Bob Broeg St. Louis Chapter meeting recap – 9/29/2015

Twenty-one members and guests of the Bob Broeg St. Louis Chapter gathered at The Original Crusoe’s Restaurant in South St. Louis on Tuesday, September 29, 2015.

Chapter president Brian Flaspohler called the meeting to order. He began by thanking everyone who presented, judged, and attended the inaugural Chapter Research Conference on Saturday, August 22. Celeste Czarnecki was declared the winner of the Jim Rygelski Research Award, which will be presented to her at the Hotstove Luncheon in January.

The passing of former AAGPBL player, police officer, and chapter member Erma Bergmann was acknowledged and donations were collected to present to the Backstoppers Organization of St. Louis in her memory.

Items highlighted in our ‘Today in Baseball History’ segment were the first and only major league victory for Dave Wright of the Chicago Colts (Cubs) in 1897, and the unanimous decision by the American League owners to allow the St. Louis Browns to move to Baltimore following the 1953 season.

Special guest Sean Muhammad gave a presentation on his book “Princoirs: Official Memoirs of Prince Joe Henry, Ex-Negro Leaguer”. Sean is the grandson of Prince Joe Henry and delighted in telling how he came to write the book using his grandfather’s notes and verbal stories.

Bob Giovanni then gave a presentation on the book “The League of Outsider Baseball: An Illustrated History of Baseball’s Forgotten Heroes” by Gary Cieradkowski, which tells the stories of both well-known and obscure players utilizing artwork in the form of vintage baseball cards.

Next, Barbara Sheinbein gave a presentation on the book “The Summer of Beer and Whiskey” by Edward Achorn, set mostly in the year 1883. Barbara used several excerpts from the audio book version.

Kristen Lokemoen then gave her views on the book “Molina: The Story of the Father Who Raised an Unlikely Baseball Dynasty” by Bengie Molina with Joan Ryan. Kris said it was a sometimes very moving book that told of the remarkable man who raised three major league, championship-caliber catchers.

These presentations were followed by some general discussion, largely about the upcoming post-season and roster possibilities for the Cardinals, along with views of the Mets by Steve Gietschier and the Cubs by Burton Boxerman.

Bob Tiemann’s trivia topic this month was “The 1985 Cardinals – By The Numbers.” Mark Stangl was the winner with a score of 26 out of 28.

The next regular chapter meeting will be Monday, October 19 at Crusoe’s.

— Jim Leefers, Secretary