This Week in SABR: March 2, 2012

Here’s what we’ve been up to as of March 2, 2012:

SABR 42 registration now open!

We have a great convention coming up in 2012! From June 27-July 1, SABR’s 42nd annual convention will be held at the Marriott City Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Halsey Hall Chapter of SABR will be hosting the event and we’ve been busy for many years planning for a great event. A full schedule and speakers will be announced soon.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR SABR 42: http://sabr.org/convention/sabr42-registration

We’re offering two options for registration this year:

1) All-inclusive rate
Special for 2012: We’re offering an all-inclusive rate for SABR 42. From now until May 1, SABR members can pay $199 and nonmembers can pay $249 to receive:

  • Full registration to SABR 42 in Minneapolis (regular price: $129 for SABR members or $179 for nonmembers)
  • 1 ticket to the Awards Banquet (regular price: $45)
  • 1 Skyline Deck ticket to the Twins vs. Royals game on Friday, June 27 (regular price: $44)

Please note: Skyline Deck tickets are only available to the first 250 people who select the all-inclusive rate. Those who select the all-inclusive rate after Skyline Deck tickets are sold out will receive a Home Plate View ticket (regular price: $38) instead.

After May 1, the all-inclusive rate will be available at $219 for SABR members and $269 for non-members.

2) Regular rate
SABR members and non-members who wish to purchase registration, banquet tickets and game tickets separately can do so at the following rates:

Registration
includes access to all panel discussions, research presentations, committee meetings and other on-site events.

  • SABR members: $129
  • Non-members: $179

Awards Banquet on Friday, June 29

  • Awards Banquet: $45

Meal includes salad, chicken entree and dessert. (If you have special dietary considerations, please contact Deb Jayne at djayne@sabr.org.)

Twins vs. Royals game on Friday, June 29
SABR has reserved a block of tickets in the Skyline Deck and Home Plate View sections. (The Skyline Deck section is normally available only to season-ticket holders and special groups.) Click here for a seating chart at TwinsBaseball.com. 

  • Skyline Deck: $44
  • Home Plate View: $38

You will be able to redeem your game ticket at the registration desk using the chit system. If you do not care with whom you sit, you should turn your chit into your game ticket right away at the hotel. But if you want to sit with a friend, wait to turn in your chits at the registration desk at the same time, thereby getting tickets next to one another.

We hope you’ll join us in Minneapolis this summer!

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR SABR 42: http://sabr.org/convention/sabr42-registration

Announcing research presentations for SABR Analytics Conference

We’re less than two weeks away from the inaugural SABR Analytics Conference! Join us March 15-17 at the Hilton Phoenix/East in Mesa, Arizona.

Last week, we announced the Welcome/Networking Reception, the Changing Face of Baseball Data Panel, the Retrospective Look at Baseball Analysis and the Scouting and Analysis Panel. A full schedule of the Analytics Conference can be found here: http://sabr.org/analytics/topics.

This week, we take a look at the Research Presentations scheduled:

Thursday, March 15

Friday, March 16

Saturday, March 17

Click here for full research presentation abstracts and presenter bios.

Featured speakers for the SABR Analytics Conference include: Tom Ricketts, Chairman, Chicago Cubs; Derrick Hall, President/CEO, Arizona Diamondbacks; Mark Shapiro, President, Cleveland Indians; Chris Antonetti, Executive Vice President/General Manager, Cleveland Indians; Jerry Dipoto, Senior Vice President/General Manager, Los Angeles Angels; Doug Melvin, Executive Vice President/General Manager, Milwaukee Brewers; and more. Click here for a complete list of speakers, panelists and moderators.

In addition, SABR member Sean Forman, president of Sports Reference, LLC, will be holding a Baseball-Reference Open Forum on Friday and Saturday. Sean will be available for two hours each morning to provide tips, suggestions and answer user questions. In addition to a rundown of popular features and tools, Sean will show you how to embed B-R content within your blogs or websites, quickly link from your articles to Baseball-Reference.com player pages, and promote your content directly to Baseball-Reference.com users. Stop by our forum or stop Sean in the hallway and receive a free 15-day trial to the Baseball Reference Play Index!

Check out our website at SABR.org/analytics for the most up-to-date SABR Analytics Conference information.

