This Week in SABR: February 12, 2016

/in /by

Welcome to “This Week in SABR!” Click here to view this week’s newsletter on the web. Please note that the SABR office will be closed on Monday, February 15 due to the Presidents’ Day holiday. Here’s what we’ve been up to as of February 12, 2016:

2016 SABR Analytics: Last call for early registration!

The fifth annual SABR Analytics Conference is just one month away, and if you’re on the fence about attending, the early registration discount will expire tonight — at 11:59 p.m. MST on Friday, February 12, 2016. 

Once again, we’re bringing together the top minds of the baseball analytic community under one roof to discuss, debate and share insightful ways to analyze and examine the great game of baseball.

Click here for a tentative schedule for the 2016 SABR Analytics Conference. The schedule will consist of a combination of Guest Speakers, Panels, and Research Presentations — plus the unique Diamond Dollars Case Competition, in which undergraduate, graduate, and law school students from across the country analyze and present a real baseball operations decision.

  • Conference registration is available now at the SABR Store. Click here to register! The conference is open to all baseball fans. The early registration rate is $395 for SABR members and $495 for nonmembers, or $350 for currently enrolled high school or college students (includes one-year membership to SABR). The early-registration discount expires on Friday, February 12.
  • Book your hotel room: The 2016 SABR Analytics Conference will be held Thursday, March 10 through Saturday, March 12 at the Hyatt Regency Phoenix, 122 N. 2nd St., Phoenix, AZ 85004. Click here to book your hotel room at the special SABR group rate of $179/night (plus tax) for double occupancy. Or call (602) 252-1234 and mention that you’re with the SABR Analytics Conference. The cutoff date to book your room is Friday, February 12.

Our featured speakers and panelists are expected to include: Derrick Hall, President/CEO, Arizona Diamondbacks; Dick Williams, Senior Vice President/General Manager, Cincinnati Reds; Billy Eppler, General Manager, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim; former major-leaguers Aaron Boone, Alex Cora, and Dallas Braden of ESPN and Eric Byrnes of MLB Network; Brian Kenny of MLB Network; Ken Rosenthal, MLB Network and FoxSports.com; John Dewan; owner, Baseball Info Solutions; broadcaster Mike Ferrin of the Arizona Diamondbacks and MLB Network Radio; front-office executives Nick Ennis of the San Diego Padres, Sarah Gelles of the Baltimore Orioles, and Yeshayah Goldfarb of the San Francisco Giants; SABR President Vince Gennaro; Dan Migala of Property Consulting Group; Eno Sarris of FanGraphs; and Michael Bentley of Blast Motion as featured speakers at the 2016 SABR Analytics Conference.

Visit SABR.org/analytics for more information.

Billy Martin biography by Bill Pennington wins 2016 SABR Seymour Medal

Billy Martin: Baseball’s Flawed Genius, written by Bill Pennington and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, is the winner of the 2016 Dr. Harold and Dorothy Seymour Medal, which honors the best book of baseball history or biography published during the preceding calendar year.

Pennington, a veteran reporter who covered the New York Yankees during Martin’s final years as manager, will receive his award at the banquet of the 23rd annual NINE Spring Training Conference on Saturday, March 12, 2016, at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel in Tempe, Arizona (formerly the Fiesta Inn and Resort.)

The banquet includes the Seymour Medal ceremony with Dorothy Seymour Mills, dinner, and the NINE keynote address by SABR member Rob Edelman, the author of Great Baseball Films and Baseball on the Web who teaches film history at the University at Albany. To register for the NINE conference, visit nineregistration.com.

Click here to learn more about this year’s Seymour Medal winner.

The other finalists for the 2016 Seymour Medal were:

  • In Pursuit of Pennants: Baseball Operations from Deadball to Moneyball, by Mark Armour and Dan Levitt (University of Nebraska Press)
  • A Game of Their Own: Voices of Contemporary Women in Baseball, by Jennifer Ring (University of Nebraska Press)
  • The Colonel and Hug: The Partnership that Transformed the New York Yankees, by Steve Steinberg and Lyle Spatz (University of Nebraska Press)

The Seymour Medal, named in honor of Dr. Harold Seymour and Mrs. Dorothy (Seymour) Mills, was first awarded by SABR in 1996. To be considered for the medal, a work must be the product of original research or analysis. The winning book shall significantly advance our knowledge of baseball and shall be characterized by understanding, factual accuracy, profound insight and distinguished writing.

