The Pecan Park Eagle

A red dot shows where each member of the Larry Dierker Chapter of SABR live in the Metro Houston Area. ~ Prepared by SABR Member Chris Chestnut. ~ Thanks, Chris!

“The Society for American Baseball Research had its beginnings in Cooperstown, New York. It was the brainchild of L. Robert Davids, who on August 10, 1971, gathered 15 other baseball researchers at the National Baseball Hall of Fame to form the organization.

“From this modest start, SABR membership has broadened steadily. A decade later, it had reached 1,500; today, it totals more than 6,000 worldwide. Who belongs to SABR? Many major and minor league baseball officials, broadcasters and writers, as well as numerous former players. Primarily, the membership consists of “just plain fans” — anyone interested in baseball can join. While the original purpose of SABR was to band together baseball historians, statisticians and researchers, it is not necessary to engage in research to become a member.

“Ernie Harwell, the late Detroit Tigers broadcaster, said: “SABR is the Phi Beta Kappa of baseball, providing scholarship which the sport has long needed. … An excellent way for all of us to add to our enjoyment of the greatest game.”

~ introductory excerpt from “The SABR Story”. You may enjoy reading the rest ~ and a whole lot more at https://sabr.org/about

Get this straight though. – You don’t have to be a genius researcher, a Ph.D in Baseball, or a former big league player to be a member of SABR. – Like the rest of us, you just have to be a deep fan of the game who might enjoy a steady diet of contact with others who also share many of your own baseball interests, but each in their own differing ways.

SABR covers all the bases – from math – to culture – to history – to literature – to philosophy – to drama and the kind of legend-building that develops from its own unfolding. And you also gain the opportunity to read plenty of published material that arrives in your mail from time-to-time at no extra cost – plus the monthly chance at each of our regular meetings to break bread with others and meet a few baseball people you may never have expected to meet.

What does SABR membership cost? “A 1-year membership costs $65, with discounted rates available for seniors, students under 30, and for 3-year memberships. Current members can also choose to renew for 5 years at a discounted rate if they choose to opt out of receiving printed publications.” (SABR site quote)

Local Contact: If you already were a local member, you would have been able to attend a SABR chapter meeting at Minute Maid Park this coming Saturday prior to the big game the Astros are playing against Seattle at 6 PM – and listening live at the meeting to a talk on the status of the team by GM Jeff Luhnow – and then enjoying the game with many other members.

For a more personal contact about our local chapter, feel free to contact our SABR chapter leader, Mr. Bob Dorrill at bdorrill@aol.com

Come join us in the baseball fun. Collectively, we are much more than just a bunch of red dots on a map of Houston.

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Bill McCurdy

Principal Writer, Editor, Publisher

The Pecan Park Eagle

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