Buck O’Neil/North Florida Chapter meeting recap – 12/6/2023
Members and guests of SABR’s Buck O’Neil/North Florida Chapter gathered on December 6, 2023, at Casa Grande Margaritas & Cocina in Tallahassee, Florida, for their monthly meeting. In attendance were:
- Matt Keelean, President
- Matt Hudson, Vice President
- Renee Watters, Communications Co-Director
- Brent Kallestad, Communications Co-Director
- Rick Swain, Treasurer
- Kent Putnam, Secretary
- Frank Alarcon
- Obrey Brown
- Gar Chisenhall
- John Dew*
- Bruce Grant
- Jeff Lickson
- John Nogowski
- Glenn Robertson
- Chuck Rosciam
*first time attendee
President Keelean called the meeting to order at 6:10 PM EST and welcomed regulars and newcomers. John Nogowski described the new book he has coming out and invited us to attend a reading at a local bookstore.
John Dew, attending his first meeting as the guest of Glenn Robertson, was welcomed.
The results of the Chapter’s 2023 MLB predictions contest were announced: Brent Kallestad and Obrey Brown finished in a tie but Brent prevailed via the tie breaker (number of runs scored in the first four games of the World Series.)
Chuck Rosciam reminded Chapter members to cast their votes in our annual poll regarding “Who Should Be Voted Into the Baseball Hall of Fame?” Our ballots should be submitted no later than January 5.
President Keelean discussed upcoming changes to SABR at the national level, including dues increases and an even greater emphasis on digital rather than paper documents.
Rick Swaine briefed us regarding a publication and/or website on the topic of baseball in Tallahassee as a chapter project.
President Keelean briefed us on upcoming meetings on January 10 and February 3, the latter of which will be our SABR Day celebration. Members were encouraged to consider attending SABR 52 in August in Minneapolis.
VP Hudson introduced our guest speaker for the evening, Tallahassee Community College Head Baseball Coach Bryan Henry. Bryan had a very successful career in college ball and was all-conference 3 times during his playing days at Florida State University. He played professionally for 7 years and afterward served as the pitching coach at Florida A&M University for 8 years before taking the head job at TCC. Coach talked to us about many phases of his job including recruiting, practice, game strategies, facilities management and more. He invited us to attend TCC games, whether individually or as a group.
Final topics included possibilities for our 2024 SABR Day program in February and thoughts on automated calling of balls and strikes.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 8 PM.
— Kent Putnam
Chapter Secretary