Buck O’Neil/North Florida Chapter meeting recap – 5/3/2023
SABR North Florida/Buck O’Neil Chapter
Meeting Minutes, May 3, 2023
A roundup of highlights from our May meeting. Items discussed:
1 – A renewed call (plea) for members to get their biographical info into Chuck for their baseball card. Gar donned a Braves cap for a photo at the meeting so some progress is underway.
2-A brief report on the upcoming national convention in Chicago, July 5-9. We currently have five members registered and the early registration deadline is May 5. Frank Alarcon said he planned to register which would give us six Buck O’Neil representatives attending.
3-A reminder of the May 13 FAMU baseball game. Three attending the May meeting do plan to make that. Hopefully more can join.
4-Future programs and potential speakers were discussed. Matt Hudson mentioned he has spoken to Link Jarrett, Dustin McGowan and Lonni Alameda and received positive responses from all three. We also discussed possibly not having a monthly chapter meeting in July in view of the national convention and other likely summer distractions. No final decision will be made until our June meeting.
5-We also enjoyed a lively debate on whether human umpires remain the best option including home plate where some member(s) were adamant in their criticism of the accuracy. Matt Hudson did dispute it and others seemed to have preference for keeping the game free of too much technical intervention. It might be a good poll question for members at some point this season. Fun discussion.
6-Brent made a brief presentation on his article in the newly released Willie Mays book with some statistical highlights of the “Say Hey” kid and quotes from many in the sport who regard him as the GOAT. A review of his defensive wizardry is in some waysBuc statistically greater than what he accomplished as one of the game’s best hitters.
7-Veteran member Rick Swaine is working on another novel and will give us an update on that effort at the June meeting at Casa Grande.
— Renee Watters