During Hall of Fame weekend, there is always a SABR (Society for American Baseball Research) meeting held on Sunday evening July 23rd. The meeting is an open one, in that rather than sponsored by a regional chapter, it is organized by SABR headquarters. Held in a funeral home on one of the side streets off of Main, (hey, it’s large and the owner provides refreshments), it attracts SABR members, and non-members alike, who have traveled from all over to be in Cooperstown, NY that weekend. This was my first meeting but I’ve been told that in years past it wasn’t unusual for a former ML ballplayer to stop in for a while. Last year, Tony Oliva did just that.

SABR President (Jim) and Vice President for Member Services (John) from headquarters in Cleveland were there. John ran the meeting. There were about 40 in attendance and everyone introduced themselves. Besides New York, other states represented included: Illinois, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Massachussetts, Michigan and Ohio. There was even one fella from Thunder Bay, Canada, a lawyer who made the annual trip to Cooperstown to report on festivities for his local newspaper. Quite a gig!!

It seemed that at least half of those in attendance either were published or were somewhere in the process of authoring or publishing a book and took the opportunity to promote their book(s). Some even had copies there to sell! Not having been published yet, I instead promoted the Diamond Angle web site and also a Sports Exhibit in Utica, New York that I am the chair of that runs through 2000. The exhibit covers about 30 different sports of all levels with an emphasis on Oneida County (of which Utica is part) from 1940 to the present. Those ‘plugs’ appeared to be well received as I observed some writing as I was talking (They WERE writing down the URL and Exhibit info, weren’t they)?

Some of the topics discussed at the meeting

**President Jim noted that rather than regional meetings, SABR Special Interest Committees will probably host ‘Topicals’. For example, a Negro League Topical was scheduled for August 4^th —6^th in Harrisburg, PA. He also informed us that the SABR National Convention for 2001 would be held in Milwaukee. Someone suggested getting ML Commissioner Bud Selig to attend (personally, I can’t imagine why you’d want to ruin the Convention!) and that Boston would host the 2002 National. He shared with us what apparently was a favorite story of his about a Florida minor league team PA announcer that used to pronounce former player Juakeen Anduhar as ‘ Walking Underwear’.

** There was discussion regarding the Negro League Committee possibly meeting in KC in November 2001 to honor Buck O’Neill’s 90^th birthday.

**Apparently some disappointment surfaced when the topic of a grant in the amount of $250,000 from ML Baseball was brought up. The grant is being given to the HOF to organize the ‘definitive study of the Negro leagues’. SABR members expressed their concern that the money was going to 1) go to non-SABR researchers, thus ignoring many experts in the field of Negro League history and/or 2) be used to conduct research that has already adequately been done by SABR members.

Bruce Markeson, a Research Assistant at the Hall, was in attendance and shared with the group as much information as he knew about the project (Bruce left a Utica radio station about 5 years ago to join the Hall staff and himself is a published member of SABR). The projected outcomes from the project would be a complete book on the subject, a reliable statistical database and biographical sketches of players. It was being approached as an academic study and RFP’s (Request for Proposals) would be advertised for in the Chronicle of Higher Education. The committee overseeing the project is made up of Commissioner Bud Selig, former player and NL President (and how can we forget, former Scooter partner and Yankee announcer!) Bill White and three others whose names I didn’t catch. Several in the audience noted with irony that 3 of the 5 are white.

**My friend Scott made a presentation about the Ken-Wel Athletic Company, which was based in Utica, NY and was noted in the early to mid part of the 20^th century for quality equipment for such sports as football, baseball, boxing and basketball. In the 1930’s Lou Gehrig endorsed a Ken-Wel glove and many Ken-Wel items can be found today on E-Bay. Scott is researching the company and I’m sure a book will be soon be out on the topic. He passed around a bat, catcher’s equipment, several gloves and a football helmet.

** Another presentation was from the author of a book on ‘Victory’ Faust, the so-called good luck charm of the New York Giants. He shared with us some of the inaccuracies he found in both the Snodgrass and Burns/Ward accounts of this interesting character in baseball lore.

** David and Jim, who just had a book on Nellie Fox published (the only book on Nellie, we were told) provided us with some lighthearted comments about how the two of them met and eventually co-authored the book. Although both are fans of the former White Sox infielder, it was as a 12 year old boy that Jim actually came to know him at a neighborhood bowling alley in Chambersburg, PA during the off season. He told us how he had asked Mr. Fox if the Sox got to the World Series that next season if he could bring back a program for him. Well, as we know, the White Sox indeed went to and won the Series in ’59. As Jim told us, when the Sox won it, air raid sirens went off all over town. (Keep in mind, this was during the Cold War days and he said the likelihood of getting bombed by Russia was greater than the Sox winning the Series!). Well, that Fall, not only did he get his WS program, but also a baseball cap and yearbook. Nellie remembered.

Overall, I’d have to say this was a pretty good choice to be my first SABR meeting!