Sweet Lou Johnson Lexington Chapter meeting recap – 2/23/2019

SABR’s Sweet Lou Johnson Lexington Chapter held its February 23, 2019, meeting at the Tates Creek Branch of the Lexington Public Library.

Our guest speaker was sportswriter and photographer Clinton Riddle. Riddle shared the story of how he came to be writing about baseball and the many twists and turns his career has taken.  

Riddle also led an interesting discussion about life in the Minor Leagues. Many in our group expressed concern regarding the financial challenges faced by baseball players when playing on a minor league contract. Cindy Baker reminded the group about opportunities to participate in the Lexington Legends Booster Club. Baseball fans can help support these minor league players in a number of different ways through the Booster Club. The cost to join the Legends Booster Club is extremely reasonable. The first 2019 meeting of the Legends Booster Club is 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 12 in the Tap Room at Whitaker Bank Ballpark.

Baseball fans were reminded that the Lexington Legends FanFest is Saturday, March 2 at the Whitaker Bank Ballpark. Several members indicated their plans to attend this fun event. Please join us there!

SABR member David Baker wrote and presented the Baseball Trivia Quiz. While it was close, the winner was Clinton Riddle. The prize for this month’s contest was a baseball paperweight.

Baseball fan Bret Ripley proposed that the group attend a University of Kentucky home game, perhaps in conjunction with the CHLSS division of BCTC. The chapter discussed tailgating prior to attending the game. This will most likely occur in early May. Stay tuned for more details.

Chapter President Ginger Baker presented the chapter’s new SABR banner. It’s really cool and didn’t cost too much. The chapter will use this banner when we go to baseball games or picnics in the park.

Our next meeting will be at 11 a.m. on Saturday, March 16 at the Eastside Branch of the Lexington Public Library (3000 Blake James Drive). The chapter will be celebrating its one-year anniversary of SABR in Lexington, Kentucky. Our guest speaker will be Emma Tiedemann, the “Voice of the Legends”!

Please let me know if you’d like to present baseball research or baseball stories at a future meeting. Also, let me know if you’d like to write our baseball trivia game.

— Cindy Baker
lucinda.baker@kctcs.edu