Bob Broeg St. Louis Chapter meeting recap – 3/21/2017
An unusually small group of only 13 members and guests of the Bob Broeg St. Louis Chapter gathered at The Original Crusoe’s Restaurant in South St. Louis on Tuesday, March 21, 2017. Apparently some did not want to miss even a single pitch of the WBC Championship between the United States and Puerto Rico, therefore they remained at home in front of their televisions, just in case the meeting ran a little long.
Chapter president Brian Flaspohler called the meeting to order. Mark Stangl noted that this past Sunday would have been Bob Broeg’s 99th birthday and it was suggested that perhaps next year for his 100th birthday the chapter would recognize it somehow.
The chapter project of finding some way to feature various baseball related sites in the St. Louis area was discussed, possibly with a Wikipage and/or a book/pamphlet of some sort.
Items noted in “Today in Baseball History”: 1908 – Ty Cobb signs with Detroit for $4,000 plus an $800 bonus if he hits over .300. Cobb hits .324 and collects his bonus. 1968 – The name ‘Royals’ is chosen for the new American League expansion team in Kansas City. 1977 – Mark ‘The Bird’ Fidrych rips the cartilage in his left knee and undergoes surgery 10 days later, effectively ending the fabled career of the 1976 Rookie of the Year.
Carl Riechers presented an article he came across titled “Speeding Up the Game”, a popular subject the last few years. It mentioned frequent mound meetings, arguments with umpires, and a few other time-killing practices that need to be less frequent. The article was from The Sporting News edition dated August 9, 1934, proving that the ‘problem’ is nothing new.
Brian Flaspohler passed a around a copy of member Tommy Schaff’s write-up that he has completed for the 25th Anniversary DVD re-release of “A League of Their Own”. The e-mail containing the document has been shared with the membership.
Those present were asked to make their annual predictions on division championships, wild-card teams, league champions, and World Series champions. 10 predictions were turned in and it seems that there is still great confidence in the local team as the Cardinals were picked as World Series champions on 4 ballots. Other receiving WS winner votes were the Indians (2), Red Sox, Giants, Astros, and Rangers.
Other topics of discussion were the World Baseball Classic, particularly Yadier Molina’s performance in the tournament, and the Cardinals 25-man roster to start the season.
Bob Tiemann’s trivia topic was “Hot Corner Cardinals”. Mark Stangl was the winner with a score of 36 out of a possible 39.
The Baseball First Wednesday Meeting will be at the Sports Café in Bridgeton Wednesday, April 5, 2017 starting at 5:30. The next regular monthly meeting will be April 24, 2017 with the location yet to be determined.
— Jim Leefers