, hit batsman, botched bunt, a late throw, a throwing error and three singles — one of them a Texas Leaguer — for four runs in the bottom of the eighth. The game had no dingers, great (and flawed) fielding by the Ducks third baseman, Sherten Apostel, sharp-fielding, several wild throws, lots of tween-inning foolishness, an on-deck batter who caromed a foul ball and several infield shifts by both teams. Amazingly, a Blue Rocks pitcher, Andrew Beckwith, alternated overhand and submarine pitches during several at bats. All of this overseen by two umpires!
I believe this game was enjoyed by all of us attending. I know I did!
Seamus Kearney
seamus1942@me.com