[from Secretary Paul Wendt's "draft report" on the Fall Regional meeting of the Boston Chapter, SABR, Boston Public Library, 21 October 2000; revised 3 March 2001 and 8 May 2002.]
Luke Salisbury was active in SABR in the 1980s and served terms as Secretary and Vice President, 1985-89. Now, at the turn of the century, he recalls the days when "everything was open" in baseball research. Then it seemed possible to "be Leonardo da Vinci" and to master the entire field. When he was first keenly interested in Louis Sockalexis, the historical inspiration for The Cleveland Indian (a novel), Luke met with Cappy Gagnon at a National Convention, and learned more than he supposed anyone would know about Sockalexis. He says today: "That is the beauty of SABR. You meet someone who knows more than you do about what you are interested in, and is generous with the information."
Luke regaled the assembled SABRen with colorful tidbits about the organization and about some veteran members. Thus he would be an entertaining and educational after-dinner speaker at a Society banquet but a gathering around the Hot Stove in Boston is more likely!
Luke Salisbury is the author of The Answer is Baseball, The Cleveland Indian, and Blue Eden. He talked about research, writing, and publication. He read his personal favorite from The Answer is Baseball, a passage on Tony Conigliaro, and described reading the same passage to a gathering in Lynn MA. Lynn is the hometown of Conigliaro and Harry Agganis, two sons lost while they were still viewed as sons.