September 19, 2016

Larry Dierker SABR Chapter Members:

34 active SABR members attended our September 19, 2016, meeting where we heard two excellent presentations, plus had a fascinating Q&A session with Bill Brown.

Congratulations were in order for Bill Brown, who is celebrating his 30th year as a broadcaster with the Houston Astros, and to Ira Liebman and Greg Lucas, broadcasters for the second-half Atlantic League champion Sugar Land Skeeters.

Carl Warwick, accompanied by his wife Nancy, was our leadoff speaker. Prior to the meeting, Carl made a point of visiting all the tables and introducing himself to our members. During his presentation Carl talked about his signing experiences, both in college and with the Dodgers, the $1,200 bonus he never expected, being traded several times and playing with Stan Musial and Bob Gibson. Carl had lots of good stories to tell and he answered any and all questions asked. Thanks to Mike McCroskey for inviting Mr. Warwick.

Next came Herb Whalley, our lone chapter representative at the SABR Convention this year, who told us how he managed to check out a few ballparks on his travels to Miami. Herb gave a great review of the convention and the job the local chapter had done. He highlighted some of the conferences and panels he attended and especially liked the events relating to the Miami Marlins, including their panel feauring Don Mattingly, Barry Bonds, Tony Perez, and Andre Dawson.

We asked Bill Brown, who was taking a busman's holiday since the Astros were on the road, if he would answer a few questions. Let's just say Bill answered lots of questions and was very candid in his remarks about the current roster and future prospects.

Greg Lucas prepared the trivia contest with Bill McCurdy having the most correct answers followed by Tal Smith.

Our next meeting will be on Monday October 17th at the Spaghetti Western. All baseball fans are invited to attend.