2016 Jack Kavanagh Memorial Youth Baseball Research Award winners announced
The 2016 winners of the Jack Kavanagh Memorial Youth Baseball Research Award are:
College Division: “The Original Babe and the Hall of Fame” by Justin Woodard, Wabash College
Woodard is a sophomore at Wabash (Indiana) College and he plans to major in chemistry. He grew up in Lebanon, Indiana, and attended Lebanon High School, where he lettered in baseball and tennis. After graduating from Wabash, he hopes to attend the Indiana University School of Medicine and eventually become a cardiologist.
High School Division: “Rube Foster” by Grant Kleiman, Hutchinson (Minnesota) High School
Kleiman graduated from Hutchinson High School and will attend Southwest Minnesota State University this fall. He plays trumpet in every band possible: Jazz, pep, pit, marching, and symphonic. He also writes for his community’s newspaper, serves as a Student Senator, and volunteers with veterans organizations. His favorite baseball player is Quin Cotton, his childhood best friend, who was recently drafted by the Colorado Rockies.
Middle School Division: “Overlooked Hero: Bill Dineen” by Owen Randell
Randell, age 14, is a fanatic baseball card collector and researcher. Although born in the U.S., he lives and goes to school in the United Kingdom, where baseball is virtually unknown. He spends a lot of his spare time researching baseball history and his perspective on collecting vintage baseball cards was recently published in Sports Market Report. He hopes to one day work in the industry as a researcher or journalist.
Click the links above to download the winning essays.
The winners will receive a plaque honoring their achievement, a $200 prize, and a one-year membership to SABR.
The Jack Kavanagh Memorial Youth Baseball Research Award was established in 1999 by the Society for American Baseball Research in recognition of Kavanagh’s writing and research achievements and his contributions to SABR. The Kavanagh Award may be presented each year for either a research presentation given at the SABR National Convention (papers must accompany any oral presentation), or for a research paper that is submitted to the awards committee between the end of one SABR Convention and no later than June 1 of the following year by a researcher in grades 6-8 (middle school category), grades 9-12 (high school category), or undergraduates 22 and under (College Category).
For more information, contact Leslie Heaphy.
Winning entries from previous years can be viewed by clicking here.
Originally published: July 21, 2016. Last Updated: July 21, 2016.