Larry Dierker Chapter meeting recap – 11/18/2024
On November 18, 2024, the Larry Dierker Chapter in Houston met with 26 members and guests in attendance in person and via Zoom.
The November Chapter meeting video is now available: https://youtu.be/
Chapter chair Joe Thompson opened the meeting by welcoming new members and visitors. After a brief recap of the October meeting (thanks again to Samuel Barrett for speaking with us in October) and a heartfelt reflection on the recent loss of Fernando Valenzuela, the conversation turned to the major news of the day for the Astros. Earlier that day, the Astros announced that starting January 1, Minute Maid Park would be renamed Daikin Park. Daikin is based in Japan and has a global presence with over 80,000 employees. The tie-in with the Astros is based on a 4.2 million square foot campus where the largest HVAC manufacturing facility in North America (Daikin Texas Technology Park) is located in Waller, Texas just outside Houston.
Chapter Members talked about the Vintage Baseball Event held at George Ranch Historical Park on November 16, 2024. Our team, The Houston Babies, lost to the Barker Red Sox managed by Bob Copus, but a good time was had by all. It was a beautiful day for the game, and our Babies club gained four new players including two very young new recruits! The Babies and Barker Red Sox are already in talks for a spring event.
Our guest speaker of the evening was David Krell, author of Do You Believe in Magic?: Baseball and America in the Groundbreaking Year of 1966 that was published in 2023. He gave us information showing tha 1966 was a groundbreaking year in US history. Using the baseball season as a unifying thread, Krell gave events like the Space Race, television shows like “I Spy,” films like James Bond and Valley of the Dolls, politics, music, and more, revealing that innovation was the common theme during this extraordinary time. David also spent some time talking about Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale and about the World Series with the Dodgers and Orioles. His book report gave us a picture of ife and culture in 1966.
The annual Bill Gilbert Winter Meeting will soon be upon us. Chapter members from the Houston Larry Dierker usually attend this all-day event. Please make plans to attend the event with us. The day will be filled with baseball talk and guest speakers. The event is scheduled for Saturday, January 4, 2025, from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at Texas State University in San Marcos. Robert Daugrid won the trivia contest in November and will present the trivia contest for us at our next meeting in December!