This Week in SABR: August 19, 2016

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Welcome to “This Week in SABR!” Click here to view this week’s newsletter on the web. Here’s what we’ve been up to as of August 19, 2016:

SABR Defensive Index rankings released through games of August 7

A pair of Windy City outfielders, Adam Eaton and Jason Heyward, now lead their respective leagues in the SABR Defensive Index™ rankings through games of August 7.

For the fourth consecutive season, the SABR Defensive Index will be used to help select the winners of the Rawlings Gold Glove Award® and Rawlings Platinum Glove Award™, presented by SABR.

Eaton’s SDI of 20.8 is the best in the game among all qualified defenders. In the AL rankings, Eaton is followed by Cleveland shortstop Francisco Lindor (11.3), Toronto center fielder Kevin Pillar (11.0), Texas third baseman Adrian Beltre (10.8), and Boston right fielder Mookie Betts (10.5) in the top five.

Heyward’s SDI of 14.0 leads all NL fielders, followed by San Francisco shortstop Brandon Crawford (13.5), Atlanta center fielder Ender Inciarte (12.8), and San Francisco catcher Buster Posey (10.7). Arizona shortstop Nick Ahmed and Cincinnati center fielder Billy Hamilton (9.7) are tied for fifth place in the NL.

The updated SDI results were released this week by the Society for American Baseball Research. The SABR Defensive Index accounts for approximately 25 percent of the Rawlings Gold Glove Award selection process that will be added to the votes from the managers and coaches.

Click here to view full SDI rankings by position through games of August 7.

For more information on the SABR Defensive Index, visit SABR.org/SDI.

SABR 46: Watch/listen to highlights from our Marlins Park ballpark session

Attendees at the SABR 46 convention in Miami had a special opportunity to visit Marlins Park for an exclusive pregame ballpark session with Miami Marlins executives and players on Friday, July 29.

Before the Marlins’ game against the St. Louis Cardinals — in which Ichiro Suzuki was in the starting lineup just two hits away from the 3,000 milestone — special SABR 46 interview sessions took place at Marlins Park with Barry Bonds, one of baseball’s all-time greatest players and now the Marlins hitting coach; Don Mattingly, the Marlins first-year manager and a former All-Star first baseman; Andre Dawson, Hall of Fame outfielder; Tony Perez, Hall of Fame first baseman; and his son Eduardo Perez, an ESPN analyst and former major-leaguer. The session was emceed by SABR President Vince Gennaro, with interviews by Barry M. Bloom of MLB.com.

Click here to watch or listen to highlights from the SABR 46 ballpark session.

SABR 46: Watch/listen to highlights from the Latino Baseball Authors Panel

At SABR 46 on Saturday, July 30 in Miami, our Latino Baseball Authors Panel discussed the Latino baseball experience, with an emphasis on baseball in Cuba and how current events are affecting the game abroad and in the U.S.

Panelists included César Brioso, a digital producer for USA Today and the author of Havana Hardball: Spring Training, Jackie Robinson, and the Cuban League; Peter C. Bjarkman, one of the foremost authorities on Cuban baseball history and the author of Cuba’s Baseball Defectors: The Inside Story; Adrian Burgos Jr., a professor of history at the University of Illinois and the author of Playing America’s Game: Baseball, Latinos, and the Color Line; and moderator Anthony Salazar, chairman of SABR’s Latino Baseball Research Committee and editor of its newsletter, La Prensa del Béisbol Latino.

For more coverage of SABR 46, visit SABR.org/convention.

SABR 46: Listen to highlights from the Cuban Players Panel

At SABR 46 on Saturday, July 30 in Miami, our Cuban Players Panel discussed their careers and experiences in baseball at home and in the U.S.

Panelists included Miguel “Mike” de la Hoz, former infielder who played parts of nine MLB seasons from 1960-69; Leo Posada, outfielder for the Kansas City Athletics from 1960-62 and the uncle of Jorge Posada; Jackie Hernandez, a shortstop who helped the Pittsburgh Pirates win the 1971 World Series; Gonzalo “Cholly” Naranjo, who pitched for the Pirates in 1956; and moderator Jose Campos, the host of “La Poderosa,” a daily sports show over Miami radio station WWFE/670-AM.

For more coverage of SABR 46, visit SABR.org/convention.

