This Week in SABR: March 23, 2018

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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 March 23, 2018:

SABR 48: Early registration still open for 2018 national convention in Pittsburgh

We hope you’ll join us for what promises to be a spectacular SABR 48 convention on June 20-24, 2018, at the Wyndham Grand Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 

Early registration is now available at SABR.org/convention; all baseball fans are welcome to attend. Click here for more information on SABR 48 registration rates, all-inclusive packages, and optional sessions. Or click here to register for SABR 48.

The Wyndham Grand Pittsburgh is conveniently located within walking distance from PNC Park and a light rail station, many downtown cultural amenities, and right across the street from the picturesque 36-acre Point State Park where the three rivers converge.

Click on a link below for more information about SABR 48.

  • Registration: We’re again offering a special all-inclusive rate for the annual SABR convention. For $319, a savings of $30 off the regular rate, SABR members can get:
    — Full registration to SABR 48 in Pittsburgh (early-bird: $249; regular rate: $279)
    — 1 ticket in the Corner Box (LF) section to the Pirates vs. Diamondbacks game on Friday, June 22 — includes special “A Day at the Ballpark” pregame session at PNC Park ($40 value)
    — 1 ticket to the Awards Luncheon on Friday, June 22 ($60 value)
    Non-members can pay $394 for the all-inclusive rate. The deadline to register with the all-inclusive rate is Friday, May 18, 2018. Click here for complete information on SABR 48 registration rates, all-inclusive packages, and optional sessions. Or click here to register for SABR 48!
  • Hotel: The special SABR group rate at the Wyndham Grand Pittsburgh of $149/night (plus tax) is only available to registered convention attendees for the nights of Wednesday, June 20 through Saturday, June 23. After you register for the SABR 48 convention, you will receive an e-mail confirmation with details on how to book your hotel room at the SABR group rate. There are a limited number of rooms in our group block, so be sure to register for SABR 48 early! The Wyndham Grand Pittsburgh is located at 600 Commonwealth Place, Pittsburgh, PA 15222.
  • Awards Luncheon: SABR will host a special Awards Luncheon on Friday, June 22 at the Wyndham Grand Pittsburgh. The Awards Luncheon, which includes a full meal, will feature the announcement of SABR’s annual awards — including the Bob Davids Award, our highest honor. One ticket to the Awards Luncheon is included in the all-inclusive package or guest tickets are available for $60 when you register for SABR 48.
  • A Day at the Ballpark: For the third year in a row and fourth time in five years, SABR will present “A Day at the Ballpark” before the Pittsburgh Pirates game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday, June 22 at PNC Park. Special thanks to the Pirates for this great opportunity and for offering us a large block of tickets in the Corner Box (LF) section at an affordable price of $40 for SABR members ($45 for non-members). Purchase of SABR 48 conference registration AND a game ticket will be required to attend this special session. Guests and spouses can get in the ballpark early with purchase of a special SABR 48 Ballpark Session pass ($25) and a Pirates game ticket. Click here for more details.
  • Roberto Clemente Museum tours: The Roberto Clemente Museum in Pittsburgh has a special offer for SABR 48 attendees: The museum will host four tours (maximum of 20 people per tour) at $20 per person on Wednesday, June 20. Space is extremely limited, and reservations will only be made on a first-come, first-serve basis. Please call the museum at (412) 621-1268, Ext. 2, to reserve your space. No reservations can be made online; payment is due on-site when you arrive for the tour. Tours last about 1.5 hours and the start times on Wednesday, June 20 are as follows (subject to availability): 10:00 a.m., 12:15 p.m., 2:30 p.m., and 5:00 p.m. Click here for more details.
  • Research presentations: SABR invites all members to present their research findings to their colleagues attending SABR 48. The deadline to submit your abstract was Sunday, February 25, 2018. Click here for complete details and application form.
  • Yoseloff Scholarship: Students, click here to learn more about a Yoseloff Scholarship to attend SABR 48 in Pittsburgh. The deadline to apply is Friday, April 13, 2018.

All SABR 48 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 Pittsburgh area. All SABR members, whether you attend the convention or not, will receive the e-book edition of The National Pastime in their inboxes later this summer.

Stay tuned for more featured speakers and the complete schedule to be announced in the coming months. Visit SABR.org/convention to learn more.

We hope to see you this summer in Pittsburgh!

