This Week in SABR: February 15, 2013

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Here’s what we’ve been up to as of February 15, 2013:

Early registration rate, hotel block ends Tuesday for SABR Analytics Conference

We’re less than one month away from the second annual SABR Analytics Conference, presented by Major League Baseball and Bloomberg Sports, on March 7-9, 2013, at the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown in Phoenix, Arizona.

Please note: The early registration rate will expire at 11:59 p.m. PST on Tuesday, February 19, 2013. The full registration rate is $595 for adults, $450 for SABR members and $350 for students.

Our room block at the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown is now sold out for the second annual SABR Analytics Conference, March 7-9, 2013, in Phoenix, Arizona.

SABR has set up a special rate of $149/night (plus tax) at the nearby Renaissance Phoenix Downtown, 50 East Adams Street in Phoenix.

The rooms at the Renaissance are only available for the nights of March 6 through March 9 (checking out on March 10).

Please note: Our room block at the Renaissance is only available until Tuesday, February 19, so book your room today!

 Rooms may still be available at both the Sheraton and Renaissance after next Tuesday, but not at our special SABR rate of $149/night (plus tax.) Spring training is peak season for all Phoenix-area hotels, so the market rate may be much higher.

SABR Analytics Conference: Bloomberg Sports—Next Generation of Team Analytics

We’re pleased to announce a special presentation at the 2013 SABR Analytics Conference: Bloomberg Sports—Next Generation of Team Analytics.

Bill Squadron, head of Bloomberg Sports, will demonstrate the one-stop-shop system now being used by almost all Major League clubs for their front office operations. It will show the new Bloomberg Sports Pro 2.0 platform, just launched in January 2013. Bill will be joined by Jerry Dipoto, who will discuss how the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim use technology and data analytics in their scouting and other areas, and how they work closely with Bloomberg Sports to maximize their capabilities and efficiency in these pursuits. Date and time TBA.

Bloomberg Sports—Next Generation of Team Analytics will include:

  • Bill Squadron, Bloomberg Sports: Bill is head of Bloomberg Sports, which provides data, statistical analysis and visualizations for sports professionals and fans. From 1997 to 2003, he was co-founder, Chairman and CEO of Sportvision, pushing for television innovations such as the yellow first down marker in football, NASCAR Race f/x and the “K Zone” baseball tracking system.
  • Jerry Dipoto, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim: Jerry is entering his second season as Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. He previously spent six seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks, most recently as the Senior Vice President, Scouting & Player Development.

More presenters and featured panelists will be announced soon!

The 2013 SABR Analytics Conference will be held Thursday, March 7 through Saturday, March 9 at the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown, 340 North 3rd Street, Phoenix, AZ 85004.

Featured speakers expected for the 2013 Analytics Conference are: Stan Kasten, President/CEO of the Los Angeles Dodgers; Bill James, Senior Advisor on Baseball Operations for the Boston Red Sox; Joe Posnanski, Senior Writer for Sports on Earth; Jed Hoyer, Executive VP/General Manager of the Chicago Cubs; Rick Hahn, Senior VP/General Manager of the Chicago White Sox; Jon Daniels, General Manager of the Texas Rangers; and Brian Kenny, MLB Network host.

Once again, SABR is 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 for the second annual:

SABR Analytics Conference
presented by Major League Baseball and Bloomberg Sports
March 7-9, 2013
Sheraton Phoenix Downtown
Phoenix, Arizona

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. We’ll also have a special Business of Baseball Analytics session on Saturday morning, when baseball executives from Sales, Marketing, Human Resources, Finance, Stadium Operations and other functions will come together to discuss innovative ways to analyze the business of baseball and drive revenue.

Some of the topics we are planning to cover include:

SABR is teaming up with the Baseball Industry Network for our Welcome/Networking Reception at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 7 at the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown. The reception will feature food, drinks and great opportunities to network with baseball professionals and other attendees from the conference. Admission to the welcome reception is included in your Analytics Conference registration. Members of the Baseball Industry Network can attend the reception separately for $30; click here to sign up. The Baseball Industry Network now features more than 17,600 members and you can join the network on LinkedIn or at www.baseballindustrynetwork.com.

