Larry Dierker Chapter meeting recap – 9/21/2020
On Monday, September 21, 2020, more than 30 members of SABR’s Larry Dierker Chapter in Houston joined in a virtual Zoom meeting. Chair Bob Dorrill reminded everyone that articles for the second edition of our newsletter will be due to Tony Cavender the second week in October.
Our guest of the evening was Joe Gallagher, now of Austin, Texas, but a former resident of Houston for 16 years. Joe played high school baseball against our own Larry Miggins and they shared their memories of those long-ago days. Joe had a long and interesting career in baseball as a television producer of Major League games and related programming. He recounted his experiences at the first game broadcast from the top of the Astrodome and several interesting stories about Casey Stengel and other well-known baseball personalities. Joe was very generous in responding to the many questions and comments posed by our members. It was enlightening to learn about the “behind the scenes” work and expertise involved in bringing the game into our homes.
Scott Barzilla offered the evening’s trivia quiz. After a very close contest, Maxwell Kates emerged as the winner who will present next month’s quiz.
Joe Thompson brought the meeting to a close with a survey which presented four questions for members to answer. The questions and the results are as follows:
- Who will win the 2020 American League pennant? Chicago White Sox, 6%; Houston Astros, 11%; Oakland A’s, 22%; Other team, 22%; Tampa Bay Rays, 39%.
- Is Justin Verlander’s time with the Astros over? Yes, 78%; No, 22%.
- Who will win the 2020 National League pennant? San Diego Padres, 33%; LA Dodgers, 67%.
- Will the Astros play at Globe Life Park again in 2020? (i.e., will they be in the 2020 World Series?) Yes, 5%; No, 95%.
In closing, Bob Dorrill announced that our next meeting will be at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, October 19, when Bill Nowlin will speak with us about his book on umpiring.
This meeting was recorded and will be available on YouTube soon. Stay tuned!
— Marsha Franty