Deadline extended! Students, apply now for a Yoseloff Scholarship to attend SABR 48 in Pittsburgh

With generous funding from The Anthony A. Yoseloff Foundation, Inc., SABR will award up to four scholarships to high school or college students to attend SABR 48 on June 20-24, 2018, in Pittsburgh. This scholarship will pay for registration, transportation and lodging (double occupancy) up to a total value of $1,250.

The objective of this scholarship fund is to encourage high school and college-level student engagement with baseball research and to engender an active interest in baseball and SABR. The Yoseloff scholarship is to assist young researchers who want to attend SABR’s annual convention and to introduce them to fellow SABR members. Through this fund, SABR hopes to inspire future baseball research, expose students to high-quality research and build the research capability of interested students.

All applications must be postmarked or e-mailed to Jeff Schatzki at jschatzki@sabr.org no later than FRIDAY, APRIL 13, 2018.

Click here for complete details and criteria.

More highlights and photos from the 2018 SABR Analytics Conference

Couldn’t make it to Arizona for the SABR Analytics Conference? Visit SABR.org/analytics for full coverage of this exciting event that brought together the top minds in the baseball analytics community in 2018. You’ll feel like you were wandering through the Hyatt Regency Phoenix with stories and multimedia clips from the great panel discussions and research presentations on our schedule, photo galleries, and much more.

Once again, we brought 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 on a link below for multimedia highlights:

Friday, March 9

Saturday, March 10

Sunday, March 11

Visit SABR.org/analytics for more coverage of the 2018 SABR Analytics Conference.

SABR Digital Library: Moments of Joy and Heartbreak: 66 Significant Episodes in the History of the Pittsburgh Pirates

As we gear up for the SABR 48 convention this summer in Pittsburgh, add this new baseball book from the SABR Digital Library to your collection:

Moments of Joy and Heartbreak: 66 Significant Episodes in the History of the Pittsburgh Pirates
Edited by Jorge Iber and Bill Nowlin
Associate Editors: Russ Lake and Len Levin
ISBN (paperback): 978-1-943816-73-6, $19.95
ISBN (e-book): 978-1-943816-72-9, $9.99
201 pages, 8.5″ x 11″

The Pittsburgh Pirates have a long history, peppered with moments significant both to Pirates fans and Major League Baseball. While the Pirates are recognized as fielding the first all-black lineup in 1971, the 66 games in this book also include one of the first matchups in the majors to involve two non-white opening hurlers (Native American and Cuban) in June 1921. We relive no-hitters, World Series-winning homers, and encounter the story of the last tripleheader ever played in major-league baseball. Famous Pirates like Honus Wagner and Roberto Clemente — and infamous ones like Dock Ellis — make their appearances on the field, as well as recent stars like Andrew McCutchen.   

Some of the games are wins; some are losses. All of these essays provide readers with a sense of the totality of the Pirates’ experiences: the joy, the heartbreak, and other aspects of baseball (and life) in between. The book includes photos from the Pirates team archives.

This book is the work of 37 members of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), including: Jeff Barto, John Bauer, Robert E. Bionaz, Thomas J. Brown Jr., Frederick “Rick” Bush, Alan Cohen, Paul E. Doutrich, Doug Feldmann, Jeff Findley, T.S. Flynn, Gordon J. Gattie, Tom Hawthorn, Rock Hoffman, Paul Hofmann, Mike Huber, Jorge Iber, Frank Ittner, Matt Keelean, Russ Lake, Bob LeMoine, Len Levin, Mark Miller, Seth Moland-Kovash, Bill Nowlin, Richard “Pete” Peterson, Stephen Peterson, Richard J. Puerzer, Eliza Richardson, C. Paul Rogers III, Harry Schoger, Blake Sherry, Wayne Strumpfer, Joseph Wancho, Bob Webster, Steven C. Weiner, Gregory H. Wolf, and Jack Zerby.

SABR members, get this e-book for FREE!

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. For a full list of SABR Digital Library titles, visit SABR.org/ebooks.

Deadlines approaching for 2018 SABR Negro Leagues Committee scholarships

SABR’s Negro Leagues Committee will award $1,000 scholarships to high school seniors in its 10th annual Thomas R. Garrett Scholarship essay contest in 2018. Students must write a 1,200-word essay answering a question related to one of the Negro League figures who are the namesakes of the scholarships.

Click on a link below to learn more about each scholarship or to download an application. The deadline to apply is April 16, 2018.

The Jimmie Crutchfield Memorial Scholarship will honor one high school senior with a $1,000 prize and give out one $500 award for special recognition. The deadline to apply is May 4, 2018.