To learn more about the 2013 SABR Analytics Conference, visit SABR.org/analytics.

Have you renewed your SABR membership for 2013?

Thanks to all of you who have already renewed your SABR membership for 2013. We wouldn’t be here without you, and we appreciate your support.

For those of you who haven’t renewed, please send in your dues by February 28, 2013, in order to continue receiving the many benefits of SABR membership all year long.

Note: If you have already renewed for 2013 or just recently sent in your dues, please disregard this notice … and thank you again! If you don’t know when your membership expires, click here.

Please take a minute to renew your membership for 1 year or 3 years online at the SABR Store; by phone at (602) 343-6450; or by mailing this downloadable PDF form and your payment to the SABR office at 4455 E. Camelback Road, Ste. D-140, Phoenix, AZ 85018.

We’ve got a lot of exciting benefits in store for 2013 and we’re glad you’re along for the ride! Dues are the same as they have been in recent years: all members in good standing will receive the Baseball Research Journal (spring and fall) and The National Pastime; free and discounted books in the SABR Digital Library; access to research resources such as Paper of Record (with complete archives of The Sporting News); discounts to SABR conferences such as the national convention ( July 31-August 4 in Philadelphia), the spring SABR Analytics Conference (March 7-9 in Phoenix), the summer Jerry Malloy Negro Leagues Conference (June 13-15 in Newark, N.J.) and the Arizona Fall League Conference; access to our SABR-L research listserv and lending library; all 27 research committees, 60+ regional chapters; and more.

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

  • Donate to SABR: If you support SABR and all the groundbreaking research our members have and will produce, please also consider donating online at SABR.org/donate or via mail. No amount is too big or too small, and as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, your donation to SABR is tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. If you have given in the past, we remain grateful and hope you will consider giving again. If you are a first-time donor, welcome aboard!

Founding member Tom Hufford stepping down from Board of Directors

From SABR Director Tom Hufford:

We are now in the midst of another SABR election cycle, and this year we will be voting on three offices: those of President and two of the Director positions. One of the Director terms that is expiring is the one that I have held for the past three years. After much soul-searching — probably too much — I have decided not to run for re-election.

I was privileged, and have been very honored, to have been one of SABR’s Founding Members, on August 10, 1971. Over the years, I have been very active in SABR activities, when it was possible for me to do so, and not so active at other times, when the demands of my professional career took much of my time.

In June 2003, my wife Nan — bless her heart! — said, “Why don’t you just take some time and do something you enjoy?” It wasn’t hard to decide what I wanted to do: more baseball research! But not just the biographical research that I’d been doing for about 35 years. I wanted to get back to being more active in SABR, and I decided to do what I’d been asked to do several times: run for office in the next election. So in 2004, I ran for the open Director position, and was humbled to be chosen by the SABR voters from among a very qualified slate of candidates.

I was honored to be re-elected to a Director position in both 2007 and 2010, and have tried to serve to the best of my ability. There is nothing I would rather do than to continue to serve on the Board, and I don’t presume to guess whether or not I would be elected again. However, I’ve long felt that anyone who would think about eventually running for one of the SABR offices (President, Vice-President, Treasurer, and to a lesser extent, Secretary) would be well-served to spend time on the Board as a Director, to gain familiarity with the workings of the business side of the Society. And I do understand the natural reluctance that potential candidates might have in running against an incumbent for an office. But we do have a need to have openings on the Board, to welcome and nurture the future leaders of SABR, and that’s what I would like to do.

I want to encourage any of you who would like to be involved in guiding the future of SABR to run in the upcoming election. Serving on the Board won’t always be easy, it won’t always be fun. Being on the Board means you will have to make hard choices along the way, but I think the opportunities for SABR in the future are limitless. Five years ago, we couldn’t have imagined some of the things SABR is doing today — and I think the future is bright! We need some bright, energetic members to throw their hats in the ring, to help guide our future. I know you’re out there, I’ve met you!