SABR 46: Watch/listen to highlights from the How to Do Baseball Research panel

Attendees at SABR 46 in Miami were treated to a special session on “How to Do Baseball Research” on Saturday, July 30, led by SABR Vice-President Leslie Heaphy with special guests Sean Forman of Baseball-Reference.com, SABR Director and author Bill Nowlin, and SABR Director of Editorial Content Jacob Pomrenke.

This informal Q&A session focused on baseball-oriented techniques and resources that are available to help you improve your research and writing. Whether you are an experienced SABR researcher or a first-time author, you can learn something new about information and tools — both online and off — that can help aid your baseball research.

For more coverage of SABR 46, visit SABR.org/convention.

SABR 46: More highlights from Miami

Couldn’t make it to Miami for SABR 46? Check out stories, photos, and multimedia clips from the SABR 46 convention in Miami below:

Around the Web

Check out more coverage from the 2016 convention by visiting SABR.org/convention.

Students: Apply for a Fall 2016 internship with SABR

The Society for American Baseball Research is seeking Fall 2016 interns to work in our office in Phoenix, Arizona.

An internship with SABR will involve responsibilities across a variety of disciplines, possibly including:

  • Working on-site at a local SABR conference, such as the SABR Arizona Fall League Experience
  • Working with our Membership Director or Director of Operations on organizational duties, membership renewal drives, customer service
  • Working with our Director of Editorial Content to help publish and/or produce content for our website at SABR.org

Interested candidates should be able to demonstrate basic office-related computer skills. HTML knowledge is a plus.

A working knowledge of baseball — and an awareness of the game’s general history and basic statistics — is required.

The internship is an educational opportunity that may count toward college credit, covering 15-20 hours per week (flexible schedule), at the SABR office in Phoenix, Arizona. The internship will be for a fixed period of time and is designed to provide the intern with skills and training that may be applicable to working in a nonprofit research environment or in other research-based organizations. No housing assistance will be provided.

Please send a resume and cover letter in PDF form to mappleman@sabr.org or jpomrenke@sabr.org by 5:00 p.m. MST Friday, September 2, 2016.

2016 Women on the Diamond art competition winners announced

SABR’s Women in Baseball Research Committee and the International Women’s Baseball Center are excited to announce the winners of the 2016 Women on the Diamond art competition.

Joe Farnham, of Newburyport, Massachusetts, took first prize in the Professional category for his piece, “One Tough Out,” pictured at right.

Carissa Adams, 13, was selected as the winner in the Youth category for her artwork. 

Click here to view this year’s winning entries and learn more about the artists.

The winning entry and runner-up in each category will have their art displayed at the new International Women’s Baseball Center in Rockford, Illinois, which is holding a dedication ceremony on September 3.

The winning entry in the professional category will also receive a $200 prize. Photos of the winning entries and runners-up will also be included in an upcoming issue of SABR’s Women in Baseball committee newsletter. The winner in the youth category will receive a $150 prize. All schools that enter students will have their name placed in a drawing and two winners will be chosen. The winning schools will each receive $250 worth of age-appropriate books about women’s baseball for their libraries.

The judges included graphic designers and artists Miranda Bowman, Gary Cieradkowski, James Fiorentino, and Debbie Sampson. For more information on submission requirements and eligibility, click here.

Learn more about new SABR Diversity and Inclusion Committee

SABR is pleased to announce the formation of a Diversity and Inclusion Committee, which was established during the SABR 46 convention in Miami. 

Our new D&I committee will be dedicated to promoting outreach into traditionally underrepresented communities in SABR’s membership base, and ensuring that SABR events provide a welcoming environment to individuals of all backgrounds. The strategy and vision for the SABR D&I Committee will be led by a steering committee, comprised of SABR Director Emily Hawks, D&I committee chair; SABR Vice President Leslie Heaphy, chair of the Women in Baseball Research Committee; Anthony Salazar, chair of the Latino Baseball Research Committee; and Larry Lester, chair of the Negro Leagues Research Committee. 

The SABR D&I Committee will also have several affiliate members, who will be crucial in our community outreach and inclusion efforts. If you are interested in joining the committee as an affiliate member, please contact Emily Hawks at emilyhawks@gmail.com.

Educators, sign up your class for a discounted SABR Student Group Affiliate Membership

A Student Group Affiliate Membership will provide students with access to many of the electronic benefits that SABR members enjoy, including “This Week in SABR,” e-book editions of the Baseball Research Journal and The National Pastime, free SABR e-books, and access to the members-only section of SABR.org. This membership will not include any printed publications or voting rights.

