Talkin’ Baseball Club Devoted to What Else — Talkin’ Baseball

From Pete Pichaske at The Baltimore Sun on October 6, 2011, with mention of SABR members Dick Adams, Dave Paulson, Skip McAfee and Pat Clancy:

Talkin’ Baseball, a Howard County group devoted to talking about — surprise! — baseball, has been holding monthly meetings in the county for the past dozen years. Typically, meetings include a speaker, a trivia quiz and lively discussions on baseball history. But at bottom, the meetings are a way for fans of the National Pastime to get their monthly baseball fix.

“I’ve been a sports fan all my life — (Washington) Senators, Redskins, Capitals,” said Dave Paulson, 79, of Columbia, who helped start the club in 1999. “But baseball is my favorite, by far. All the people who come to these things, baseball is Number One with them.”

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SABR has had a local chapter that met annually almost from the organization’s start. But that wasn’t enough for some members, including Paulson.

“I wanted to get more into baseball,” recalled Paulson. “I wanted people to talk baseball with regularly.”

In April 1999, Paulson, Skip McAfee, also of Columbia, and a few others began holding monthly meetings, first at the Columbia Borders bookstore, later at Barnes & Noble, and for the past couple of years, at Brighton Gardens, an assisted living facility in Columbia.

Success was not immediate. A few months after its start, only three people showed up for a meeting, and organizers considered disbanding. But gradually, inexorably attendance grew. In the summer of 2000, organizers began having regular speakers, typically baseball authors. Today, the club is firmly established as a haven for baseball lovers of all ages.

Read the full article here: http://www.baltimoresun.com/explore/howard/news/community/ph-ho-n-view-sabr-1006-20111006,0,3583542.story



Originally published: October 6, 2011. Last Updated: October 6, 2011.