Welcome to the Magnolia Chapter
Follow us on X - #MagnoliaSabr
Join us on July 18 for Third Thursdays at Taco Mac! See "Chapter Events" for more details!
The Spring 2024 issue of our Magnolia Magazine newsletter is now available. Go to "Chapter News" to access the link!
We're looking (and anxious) for "new blood" for the Chapter leadership! If you are interested in getting involved, go to the "Chapter News" page for more information!
The Society for American Baseball Research was formed in Cooperstown, NY in August 1971. Its mission is to:
* preserve and promote baseball's historical status as a preeminent social and cultural institution;
* establish an accurate historical record of the game and the people associated with it;
* encourage and support research into all aspects of the game, and;
* provide assorted outlets for the dissemination of the research efforts of its members.
Members can share their love for the game by joining local SABR chapters.
The Magnolia Chapter takes it name from the magnolia tree (left) that once dominated the center field skyline at Ponce De Leon Park, home of the old Atlanta Crackers of the Southern Association. Today, the tree still stands behind a shopping center that now occupies the space of the old ballpark on Ponce De Leon Avenue (across from Ponce City Market).
The Magnolia Chapter serves members in the state of Georgia. Our meetings are open to all members regardless of where they live, however, and to the general public as well.
The chapter gets through the hot stove period by participating in SABRDay, a Saturday in late January when chapters all over the country hold meetings to hear the latest research from their members and other special guests.
For SABR Day 2022, Magnolia SABR members participated in a caravan through the city of Atlanta to visit the sites of long-demolished ballparks used by Atlanta minor league teams. The day started off outside the main gates of Atlanta's famed Oakland Cemetery. The first baseball game in Atlanta was played on this site on May 18, 1866. The Gate City Base Ball Club defeated the Atlanta Base Ball Club by a score of 127-29! The group went on to visit other sites including Brisbane Park (used by the Atlantas in the 1890s); Athletic Park I (Peters Park), which was used by the first professional team in Atlanta in 1885-86; and Ponce De Leon Park, home of the Atlanta Crackers from 1907-1964. Chapter member Alan Morris provided participants with an overview of each site; program chair Craig Brown provided a number of graphics for each site, and other SABR members read accounts of an historic game played at each site.
Other meetings may be held at other times of the year depending on the availability of program participants.
Magnolia Chapter members meet on the Third Thursday of each month to share a meal and engage in some great baseball banter. The chapter's trivia savant, David Washburn, also presents a very challenging trivia session each month (except January). Third Thursday is currently held at Taco Mac in Sandy Springs (inside The Prado shopping center). Parking is free in the deck across from the front door. Come join us!