This Week in SABR: March 25, 2016

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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 25, 2016:

SABR 46: Ozzie Guillen, Latino baseball historians among featured panelists

We’re excited to announce two of our featured panels for the SABR 46 convention this summer in Miami, Florida.

SABR 46 will be held July 27-31, 2016, at the Hyatt Regency Miami. Discounted early registration rates are available now at SABR.org/convention. All baseball fans are welcome to attend.

Our convention in South Florida will feature a distinct Latin flavor, with panels on Latin-American baseball history and covering baseball for Spanish-speaking audiences.

Our Perspectivas del Béisbol: Covering Baseball for Hispanic Fans On ESPN Deportes panel is expected to include these special guests:

  • Ozzie Guillen, the outspoken former major-league shortstop and manager who led the Chicago White Sox to the 2005 World Series championship
  • Ernesto Jerez, an Emmy Award-winning play-by-play announcer for ESPN Deportes’ “Sunday Night Baseball” since 1995
  • Enrique Rojas, an ESPN Deportes reporter who has covered MLB and the winter leagues for more than 20 years
  • Moderator: Leonte Landino, the chairman of SABR’s Luis Castro/Latin America Chapter who produces all baseball properties on ESPN Deportes and writes for ESPNDeportes.com

We’ll also have a special Latino Baseball Authors Panel, which will feature the following SABR members and historians:

  • César Brioso, a digital producer for USA Today and the author of Havana Hardball: Spring Training, Jackie Robinson, and the Cuban League
  • Peter C. Bjarkman, who is considered to be one of the foremost authorities on Cuban baseball history; he is the author of Cuba’s Baseball Defectors: The Inside Story and A History of Cuban Baseball, 1864-2006
  • Adrian Burgos Jr., a professor of history at the University of Illinois and the author of Cuban Star: How One Negro League Owner Changed the Face of Baseball and Playing America’s Game: Baseball, Latinos, and the Color Line
  • Moderator: Anthony Salazar, chairman of SABR’s Latino Baseball Research Committee and editor of its newsletter, La Prensa del Béisbol Latino

More details and the complete schedule will be announced in the coming months. Find more information on SABR 46 at SABR.org/convention.

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.

Students: Apply for a Yoseloff Scholarship to attend SABR 46

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 46 in Miami. This scholarship will pay for registration, transportation and lodging (double occupancy) up to a total value of $1,250. Students must be currently enrolled in a high school, college undergraduate or graduate program, and be between 18 and 29 years of age at the time of the conference. Some form of age verification (photocopy of driver’s license, passport, etc.) must be attached to your application.

Submissions must include a written essay and a letter of recommendation from a current high school/college teacher, guidance counselor or a school administrator. The deadline to apply is May 1, 2016.

For full details on how to apply, or to download an application, click here.

More highlights from the 2016 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 brings together the top minds in the baseball analytics community in 2016. You’ll feel like you’re wandering through the Hyatt Regency Phoenix with stories and highlights from the great panel discussions and research presentations on our schedule, photo galleries, and much more.

  • During the conference, you could follow along on Twitter by searching for the hashtag #SABRanalytics or by reading tweets from our account (@SABR) and from other conference attendees.
  • View photo galleries from each day of the conference at SABR.org/analytics/photos.

We hope you’ll join us for the SIXTH annual SABR Analytics Conference on March 9-11, 2017, at the Hyatt Regency Phoenix!

More highlights have been posted this week, including audio clips from the featured panels and research presentations. To listen, click on a link below:

Featured panels

Research presentations

For more stories, clips, and highlights from the 2016 SABR Analytics Conference, visit SABR.org/analytics.

Registration now open for 2016 Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference

The 19th annual Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference will be held July 7-9, 2016, in Kansas City. The conference is open to all baseball, history and sports fans of all ages. Registration is now available.

  • To register: Click here to register online at the SABR Store. Or click here to download a printable registration form and information packet (PDF); you can mail your check or money order before June 20 to SABR Malloy Conference, Cronkite School at ASU, 555 N. Central Ave. #416, Phoenix, AZ 85004. The early registration rate for SABR members is $165 for adults (includes all activities) or $120 for students. (Non-members: $200 adults/$150 students). Single-day registration for Friday or Saturday is $75 for SABR members, $95 non-members. The Thursday education forum only is $15 for SABR members, $30 non-members. Optional sessions or guest tickets are also available. Please note: The early registration rate expires on May 10, 2016.
  • Book your hotel room: The Malloy Conference will be held at the Sheraton Overland Park Hotel at the Convention Center, 6100 College Boulevard, Overland Park, KS 66211. Limited rooms are available at a special discounted rate of $119/night (plus tax) for singles/doubles or $129/night (plus tax) for triples. Click here to reserve your room today or call (866) 837-4214 and mention the Jerry Malloy Conference. Please note: The cutoff date to book your room at the SABR discounted rate is June 13, 2016.