To see a list of previous Seymour Medal winners, click here.

Early registration now open for SABR 46 in Miami

We hope you’ll join us for what promises to be a spectacular SABR 46 convention, July 27-31, 2016, at the Hyatt Regency Miami in downtown Miami, Florida.

  • Registration: Click here for complete information on SABR 46 registration rates, all-inclusive packages, and optional sessions. Or click here to register for SABR 46! More details on guest speakers, panelists, and presenters will be announced soon. We’re again offering a special all-inclusive rate for the annual SABR convention. SABR members can pay $269 for an all-inclusive package that includes full registration to SABR 46, a premium Home Plate Box ticket to the Miami Marlins game on Friday, July 29 (includes special pregame ballpark session/tour and roundtrip bus transportation), and one ticket to the Awards Luncheon — the package is a savings of $40 off the regular rate. Non-members can pay $299 for the all-inclusive rate. The deadline to register at the all-inclusive rate is Monday, June 13, 2016.
  • Hotel: Don’t forget to book your hotel room at the Hyatt Regency Miami; our room block usually goes quickly. Click here to book your room online. The deadline to book your room at the SABR group rate of $129/night (plus tax) is Monday, June 13, 2016. If you have any questions about your reservation, please call the hotel at (305) 358-1234.
  • Pregame ballpark session/tour: SABR 46 attendees will have a special opportunity to visit Marlins Park for an exclusive pregame ballpark session with Miami Marlins executives and players. Before the Marlins 7:10 p.m. game against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday, July 29, a special SABR 46 panel discussion will take place at Marlins Park followed by a ballpark tour for convention attendees. Guest speakers and more details will be announced soon. Purchase of SABR 46 conference registration AND a game ticket will be required to attend this special session. A SABR 46 Marlins game ticket also includes roundtrip bus transportation. Click here to learn more.
  • Pre-order your SABR logo shirts, caps, or souvenir baseballs: Avoid the rush at registration, and pre-order your SABR logo polo shirt, T-shirt, baseball caps, or souvenir crystal baseball online when you register for SABR 46. Please indicate shirt size (adult S to XXXL) when you register. Caps are one-size-fit-most. Your items will be available to be picked up when you arrive at the SABR convention. The souvenir baseballs are crystal paperweights measuring about 3 inches around, with an embossed SABR logo in the center. Deadline to pre-order: Monday, June 13, 2016.

All SABR 46 attendees will also receive a souvenir print edition of The National Pastime, our annual convention journal, focusing on baseball teams, players and events in the Miami area. All SABR members, whether you attend the convention or not, will receive the expanded e-book edition of The National Pastime in their inboxes later this summer. Click here to register for SABR 46.

SABR 46: Join us for a special pregame ballpark session and tour

Attendees at the SABR 46 convention this summer in Miami will have a special opportunity to visit Marlins Park for an exclusive pregame ballpark session with Miami Marlins executives and players.

Before the Marlins 7:10 p.m. game against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday, July 29, 2016, a special SABR 46 panel discussion will take place at Marlins Park followed by a ballpark tour for convention attendees. Guest speakers and more details will be announced soon.

Purchase of SABR 46 conference registration AND a game ticket will be required to attend this special session. A SABR 46 Marlins game ticket also includes roundtrip bus transportation. Registration for the 2016 SABR convention is now available at SABR.org/convention.

Click here to learn more.

SABR 46: Call for presentations

SABR invites all members to present their research findings to their colleagues attending SABR 46, the 2016 annual convention on July 27-31 in Miami, Florida.

Oral presentations are expected to last 20 minutes, followed by a five minute question-and-answer period. Posters will be presented, with the author on-hand to discuss the work, during a poster session of 90 or so minutes, and will probably remain on display throughout the convention. Through on-site judging, the most highly-regarded presentations will receive the Doug Pappas Award for best oral presentation and the USA Today Sports Weekly Award for best poster presentation.

The submission deadline for SABR 46 abstracts is midnight PST, Sunday, MARCH 13, 2016. Click here for complete details and criteria.

