As any regular reader of this blog knows, I have found my tribe in SABR. Did you know that it takes no special credentials or secret handshakes to be in SABR? Just a love of baseball. Whether you love the history, or the numbers, or the history of the numbers, or anything that helps you know, understand, or appreciate this great game of ours even more than you already do, then SABR has a place for you.
You don’t have to be an academic, you don’t have to be into fantasy baseball, you don’t have to like teams other than your own. You can be into baseball songs and poetry, the evolution of baseball’s rules, and just about any other thing you can think of relating to the game. If you want to, you can join a committee like the BioProject, and help research and write biographies of every player, manager, owner, umpire, or other personage involved with the game at any level. Or you can just sit back and enjoy the newsletters, local meetings, book publications, free perks on the Internet, and so on.
It was because of SABR I met Tommy Byrne, who passed recently, and who was a lefty pitcher for the Yankees in the 1950s. It was because of SABR I got to sit right behind the dugout in the Braves stadium on Easter Sunday (yes, they were playing at the time). It was because of SABR I found the site of Babe Ruth’s first home run as a professional player, in an intrasquad spring training game in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Need I go on?
As with most non-profit organizations, SABR’s membership rolls have shrunk during the recession. A new membership drive is on. So if, like me, you once thought you couldn’t join SABR because you had to be special, let me tell you right now that it ain’t so. And if you are thinking of joining? Well, now is the time. (Click here.)
Tell them Cecilia at Why I Like Baseball sent you, and I’ll teach you the secret handshake when I see you at the annual convention.
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