July 14, 2001 San Diego Ted
Williams SABR Chapter Regional Meeting
SECOND BEST TO BEING AT A BALL GAME...IS "TALKING" BASEBALL!
...and talking
about 1936 in San Diego...1945-51 in Oakland...and 2001 in Class A...with:
· Joe Villarino...3rd baseman from the 1936 Hoover High School team...and a teammate of Ted Williams on that team. What was it like to play 3rd with Ted pitching? Find out!
· Chuck Symonds...bat boy with the PCL Oakland Oaks from 1945-51. Casey Stengel, Chuck Dressen, Mel Ott were Oaks' managers during this period...how do they compare?
· one of our up and coming young Padres...a player from the LAKE ELSINORE STORM. Hopes and aspirations of a young player in Class A...what's it like for him?
WHEN: Saturday, July 14, 2001 -- we will begin at 9:30 a.m., and conclude around 12:30 p.m.+/-
WHERE: Qualcomm Stadium Press Box -- enter Gate A and proceed to the Press Level, behind home plate. It will take you 5+ minutes to get from the gate to the Press Box from Gate A.
We
will also have a Raffle and Trivia Contest. We hope you can join us to talk
some baseball!
San Diego SABR Baseball Research Center Comes Alive!
Our chapter's new
Baseball Research Center is up and running at the downtown San Diego Library.
With the help of member donations, a grant from SABR, and a matching fund from
the City of San Diego Library, rare articles and records covering baseball
history going back to the 1850s are now available through 119 reels of new microfilm:
·
Ball Players Chronicle, Henry Chadwick, Editor, 1867 (1
reel)
·
New England Base Ballist, 1868 (1 reel)
·
New York Clipper, 1857-1884 (7 reels)
·
Official Baseball Record, 1885-1886 (1 reel)
·
The Sporting Life, 1883-1917 (29 reels)
·
The Sporting News, 1886-1969 (79 reels)
·
Baseball Scrapbooks, 1853-1882 (1 reel) -- thanks to Brenda
Wegener, Art, Music, & Recreation Librarian (and SABR
member)...she inventoried this reel and found the following:
1. Baseball column from
unidentified newspaper dated Jan. 21, 1871-1881.
2. Baseball news, box scores and team standings clipped from various newspapers
including the St. Louis Globe, Chicago Tribune, and Cincinnati Enquirer from
1875-1879. These are not daily clippings, but intermittent.
3. Box scores from unidentified newspaper 1870-1877.
4. Baseball news from Philadelphia papers from 1901-1905. No box scores.
5. Box scores from unidentified newspapers from 1879-1882 plus several baseball
articles from The Sporting News 1889, Cincinnati Enquirer 1885 and Cincinnati
Times 1896.
6. Baseball column from unidentified newspaper - 1857-1878. No box scores.
7. Baseball news and box scores from unidentified newspapers 1853-1858.
If you want to
examine any of these reels, check in at the library's Call Desk on the 1st
floor and give the clerk your list, then find a microfilm reader (usually found
in the 2nd floor newspaper room). Paper copies of any pages are 15 cents each,
and nickels are required. Questions while you are there? Go to the Art, Music,
& Recreation Department on the 2nd floor.
Thanks Received from Cunningham and Harvey, and Relatives of
Durst and Cravath, for Being Honored by Chapter
We have heard from several individuals who were selected to be on our list of the 26 most influential individuals in baseball in San Diego during the 1900-1999 period of time. (A copy of our report is enclosed.)
Gavy
Cravath's granddaughter,
Virginia
McMillan and family, sent a card with the handwritten note:
"Thank
you so much. What a nice wonderful honor."
Retired USD Baseball Coach
John Cunningham wrote:
"I
would like to take this opportunity to thank you and the members of the San
Diego Ted Williams Chapter of the Society for American Baseball Research for
honoring me as one of the Top 26 Most influential Individuals in San Diego
Baseball during the 1900s.
Needless
to say, I am humbled by this selection an consider it a most prestigious honor.
It gives meaning to the countless hours and years spent coaching and counseling
the many outstanding young men during their formative years of playing summer
collegiate baseball in the San Diego area. Obviously, I got paid for my work
coaching baseball at USD but the many years of coaching summer ball was done on
a volunteer basis. With this honor I will now consider myself 'well paid'.
Please
pass along my 'thanks' to all your members. Sincerely, John
Cunningham"
Retired National League Umpire Doug Harvey wrote
the following:
"I'm
sorry I have taken this long to answer your letter of May 14th. It arrived at
our house when I was in Tennessee on a speaking engagement. When I arrived
home, I called, but you were out, so I left word with your secretary. We left
the next morning for two weeks in Alaska. The past week I have been in Los
Angeles and Santa Barbara. It has been hectic!