I can assure you there isn’t anyone who loves SABR more than I do, and I look forward to being involved in SABR activities for a long time to come.

The SABR we have today is very different than the SABR we had when I served as Secretary in 1976. Of course it is — just think about how much change there has been in every other area of our lives since then. I have been blessed to be a small part of this organization for more than 41 years, and have been honored to be able to work with such a hard-working and capable group of SABR Officers, Directors, staff — and members — for the past nine years. Thanks so much for letting me be part of the team!

TOM HUFFORD has served on SABR’s Board of Directors since 2004. He was one of the 16 founding members of SABR in 1971 and was the organization’s secretary in 1976.

Related links:

Call for 2013 SABR Election Nominations

The SABR Nominating Committee seeks nominations for candidates for the Spring 2013 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 March 1, 2013. Nominees must prepare a Candidate Statement Form following guidelines that will be available from any Nominating Committee member.

The Candidate Statement Form, which will be available for download from the SABR website soon, must be received by the Nominating Committee chair no later than March 15, 2013.

The offices to be filled:

  • President (2-year term; currently Vince Gennaro)
  • Director (3-year term; currently Leslie Heaphy)
  • Director (3-year term; no incumbent)

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 along 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 a member of the Nominating Committee: chair Barry Mednick, Rick Schabowski, and Barry Deutsch.

SABR welcomes new chapter: Wahoo Sam Crawford Chapter

SABR’s Board of Directors has approved the formation of a new regional chapter based in Omaha, Nebraska.

The Wahoo Sam Crawford Chapter will serve SABR members in Nebraska. The chapter chair is Kieran Kelly.

The Wahoo Sam Crawford Chapter is SABR’s 59th regional chapter. There are now SABR regional chapters covering 34 U.S. states, Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C.; plus international chapters in Canada (Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia), Japan and the United Kingdom. For a list of all SABR chapters, visit SABR.org/chapters. A calendar of upcoming SABR meetings can be found at SABR.org/events.

  • Announcements: SABR members, to sign up for email announcements from the Wahoo Sam Crawford Chapter and receive instant notification of upcoming SABR events in your area, click here and and select the “Join Group”  button at the top of the page. All SABR members are eligible to sign up for announcements from any chapter.
  • Find your regional chapter: Does your area have a regional chapter of its own? If not, it’s easy to organize a new chapter — all you need is an interested group of SABR members. Click here for details.

The SABR Bookshelf: Winter 2013 listings

Periodically throughout the year, SABR.org publishes listings of new books that are received at the SABR office. This feature is called The SABR Bookshelf, continuing a popular section from the old SABR Bulletin.

Here are The SABR Bookshelf listings for Winter 2013:

http://sabr.org/content/sabr-bookshelf-winter-2013

Click the link above for more detailed information on each of these books:

  • Becoming Big League: Seattle, The Pilots and Stadium Politics, by Bill Mullins
  • Shibe Park-Connie Mack Stadium: Images of Sports, by Rich Westcott 
  • The American League in Transition, 1965-1975, by Paul Hensler 
  • Ebbets Field: Essays and Memories of Brooklyn’s Historic Ballpark, 1913-1960, edited by John G. Zinn and Paul Zinn 
  • Season of Ghosts: The ’86 Mets and the Red Sox, by Howard Burman 
  • The Expos in Their Prime: The Short-Lived Glory of Montreal’s Team, 1977-1984, by Alain Usereau 
  • The Science of the Fastball, by William Blewett
  • The Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball and American Culture, 2011-2012, edited by William M. Simons 
  • Color Blind: The Forgotten Team That Broke Baseball’s Color Line, by Tom Dunkel 
  • Lefty: An American Odyssey, by Vernona Gomez and Lawrence Goldstone 
  • The Happiest Recap, First Base: 1962-1973, by Greg W. Prince 
  • Auditioning for Cooperstown: Rating Baseball’s Stars for the Hall of Fame, by Andre Lower 
  • Historical Dictionary of Baseball, by Lyle Spatz 
  • Memories of a Ballplayer: Bill Werber and Baseball in the 1930s, by Bill Werber and C. Paul Rogers III 
  • Batting, by F.C. Lane 
  • The Farmers’ Game: Baseball in Rural America, by David Vaught 
  • Detroit Tigers 1984: What A Start! What A Finish!, edited by Mark Pattison and David Raglin 
  • Miracle on Grass, by David Fanucchi 
  • Bat, Ball & Bible: Baseball and Sunday Observance in New York, by Charles DeMotte 
  • After Many A Summer: The Passing of the Giants and Dodgers and a Golden Age in New York Baseball , by Robert E. Murphy 
  • One Last Strike: Fifty Years in Baseball, Ten and a Half Games Back, and One Final Championship Season, by Tony La Russa and Rick Hummel

