Twenty-five people attended the monthly roundtable of the Bob Broeg SABR Chapter on Monday, Feb. 16, at Crusoe’s Restaurant in South St. Louis.

New business: Chapter president Jim Rygelski announced a research incentive program starting in March. People who give research presentations at the 2009 meetings can submit copy (preferably in an e-file that can be posted on the chapter’s blog) for a contest whose winners will be determined by the chapter board at the end of the year. There will be two categories: one for those who’ve made research presentations in the past and another for those who’ve never made a presentation before. At the end of the year, the board will choose first- and second-place winners in each category, with the top prize $50 and second place $25.

Also starting in March, the person who submits the monthly trivia quiz (preferably 20-25 questions) will receive a $10 gift certificate to Crusoe’s, while the person winning that month’s contest — which is decided right before the meeting adjourns — will also win a $10 Crusoe’s gift certificate. Since the incentive is meant to encourage as many participants as possible, especially new ones, people will be eligible for the prize once every four months, though everyone can take the quiz each month. 

In other  new business, the membership was open to the occasional scheduling of Tuesday roundtables in the second half of 2009. Some members have said they can’t attend Mondays and asked if Tuesdays were possible. In years past the Bob Broeg Chapter occasionally met on Tuesdays.

Research presentations: Bob Tiemann spoke on the 1972 Oakland Athletics, the first of three A’s teams to win consecutive World Series titles. Bob lived in the Oakland area during that time and attended several games.

Book report: Jim Rygelski discussed David Halberstam’s 1989 book “Summer of ‘49.” Jim is encouraging members to discuss a favorite baseball book — contemporary or published long ago and including fiction — at future meetings.

Discussion items: Members had a series of lively discussions on several topics. There was no clear consensus on who will win the Cardinals’ second base merry-go-round — other than it will not be Skip Schumaker. There was agreement that Cardinals’ management for too many years has not viewed second base as an important position. Some members also decried manager Tony La Russa’s seeming indifference to fielding a great defensive team while emphasizing the offense.

Members disagreed over Albert Pujols’ recently reported statements that he’d consider going elsewhere when his current contract runs out if Cardinals’ management isn’t intent on fielding a winning team. Some wondered if it was an early warning that he intended to go elsewhere anyway while others thought he was giving management a wakeup call. Some members estimated that Pujols will be worth $30 million a year somewhere — if the economy rebounds by that time. One member said that Pujols might not be expressing himself as clearly as he would like because of his lack of command of English.

There was no clear consensus on a closer, and some speculated that the Cardinals might try a closer by committee. Again, some members lamented the fact that current Cardinals’ management has never gone out and spent big bucks for an impact free agent. However, membership dismissed Pujols’ stated desire that the club sign free agent Manny Ramirez.

The group also briefly discussed a recent Sporting News article that called for all major league sports to discard their all-star games. Among its reasons, SN said that online voting, player disinterest and the emerging meaninglessness of all-star games made them archaic. The group didn’t endorse that sentiment but lamented that baseball players didn’t seem to take the all-star game as seriously as they once did.

Trivia quiz: Vic Witte won the trivia quiz, which Bob Tiemann had assembled.

Next meeting: Monday, March, 16, will be the next roundtable, at Crusoe’s, Compton and Osceola in South St. Louis. Dinner from 5:30 p.m. on, with the business portion starting about 6:45 and the meeting adjourning about 8:30. Reservations unnecessary; just bring an appetite for good food and excellent baseball discussion.