Mikesell: SABR member Filipi to present rare baseball films in Columbus
From Terry Mikesell at the Columbus Dispatch on April 9, 2015, with mention of SABR members Dave Filipi and Blake Sherry:
Since childhood, Dave Filipi has loved the Minnesota Twins.
Once each summer, to watch a Twins baseball game, his family would make the four-hour trek from its home in northwestern Minnesota to the Twin Cities.
“I’d save all my money to buy a pennant or a yearbook or one of those fake plastic helmets,” he recalled, “and I’d bask in it the rest of the summer.”
More than a decade ago, his passion for the game inspired Filipi, director of film/video at the Wexner Center for the Arts, to scour baseball-film archives to create the “Rare Baseball Films” program.
The event, now in its 12th year, will be presented on Friday and Saturday at the Wexner Center.
“The people love it so much and want to talk to you,” Filipi said. “They want to share their stories. We don’t do very many programs where you get that kind of immediate feedback. You can’t beat that.”
The program provides baseball fans a chance to see players they might only have read about, said Blake Sherry, who, as co-chairman of the Columbus chapter of the Society for American Baseball Research, frequently attends. (The 7,000 members nationwide research baseball history and statistics, archive images and gather to enjoy baseball-related events.)
Read the full article here: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/life_and_entertainment/2015/04/09/1-fans-look-forward-to-annual-screening-of-old-game-reels.html
Originally published: April 9, 2015. Last Updated: April 9, 2015.