Submit abstracts to sabr2016-presentations@comcast.net, the research presentations address for SABR 46. You may also use the alternate address sabr46-presentations@comcast.net.

Please note: If your abstract is accepted and you intend to make a research presentation, you must register to attend the SABR 46 convention. Registration and hotel information for SABR 46 will be available beginning next week at SABR.org/convention.

Last call: Vote for 2016 SABR Analytics Conference Research Award winners

There’s only a few days left to vote for the 2016 SABR Analytics Conference Research Award winners. Click here to cast your vote:

http://sabr.org/latest/vote-now-2016-sabr-analytics-conference-research-award-winners

The SABR Analytics Conference Research Awards 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.

To read any of the finalists, click on the link below.

Contemporary Baseball Analysis

Contemporary Baseball Commentary

Historical Analysis/Commentary

Voting will be open through 11:59 p.m. MST on Monday, February 15, 2016. Details and criteria for each category can be found here. Only one work per author was considered as a finalist.

Update: 2016 Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference will be held in Kansas City

Late breaking news: The 2016 Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference is going to Kansas City to celebrate the 110th birthday/anniversary of black baseball’s most prolific pitcher, Leroy “Satchel” Paige. Paige’s oldest son and daughter are planning to attend the Malloy to talk about their father and help us cut the cake.

Plans are under way to invite a few players, attend a Royals game, and enjoy some savory ribs. 

The dates are still the same as previously announced — July 7-9, 2016 — and the hotel will be the Overland Park Sheraton Hotel in Kansas. The early-bird rate is $119 per night; much better than last year’s rate of $189. So put us in your budget and travel plans.

More information is coming soon about how to register for the hotel and for the “best and biggest black baseball conference in America.” Check back at SABR.org/malloy for more details.

— Larry Lester

Renew your SABR membership by February 28 to receive the new Baseball Research Journal

For those of you whose memberships expired recently, there’s still a little time left to renew and be a part of the SABR community again in 2016. If you’ve already renewed, we thank you for your support and look forward to another exciting year ahead.

Renew now to receive the Spring 2016 edition of the Baseball Research Journal, plus discounts on registration to the 2016 SABR Analytics Conference and SABR 46 in Miami, and a lot more! Please note: We MUST receive your dues by February 28, 2016, in order for you to receive the upcoming BRJ.

  • Here’s how to renew: You can renew your membership for 1 year or 3 years online at the SABR Store; by phone at (602) 496-1460; or by mailing this downloadable PDF form and your payment to the SABR office at Cronkite School at ASU, 555 N. Central Ave. #416, Phoenix, AZ 85004.
  • Logging in: If you’ve had trouble logging in this week, please try resetting your password using this link and then try again at the link above: https://sabr.site-ym.com/general/email_pass.asp. We apologize for any inconvenience, but we appreciate your patience!

Dues are the same as they have been in recent years: for this, you get two editions of the Baseball Research Journal, the expanded e-book edition of The National Pastime; 8-10 free e-books published by the SABR Digital Library; “This Week in SABR” every Friday; access to research resources such as Paper of Record (with complete archives of The Sporting News); discounts to all SABR conferences such as the National Convention (Miami 2016), the SABR Analytics Conference, the Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference, and the Frederick Ivor-Campbell 19th Century Conference; and much, much more.

We believe SABR has something for everyone, from the active researcher to someone passionate about baseball. We hope you’ll invite your friends, colleagues and family members to join at store.sabr.org.

Want to receive your Baseball Research Journal in e-book format?

Once again, SABR is offering its members the opportunity to opt out of receiving the printed version of the Spring 2016 Baseball Research Journal. We’ll deliver the e-book version of the BRJ in the format of your choice (EPUB, MOBI/Kindle or PDF) straight to your inbox around Opening Day 2016. Click here to learn more about receiving the e-book edition of the BRJ.

Opt out of receiving the printed edition by February 28, 2016, in order to get early access to all the great content in the BRJ in e-book format and online at SABR.org.

  • To opt out of receiving the printed version of the Baseball Research Journal: Click here to edit your membership profile. Scroll to the bottom and select “Receive publications electronically.” Then save your changes.