Sign up now to join us at the:

SABR Analytics Conference, presented by Bloomberg Sports and Major League Baseball
When: March 15-17, 2012
Where: Hilton Phoenix East/Mesa, 1011 West Holmes Avenue, Mesa, AZ 85210

Never before have as many of the top minds of the baseball analytic community come under one roof to discuss, debate and share learnings of insightful ways to analyze and examine the great game of baseball.

The SABR Analytics Conference will begin on Thursday, March 15 and conclude on Saturday, March 17 at the Hilton Phoenix East/Mesa in Arizona. The schedule will consist of a combination of Guest Speakers, Panels and Research Presentations — plus the inaugural SABR Case Competition, in which undergraduate and graduate students will analyze and present a real baseball operations decision, and be judged by MLB front office executives. Participating schools now include New York University; University of Chicago; Northwestern University; University of California-Berkeley; Elon University; University of Portland; University of South Carolina; Siena College; Manhattanville College; Arizona State University; University of Florida; University of Waterloo; and Tufts University.

Conference registration is available now at the SABR Store and the conference is open to all baseball fans. The full rate of $495 includes the Networking Reception on Thursday and lunch on Friday and Saturday. At the Hilton Phoenix East/Mesa, the SABR group rate of $139/night (plus tax) has sold out for the conference nights of March 15-17. However, there may still be some rooms available on those nights at the regular hotel room rate. Call (800) 544-5866 for reservations and mention that you are attending the SABR Analytics Conference. The hotel’s website is phoenixeastmesa.hilton.com.

To register for the SABR Analytics Conference, visit SABR.org/analytics.

To sign up for the Case Competition, visit SABR.org/analytics/case or contact SABR President Vince Gennaro.

Download your free copy of the Emerald Guide to Baseball 2012

The Emerald Guide to Baseball 2012, edited by Gary Gillette and Pete Palmer with Rod Nelson and Ted Turocy, is the most comprehensive record of the 2012 baseball season.

Historically, the primary purpose of annual baseball guides has been the publication of the official league standings plus the official team and individual statistics for both Major League Baseball and Minor League Baseball. Our new Emerald Guide follows faithfully in that tradition, containing the official batting, pitching, and fielding statistics for every team and every player in the Major Leagues plus extensive lists of league leaders.

The Emerald Guide to Baseball is our attempt to fill the gap in the historical record created by the recent demise of The Sporting News Baseball Guide. First published in 1942, The Sporting News Guide was truly the annual book of record for our National Pastime. It is our great privilege to document for posterity a slice of recent baseball history in our new book.

The 2012 edition of the Emerald Guide runs nearly 600 pages and covers the 2011 season; it also includes a 2012 directory of Major League Baseball. The Emerald Guide is available in both a printed version and in a downloadable PDF format.

A softcover print edition will be available for purchase soon.

Download the PDF: SABR members can download the Emerald Guide on the Research Resources page. All others can download it here.

Who were the “second wild card” teams since 1995?

As SABR member Barry Bloom reported Friday at MLB.com, the major league playoffs have expanded beginning in 2012 — with the addition of a second wild card team and a play-in game for each league.

Jim Rygelski, secretary of the Bob Broeg St. Louis Chapter, presented a list of which teams might have been the “second wild cards” since the format began in the 1995 season. The co-author with Bob Tiemann of 10 Rings: Stories of the St. Louis Cardinals World Championships, Jim spoke at the St. Louis chapter’s regular monthly meeting on February 20 at the Original Crusoe’s Restaurant.

Jim reports on some of his findings:

The San Francisco Giants would have profited the most from having a second wild card and would have filled that slot four times. Four N.L. and four A.L. teams each would have had two second wild-card finishes: (Philadelphia, Houston, Los Angeles, and San Diego in the N.L., and Boston, Cleveland, California-Los Angeles-Anaheim, and Oakland in the A.L.). Both wild cards would have been from the same division in three N.L. seasons (2002, 2007, 2009) and three A.L. seasons (1998, 2006, 2011).

