FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Vic Cardell
June 19, 2002 (619) 236-5812
San Diego SABR’s Inaugural Card Features
Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith
and the San Diego SABR Baseball Research
Center
San
Diego, CA…The
San Diego Ted Williams Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) Chapter is
unveiling their inaugural baseball card, featuring legendary shortstop Ozzie
Smith and the San Diego SABR Baseball Research Center. A news conference will
take place on Thursday, June 20, at 11:30 a.m. in the Wangenheim Room of the
San Diego Public Library, 820 E St., home of the Baseball Research Center. The
high-quality glossy card, printed by The Upper Deck Company of Carlsbad,
features a full-length color portrait of Smith and a narrative about Smith and
the Baseball Research Center. Smith will be joined by representatives from San
Diego SABR and the Library.
Smith
was recently elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and will be inducted
in July. From 1977 to 1981 he played shortstop for the San Diego Padres, and
from 1982 to his retirement in 1996, with the St. Louis Cardinals.
San
Diego SABR and the San Diego Public Library entered into a partnership in 2000,
creating the San Diego SABR Baseball Research Center. Jointly they plan to
build one of the most comprehensive baseball research centers in the
world. Since 2000, the partnership has
funded significant additions to the Center, including generous donations from
individuals through SABR.
Tom Larwin, San Diego SABR President,
says "We are very pleased that Ozzie Smith – a Hall of Famer – agreed to
be the featured player on our inaugural baseball card, and thank The Upper Deck
Company for their generous participation, too. This card highlights our
Baseball Research Center, which is a resource that will provide present and
future San Diegans with the opportunity to read about and research many
different aspects of baseball.”
Ozzie Smith says, “From Escondido's
Gavvy Cravath and Hoover High’s Ted Williams, to Tony Gwynn, San Diego has
produced and contributed significantly to baseball. This Baseball Research
Center is a magnificent idea as a way to provide access to those who are
interested in baseball resources that previously were not available to the
public in this part of the country."
"We
will be distributing the Ozzie Smith card throughout the San Diego Public
Library system as part of our summer campaign, ‘Join the Major Leagues @ your
library™,’” says Anna Tatár, Library Director of the San Diego Public Library.
“The American Library Association and Major League Baseball designed this
program, which helps people build information literacy skills by having them
use print and online resources to answer contest questions about baseball. The
Baseball Research Center will be of great benefit to contestants in the San
Diego area.”
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