Please note: If you do nothing, you will continue to receive two print editions of the Baseball Research Journal every year by mail.

If you’ve never read a Baseball Research Journal in e-book form, click here to try it out with the Spring 2015 edition. The Baseball Research Journal, and all SABR e-books, are available in EPUB, MOBI/Kindle or PDF formats.

Call for nominations: 2016 SABR Board of Directors election

The SABR Nominating Committee seeks nominations for candidates for the Spring 2016 elections. All candidates for the Board of Directors must have been members of the Society for at least the preceding four years to be eligible for election. Deadline for nominations is February 26, 2016. Nominees must prepare a Candidate Statement Form following guidelines that will be available from any Nominating Committee member.

The Candidate Statement Form must be received by the Nominating Committee chair no later than March 18, 2016.

The offices to be filled:

  • Vice-President (2-year term; currently Bill Nowlin)
  • Director (3-year term; currently Leslie Heaphy)
  • Director (3-year term; currently Chris Dial)

The Nominating Committee also seeks your input. Members are asked to submit office-specific questions for each of the offices open in this election. We also seek input on general questions for every nominee. Candidates will answer selected questions on the Candidate Statement Form. Regional Chapter leaders and Research Committee Chairs are especially encouraged to pass on this request to their respective members to better address member needs.

Self-nominations are welcome. If you would like to nominate yourself or another candidate or suggest a question for the candidates, contact Nominating Committee chair Neal Traven at beisbol@alumni.pitt.edu.

McMurray: Grantland Rice’s legacy in the Deadball Era

This article first appeared in the SABR Deadball Era Committee’s February 2016 newsletter. To learn more about the Deadball Era Committee, click here.

Even with the large number of new books on the Deadball Era published annually, it is worthwhile on occasion to recall prior works which illuminate figures who may have fallen a bit outside of the Deadball Era Committee’s view. One such person is writer Grantland Rice. Known best for his writing for the weekly magazine Collier’s, Rice himself was never a major league beat reporter, recognized instead for his prolific columns that touched on many sports and which often included a poem and clever twists of phrase. While Rice’s connection with baseball may seem attenuated relative to, say, the more regular interactions with players that Ring Lardner or Heywood Broun enjoyed, Rice nevertheless was influential in several important episodes of the Deadball Era.

Rice’s impact is given a comprehensive and thoughtful treatment in Sportswriter: The Life and Times of Grantland Rice by Charles Fountain, published in 1993. That Rice — a colossal figure in American sportswriting — has been the subject of only a few biographies (though two other volumes on him were published in the 1990s, including one by William Harper of more than 600 pages) may suggest that Deadball Era researchers would be better served to spend more time examining the role of reporters of the time, as these writers served as an essential liaison between the game and its burgeoning fan base.

Click here to read the full article at SABR.org.

— John McMurray

9 new biographies posted at SABR BioProject

Nine new biographies were posted this week as part of the SABR Baseball Biography Project, which brings us to a total of 3,591 published biographies. Here are the new bios:

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

2 new stories published by the SABR Games Project

Two new game stories were posted this week as part of the SABR Games Project. Here are the new game stories:

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

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

Behind the Numbers: Baseball SABR Style on SiriusXM, a new radio show hosted by SABR President Vince Gennaro, will return this weekend at its new time, 4:00-5:00 p.m. ET on Sundays, on MLB Network Radio.

You can listen to all recent episodes on-demand on the SiriusXM Internet Radio App.

Baseball SABR Style 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.

For more information, click here.

2016 Larry Ritter Book Award nominees announced

The following books were nominated for the 2016 Larry Ritter Book Award, which is awarded by SABR’s Deadball Era Committee and recognizes the best new baseball book primarily set in the Deadball Era that was published during the previous calendar year:

