Houston SABR Larry Dierker Mar26 Chapter Meeting
Monday’s night chapter meeting, it was a great meeting with lots of laughs. Our main speaker for the evening was Rob Sheinkopf, who gave a hilarious presentation about baseball impostors at the Bill Gilbert Winter Meeting back in January.
Rob is originally from Syracuse, New York. He is a member of (SABR) and has presented his research over many years to SABR and to the Sport Literature Association (SLA), to NINE -the history and culture of baseball, and to the Cooperstown Symposium at the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Rob Sheinkopf retired from a career in higher education, one stop was THE UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON, and served as a Luxury Suites Concierge for the San Francisco Giants. Rob and his wife, Lisa, now provide a loving home for their dog, Bochy, in Las Vegas as well as in Ponte Vedra, Florida, dividing their time between the two. Rob joined us via Zoom.
Rob talked briefly about his first book “Hey Mom, wanna have a catch?”, an anthology of baseball stories honoring parents who encourage or simply put up with their child’s love for and obsession with our National Pastime. His main topic for the evening was some stories from his new book “Baseball Imposters,” the dark side of fandom, based upon his research and writing about grown men who falsely pass themselves off as former major league baseball players.
For over 40 years, Rob has collected stories of grown men who falsely claim to have played Major League Baseball. In his book,. he explores what author W.P. Kinsella called “The Eddie Scissons Syndrome,” inspired by a character in his novel “Shoeless Joe,” the story behind the movie “Field of Dreams.” Though the syndrome is named after a fictional character, it is disturbingly real and widespread. Both of his books are available on Amazon and online everywhere else. Rob asks if you like his books to please leave a review or a (5 star-rating) on Amazon. I hope all of you enjoyed Rob’s hilarious presentation Monday night.