To get your NEW book listed on The SABR Bookshelf, make sure a review copy is sent to: The SABR Bookshelf, Society for American Baseball Research, 4455 E. Camelback Rd., Ste. D-140, Phoenix, AZ 85018.

To ensure a listing in The Baseball Index — SABR’s online catalog of baseball research materials at www.baseballindex.org — make sure a review copy is sent to The Baseball Index, 4025 Beechwood Pl., Riverside, CA 92506.

Bolded names indicates that the author(s) is a SABR member. Click here for a list of publishers found in the SABR Bookshelf, along with their contact information.

All new SABR Bookshelf listings can be purchased at the SABR Bookstore, powered by Amazon.com. In addition, check out new e-books published by SABR at SABR.org/ebooks (most of which are free for SABR members to download.)

Special thanks to Ryan Hill for assistance in compiling the listings.

Last call: Greg Spira Baseball Research Award nominations

The Greg Spira Baseball Research Award Committee (www.SpiraAward.org) has announced the rules and procedures for nominations for the inaugural Greg Spira Baseball Research Award. The winner of the Greg Spira Award will receive a cash prize of $1,000. The committee will also recognize two additional writers with awards of $200 for second place and $100 for third place.

The Nomination Period will remain open through 11:59 p.m. EST on February 15, 2013 (that’s tonight!) Nominations received before or after the Nomination Period will not be considered.

The Nomination Form can be found at www.SpiraAward.org.

Last call: SABR 43 research presentation abstracts

SABR invites all members to present their research findings to their colleagues attending SABR 43. 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.

The submission deadline for SABR 43 abstracts is midnight PST, Sunday, February 17, 2013.

Submit abstracts to sabr2013-presentations@comcast.net, the research presentations address for SABR 43.

SABR 43 will be held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from July 31-August 4, 2013. Registration and hotel information can be found at SABR.org/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.

For more information on how to submit a presentation abstract for SABR 43, click here: http://sabr.org/latest/sabr-43-call-research-presentation-abstracts

Last call: Vote for 2013 SABR Analytics Research Awards

Next week is your last chance to vote for the 2013 SABR Analytics Research Awards winners.

To read any of the finalists, or to cast your vote, click here: http://sabr.org/latest/vote-2013-sabr-analytics-research-award-winners

Voting will be open through 12 a.m. PST on Thursday, February 21, 2013.

Results will be announced and presented at the second annual SABR Analytics Conference, March 7-9, 2013, at the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown in Phoenix, Arizona. Learn more or register for the conference at SABR.org/analytics.

6 new biographies published by the SABR BioProject

Six new biographies were posted as part of the SABR Baseball Biography Project, which brings us to a total of 2,237 published biographies.

Here are the new bios:

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

You can find the SABR BioProject at SABR.org/BioProject.

Bios on more than just ballplayers: The ambitious goal of the SABR Baseball Biography Project is to publish a full-life biography of every major league player in history. But SABR members write about a lot more than just ballplayers. In addition, we have pages for Ballparks, Broadcasters, Executives, Managers, Scouts, Spouses, Umpires and a lot more on the BioProject website. You can browse all of these categories at http://sabr.org/bioproj/browse. So if you’ve ever thought, “Hey, that person (or ballpark) should get the full BioProject treatment” — write the story and we’ll publish it!

