Third Thursday Talk - "Take Me Out to the Ballgame"

Derby Gisclair and Ed Branley, two local historians who frequently speak at the Jefferson Parish Library, will give a joint presentation titled “Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” at 7 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 20, at the East Bank Regional Library, 4747 W. Napoleon, Metairie.

This event is free of charge and is open to the public.

The pair will cover numerous topics relating to local baseball, including:

• The beginning of baseball in 1870 when a team from Cincinnati journeyed to New Orleans to play against local amateur clubs.
• New Orleans as a hotbed of baseball activity in the 1880s and 1890s.
• Many of the various clubs that played early baseball and their unique rules.
• The venues of the first baseball parks.
• Spring training and the teams that participated in it.
• Baseball at Tulane University.
• The story of Mel Ott.

New Orleans native Edward J. Branley has written five books for Arcadia Publishing, including Legendary Locals of New Orleans and Images of America books New Orleans: The Canal Streetcar Line, Maison Blanche Department Store and New Orleans Jazz. He is a graduate of Brother Martin High School in New Orleans and the University of New Orleans.

A lifelong resident of New Orleans, S. Derby Gisclair is a member of the Society of American Baseball Research (SABR) and its 19th Century, Minor Leagues, Deadball Era, Oral History, and Pictorial History Committees. He heads the Schott-Pelican Chapter of SABR in Louisiana and is on the Nominating and Selection Committees for the Greater New Orleans Professional Baseball Hall of Fame. He is the author of several books including: Baseball in New Orleans, Baseball at Tulane University; and Early Baseball in New Orleans – A History of 19th Century Play. His most recent book, The Dixie Series, 1920-1958, was released on May 1, 2023.

For more information regarding this presentation, contact Chris Smith, Manager of Adult Programming for the library, at 504-889-8143 or wcsmith@jefferson.lib.la.us.