April 16th, 2018

Larry Dierker SABR Chapter members:

Thirty-three members and guests were present at SABR's Larry Dierker Chapter meeting on Monday, April 16, 2018, at the Spaghetti Western restaurant in Houston.

The meeting started with Mike McCroskey narrating his slideshow of his visit to Hot Springs, Arkansas, and the "First Boys of Spring" tour. It was really informative.

Next, Bill Brown shared his World Series ring with all of us. Very cool.

Scott Nethery, a former Atlanta Braves scout from 1991-2005, introduced Jon Peters. He met Jon in a Kolache Factory. Jon was drawn to Scott's 1995 World Series ring with the Braves. Jon proceeded to tell us that after being on the cover of Sports Illustrated in 1989 after a streak of 53 wins in high school he was a broken man. Jon told us how as time progressed and with arm injuries, baseball was over and he was in a bad place. Vodka was his best friend. It was a very heart-wrenching story. By 2010 he had been to rehab and sobered up. Eight years later, in March of 2018, Jon wrote a book to glorify God and those that helped him through the dark times. Of course, we bought the book titled, When Life Grabs You By The Baseballs" Finding Happiness in Life's Changeups. Thank you, Jon, for sharing this with us.

Larry Miggins was in attendance. He will be inducted into the Fordham Tech Hall of Fame in New York City this summer. In case you don't know, he played back in the days of Honus Wagner! And he has many great stories to tell.

Shaun Bijani, grandson of Frank Mancuso, gave a very persuasive talk about why his grandfather and Frank's brother, Gus Mancuso, should be in a Houston Hall of Ffame. Frank and Gus both played in the majors and Frank served as a city councilman in Houston for 30 years.

Mike Acosta told us about the many collections he is in charge of: Biggio, Bagwell, Altuve, Buffs, and much more. Talked about the creation of a Astros Hall of Fame. Mike went on to share with us a mockup of the Astrodome renovation. Two levels of parking at the bottom and a big multipurpose open area. There will be a historical marker installed at the west gate of the Astrodome.

Our next meeting will be at the Sugar Land Skeeters game on May 14 at Constellation Field in Sugar Land. Please send your checks in the amount of $31 each to Mike McCroskey, Macro, 10055 Belknap Road #120, Sugar Land, Texas 77498, by no later than Monday, April 23. McCroskey has arranged for Skeeters owner Jay Miller, Skeeters skipper Pete Incaviglia, and broadcaster Ira Liebman to meet with us before the game.