In order to make the Student Group Affiliate Membership affordable for groups to join, here are the options we offer:

  • College/University groups/classes: For an annual fee of $250, a group of up to 25 students can receive a one-year electronic SABR affiliate membership.
  • High School/Middle School groups/classes: For an annual fee of $100, a group of up to 20 students can receive a one-year electronic SABR affiliate membership.

Any educational class or student group at the middle school, high school or college/university level is eligible for a SABR affiliate membership, as long as a faculty member, teacher, or advisor is an active SABR member (or registers to join.) The teacher/advisor will be listed as the group contact on the SABR website.

The teacher/advisor will be asked to collect the money, names and e-mail addresses for all students wishing to join, and submit those to the SABR office at one time. In addition, the advisor/instructor must be an active SABR member or sign up for a regular SABR membership; annual dues are $65, with discounts available for adults under the age of 30 or over 65.

To sign up for a Student Group Affiliate Membership, or if you have any questions about how it might work for your group or class, please contact SABR Vice President Dr. Leslie Heaphy at Lheaphy@kent.edu or (330) 244-3304.

Download your free e-book copy of The National Pastime: Baseball in the Sunshine State

Since 2009, The National Pastime has served as SABR’s convention-focused publication. Published annually, this research journal provides in-depth articles focused on the respective geographic region where the national convention is taking place in a given year.

The SABR 46 convention is set to begin this week in Miami, and we have dedicated the theme of The National Pastime to baseball in the Sunshine State. All SABR members receive a free e-book copy of The National Pastime as part of their membership benefits, while attendees of the national convention will also receive a souvenir print edition in their goody bags.

Having trouble downloading our e-books? To view PDF files on your computer, click here to download the free Adobe Reader software. Having trouble downloading e-books to your Kindle, Nook, Sony Reader or iPad? Click here for additional help.

If you aren’t able to attend the convention in Miami, please enjoy this issue of The National Pastime as your virtual trip to South Florida. Happy reading!

To learn more about contributing to a future SABR publication, click here.

— Cecilia M. Tan, editor

Call for reviewers: Fall 2016 Baseball Research Journal

If you are interested in helping out with peer review for the upcoming Fall 2016 Baseball Research Journal, please contact Publications Editor Cecilia Tan.

Peer review is a crucial part of the quality control of the Baseball Research Journal. Your esteemed editors are not experts on every conceivable baseball topic and we augment our knowledge base with the best knowledge base ever: SABR members. To serve as a peer reviewer, you must have been previously published in a SABR publication (i.e. the Baseball Research Journal, The National Pastime, BioProject) or any accredited peer-reviewed journal in your field of specialty. Each reviewer is provided with a rubric for evaluation and your feedback is often extremely helpful in improving the end quality of the publications. All papers and reviewers are anonymous.

Please contact Cecilia Tan with your interest and any subject(s) of expertise, if any.

To learn more about SABR publications, click here.

SABR Digital Library: Cuban Baseball Legends: Baseball’s Alternative Universe

The newest (and first bilingual!) publication from the SABR Digital Library focuses on legendary ballplayers from Cuba’s rich baseball history:

Cuban Baseball Legends: Baseball’s Alternative Universe
Edited by Peter C. Bjarkman and Bill Nowlin
Spanish translations: Reynaldo Cruz
432 pages, 8.5″ x 11″
ISBN (ebook): 978-1-9438-1625-5, $9.99
ISBN (paperback): 978-1-9438-1624-8, $21.95

Minnie Minoso. Martin Dihigo. Luis Tiant Sr. and Jr. Orlando “El Duque” and Livan Hernandez. These are only a few of the leading lights profiled in Cuban Baseball Legends: Baseball’s Alternative Universe. The 47 individuals profiled here represent only a small handful of the legions of memorable and sometimes even legendary figures produced over nearly a century and a half by an island nation where the bat-and-ball sport known as baseball is more than a national pastime, it is the national passion. The book presents 47 biographies in all, plus essays on Cuban baseball.

These biographies were researched and written by a team of members of the Society for American Baseball Research. SABR’s BioBroject has produced bios of over 3,800 players since 2002. A Spanish-language edition of the book is also available, a new first for SABR. Haga clic aquí para obtener más información sobre las “Leyendas del Béisbol Cubano.”

