October 8, 2012

Twenty-seven SABR members and friends were treated to a very special evening the night of October 8.

Our session began with a tribute and moment of silence for Larry Joe Miggins, son of Larry Miggins who was the heart and soul of the SABR sponsored Houston Babies vintage baseball team. Larry Joe, also called
"Longball" by his many friends, passed away on September 14th. He represented all that is good about our sport and he will be missed.

Next came wonderful presentations by Bill Brown and Zach Hamm. Bill talked about his book "My Baseball Journey, A Sportscaster's Story" and his career broadcasting Cincinnati Reds and Houston Astros games and was followed by Zach Hamm, a 12- year-old friend of Bill's who has had Ectodermal Dysplasia since birth and is featured in the book. All of us were amazed by Zach, with his positive attitude, his sense of humor and his ability to communicate about a disease that impacts his life but does not diminish it. ALL PROCEEDS from the sale of book from National Foundation of Ectodermal Dysplasias go to NFED.

Since the baseball season has ended for our locals we were pleased to have Tal Smith, Greg Lucas and Dave Raymond with us. Tal answered a variety of questions including player compensation in indenendent leagues, waiver transactions and the impact made on the Sugar Land Skeeters by a former Cy Young Award winner.

Tom Kleinworth was recognized for his skill in coming the closest to predicting the number of Astros wins in 2012 with a prognostication of 54-108. This was not Tom's first win either.

The Houston Babies play next on October 27th at the George Ranch. Details on game times will be furnished as soon as they are determined.

Please note that our next meeting will be on Monday November 5th at the Inn at the Ballpark. This is a week earlier than usual as our meeting room is not available during the 2nd week of the month.