Click here to read an edited version of Jim’s research presentation: http://sabr.org/latest/who-were-second-wild-card-teams-1995

Four biographies posted at the new SABR BioProject

Four new biographies were posted this week as part of the SABR Baseball Biography Project, bringing us to a total of 1,799 published biographies. Who will write No. 1,800? Here are the new bios:

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

We recently relaunched the BioProject at its new home page: SABR.org/BioProject.  The new BioProject fully integrates its design with SABR.org and upgrades the back-end platform, making it easier for us to post and edit new bios and eliminating some formatting problems with the original software. All of your old URLs should still work (and if you find one that doesn’t, please contact jpomrenke@sabr.org.)

The upgraded BioProject also gives you the ability to search the full text of any biography we’ve published. Use the search bar that appears atop every biography to find any name or phrase that appears in the BioProject. And just click the words “SABR Baseball Biography Project” in the search bar to get back to the home page.

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.

  • Pre-order 1947 Dodgers book: The Team That Forever Changed Baseball and America: The 1947 Brooklyn Dodgers, edited by Lyle Spatz, is the first book in SABR’s “Memorable Teams” series with University of Nebraska Press. It will be published April 1, 2012 (no fooling!). To pre-order your copy from UNP, click here.

In Memoriam

  • Charles “Fred” Burley, 92, of Dallas, Texas, passed away February 26, 2012, after a long illness. He was a member of the DFW Hall-Ruggles chapter and a SABR member since 1992. Fred was the longtime head of the Ex-Pros Baseball Association and served as the treasurer of the local SABR chapter. Fred, in fact, quietly helped finance many local SABR chapter activities over the years. He retired from the United States Air Force as a Colonel after 26 years and continued a successful career in business after “retiring”; he was still working at HomeVestors at the time of his death. He was a graduate of Louisiana State University, where he lettered in three sports, and obtained an MBA from Ohio State University. He was a 32nd degree Mason, was inducted into the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame, was a big Ranger fan and baseball fan in general. Fred was preceded in death by his wife of 65 years, Marj, survived by three children and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Services were held March 1 at Restland Memorial Park and Funeral Home in Richardson, Texas. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to LSU Alumni Association Dallas Chapter, Marj & Fred Burley Scholarship Fund, 14902 Preston Road, Ste 404-124, Dallas 75254.

We send our condolences to his family and friends. 

All “In Memoriam” notices are posted in the SABR Bulletin group here: http://sabrnation.sabr.org/groups2/discussion/list/groupid/1960. Please send notices to Jacob Pomrenke at jpomrenke@sabr.org.

Register for Malloy Negro Leagues Conference, Ivor-Campbell 19th Century Conference

  • Frederick Ivor-Campbell 19th Century Base Ball Conference, April 20-21, Cooperstown, New York: Registration is now open for the Frederick Ivor-Campbell 19th Century Base Ball Conference at SABR.org/ivor-campbell19c. Conference registration is open to all SABR members and up to two non-SABR family members or friends (18 years or older). There are also “Welcoming Dinner”, “Luncheon Only” and “Post Conference Gathering” registration options. Registration will continue until April 10, 2012, or space is filled, whichever comes first. Click here to download a Registration Form in the Nineteenth Century Committee’s Winter 2012 newsletter. Registrations can be accepted by mail only. Research presentation abstracts were due by February 15, 2012. Conference attendees who are baseball authors will have an opportunity to submit their books when registering so that the Hall of Fame bookstore can stock their book for purchase and for signing.
  • Jerry Malloy Negro Leagues Conference, July 19-21, Cleveland, Ohio: Registration is now open for the 15th annual Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference at SABR.org/malloy. The Malloy Conference, hosted by SABR’s Negro Leagues Committee, promotes activities to enhance scholarly, educational, and literary objectives. For the past 14 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. Each year, monies are targeted to donate books to schools or libraries; raise funds for the Grave Marker Project; and award scholarships to high school seniors in a nationwide essay contest and a nationwide art contest. Submit your research presentation abstracts by March 19, 2012.  A complete information packet with schedule, mail-in registration form and program advertising opportunities can be downloaded here (PDF) or on the website.

Research committee newsletters

Here are the SABR research committee newsletters published recently:

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

Chapter meeting recaps

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

Upcoming SABR events:

Visit SABR.org/events for details on all upcoming SABR events.

In other recent SABR news:

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

Find more information about SABR at the Members’ Info page here: http://sabr.org/about/members-info.

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.

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Originally published: March 2, 2012. Last Updated: April 3, 2020.