The 2016 Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference will celebrate “Barnstorming in the Negro Baseball Leagues.” Barnstorming has always been a central part of the life of Negro League ballplayers. All Negro Leaguers took part in barnstorming games across the country and in cities like Kansas City. Monarchs great Satchel Paige, whose 110th birthday is being celebrated during this conference, did his fair share of barnstorming. Presentations may focus on any topic related to the theme, or other Negro Leagues issues.

Visit SABR.org/malloy for information on the 2016 Call for Papers, Essay Contest, Art Contest, and Library Grant Program.

In Memoriam: Joe Garagiola

One of baseball’s most entertaining ambassadors, Joe Garagiola, a longtime SABR member, died at the age of 90 on Wednesday, March 23.

Garagiola was a fixture on national television for nearly a half-century after his major-league playing career ended, and his witty, engaging style as a baseball broadcaster made him one of the most recognized and beloved figures in the game. He was honored with the Ford C. Frick Award in 1991 for his excellence as a broadcaster and received the Baseball Hall of Fame’s Buck O’Neil Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014 for his service to the national pastime.

A lifelong friend of Yogi Berra — they grew up on the same street together in “The Hill” section of St. Louis — Garagiola did as much as anyone to popularize his friend’s iconic “Yogisms” (although, as Berra said, “I really didn’t say everything I said.”) Garagiola’s influence was also felt off the field; he helped found the Baseball Assistance Team to help former players in need and worked tirelessly to help eradicate the use of smokeless tobacco in baseball.

Garagiola spent nine mostly mediocre seasons as a catcher in the majors, batting .257 with the St. Louis Cardinals, Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Cubs, and New York Giants, but he gained a lifetime of stories that he often told in self-deprecating fashion on the air. He was signed by his hometown Cardinals at age 16 and made his major-league debut at 20 in 1946, helping lead St. Louis to a World Series championship as a rookie.

He began his broadcasting career in 1955 with the Cardinals on KMOX radio and spent parts of three seasons as a New York Yankees broadcaster before he was hired by NBC, which featured him on its “Game of the Week” broadcasts. Garagiola called three World Series, three NL Championship Series, and three All-Star Games for NBC, working with the likes of Vin Scully, Tony Kubek, Curt Gowdy, and other legends in the field. In recent years, Garagiola’s familiar voice could be heard on the air with the Arizona Diamondbacks. As an announcer, game-show host, and best-selling author of three books, Garagiola’s fame transcended the game. He filled in for Johnny Carson on “The Tonight Show,” co-hosted the “Today” show for several years, and befriended President Gerald Ford during his re-election campaign in 1976.

But it was in the baseball booth where he made his name. As Marty Noble writes for MLB.com:

He made stories the stars of what he shared. His commentary rarely was judgmental; neither he nor his contemporaries questioned execution of a play or managers’ decisions. Instead, his audiences were regaled with tales of [Earl] Weaver’s antics, [Bill] Veeck’s wooden-leg ashtray, [Tommy] Lasorda’s waistline, Casey [Stengel’s] lingo, [Oscar] Gamble’s afro, clubhouse shenanigans and, of course, anything involving his childhood chum [Yogi Berra]. Garagiola was drawn to the game’s characters and sought out their stories.

No one had more stories — or funnier ones — than Joe Garagiola.

Related links:

SABR Digital Library: 1986 Mets/Red Sox: There Was More Than Game Six

It’s a double feature! Add two new baseball books to your collection with the latest releases from the SABR Digital Library:

The 1986 New York Mets: There Was More Than Game Six
Edited by Leslie Heaphy and Bill Nowlin
ISBN (paperback): 978-1-943816-13-2, $19.95
ISBN (ebook): 978-1-943816-12-5, $9.99
8.5″ x 11″, 360 pages


The 1986 Boston Red Sox: There Was More Than Game Six
Edited by Bill Nowlin and Leslie Heaphy
ISBN (paperback): 978-1-943816-13-2, $19.95
ISBN (ebook): 978-1-943816-12-5, $9.99
8.5″ x 11″, 415 pages

This two-book companion series focuses on the rivals that met in the 1986 World Series, the Boston Red Sox and the New York Mets, including biographies of every player, coach, broadcaster, and other important figures in baseball’s top organizations that year.

This book on the 1986 season re-tells the story of that year’s classic World Series. After four games, each team had won two away games and neither had won at home. Then the Red Sox won Game Five at Fenway, and were one game away from winning their first World Championship in 86 years. It came to the point they were one pitch away from baseball Nirvana. And then …

Just about everyone knows what happened, but there are takes on it here you might not have read elsewhere. Mostly, this is the story of each of the players, coaches, managers, and broadcasters, their lives in baseball, and the way the 1986 season fit into their lives.

