October 11, 2011

When Wally Moon stepped to the plate in his rookie year for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1954 he knew that he was the only major league player to have earned both a Bachelor of Science Degree and a Masters Degree. Using this knowledge and his tremendous desire to succeed, Wally went on to be Rookie of the Year in the National League that year, play on 3 winning World Series teams and be a three time NL All Star in his 12 year career. This and many special moments, including his "Moon Shots" and television career were shared by Wally with 26 SABR members in attendance last Tuesday. A quiet and gentle man, it was a privilege to have this former Cardinal and Dodger with us. Thanks to Tim Gregg for making the arrangements.

Also on the program was Minute Maid and Houston Astros Public Address Announcer Bob Ford. Bob told us how he got the job initially back in the days of the Astrodome and talked about some of the interesting names he has had to learn to pronounce over the years, sometimes on the fly. And, he mentioned the between inning activity that he is not keen on.

Bob Dorrill spoke on the Houston Babies Vintage Baseball games scheduled for October 22nd at the George Ranch and encouraged the membership to attend the games as well as Texian Market Days festivities taking place the same day.

Mark Wernick was recognized as the winner of the Astros Predicted Win Contest as he came closest to the actual number of wins. In addition 5 members (Bill Gilbert, Roland Bassett, Phil Boudreaux. Harold Jones, and Tom Plemons) correctly guessed Hunter Pence as the Astros MVP and Chris Chestnut alone selected Wandy Rodreguez as Pitcher of the Year.