Get involved! If you’d like to help contribute to the SABR BioProject, visit our BioProject Resources page or read the FAQs section to get started. We’re also looking to expand the BioProject to include all “encyclopedic” articles on baseball-related subjects from past SABR publications or committee newsletters. If you come across an article you think should be included in the SABR “baseball repository” at the BioProject, send a copy or link to markarmour04@gmail.com or jpomrenke@sabr.org.

SABR members, get a 6-issue trial subscription to Baseball America

Our friends at Baseball America are bringing passionate fans and industry insiders the most complete coverage of the game.

SABR members can get a trial subscription of six issues of Baseball America magazine for just $9.95. Visit http://www.baseballamerica.com/6-issues/?BNWOFP for details.

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.

In Memoriam

  • Edgar F. “Buddy” Robinson III, 70, of Vernon, Connecticut, passed away unexpectedly on Thursday, January 31, 2013, at home. He was a SABR member since 1993 and an active member of the Connecticut Smoky Joe Wood Chapter. Born March 4, 1942 in Augusta, Maine, he was a son to the late Edgar F. Robinson II and Doris (Trecarten). Buddy was an avid baseball fan and was the team photographer for the New Britain Rock Cats for many years. In addition to his wife, Lynne (DiVita) Robinson, he is survived by his daughters Laurie Robinson, and Tamara Blackler and her husband Mark, all of Jefferson, Maine; grandchildren Brooks and Brock Blackler; brother David Robinson of Sidney, Maine; and sister Cheryl Mason of Massachusetts. He was buried Tuesday, February 5 at Grove Hill Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made in Buddy’s name to Our Companions Animal Rescue, PO Box 956, Manchester, CT 06045 or John A. DeQuattro Cancer Center, 100 Haynes St., Manchester, CT 06040.

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.

Here is a list of new members:

Name Hometown     Name Hometown
Steve Ambas Toronto, ON     Frank McCarthy Bettendorf, IA
Parker Ballard Burlington, VT     Brendan Mitchell Chicago, IL
Ricky Benichak Cincinnati, OH     Chris Morris Independence, MO
Adam Berenbak Washington, DC     Tad Myre Louisville, KY
Bryan Bradley Mineola, NY     Seth Pottle Carencro, LA
Timothy Brady Charleston, WV     Brandon Robetoy Bay City, MI
Alan Carlson Pittsburgh, PA     Brian Rothstein Scottsdale, AZ
Dale Crawford Orange Park, FL     Chris Shonka Houston, TX
Gareth Gilson Victoria, BC     Joey Shurtleff San Francisco, CA
Gary Greenbaum Fairfax, VA     William St. John Plover, WI
R.J. Guyer Round Rock, TX     Todd Steussie St. Louis, MO
Samuel Hallum Tucson, AZ     Robert Steward Antelope, CA
James Humphreys Charleston, WV     Jim Swanson Saint Paul, MN
Hank Keller Port Orange, FL     Perry Van Hook Surprise, AZ
Tim Klinefelter Redmond, WA     Tim Vara Deer Park, IL
Brandt Kloke Brooklyn, NY        

 

Research committee newsletters

Here are the new SABR research committee newsletters published this week:

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

Chapter meeting recaps

Here are the chapter meeting recaps published 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.

All previous editions of This Week in SABR can be found here: http://sabr.org/content/this-week-in-sabr-archives. If you would like us to include an upcoming event, article or any other information in “This Week in SABR”, e-mail Jacob Pomrenke at jpomrenke@sabr.org.

Find exclusive Members’ Only resources and information here: http://members.sabr.org

Did you know you can renew your membership at any time? 1- and 3-year SABR memberships are available by clicking “Renew” at http://members.sabr.org. Please also consider a donation to SABR to support baseball research at SABR.org/donate.

Are you following us on Twitter or Facebook? Get SABR updates every day at @SABR or by searching “SABR” on Facebook.

Replying to this e-mail goes to an undeliverable address. If you would like to contact the SABR office, please visit: http://sabr.org/about/contact-sabr


Originally published: February 14, 2013. Last Updated: April 3, 2020.

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