SABR Day 2015

SABR Day is an annual event that brings together SABR members and friends on the same day, regardless of where they live. The sixth annual SABR Day was held on Saturday, January 24, 2015.

Regional SABR meetings are open to all baseball fans — though we encourage you to join SABR if you like what you find — and are usually free to attend. Guest speakers often include current and former baseball players, managers, umpires, executives, scouts, writers and authors.

Here are some highlights and photos from SABR Day 2015:

Toby Smith discussed the challenges and opportunities encountered while conducting oral research for his book Bush League Boys: The Postwar Legends of Baseball in the American Southwest in the Rio Grande Chapter’s SABR Day meeting at the Special Collections Library in Albuquerque. — Gary Herron

At Kennesaw State University’s Burruss Institute, chapter member Hart Mizell discussed his research on the Columbus Confederate Yankees, a team that played in Columbus, Georgia, for three seasons (1964-66). Many future New York Yankees played for the team, including star outfielder Roy White. Trivia master, David Washburn, organized a fiendishly difficult trivia contest. — John Hill

The Hornsby Chapter held its ninth annual Winter Meeting on January 17 at Texas State University-San Marcos. Speakers included Alyson Footer, national correspondent for MLB.com, who talked about media trends in baseball broadcasting; Wally Moon, 1954 NL Rookie of the Year and author of a new autobiography, Moon Shots; Bill Gilbert, who provided his views on the 2015 Houston Astros; Jim Kenton, who talked about the Baseball Reminiscence League, a baseball-related initiative to support fans suffering from Alzheimer’s; Jan Larson, who led a discussion and straw poll for 2016 induction to the Hall of Fame; and Dan Walsh, who presented a sabermetric analysis based upon Starting Pitcher Game Scores. We also had a book exchange and a memorabilia display. The following weekend, on January 24, a dozen chapter members and guests celebrated SABR Day by gathering at a local restaurant. Cy Morong, who traveled from San Antonio to join us, brought a copy of “Computerized Baseball Guide,” a paperback book filled with baseball statistics and rankings published in 1974. The group shared a toast in memory of Mr. Cub, Ernie Banks, who passed away the day before. View more photos by clicking here. — Monte Cely

The annual MLK Day Boston chapter meeting at The Baseball Tavern gathered up a great lineup of presenters and speakers on January 19. Donna Halper led off with her presentation about Marion Downer, the notable African-American sports reporter. Donna always gives an informative and entertaining story filled with memorable details about obscure but important baseball history; her presentations are never to be missed. Mark Kanter presented on his theories on the impact of 100 mph pitchers. His presentation inspired much discussion and we expect to hear from Mark again as he gathers more research. We also heard brief announcements, updates and offers from Brian Davenport, Guy Zuccarella, and Christine Fry. Once Brian Rose was able to find a parking space nearby — the construction in the Fenway Park area caused a scarcity of spaces — he kept the crowd entertained with stories from inside the club house, and if you weren’t there to hear it all, then, we can’t tell you, but the talk and it was one memorable tale involving, well, you really did have to be there to hear it. … Mike Murov from the Red Sox front office enlightened us to the experiences he’s had as the Assistant Director of Major League Operations of Baseball Operations. Ryan O’Rourke, currently a pitcher with the Twins organization, held a one-on-one interview with David Laurila. It was very informative and inspiring to hear the experience of an up-and-coming prospect and all the challenges he has faced. Last but certainly not least, Rico Brogna carried on a lively conversation about his career as first baseman for the Red Sox and his time with the Phillies. No better way to wind up a chapter meeting than a the give and take of history, baseball theory and practice.  — Daigo Fujiwara

Our guest speakers at SABR Day, held at the historic Hauck Mansion, included John Erardi, author and sports writer for the Cincinnati Enquirer; Steve Colyer, a Cincinnati sports artist; Dave Grob, on the similarities between the 1947 New York Giants and the 1956 Cincinnati Reds; and Tom Tsuchiya, a sculptor. — Rich Gibson

The Jack Graney Chapter held its SABR Day meeting on February 7 at the Baseball Heritage Museum at League Park. Speakers included Gary Webster (“When in Doubt, Fire the Skipper”), Vince McKee (on his book Jacobs Field: History and Tradition at the Jake), Rick Bradley with a trivia contest, Ken Krsolovic and Bryan Fritz (authors of League Park: Historic Home of Cleveland Baseball, 1891-1946), and Ken Howard (on the top 100 batters in Cleveland baseball history, 1871-2014). — Stephanie Liscio