  • Charles C. Alexander, The Miracle Braves, 1914-1916 (McFarland & Co.) 
  • Dan D’Addona, In Cobb’s Shadow: The Hall of Fame Careers of Sam Crawford, Harry Heilmann and Heinie Manush (McFarland & Co.) 
  • Charles Fountain, The Betrayal: The 1919 World Series and the Birth of Modern Baseball (Oxford University Press) 
  • Tim Hornbaker, War on the Basepaths: The Definitive Biography of Ty Cobb (Skyhorse Publishing)
  • Jim Leeke, Nine Innings for the King: The Day Wartime London Stopped for Baseball, July 4, 1918 (McFarland & Co.)
  • Charles Leerhsen, Ty Cobb: A Terrible Beauty (Simon & Schuster)
  • Mark A. Leiter, The Miracle Boston Braves of 1914: The Impossible Miracle (Createspace)
  • Laurent Pernot, Before the Ivy: The Cubs’ Golden Age in Pre-Wrigley Chicago (University of Illinois Press)
  • Jacob Pomrenke, ed., Scandal on the South Side: The 1919 Chicago White Sox (SABR)
  • Lyle Spatz, Willie Keeler: From the Playgrounds of Brooklyn to the Hall of Fame (Roman & Littlefield)
  • Steve Steinberg and Lyle Spatz, The Colonel and Hug: The Partnership That Transformed the New York Yankees (University of Nebraska Press)
  • Ronald T. Waldo, Honus Wagner and His Pittsburgh Pirates: Scenes from a Golden Era (McFarland & Co.)
  • Ronald T. Waldo, The 1902 Pittsburgh Pirates: Treachery and Triumph (McFarland & Co.)

Click here to learn more about the Larry Ritter Award. Stay tuned for the announcement of the winner in March 2016.

Deadlines approaching for SABR award nominations

Please note: Only ONE entry per nomination will be considered (do not submit multiple nominations for the same award). For more information on SABR Awards, click here.

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.

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 New Member 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
Casey Arnold Chicago, IL     Eric Kapfhammer North Bend, WA
Roger Ball Gig Harbor, WA     Andrew Koo Toronto, ON
Bruce Baskin Chehalis, WA     Seth Kuhns Milford Square, PA
Bob Congdon Crozier, VA     Josh Payton Tulsa, OK
Marc Deschenes Brossard, QC     Jack Penkrot Pittsburgh, PA
Shawn Flaherty St. Louis, MO     Matthew Smith Silver Spring, MD
Mark Frankfother Rock Falls, IL     Lamar Smith Vestavia Hills, AL
Michael Green Lincoln, NE     Charley Thurber Atlanta, GA
Joe Heck Racine, WI     Mitchell Woltring Mobile, AL
David Jameson Aurora, IL        

 

In addition, please welcome our new Student Group Affiliate Members from Yeshiva University High School (adviser: Joshua Jacoby) in New York, NY:

Name     Name
Shlomo Aminsky     Noam Josse
Yaakov Bienstock     Amiel Katz
Andrew Feuer     Nathan Levy
Mike Fink     Yosef Schatz
Eli Fink      

 

Educators, click here to learn more about signing up your group/class for a SABR Student Group Affiliate Membership.

Research Committee news

Here are the new SABR research committee updates this week:

  • Educational Resources: The SABR Educational Resources Committee is creating a Syllabi and Activity Depository to collect baseball related education materials. We are hoping in the near-future to create a database for people to search, and download these materials. We are asking that if you are teaching a “baseball course” (Introduction to Baseball Literature, etc.) or using baseball as an example to teach a particular topic to please share those materials with us. Please fill out one of our surveys — click here for the Syllabi form or click here for the Activity form — and then e-mail your activity or syllabi (in PDF format) to Tom Mueller at hoopsgis@gmail.com. 

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

Regional Chapter news

Here are the new regional chapter updates this week:

  • SABR Day: Find highlights and photos from the 7th annual SABR Day at SABR.org/sabrday.

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.

Are you receiving our e-mails? “This Week in SABR” goes out by e-mail to all members on Friday afternoons. If they’re not showing up, try adding “sabr.notes@sabr.org” to your contact list to ensure they show up in your inbox (and not the spam folder.)

 

Follow us:
Contact us:
More info:

 


Originally published: February 12, 2016. Last Updated: April 3, 2020.

Support SABR today!

Donate Join

Cronkite School at ASU
555 N. Central Ave. #406-C
Phoenix, AZ 85004
Phone: 602-496-1460

About

History

Meet the Staff

Board of Directors

Annual Reports

Diversity Statement

Contact SABR

DONATE

© SABR. All Rights Reserved