I
am honored to have been voted one of the 'Top 26 Most Influential Individuals
in San Diego Baseball, 1900-1999'! God only knows, I gave my honored profession
every thing I had for 48 years. Actually, 47 years in organized sports -- from
ages 16 until 62. Softball, Little League, Pony League, High School, College,
Semi-pro, military, minor league, and major league! It's been a great life -- not
for everyone!
Thank
you, and all those that voted -- I am thrilled! Regards, Doug
Harvey"
From Autumn Durst Keltner, Cedric Durst's daughter, we received the following letter:
"Thank
you so very much for your letter of May 14, 2001, informing me of the Society
for American Baseball Research's recognition of my father, Cedric Durst as one
of the top 26 influential individuals in San Diego baseball during the period
of 1900-1999. How proud he would have been of this recognition, to have been
selected with many of the men he most admired in baseball.
My
father loved baseball and spent the major part of his life either playing it, coaching/managing
it, or promoting it. On the first page of your enclosure it states that 'the
purpose wasn't necessarily to choose the best players, or the most popular, or
those of the current rage, but rather to engage in an historically-based
research effort leading to the selection of those felt to have most influenced
the course of San Diego baseball -- its feelings, the passion, its past and
present -- over the last 100 years.' Dad personified these feelings and
passions.
Dad
liked nothing better than to help young boys and men (unfortunately, in his
time, this sport was almost inaccessible to girls and women) work at improving
their baseball skills. He freely gave of his time to assist coaches of Little
League teams, American legion teams, even San Diego State University team. His
consistent message to the 'kids' was always play hard, do your best, and
hustle. He never liked to see a ballplayer of any age walk onto or off of the field of play.
Whenever
he was asked, Dad accepted invitations to speak on the radio, and at schools,
clinics, camps, and meetings of service organizations to promote the game of
baseball. I think he enjoyed his winters managing the Junior Padres as much or
more than he did the Pacific Coast League Padres. These young men 'on their way
up' were so highly-motivated and eager to learn, that he felt it was a
privilege to work with them.
After
moving here in 1938, my father remained in San Diego to raise his family and
even assisted grandsons as they learned to play the game. He instilled a love
of baseball in all of the members of his family, not just the boys. Most of the
family have remained in San Diego and continue to support baseball here
wherever it is played. They will all enjoy receiving copies of your letter and
enclosures that I have made for them.
Thank
you again for sharing this recognition of my father with all of us. Sincerely, Autumn
Durst Keltner (Mrs. Russell
H.)"
Allan Roth Chapter Meeting on August 4th in Long Beach
The Allan Roth
Chapter (So Cal) will be meeting Saturday, August 4, 2001 at 2:00 P.M. at Blair
Field, home of the Long Beach Breakers of the Western League. Ted Williams
Chapter member John Curtis is Pitching Coach for the Breakers.
The meeting will be followed by a barbecue dinner at the park, and then the
6:30 P.M. game between the Breakers and St.George Pioneerzz. They will likely
have time for a presentation or two, and expect to have a speaker or two from
the team.
They need to give a reasonably firm head-count by July 1, so please let them
know by then if you want to come. Guests (spouses, kids, friends) are welcome.
The cost will be $6 for the game and $6 for dinner, for a total of $12 per
person. Contact Stephen Roney, President, Allan Roth SABR
Chapter, by mail, phone, or e-mail:
19
Pleasanton Lane, Ladera Ranch, CA 92694
949/481-7633,
sroney@acm.org
NYC Chapter Book Discussion Meetings Coming Up!
If you are going to be in New York City this summer you might want to schedule one of these upcoming meetings at the Union Square branch (33 East 17th Street, 4th floor) of Barnes and Noble. The program begins at 5:30 P.M.. with the author discussing their book(s), answering questions, and then dining with the group afterward. Future meetings include:
·
June 23 -- Tom Stanton, author of The
Final Season: Fathers, Sons, and the Last Year in Tiger Stadium
·
July 21 --- Marty Appel, author of Now
Pitching for the Yankees: Spinning The News for Mickey, Billy and George
·
Aug.18 --- Cliff Blau, Mike Frank,
and John Vorperian will discuss The Hot Stove League (by
Lee Allen), Baseball:100 years of the Modern Era (by The Sporting News),
and How to Do Baseball Research (by SABR)
·
Sept. 8 --- Tom Keegan, co-author (with
Elden Auker) of Sleeper Cars and Flannel Uniforms: A Lifetime Of Memories
From Striking Out The Babe To Teeing It Up With the President.