17 SABR members and friends braved the early-morning chill and snow to meet at the National Baseball Hall of Fame’s Bullpen Theater in Cooperstown. Presentations were made by Bill Deane (“Larry Doby and the 1954 MVP voting”), Tom Shieber (“Straw Boaters and Hilltop Park,” another in a series of Tom’s incredible accounts of photo research), Gabriel Schechter (“The Unique Career of Jack Bentley”), and Bruce Markusen (“Dick Allen and His Many Controversies”). In addition, the Cliff Kachline Award was presented to Richard Hunt, former chapter president. There were heavy hearts in Cooperstown and all over after we learned of Ernie Banks’ death the day before; Banks’ plaque in the Hall of Fame Gallery was draped in a floral arrangement as a tribute to “Mr. Cub.” View photos from the meeting on the chapter’s Facebook page. — Jeff Katz

52 SABR members and friends were in attendance for the Rocky Mountain Chapter’s sixth annual SABR Day event. Chapter President Matthew Repplinger provided panel member introductions and welcome greetings to all guests and chapter members. Marc Stout of Root Sports Rocky Mountain, the Video Coordinators Panel moderator, provided a number of questions to the panelists Chris Warren, Advance Scout for the Colorado Rockies and Luke French, formerly of the Minnesota Twins, about their video and scouting experiences, duties and responsibility. The Scouts Panel, consisted of Kent Gregory of the Yankees, Ed Henderson of the Twins, Al Blesser of the Seattle Mariners, Tom Maloney of the Kansas City Royals, and Charles Ro of the Atlanta Braves. Marc Stout also provided questions that enable panel members to provide discussion and feedback on the number of games attended and scouted daily and annually. Panelists were praised for their outstanding feedback as keynote speakers by all members and guests. — John Paul

On a day that featured nicer weather than most I-Cub home openers, 16 members and guests of the Field of Dreams Chapter gathered at the 515 Brewing Company in Clive for our annual SABR Day gathering. The day featured a couple of great presentations. Mike Haupert summarized the contributions of William Hulbert, the first president (and really the founder) of the National League; the Hall of Fame executive’s work in setting league schedules, rules of conduct, and player contracts served as the model for all future professional leagues in the U.S. John Liepa writes articles for the I-Cubs program each year, and he gave us a preview of an upcoming article about super-scout and Cedar Rapids native, Cy Slapnicka. Slapnicka was a journeyman minor league player, and got two cups of coffee in the Majors, but he’s most known as the scout who signed Bob Feller (along with many other noteworthy stars, including Bob Lemon, Hal Troskey, and Roger Maris). The meeting also featured plenty of good conversation and pizza, along with a trivia quiz supplied by Mike Coveyou. Tim Rask won the trivia honors. — Tim Rask

The Detroit Chapter held its SABR Day meeting in the Old Fine Arts Room of the Detroit Public Library. We offered tributes to the careers of our departed friends and colleagues, Don Lund and Dick Clark. Steve Weingarden moderated a panel discussion comparing Tiger Stadium to Wrigley Field and Fenway Park which included Dave Mesrey of the Navin Field Grounds Crew, ballparks expert Stuart Shea of Chicago, and architect John Davids. — Gary Gillette

Our list of presenters for National SABR Day had a range of topics sure to please any baseball aficionado: Alfredo Fors, “The All-In-One Baseball Stat Effectiveness of Advanced Bases”; Dr. Julio Rodriguez, “The World Baseball Classic”; and Lou Schiff, “The Court Steps to the Plate: Baseball Cases in the Sunshine State.” Also, Gerry Garte returned as our Trivia Master to test our baseball knowledge with prizes awarded to the winners. — Sam Zygner

Last week was a pretty special week for our chapter. We started out with our regular meeting Monday, January 19. Thursday brought an outstanding 2015 Hot Stove Banquet at Sugar Land’s Constellation Field where by my count we had 31 SABR members and guests either in attendance or on the program. Tal Smith and Larry Dierker did a superior job on their panel while Ira Liebman and Greg Lucas did a truly fine job honoring our own Monte Irvin with our chapter’s first annual award. It was good to see Jimmy Wynn back out and about after his surgery. Thanks to Mike McCroskey for staying behind this project and for singing the National Anthum. On Saturday, the chapter took part in the Astros’ FanFest at Minute Maid Park. Reid Ryan told me early on they expected 6,000 people and I think all 6,000 came by our booth. Thanks to Jim Kreuz, Tom White, Joe and Susan Thompson, and Tony Cavender, we handed out lots of SABR applications and sold the entire lot of Houston Baseball: The Early Years books that had been signed Monday night. A fun day. I doubt any other SABR chapter can brag that they had 6,000 fans come to their SABR Day event. — Bob Dorrill

Our SABR Day meeting was held at the Trailside Center on Holmes Road. Guest speakers included Dave Webster, whose alter ego is KayCee — when a Royals home game ends in a victory, KayCee comes out and hangs a W on the Royals Hall of Fame building. In addition to those duties, Webster is the stadium’s official historian. He gives tours and is a walking encyclopedia of Kansas City baseball. Also speaking was Chris Kamler of Pine Tar Press and the UmpTalk podcast. Chris is a Kansas Citian and tortured sports fan. He is also a freelance journalist and broadcaster. He has a weekly column called “The Rambling Moron” for The Platte County Landmark and has contributed content to Sports Radio 810, ESPN 1510, 810Varsity.com, and Referee Magazine. — Roger Erickson

