Bob Broeg St. Louis Chapter meeting recap – 6/24/2014
Nineteen members and guests of the Bob Broeg St. Louis Chapter attended the June 24, 2014, monthly roundtable, held at its usual location, The Original Crusoe’s Restaurant in South St. Louis.
Chapter president Brian Flaspohler called the meeting to order.
Items noted in “Today in Baseball History” was the first of Jackie Robinson’s 19 career steals of home in 1947 in the Dodgers 4-2 victory over the Pirates; the 1972 short-lived professional debut of female umpire Bernice Gera in the New York-Penn League; Rickey Henderson’s major league debut in 1979; Vince Coleman reaching 40 consecutive successful stolen bases for the Cardinals in 1989; and Randy Johnson’s 19 strikeout performance against the Athletics in 1997.
Bob Tiemann presented some Stan Musial career highlights from past dates in June. These included his 1,500th career hit, his first home run at Ebbets Field, and a 7-RBI performance in 1961.
Rich Applegate’s presentation on baseball personnel who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country featured minor leaguer Lefty Brewer this month. Brewer met his death during the D-Day invasion as part of the 82nd Airborne Division that paratrooped into France off-target and surrounded by the enemy. Exactly six years after pitching a no-hitter with the St. Augustine Saints, Lefty Brewer’s life ended.
Jeff Ecker announced that St. Louis native, former major leaguer, and now author Jerry Reuss would be signing copies of his new book Bring in the Right Hander: My Four Decades in the Major Leagues at the St. Louis County Library Wednesday, July 16 at 7:00 p.m.
Jeff also announced that the traveling Smithsonian exhibit “Hometown Teams” would be in Waterloo, IL at the Monroe County History Museum beginning July 26. Jim Leefers announced that the exhibit is currently at the Bottomley-Ruffing-Schalk Baseball Museum in Nokomis, IL until July 20.
Burton Boxerman challenged the attendees with some Chicago Cubs trivia and Bob Tiemann’s monthly quiz was on ‘Evil Doers’ and won by Mark Stangl.
Other topics of discussion were the recent passing of Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn, the upcoming All-Star Game, and the DL woes of the Cardinal pitching staff.
Monday, July 21 is the date for the next roundtable meeting at Crusoe’s.
— Jim Leefers