Houston/Larry Dierker Chapter meeting recap – 8/19/2017

On Saturday, August 19, 2017, more than 60 Larry Dierker/Houston Chapter members and friends from all over Texas, including 4 members from the Rogers Hornsby SABR Chapter, joined us for our annual trip to Minute Maid Park to see the Astros play and defeat the Oakland Athletics.
 
Braving record high temperatures, we were able to enter Union Station in relative ease and receive the premium promotional item of the year, a three-headed bobblehead of Craig Biggio, Jeff Bagwell and Mike Hampton who were shown celebrating their 1997 Division Championship.
 
It was Legends Weekend with two members of our chapter participating on Saturday; Larry Dierker, skipper of the 1997 team threw out the first pitch and  Jimmy Wynn signed autographs for fans.
 
On this special occasion we were honored to have Astros President Reid Ryan speak to us and answer questions posed by our membership. Reid, who personally helped with the logistics for the meeting, is outstanding in his support of SABR and our chapter. His comments were refreshing as he spoke of the recent changes in the both the ballpark and on the field. He told a few stories about his Dad and spoke about the talent acquired in the off season plus those in the farm system we might see in the near future.
 
Our next monthly meeting will be on Monday, September 18 at the Spaghetti Western Restaurant on Shepard Drive with reports on SABR 47, Jeff Bagwell’s HOF induction ceremonies and Herb Whalley’s continued quest to visit every major-league ballpark. We also had a former MLB player on our radar and will furnish details later.
 
And Happy Birthday to Larry Miggins who turned 92 on Sunday.
 
See you in September.
 
— Bob Dorrill
bdorrill@aol.com