As with many of the books published by SABR, this was a true collaborative effort. There are 74 different SABR members who contributed to making these two books on the Mets and Red Sox a reality. It took us two books to tell the story as well as we wanted. Get your copy of each book for the full story!

SABR members, get these e-books 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 e-books for free. To download any past publications, visit SABR.org/ebooks.

SABR BioProject surpasses 3,700 biographies

Seven new biographies were posted this week as part of the SABR Baseball Biography Project, which brings us to a total of 3,705 published biographies — including completed bios for every player who appeared for the Boston Red Sox from 1901 through 1939. Here are the new bios published this week:

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

Seamheads.com updates Negro Leagues Database with 1939 stats

We are pleased to pass along this update from SABR member Gary Ashwill at Seamheads.com on March 21:

This week we’re adding further results of our collaboration with the Negro League Researchers and Authors Group (Larry Lester and Wayne Stivers) with the unveiling of the 1939 Negro league season. We’ve got both leagues, the Negro National League and Negro American League, plus the postseason series. This represents the first NAL season we’ve done for the database—we’ll be going back to fill in the NAL’s 1937 and 1938 seasons soon.

The NAL had started in 1937 with its two oldest charter members, the Kansas City Monarchs and the Chicago American Giants, facing off in the playoffs. The next season saw something of an upheaval as, for the first time in the history of the black majors, two Southern teams contested the championship, the Memphis Red Sox defeating the Atlanta Black Crackers for the pennant. For 1939, the Indianapolis ABCs moved to St. Louis to become the latest incarnation of the St. Louis Stars; the Atlanta Black Crackers, 1938’s runners up, became the Indianapolis ABCs; and the Jacksonville Red Caps played as the Cleveland Bears.

The two playoff teams from 1938 had rough times in 1939. For the Memphis Red Sox, it was a case of first to worst, as the defending champions collapsed to last in the league. Meanwhile, the ABCs/Black Crackers couldn’t even secure a home field in Indianapolis. After playing a round of league games on the road, they returned to Atlanta, where they entertained NAL teams in mid-June. The league, which had evidently counted on cutting travel expenses, was not pleased, and demoted them to associate membership. The ABCs/Black Crackers dissolved shortly thereafter, and their players were scattered all over the league.

Read the full update here: http://seamheads.com/2016/03/21/negro-leagues-db-update-1939-nnl-nal/

To view the award-winning Seamheads Negro Leagues Database, visit http://www.seamheads.com/NegroLgs/index.php

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

Behind the Numbers: Baseball SABR Style on SiriusXM, a radio show hosted by SABR President Vince Gennaro, will air this weekend at its regular time, 7:00-8:00 p.m. ET on Sundays, on MLB Network Radio.

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

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.

For more information, click here.

Would you like to help decide the winners of SABR’s research awards?

Each year, the SABR Board of Directors appoints more than a dozen members to small committees that choose our research award winners.

Now is the time to let us know if you would like to be considered for one of these positions. To apply, please send an e-mail to SABR Director Ty Waterman indicating which award you would like to judge, and providing answers to these questions: (1) why you are interested in serving (2) any relevant experience (3) what your research interests are. If you choose to weave these questions into one answer, you may do so.

For a complete list of SABR research awards, click here.

Calling all User Interaction and Big Data Geeks

Perhaps a camel is a horse designed by committee, but small groups can deliver outstanding apps in short order with the right combination of people. Imagine you could sit in front of the 120,000 index cards The Sporting News kept on every player who signed a professional baseball contract during the 20th century and use them to complete the information missing from the master database of major and minor league players.

Soon, SABR members will be able to do this — if we build them a great app. In conjunction with the LA84 Foundation, SABR is imaging the cards and digitizing the contents into full text records with integrated image mapping in XML files.

If this intrigues you and you think you may have expertise to bring to the table, please contact SABR Treasurer F.X. Flinn, who is coordinating the project.

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 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
Kurt Ascetta Commack, NY     Jim McDermott Chicago, IL
Andy Brown Seoul, KOR     Chuck Modiano Silver Spring, MD
James Brunson DeKalb, IL     Russell Ormiston Solon, OH
John Craven Chicago, IL     Albert Piacente Brooklyn, NY
Eric Eskin Glen Mills, PA     Paul Reeths Appleton, WI
Gregory Gilbert Charleston, SC     Jeb Stewart Birmingham, AL
CJ Hurley Liberty Twp, OH     Bill Welsh Saint James, NY
Charles Kennedy Winston-Salem, NC        

 

Research Committee news

Here are the new SABR 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:

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.

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Originally published: March 25, 2016. Last Updated: April 3, 2020.

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