Contributors include: Mark Armour, Thomas Ayers, Ray Birch, Peter C. Bjarkman, Ron Briley, Phil Cola, Rory Costello, Reynaldo Cruz, Eric Enders, Joseph Gerard, Peter M. Gordon, Tom Hawthorn, Lou Hernandez, Douglas Hill, Joanne Hulbert, Len Levin, Brian McKenna, Zachary Moser, Bill Nowlin, Jose I. Ramirez, Rick Schabowski, Mark Stewart, John Struth, and Adam J. Ulrey.

SABR members, get this e-book for FREE!

Más información acerca de leyendas del béisbol cubano mediante la descarga más reciente libro electrónico de SABR:

Having trouble downloading our e-books? To view PDF files on your computer, click here to download the free Adobe Reader software. Having trouble downloading e-books to your Kindle, Nook, Sony Reader or iPad? Click here for additional help.

SABR members will get discounted rates for all Digital Library publications, including many for free. To find more SABR Digital Library books, visit SABR.org/ebooks.

Call for papers: 2017 SABR Ivor-Campbell 19th Century Base Ball Conference

All SABR members are invited and encouraged to submit a Research Presentation Proposal Abstract on any topic of 19th-century baseball for the 2017 Frederick Ivor-Campbell 19th Century Base Ball Conference at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. The ninth annual Ivor-Campbell Conference is scheduled for April 21-22, 2017.

The deadline for proposal Abstracts is October 31, 2016. Your abstract must be between 200-500 words for a 20- to 25-minute presentation. Please include name, title, and contact information and send your proposal as a Microsoft Word or PDF attachment to Peter Mancuso at peterplus4@earthlink.net.

This deadline enables us to publish the complete program and schedule in time for the release of our 2017 Winter Issue of our quarterly newsletter, “Nineteenth Century Notes,” in early January, when registration for “The Fred” begins.

For any questions, please contact Peter Mancuso at peterplus4@earthlink.net.

4 new SABR biographies published

Four new biographies were posted this week as part of the SABR Baseball Biography Project, which brings us to a total of 3,834 published biographies. Here are the new bios published this week:

All new biographies can be found here: http://sabr.org/bioproj/recent

1 new story published by the SABR Games Project

One new game story was posted this week as part of the SABR Games Project. Here is the new game story:

All new Games Project stories can be found here: http://sabr.org/gamesproject/recent

  • Get involved: Writing for the Games Project is an easy way to get involved as a SABR member. Find out how by reading the Games Project FAQs section or checking out the Authors’ Guidelines.
  • Seeking a new Chief Editor: Would you like to help contribute to the SABR Games Project? We’re seeking a new Chief Editor (or editors) to help coordinate the editing for all Games Project stories. This is a crucial role, but unglamorous and thankless — though we do try to thank editors as much as we can. If you have any experience editing and would like to help, please contact Greg Erion or Bruce Slutsky. Fact-checkers are also wanted; you could volunteer, for example, to read all game essays from the early 1950s for accuracy. Please contact the Games Project officers above for more details.

Listen to Behind the Numbers: Baseball SABR Style on SiriusXM on Sunday nights

Behind the Numbers: Baseball SABR Style on SiriusXM, a radio show hosted by SABR President Vince Gennaro, will air this weekend at its regular time, 7:00-8:00 p.m. ET on Sundays, on MLB Network Radio.

This week’s guests are SABR members Bill Petti of FanGraphs and Ben Lindbergh of The Ringer.

Now, you can also watch video highlights of Behind the Numbers: Baseball SABR Style on SiriusXM on MLB.com and you can also listen to all recent episodes on-demand on the SiriusXM Internet Radio App.

Click here to watch more video highlights of Baseball SABR Style from MLB.com.

Behind the Numbers: Baseball SABR Style on SiriusXM focuses on examining and interpreting the statistical analysis that plays a critical role in baseball today. It airs weekly throughout the year on MLB Network Radio, available to subscribers nationwide on XM channel 89, Sirius channel 209, and on the SiriusXM Internet Radio App.

In Memoriam

Reserve your spot on the 2016 Cubaball tour

SABR member Kit Krieger is planning a Cubaball tour from September 26 to October 3, 2016. The early dates reflect changes in the schedule for the Cuban National Series, which opens at an unprecedented early date of August 7.

The 2016 tour will feature five games in five different cities: Havana, Pinar del Rio, Mayabeque, Artemesa and Matanzas. We will see nine of the 16 teams in the league. As usual, the tour will include meeting with former and current players, including a visit with National Team manager Victor Mesa in the Matanzas clubhouse. We will meet with veteran players, including Luiz Zayas, the last member of the Havana Sugar Kings living in Cuba and Enriquito Diaz, the “Record King”, who holds the all-time records for games, at-bats, runs, hits, triples and stolen bases.

