Baseball Group to Re-organize at Meeting

SAN ANGELO, TX — The West Texas chapter of the Society for American Baseball Research will meet to re-organize and attract new members from 10:30 a.m.-noon Saturday, Oct. 7, at Fort Concho’s Officers’ Quarters 8 at 215 E. Avenue D.

Called the Abner Doubleday/Judge Howard Green Chapter and created in Abilene in 2006, the local group, now located in San Angelo, pays tribute to the Civil War-era Union general who after the war served as a post commander at nearby Fort McKavett.

“While Doubleday didn’t invent baseball,” chapter president and Angelo State University professor Warren Simpson noted, “he took an interest in the game and he did order baseball equipment for his troops at McKavett.”

Green, the chapter’s other namesake, served baseball for decades and brought minor-league baseball back to Abilene in the late 1940s. He ran the Dallas-Fort Worth SABR chapter in the 1990s.

A national society with chapters across the country, SABR promotes the heritage of the sport, covering player stories, statistics, collectibles and anything related to the great American pastime. The local chapter covers much of West Texas. The only other Texas chapters are in Dallas/Fort Worth, Austin and Houston.

Saturday’s meeting will feature information about SABR and discussions of future program possibilities and activities. There is no charge to attend.

“Anyone who has an interest in baseball is welcome to come and see if SABR is for you,” Simpson said.

For more information, see their web page, call Warren Simpson at 325-669-2878, or Bob Bluthardt at 325-234-0316.