Each year, the SABR Negro Leagues Committee targets monies to donate books to schools or libraries; raise funds for the Negro Leagues Baseball Grave Marker Project; and award scholarships to high school seniors in a nationwide essay contest and a nationwide art contest. Visit SABR.org/malloy for full eligibility criteria and submission details.

Kevin Cook’s Electric October wins 2018 SABR Ron Gabriel Award

SABR is pleased to announce that Kevin Cook’s Electric October: Seven World Series Games, Six Lives, Five Minutes of Fame That Lasted Forever, published by Henry Holt & Co., has been selected as the winner of the Ron Gabriel Award in 2018.

Cook is a former senior editor at Sports Illustrated and the author of Tommy’s Honor, Titanic Thompson, Kitty Genovese, and The Dad Report: Fathers, Sons and Baseball Families. He will be honored at the SABR 48 convention, June 20-24, 2018, in Pittsburgh.

The Ron Gabriel Award annually honors the author(s) of the best research, published or unpublished, on the subject of the Brooklyn Dodgers completed during the preceding calendar year.

Honorable mention was given to the following:

  • Paul Dickson, Leo Durocher: Baseball’s Prodigal Son (Bloomsbury)
  • Lyle Spatz, Hugh Casey: The Triumphs and Tragedies of a Brooklyn Dodger (Rowman & Littlefield)
  • Rob Edelman, “Gladys Goodding, Ebbets Field Organ Queen,” SABR Baseball Research Journal, Fall 2017

The award subcommittee included: Gary Sarnoff (chair), Rich Applegate, Thomas Bradley, Gary Cieradkowski, Ben Klein, Andy McCue, and John McMurray.

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

2018 Larry Ritter Book Award finalists announced

Each year, SABR’s Deadball Era Committee presents the Larry Ritter Book Award to recognize the best new baseball book primarily set in the Deadball Era that was published during the previous calendar year. The Ritter Award is presented during the Deadball Committee’s meeting at the annual SABR convention.

Here is the list of Ritter Award finalists for 2018:

  • The Half-Game Pennant of 1908: Four Teams Chase Victory in the American League, by Charles Alexander (McFarland & Co.)
  • Connie Mack’s First Dynasty: The Philadelphia Athletics, 1910-1914, by Lew Freedman (McFarland & Co.)
  • From the Dugouts to the Trenches: Baseball During the Great War, by Jim Leeke (University of Nebraska Press)
  • Urban Shocker: Silent Hero of Baseball’s Golden Age, by Steve Steinberg (University of Nebraska Press)

The task of reviewing this year’s nominees is assigned to an awards committee chaired by Doug Skipper, with John McMurray, Mark Dugo, David Fleitz, Craig Lammers, Mark Pattison, and Ben Klein as the other judges. The winner of the 2018 Larry Ritter Award will be publicly announced later this spring.

For a list of past Ritter Award winners, click here.

3 new SABR biographies published

Three new biographies were posted this week as part of the SABR Baseball Biography Project, which brings us to a total of 4,483 published biographies. Here are the new bios published this week:

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

Biographies from SABR’s No-Hitters book now posted online

In SABR’s No-Hitters, edited by Bill Nowlin and published in 2017, we focused on pitchers who threw no-hitters and the no-hitters they threw. Naturally, we couldn’t present biographies of everyone who ever threw a no-hitter nor could we present Games Project accounts of all of them. From around 300 no-hitters thrown in the majors (out of over 213,000 games), we have selected 59 no-hitters to include, along with the biographies of the men who threw them.

All of the biographies — from Hall of Famers such as Bob Feller, Sandy Koufax, and Randy Johnson to more obscure pitchers such as Larry Corcoran, Charlie Robertson, and Dallas Braden — that appeared in No-Hitters can now be read online at the SABR BioProject.

More game summaries from the No-Hitters book will be posted at the SABR Games Project soon.

You can also download the No-Hitters e-book for free or purchase the paperback edition at 50% off by clicking here.

7 new stories published by the SABR Games Project

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

New Games Project stories can be found at SABR.org/gamesproject/recent. Find all published Games Project articles at SABR.org/GamesProject.

If you have any questions about the Games Project, please contact Mike Huber. To request an assignment, please contact Steven C. Weiner. After the article has been completed in accordance with our Authors’ Guidelines, please submit it to Len Levin, who will initiate the editing process and get your story started toward publication.