We will also visit the baseball monuments at the Colon Cemetery, the Hemingway Estate and La Tropical Stadium, home of the Cuban League from 1930 o 1946. We will again meet with Sigfredo Barros, the baseball beat writer for Cuba’s national newspaper and one of the most knowledgable baseball people on the island.

With the travel ban all but lifted, Americans are flocking to the island and prices are soaring. Comparable tours are priced at $5,000 to $6,000. Cubaball’s 2016 tour is priced at $2,999, which includes transfers, hotels, most meals, admission to all itinerary events, and ground transportation on air-conditioned buses. It does not include return airfare, beverages, or gratuities.

The tour is limited to 25 registrations, with a minimum of 15 registrants required for the tour to proceed. Visit www.capstours.com for more information or contact me at ejkrieger@shaw.ca if you have any questions.

— Kit Krieger

ICYMI: Highlights from last week’s This Week in SABR

We’ve heard your feedback: Some of you have said you look forward to “This Week in SABR” every Friday, but sometimes there are just too many compelling articles and announcements to read every week. We’re not complaining — hey, keep up the great work! — but we know the feeling. So in an effort to make the length of this newsletter more manageable to read, we’ll summarize some of the repeating/recurring announcements in a special “In Case You Missed It (ICYMI)” section of “This Week in SABR”.

Here are some major headlines from recent weeks that we don’t want you to miss:

All previous editions of This Week in SABR can be found here: http://sabr.org/content/this-week-in-sabr-archives.

For more information, click here.

Welcome, new members!

We’d like to welcome all of our new SABR members who have joined this week. You can find all Members-Only resources at members.sabr.org and the Membership Handbook can be downloaded here.

Please give these new members a warm welcome and help them make the most of their membership by giving them the opportunity to get involved in their local chapter or a research committee.

You can find contact information for any SABR member in the online membership directory (SABR.org/directory).

Name Hometown     Name Hometown
Bill Atwood Schaumburg, IL     Denis O’Shea Sacramento, CA
Bill Bagley Arlington, TX     Michael O’Rourke Farmington, MI
Reggie Gay Woodland, CA     William Ruof Torrance, CA
Tim Haney Cooperstown, NY     Sam Stewart Saline, MI
Jeremy Lehrman Hoboken, NJ     Max Strohman Laguna Niguel, CA
Jonathan Nash Menlo Park, CA        

 

Research Committee news

Here are the new SABR research committee updates this week:

  • BioProject: August 2016 newsletter
  • Collegiate Baseball: The Collegiate Baseball Committee announced the formation of an advisory committee to help the College Baseball Hall of Fame (CBHOF) by providing information and evaluating potential candidates whose career ended before 1947 for placement on the CBHOF’s annual ballot. Advisory committee members should demonstrate knowledge of a region or era of pre-1947 intercollegiate baseball through research presentations, published articles, or other means of communication about the subject. SABR members interested in participating, or with questions, contact Collegiate Baseball Committee Chair Karl Green at atlcrackersfan@gmail.com.
  • Games Project: Would you like to help contribute to the SABR Games Project? We’re seeking a new Chief Editor (or editors) to help coordinate the editing for all Games Project stories. This is a crucial role, but unglamorous and thankless — though we do try to thank editors as much as we can. If you have any experience editing and would like to help, please contact Greg Erion or Bruce Slutsky. Fact-checkers are also wanted; you could volunteer, for example, to read all game essays from the early 1950s for accuracy. Please contact the Games Project officers above for more details.
  • Official Scoring: Summer 2016 newsletter

Find all SABR research committee newsletters at SABR.org/research.

Regional Chapter news

Here are the new regional chapter updates this week:

Visit SABR.org/chapters for more information on SABR regional chapters.

SABR Events Calendar

Here is a list of upcoming SABR events:

All SABR meetings and events are open to the public. Feel free to bring a baseball-loving friend … and make many new ones! Check out the SABR Events Calendar at SABR.org/events.

Around the Web

Here are some recent articles published by and about SABR members:

Read these articles and more at SABR.org/latest.

This Week in SABR is compiled by Jacob Pomrenke. If you would like us to include an upcoming event, article or any other information in “This Week in SABR,” e-mail jpomrenke@sabr.org.

Have trouble reading this e-mail? Click here to view this week’s newsletter on the web.

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Originally published: August 19, 2016. Last Updated: April 3, 2020.

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