[Posted on behalf of Jim Rygelski, chapter president.]
There were 26 people at the February 22, 2010, monthly roundtable of the Bob Broeg SABR Chapter at the Original Crusoe’s Restaurant in South St. Louis. For two members, it was “bring the son/daughter to SABR night.” The meeting featured two new agenda items for the chapter which are to become regular features. Under Researcher’s Tip, Jeff Ecker demonstrated how one can find selected batter vs. pitcher matchups under www.retrosheet.org (he used Babe Ruth’s pitching performances as an example). In The Game I’ll Never Forget, Jim Rygelski brought his scorecard and newspaper clips in recalling the June 29, 1966, game between the Cardinals and Giants in the first weekday “businessman’s special” at the then-new downtown Busch Stadium; the Cardinals won 2-1, helped by an upper deck homer by Orlando Cepeda off former teammate Juan Marichal. Steve Pona outlined further the 150th Anniversary of Baseball in St. Louis Project, with which chapter members will be assisting. Under research presentations, Bob Tiemann discussed the 1940 American League season, focusing on the comeback of the St. Louis Browns, who finished sixth at 67-87 yet improved by 28 victories over their disastrous 1939 season. John Schoon reviewed the book “Baseball and the Blame Game,” by John Billheimer. Bob Tiemann won the monthly trivia quiz, which was on Babe Ruth. The next roundtable is Tuesday, March 23, at Crusoe’s, Compton and Osceola avenues.

Babe Ruth quiz

1. List the years in which Babe Ruth was born and died.
2. What the name of the religious-order Brother who helped guide young George Herman Ruth at St. Mary’s Industrial School for Boys in Baltimore?
3. For which professional team did Ruth first play?
4. Within three wins and losses, what was Babe Ruth’s record as a pitcher for the Boston Red Sox?
5. How many times did Ruth set the single-season record for homers?
6. Against which team did the Babe hit his first major league homer?
7. True-false: Babe Ruth actually hit 60 homers in 1921, but one of those home runs came in a game rained out before the fifth inning, which didn’t count and reduced his season total to 59.
8. True-false: Once he joined the Yankees, Ruth never pitched another game, even in relief.
9. How many pennants did the Yankees win during Ruth’s 15 seasons with them?
10. Why did the Yankees give Ruth uniform No. 3?
11. In how many seasons did Ruth strike out more than 100 times?
12. A reporter once asked Ruth if he could have hit .400 if he hadn’t tried for home runs. “Hell, I could have hit ( fill in batting average)” he responded.
13. Sportswriters hung several alliterative nicknames on Ruth (Sultan of Swat, for example). Give one other such alliterative nickname.
14. After his retirement as a player, Ruth was a coach for which N.L. team in 1938?
15. In justifying his salary one year being higher than that of the President of the United States, Ruth quipped that he’d had “a better year.” To which U.S. President was he referring?

(See comments for answers.)