Bob Broeg St. Louis Chapter meeting recap – 12/12/2022
Twenty-three members and guests of the Bob Broeg SABR Chapter, along with a dozen others via zoom, gathered at The Sports Cafe in Bridgeton, Missouri, on Monday, December 12, 2022, for their final monthly meeting of the year.
President Rick Zucker opened the meeting by having everyone introduce themselves and also recognized those joining on the large screen. He also memorialized on the agenda past Chapter President Jim Rygelski who passed away December 18, 2013.
Zucker then introduced our guest speaker Brad Snyder, whose was joining us via zoom from Washington, D.C. Brad is a Georgetown University law professor and the author of A Well-Paid Slave: Curt Flood’s Fight for Free Agency in Professional Sports. Brad gave an excellent overview of events leading up to the court battle, details of the trial itself, and the aftermath. An excellent question and answer period followed and before we realized it an hour and a half had passed. Our thanks to Brad for an entertaining and informative presentation.
It was announced that our Hot Stove Luncheon will take place at Mike Duffy’s Pub & Grill, 124 West Jefferson Avenue in Kirkwood, MO, on January 28, 2023. The monthly meeting dates for 2023 were also announced: January 9, March 7, April 10, May 8, June 19, July 24, August 21, October 16, November 13, and December 11. These will continue to be held at The Sports Cafe at 6:00 pm. The less formal Fellowship Meetings will also continue to be held on the first Wednesday of each month at Lester’s Sports Bar & Grill in Ladue at 5:30 pm.
An election was then held for the Chapter officers for the upcoming year. The officers for the 2023 year are as follows: President – Allison Levin, Vice-President – Ed Wheatley, Secretary – Jeremy Gibbs, Treasurer – Clem Hamilton, Directors – Jim Leefers, Mark Stangl, and Rick Zucker, Historian – Carl Riechers.
Our Today in Baseball History section included 1903-Cards trade Mordecai Brown to the Cubs for Jack Taylor, 1908-Cardinals send three players to the Giants for Roger Bresnahan, 1924 Senators acquire Stan Coveleski from Cleveland and win the AL pennant in 1925, 1980-Whitey Herzog (Cardinals) trades Ted Simmons, Pete Vuckovich, and Rollie Fingers to the Brewers for David Green, Dave LaPoint, Sixto Lezcano, and Lary Sorensen. Births:Phenomenal Smith (1864), Ralph Garr (1945), and Gorman Thomas (1950).
Clem Hamilton presented another segment of his Top Jim Crow-ERA Black Players which focused on pitchers this month.
There was some general discussion on the post-season awards and Fred McGriff’s election to the Hall of Fame.
The evening ended with a trivia contest presented by Bob Tiemann. The subject was Cardinal Achievements in Post-Season Games. Rick Zucker took first place, Morris Buenemann was second, and Jim Leefers was third.
The next monthly meeting will be Monday, January 9, 2023, 6:00 pm at The Sports Cafe in Bridgeton. The Fellowship Meeting will be Wednesday January 4, 2023, 5:30 pm at Lester’s in Ladue.
— Jim Leefers