Larry Dierker Chapter meeting recap – 12/16/2024
On December 16, 2024, thirty-three people attended the Larry Dierker Chapter meeting.
President Joe Thompson, looking like he just got off work at Whataburger, opened the meeting by saying that Kyle Tucker was with us in spirit today as he held up a Tucker bobblehead for the winner of the night’s trivia contest. Joe then asked the question that was on most Astros fans that day, who was happy or sad about the Kyle Tucker trade that sent him to the Cubs in exchange for third baseman Isaac Paredes, prospect Cam Smith, and Cy-Fair product relief pitcher Hayden Wesneski.
Joe took a moment to welcome the newest members, David Castle from Beaumont and William Moreland from Wimberly. He then thanked David Krell for his wonderful talk in November on the topic of his book Do You Believe in Magic?: Baseball and America in the Groundbreaking Year of 1966.
Besides next month’s chapter meeting on Monday, January 20, featuring Astrodome historian Mike Acosta, there are two events in which chapter members are encouraged to participate. The Bill Gilbert Winter Meeting will be January 4 at Texas State University in San Marcos. He hoped the chapter would have a big turnout for this yearly event. Anyone looking for a ride to the meeting or who is willing to take other members should respond to this email. Astros Fan Fest is January 25, and the chapter has a table every year. A sign-up sheet was circulated, and chapter members are encouraged to sign up in order to encourage all Astros fans in attendance to come to our meetings and possibly join SABR. Shifts are two hours long and all those interested should inform either Joe Thompson, Bob Dorrill, Mike McCroskey, or Patrick Petty.
Joe reminded everyone to check on their SABR membership and renew if necessary. The last announcement of the night before the guest speaker was about suggestions on what to do about the sixtieth (60) ANNIVERSARY OF THE ASTRODOME, which will be April 9, 2025. Joe suggested we should celebrate all year with speakers, panel discussions, watch significant games that occurred in the Dome, articles in our newsletter, and so on.
One such event is a DVD Joe picked up at the SABR 50 convention in Baltimore. It is a replay of the Astros vs Dodgers on Sept 5, 1965. It is the oldest TV broadcast of a Astros game, with Jackie Robinson is doing the broadcast!
Kyle Kamberbeek was the guest speaker of the evening. Kyle became a baseball fan after his first game at the Astrodome at the age of six. He has worked with many teams and is now the Corpus Christi Hooks marketing manager. He has worked for the Atlanta Braves minor league team and also for Astros teams—the Sugar Land Space Cowboys (AAA), the Ashville Tourists (A+), the Fayetteville Woodpeckers (A), and now with the Corpus Christi Hooks (AA). Kyle works with the Hooks mascot program, the tee shirt giveaways, all the promotions, entertainment, Friday fireworks, and community outreach. It was encouraging to learn from Kyla that baseball is NOT dying but attendance is growing. Interesting facts: 70% of Americans live in a minor league city, and of the 150 largest media markets, 120 have minor league teams. Kyle also said the CC Hooks’ Whataburger jersey is in the top five of jersey sales for minor league teams. Games are fairly inexpensive and a family of four can get four tickets and four hotdogs for $40.
The next speaker of the evening was chapter member Jimmy Scruggs. He spoke about his recent trip to the Baseball Hall of Fame where he umpired in Cooperstown. Jimmy told the chapter of his experiences as a repeat umpire for youth baseball. He has umpired up there 15 times. There were 50 teams at the All-Star Village. Kids were 12 years old, and games were one hour and 45 minutes. The fences were 200 feet out so there were a lot of home runs. Teams were from all over. There were 100 teams there for 14 weeks. Umpires were 12 in a bunk, and he is still friends with some of his bunkmates. He also spoke about being in the HOF and shared his excellent pictures of exhibits and gave an informative talk about new exhibits and plaques. There’s good art in the HOF and even a comic book section. After seeing all his photos from inside the HOF, you almost felt you had been on the trip. Some rings and photos were circulated as Scruggs spoke. He made a side trip to Lake Placid.
The trivia for the evening was holiday-themed. The winner was our guest speaker Kyle, with eight correct. Gifts were also handed out to the next few participants who did not win.
The next chapter meeting on January 20, featuring Astrodome historian Mike Acosta, will be the first of a year-long celebration of the Astrodome’s sixtieth birthday. Joe wanted everyone to think of questions about the Astrodome and ideas for events in 2025 celebrating the Dome’s birthday!
— Gloria Rubac