Announcing finalists for 2016 SABR Analytics Conference Research Awards
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We’re pleased to announce the finalists for the 2016 SABR Analytics Conference Research Awards, which will recognize baseball researchers who have completed the best work of original analysis or commentary during the preceding calendar year.
Nominations were solicited by representatives from SABR, Baseball Prospectus, FanGraphs, The Hardball Times, and Beyond the Box Score. Here are the finalists for the 2016 SABR Analytics Conference Research Awards:
Contemporary Baseball Analysis
- Benjamin S. Baumer, Shane T. Jensen, Gregory J. Matthews, “OpenWAR: An Open Source System for Evaluating Overall Player Performance in Major League Baseball,” Journal of Quantitative Analysis, Vol. 11, Issue 2, June 2015.
- Jonathan Judge, Harry Pavlidis, and Dan Turkenkopf. “Introducing Deserved Runs Average — And All Its Friends,” Baseball Prospectus, April 29, 2015.
- Ben Lindbergh, “Among the Power Pitchers: Does Kansas City’s Contact-Heavy Approach Give the Royals a Postseason Edge?” Grantland, October 20, 2015.
- Jeff Sullivan, “So You Want An Edge Against Mike Trout,” FanGraphs, August 27, 2015.
- Jeff Zimmerman, “Velocity’s Relationship with Pitcher Arm Injuries,” The Hardball Times, April 22, 2015.
Contemporary Baseball Commentary
- Alexis Brudnicki, “I’m Different. I’m the Same.” The Hardball Times, November 18, 2015.
- Nathaniel Grow, “The MLBPA Has A Problem,” FanGraphs, March 30, 2015.
- Dan Rosenheck, “Spring Forward,” The Economist, March 4, 2015.
- Meg Rowley, “Post-Moneyball’s Clubability,” Baseball Prospectus, November 4, 2015.
- Eno Sarris, “Joey Votto on Aging,” FanGraphs, September 22, 2015.
Historical Analysis/Commentary
- Adam Darowski, “The Standards of Today Would Create a Very Different Hall of Fame,” The Hardball Times, December 18, 2015.
- Jason Foster, “How One Pitch Might Have Sent John Smoltz on a Path to the Hall of Fame,” The Sporting News, July 24, 2015.
- Bryan Grosnick, “Jason Giambi, Patron Saint of the ’00s,” Beyond the Box Score, February 17, 2015.
- John McMurray, “Examining Stolen Base Trends by Decade from the Deadball Era through the 1970s,” SABR Baseball Research Journal, Fall 2015.
- Alex Remington, “Anniversary of a Myth: The Knickerbockers’ Most Famous Game,” The Hardball Times, June 19, 2015.
Details and criteria for each category can be found here. Only one work per author was considered as a finalist.
Voting for the winners will be conducted online beginning next week at SABR.org, BaseballProspectus.com, FanGraphs.com, HardballTimes.com, and BeyondtheBoxScore.com, with results weighted equally at 20%.
Results will be announced and presented at the fifth annual SABR Analytics Conference, March 10-12, 2016, at the Hyatt Regency Phoenix in Phoenix, Arizona. Learn more or register for the conference at SABR.org/analytics.
Originally published: January 27, 2016. Last Updated: January 27, 2016.