The Black Sox panel is not the only thing scheduled for the March 23 meeting at Middlesex.

Paul Hensler will talk about the creation of Reggie Jackson’s legacy as he moved from Oakland to New York, his trial and tribulations in the Bronx, and attaining the star power that makes his an enduring name.  Paul’s presentation leverages his study of Reggie in the upcoming book, The New York Yankees in Popular Culture: Critical Essays. (McFarland, June 2019)  In addition to Jackson’s transformation, the book explores why Joe DiMaggio’s nickname changed from “Deadpan Joe” to “Joltin Joe and how Seinfeld affected public perception of George Steinbrenner – and more fresh analyses that explore the Yankee mystique in film, television, theater, music and advertising.

Paul is the author of The American League in Transition, 1965-1975. (McFarland, 2012), and The New Boys of Summer: Baseball’s Radical Transformation in the Late Sixties. (Rowman and Littlefield, 2018).  Paul has been a frequent speaker at baseball and cultural conferences.  His writing has appeared in Nine: a Journey of Baseball History and Culture, as well as many SABR books and publications.  Despite the fact that, as a young man, he once hung out with Thurman Munson, Paul became – and remains – an Angels fans.

Mark Kanter will present on the 1919 Cincinnati Reds, a team seldom recognized for its excellence and always overshadowed by its 1919 World Series opponent.  These Reds featured 2x batting champ Jake Daubert, a former MVP who batted .303; Heinie Groh, who batted .310 and led the NL in OPS in ’19; HOF’er Edd Roush, who sported a .321 BA that year; three front line starters (Eller, Ruether and Sallee) that combined to go 59-22, and Dolf Luque out of the pen, with 10-3, 2.63.  These Reds went 96-44.  The Black Sox were 88-52, albeit in a tougher league.

Mark is a life-long Philadelphia Phillies fan. He got the itch watching the last few outs of Jim Bunning’s perfect game against the Mets on Father’s Day in 1964.  He has made numerous presentations at SABR meetings and SABR conventions, and has written for The Baseball Research Journal, The Northern Game and Beyond and The National Pastime 43: From Swampoodle to South Philly, and the SABR BioProject. Retired from working 31+ years as a US Navy engineer, he and his wife live in the idyllic seaside community of Portsmouth, Rhode Island.

I expect to have copies of the Jeff Bagwell book on hand, available for purchase, and will take 10 minutes to wrap up the project.

Meeting Details are:  11 A.M., Sat., March 23, Middlesex Community College, Chapman Hall, Room 605, 100 Training Hill Rd., Middletown, CT 06457

See you there!

Best,

Karl