  • Get involved: Have memories of a game you attended? Or a game you watched that caught your interest? Write about it! 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. We have editors and fact checkers who are willing to help you write your first article.
  • Read stories from Tiger Stadium greatest games book: In SABR’s Tigers by the Tale: Great Games at Michigan and Trumbull, edited by Scott Ferkovich and published in 2016, we told the stories of memorable moments at one of baseball’s most famous corners: Detroit’s Tiger Stadium. All of the stories that appeared in this book are now available to be read online at the SABR Games Project by clicking here.

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

Behind the Numbers: Baseball SABR Style on SiriusXM, a radio show hosted by SABR President Vince Gennaro, is back for the Hot Stove League offseason at a new time: 4:00-5:00 p.m. ET on Sundays, on MLB Network Radio.

This week’s show will include highlights from the recent SABR Analytics Conference in Phoenix.

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

Listen to a new episode from the SABR Media Committee’s Baseball Buffet podcast

SABR’s Baseball and the Media Committee welcomes you to The Baseball Buffet, our monthly roundtable podcast focusing on recent baseball events, the media’s coverage of the national pastime, and more.

Our buffet of baseball commentators include Andie Giafaglione, Thom Henninger, Chuck Hildebrandt, Stuart Shea, and host Jim Walker. Each podcast runs about 20-25 minutes, a length which fits quite nicely as a quick listen into your own lunch schedule.

Listen now to the March 2018 episode, where our hardball-obsessed lunch munchers focus on robotic umpires; the return of bullpen carts and of Ichiro; and predict their breakouts and busts in the coming season. (25:09)

To learn more about The Baseball Buffet podcast, or to listen to recent episodes, click here.

In Memoriam: Bud Thieman

  • E.A. “Bud” Thieman, 90, of Louisville, Kentucky, died on Sunday, March 18 of complications from pneumonia. Thieman was a SABR member since 1992 and served as the longtime treasurer of the Pee Wee Reese Chapter in Louisville, where he helped organize the 1997 SABR convention. He was a frequent presenter at regional gatherings and the local chapter honored him last July by presenting him with the Home Plate Award, its highest honor, only the fifth time it has been awarded. As chapter president Harry Rothgerber said, “Whatever task was needed, Bud answered the call and provided the help. Bud was a SABR stalwart, in every sense of that word.” Thieman was born on October 7, 1927, to Albert and Otillia Thieman and played catcher for St. Xavier’s high school state championship team in 1945, Hasenour’s Cafemen 1946 national runner-up fast pitch softball team, and the University of Louisville baseball team. For most of his career, he owned and operated the Service Bureau for Doctors. He was preceded in death by his wife of 63 years, Mary Jane. He is survived by his seven children, Donna Disselkamp, Kitty (Bob) Head, Chuck (Carla) Thieman, Christy (Tony) Yates, Bob (Norma) Thieman, John (Debbie) Thieman, and Barb (Dave) Kiefer; nineteen grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren. A funeral Mass was held Friday morning, March 23 at St. Brigid Catholic Church with burial to follow in Calvary Cemetery. Click here to read more about his life at Legacy.com.

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: https://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
Martie Aboussie St. Louis, MO     Thiviya Kumaran Chicago, IL
Ken Collum Williamsburg, VA     Tony Lamonte Richmond, TX
Adam Flagg Austin, TX     George Manderlink Lebanon, PA
Paul Gornick Pueblo, CO     Johnny Mullens El Paso, AR
John Hoffert Highland Heights, KY     John Olson Joplin, MO
David Holland Elkridge, MD     Lance Richardson Spring Valley, CA
Michael Kane Sudbury, MA     Gregory Rubano Smithfield, RI
Josh Kasten Scottsdale, AZ     David Stokley Cleveland, OH
Peter Kornman New York, NY     Leslie Watson Overland Park, KS
David Krause Kenosha, WI        

 

Research Committee news

Here are the new research committee updates this week:

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

Regional Chapter news

Here are the new regional chapter updates this week:

  • Bob Broeg St. Louis Chapter: March 18 meeting recap (St. Louis, MO)
  • Larry Dierker Chapter: March 19 meeting recap (Houston, TX)
  • Best Practices handbook: Chapter leaders, you can download the updated Chapter Leaders Best Practices Handbook on the Admin Tools page at admin.sabr.org. The handbook offers suggestions and guidelines for meetings, speakers, revitalizing a chapter, and getting publicity for SABR and chapter events.

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

SABR Events Calendar

Here is a list of upcoming events on the SABR calendar:

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: March 23, 2018. Last Updated: April 3, 2020.

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