This Week in SABR: July 22, 2011
Here’s what we’ve been up to as of July 22, 2011:
14th annual Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference kicks off in Indianapolis
SABR members and nonmembers alike can learn more about the Negro Leagues Committee and its groundbreaking work beginning today at the 14th annual Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference, which runs from July 21 to 23 at the J.W. Marriott in Indianapolis, Indiana.
The Malloy Conference, hosted by SABR’s Negro Leagues Committee, promotes activities to enhance scholarly, educational, and literary objectives. For the past 13 years, the event has been the only symposium dedicated exclusively to the examination and promotion of black baseball history. The conference is open to baseball and history fans of all ages.
The theme of this year’s Malloy Conference is “Black Baseball in Indiana,” which is coincidentally the title of a half-hour documentary film produced by students at Ball State University’s Virginia B. Ball Center for Creative Inquiry, under the advisement of Negro Leagues historian and SABR member Geri Strecker, a two-time recipient of the McFarland-SABR Baseball Research Award.
As a result of their research, the Indiana Historical Society will place a commemorative marker at 4:30 p.m. Friday, July 22 at the site of Washington Park, where the first Negro National League game was held in 1920. The old ballpark, on the grounds of what is now the Indianapolis Zoo, had been lost for decades.
- Related link: The Negro Leagues Baseball Grave Marker Project, which was started in 2003 by SABR member Jeremy Krock, was featured in an “NBC Nightly News” special this week that can be viewed here.
Roland Hemond: Creating the 1961 Los Angeles Angels in 120 Days
Longtime SABR member Roland Hemond will receive the Buck O’Neil Lifetime Achievement Award during this weekend’s induction ceremonies at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. A three-time winner of MLB’s Executive of the Year award, Hemond has been a tireless advocate for the Society over the years. He is a familiar face at our national convention and other meetings around the country, including last week’s MLB All-Star FanFest in Phoenix, and has lent his name to an award given annually by SABR’s Scouts Research Committee, which recognizes the baseball executive who has demonstrated a lifetime commitment to professional baseball scouts and scouting, and player development history.
We wish to congratulate our friend on this deserving honor and hope all of you will enjoy his article, “A Whole New Franchise: Creating the 1961 Los Angeles Angels in 120 Days,” which appears in SABR’s 2011 convention publication, The National Pastime: Endless Seasons, edited by Jean Hastings Ardell and Andy McCue.
You can read his article by clicking here: http://sabr.org/latest/roland-hemond-creating-1961-los-angeles-angels-120-days
Help us rank the top baseball storylines of the SABR Era
In anticipation of SABR’s 40th anniversary in August, we’re compiling a list of the top 40 storylines in baseball during what we’re calling the SABR Era (1971-2011).
Over the last few weeks, we’ve solicited suggestions from SABR members and received more than one hundred responses — everything from “the introduction of the designated hitter” to “the steroids era” to “Roy Halladay’s 2010 postseason no-hitter.” We took the 16 most suggested ideas and now we want you to rank them.
Click the link below to rank the top selections, 1 through 16:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/VWTMRNH
The final list will be revealed in conjunction with our 40th anniversary in August.
Looking ahead to SABR 42 in Minneapolis
Holy Cow! Do we have a great event coming up in 2012.
SABR 42 will be back in Minneapolis, 24 years after a convention that is still remembered fondly by those who attended. The Halsey Hall Chapter of SABR will be hosting the event — in case you weren’t aware, Halsey Hall was using Holy Cow! as his trademark expression long before those imitators in St. Louis and New York — and the chapter has been busy for many years planning for a great time.
Check out our tentative agenda for next summer’s convention, along with area attractions, as compiled by Stew Thornley.
Rogers Hornsby Chapter meets for 56th consecutive month
For the 56th consecutive month since its founding in 2006, members of the Austin, Texas-based Rogers Hornsby Chapter met to talk baseball — thereby “tying” Joe DiMaggio’s famous hitting streak. The meeting was held July 19 at the IronWorks BBQ in downtown Austin.
