Join us for the monthly group meeting of the New York chapter of Society of American Baseball Research (SABR). The group meets the second Saturday of each month. All baseball fans are welcome!

This month, a triple header of Baseball history, where the theme is triumph over adversity.

Gary Moore
Playing With the Enemy:
A Baseball Prodigy, a World at War, and a Field of Broken Dreams

Tom Sabellico (co-author with Ryan Duren)
I Can See Clearly Now:
Ryne Duren Talks from the Heart About Life, Baseball, and Alcohol

Larry Hogan
Shades of Glory:
The Negro Leagues and the Story of African-American Baseball

The new book Playing With the Enemy by Gary Moore is a an exciting and moving account of his father Gene's odyssey through professional baseball and his service in the military during the Second World War.

Gene Moore was a prodigy baseball player from Sesser, a small town in southern Illinois. At the age of fifteen his feats as a defensive player and hitter were so astounding that he came to the attention of pro scouts as far away as Brooklyn. The Dodgers signed him in 1940 and he was on his way to The Big Show. Unfortunately fate intervened with the awful events at Pearl Harbor and Gene entered the military.

He played on Naval baseball teams in the Azores and North Africa , until he was sent on a top secret mission to guard captured German U-boat sailors in Louisiana . Trying to keep his baseball skills honed, he asked permission to teach the captured sailors the national pastime as they waited for V-day. Unfortunately after the War, Gene was never able to return to his career in professional baseball.

His son Gary only found out the true nature Gene's adventures until late in his father's life. Using the part of the story he already knew, he was able to track down and interview many of the people that played a role in his father's baseball and military career in order to bring his father's riveting story to life.

Gary W. Moore is a successful entrepreneur and business executive, exciting speaker and sales trainer, musician and author.

Tom Sabellico is the co-author, with Ryan Duren, of I Can See Clearly Now . Ryne Duren was one of the hardest throwing pitchers in Major League history. Regularly clocked at 100 mph, and sporting thick, dark-lensed glasses, he could terrify major league batters. Even with his success as an All-Star and World Series hero an inner fear led him into a downward spiral of alcoholism.

Finally in 1968 he overcame his addiction, and now after 35 years of sobriety he is able to share with others his experiences on and off the diamond.

Tom Sabellico writes regularly on baseball history.

Lawrence Hogan has created for National Geographic, Shades of Glory: The Negro Leagues and the Story of African-American Baseball, drawing on years of research into a rich trove of archives. Celebrating African America's contribution to our great national pastime, this comprehensive, lively history combines vivid narrative, visual impact, and a unique statistical component, to recreate the excitement and passion of the Negro Leagues. Packed with stories, biographical essays, scores of archival photographs and other evocative artifacts, it is an important contribution to sports history and a wonderful tribute to the players and teams who wrote a unique chapter in the annals of baseball and American culture .

Lawrence B. Hogan is an expert on the history of black baseball who also curated a touring exhibit that highlights the events and documents in this volume.

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