The Boston Chapter joined with the Gibson House Museum, 137 Beacon Street, in the heart of Back Bay Boston, for a program on April 5, that brought a wealth of Boston baseball history to an audience in dire need of a dose of baseball lore as the 2012 season begins. The first Thursday in April was the traditional beginning of the baseball season in Boston until Patriot's Day inherited the honor in 1894. Three members of the Boston Chapter entertained the audience with tales of early games and legendary players. Larry McCray explained the early game as it was played in the nineteenth century, an era when the Back Bay was just beginning to be laid out, with 137 Beacon Street located in the first block beyond the Public Gardens and the Common, where early games in Boston were played. Joanne Hulbert reminded the audience that if the program had been held 150 years ago, church services would been competing with the ball park for attendees, and Bill Nowlin  impressed the audience with tales of Boston's early baseball dynasties. 

Partnering with a venerable Boston organization was a unique and rewarding experience, for the presenters as well as the attendees and it is hoped there will be future opportunities to bring baseball history to other venues in the Boston area.

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We are getting closer to Opening Day and part of the celebration in Boston is the unique program at the Gibson Museum!  The Boston Chapter has partnered with the Gibson Museum, 137 Beacon Street, on a program, Thursday evening, April 5, 2012, celebrating Boston's long history during the early years of baseball history.  Rob Duca, longtime sports writer for the Cape Cod Times will moderate a panel discussion. Larry McCray, Bill Nowlin and Joanne Hulbert will speak about Boston's early attachment to the game as it evolved from an amateur field sport to the professional teams of the 19th century. 

The evening will begin at 5:30 PM at the Museum, 137 Beacon Street wehre we will begin appropriately with hot dogs and beer.  (nearest T station is Arlington Street - proceed north to Beacon Street and the Museum is just around the corner from the Public Garden.)

The program will continue at 6:45 PM across the street at the Fisher College Alumni Hall at 118 Beacon Street.

The Boston Chapter appreciates the opportunity to offer baseball hitory to another venerable Boston institution that may have sufffered from a paucity of baseball history. We endeavor to educate!

Join us, for what will prove to be a unique opportunity to share what will prove to be a plethora of popular Boston history - just a week jprior to the start of the Fenway Park 100th anniversary! 

For more information you may also visit the Gibson Museum's website:

www.thegibsonhouse.org/events.asp

UPADTE: SABR Boston Chapter co-chair Joanne Hulbert, who was the tour guide for the day, has written a very nice round up of the event: BOSTON CHAPTER’S “WALK OF INFAMY” - SABR DAY IN AMERICA, 2012

Also read a blog post write up by a SABR member Kristen, who attended the tour:  A Tour That Will Live in Infamy.

A SABR member, BaseballReflections.com's Peter Schiller brought his sons, Josh and Timmy, to the Boston SABR Day 2012. They tossed a ball in front of Gate A at Fenway Park.

2012 SABR Day in America is Saturday, January 28. 

The Boston Chapter will host a gathering in the mid-to-late afternoon for annual SABR Day in America, Saturday, January 28, 2012. 

Plans are now oraganized for a fun afternoon event in and around Fenway Park and Kenmore Square.

The starting point for the tour is The Baseball Tavern, 1270 Boylston Street, Boston. MAP

We'll gather between 2 and 2:30 pm, and we'll set off on foot to visit locations not often noticed by Red Sox fans.

This will be a sightseeing tour that may never again be attempted, so plan to join in as we stop by Popeye's , the Hotel Buckminster, the Dugout Bar, the Hotel Kenmore, and find out how Van Ness Street got its name (handy knowledge for upcoming 1912 trivia contests), and, find out where Babe Ruth liked to stay while in Boston.

The weather will cooperate on Saturday and temperatures are predicted to be balmy in the mid-40's, so we need not fret about rain or snow. The "tour" will take about 2 - 2-1/2 hours, so we'll have pleanty of time to savor the moments. Bring your camera, your baseball glove and ball, along with your appetite for chicken and a sense of humor.

In order to truly appreciate the historic value of this SABR Day in America event, one can prepare by reading Eight Men Out, - film version is OK too (trailer) - re-reading (but not re-living) the Boston Globe's reportage on the September Baseball Disaster (boston.com version) and recall, with trepidation, the career of Pinky Higgins (stats). Should be fun. If it snows, we'll conduct a reading of "Opening Day, 1953" - the Boston Herald version - at the Bleacher Bar, where we'll attempt to conjure up the ghosts that Sparky Anderson suspected were behind the Green Monster. Stay tuned.

Read about our gathering from 2010, and 2011.