In addition, chapter founder Bill Gilbert was presented with the Rajah Award for significant achievements with the Hornsby Chapter. A number of members chipped in and gave input on the design of the trophy, named after Hornsby’s nickname.
Join us for the historic August meeting of the Hornsby Chapter on Monday, August 8 at the Dell Diamond in Round Rock, Texas, as the Express take on the Tacoma Rainiers. Game time is 7:05 p.m. As an added bonus, it is $1 hot dog and soft drink night!
This meeting will mark the 57th consecutive monthly meeting of the Hornsby Chapter. We will mark the occasion by gathering for a photo before the game at approximately 6:45 p.m.
Chapter meeting recaps:
- July 16: Sacramento Chapter
- July 16: Tokyo Chapter
Updates to SABR Research Library
A list of articles that have been recently added to the SABR Research Library can be viewed here:
https://sabr.box.net/shared/static/au2ojjfqc4qhejfm5515.pdf
Articles are available on request from Len Levin, 282 Doyle Ave., Providence, R.I. 02906-3355. The cost for copying and mailing is 12 cents a page for up to 99 pages, 11 cents a page for 100 or more pages.
A complete list of the more than 4,500 articles in the Research Library is available from Len Levin at the address above. The cost is $3.00 for copying and mailing.
You can contact Len at the postal address above, by phone at 401-351-3278, or by e-mail at: lenlevin5@hotmail.com.
Can you solve Rick Swaine’s latest Baseball Crossword Puzzle?
Since March, SABR member Rick Swaine has been creating baseball crosswood puzzles of varying difficulty and posting them every week on his website at RickSwaine.com.
Try his latest one online by visiting http://www.rickswaine.com/puzzles/puzzles.html and find out about his new puzzles every week on the SABR Bulletin group at SABRNation, which you can access by clicking here:
http://sabrnation.sabr.org/groups/profile/view/groupid/1960
Seven new biographies posted at SABR BioProject
Seven new biographies were posted this week as part of the SABR Baseball Biography Project, bringing us to a total of 1,632 published biographies:
- Arlo Brunsberg, by David Greisen
- Mike Grady, by Charlie Weatherby
- Fred Hofmann, by Bill Nowlin and Rory Costello
- Jay Johnstone, by Rory Costello
- Graig Nettles, by Joseph Wancho
- Buck Rodgers, by Maxwell Kates
- Bob Weiland, by Bill Nowlin
All new biographies can be found here: http://bioproj.sabr.org/bioproj.cfm?a=n&m=61
Writing a biography for the BioProject is an easy way to get involved as a SABR member. Find out how by visiting our BioProject Resources page or reading the FAQs section.
Upcoming events:
- July 23: Gardner-Waterman Chapter meeting (Burlington, VT)
- July 24: Cliff Kachline Chapter meeting/Induction Day (Cooperstown, NY)
- July 26: Big Apple Sports Career Camp (New York, NY)
- July 30: Boston Chapter meeting (Boston, MA)
- July 31: Hank Gowdy Chapter meeting (Columbus, OH)
In other recent SABR news:
- Many SABR members were in Pasadena on Sunday for the Baseball Reliquary’s “Shrine of the Eternals” induction ceremony (The Hardball Times)
- Bill McCurdy follows up on the Houston Chronicle’s coverage of the “Early Houston Baseball” project (The Pecan Park Eagle)
- Rob Neyer wonders if the Pirates should be buyers at the trading deadline (Baseball Prospectus)
- Bruce Markusen previews the upcoming Baseball Hall of Fame Induction Weekend in Cooperstown (The Hardball Times)
- Austin Gisriel relates the story of a young John Kruk being attacked by a grandma (Seamheads.com)
All previous editions of This Week in SABR can be found here.
Find more information about SABR and SABR.org at the Members’ Info page here: http://sabr.org/about/members-info
Originally published: July 22, 2011. Last Updated: April 3, 2020.