48 members and friends attended the joint SABR Day meeting between the Emil Rothe (Chicago) and Ken Keltner (Milwaukee) Chapters on Saturday, January 31 at The Brat Stop in Kenosha. Guest speakers included Ozzie Guillen Jr., Mauricio Rubio of Baseball Prospectus, and author Merle Branner. A silent auction was held and it raised $154 for the chapters. Click here to see videos of the SABR Day meeting. — David Malamut

Nearly a dozen members and friends met for SABR Day at the Lawson McGhee Library in Knoxville, where former major league left-hander Steve Jones spoke on his very interesting baseball career. Jones pitched for the Chicago White Sox in 1967, Washington Senators in 1968, and Kansas City Royals in 1969. We also heard presentations from author Amber Roessner, journalism professor at the University of Tennessee, on her recent book, Inventing Baseball Heroes: Ty Cobb, Christy Mathewson and the Sporting Press in America; and from Drew Jenkins, writer/columnist at Rant Sports, who spoke on his columns and the work he does in Prospect and Free Agent Analysis. Lucas Hobbs, Vice President of Bristol Baseball Inc., spoke on the Appalachian League, the teams and the parent club working arrangements. Lucas has attended three prior Baseball Winter Meetings (Year 2014 in San Diego) and described the event to our attendees. The 2015 meeting will be in Nashville and a should provide an interesting opportunity for many area fans. — Mark Aubrey

The first SABR Day for our new chapter turned out great. The seven members who attended were greeted warmly by the great staff of the Las Vegas Mob Museum and shown to our meeting place in the Oscar Goodman Room. Rick Swift called the meeting together and opened with “This Date in Baseball History, which led to a discussion about the Baseball Hall Of Fame, SABR’s BioProject biography of Sam Crane, and the new pitch clock to help speed up the game. We then welcomed our guests, Don Logan owner of the Triple-A Las Vegas 51s and Russ Langer, radio voice of the 51s. They were interviewed by chapter member Chris Kaempfer. After about an hour, the interview came to an end and we broke for lunch. After lunch, Rick Swift give a presentation about the first professional baseball team in Las Vegas, the 1947 Les Vegas Wranglers (a team that hit 271 home runs in a 140-game season.) Chris Kaempfer led a discussion about Barry Bonds and if he will ever make the Baseball Hall of Fame. A short trivia contest was won by Dana Marshall, who chose a Bill James book as his reward. Following a business meeting to pick our next meeting date and location, we adjourned and some members spent the rest of the afternoon touring the Mob Museum. — Rick Swift

Our guest speaker was Joe Maglie, son of Sal “The Barber” Maglie, who spoke about his father’s playing career in the 1950s, most notably with the New York Giants. Research presentations were given by Robert Reising (on Jim Thorpe’s introduction to professional baseball); Mark Randall (on Ellis Kinder and the deciding game of the 1949 season); Jim Yeager (on baseball in rural Arkansas); and Fred Worth (on visiting the graves of former major league players). For a complete recap and photos, click here to download the chapter newsletter (PDF). — Madison McEntire

The Pee Wee Reese Chapter’s 2015 SABR Day meeting was a resounding success. A total of 27 members and guests from Louisville and Indiana attended, the largest number for at least six years. Featured speaker Chris Burke, former MLB’er with three teams, was very entertaining, enlightening and frank about his experiences. He gave a dramatic recreation of the most famous HR in Houston Astro history. Dr. Rodger Payne, a die-hard Kansas City Royal rooter, gave a research presentation on “Can Small Market Teams Compete” which was outstanding and very timely. It deserves a wider audience. Faithful member Bud Thieman gave a brief remembrance of the 1997 Louisville Convention, and he introduced award-winning front-office executive Mary Barney, the first Redbirds staffer hired when Baseball returned to Louisville in 1982. The Trivia Contest overseen by Dr. Jack Sullivan was more fun than ever with Bob Sawyer winning the $50 cash prize again, and Brian Lepley coming in second. Next year, we plan to have cash awards for the top two finishers. Everyone present left with a door prize and new friendships. This was the best gathering the Chapter has had in a long time.  — Harry Rothgerber

The Halsey Hall Chapter had a table at Twinsfest again this year and set up shop in the Metropolitan Room at Target Field, a warmer and nicer perch than the spot in the service level, where we were last year. In the photo above, Howard Luloff and Jerry Janzen are shown staffing the booth. Others who volunteered and took a shift were Brenda Himrich, George Rekela, Steve Ginader, Gene Gomes, S. Thornley, Rich Arpi, Joe O’Connell, and Doug Skipper. Doug organized the event for the second year in a row after taking over the Twinsfest duties from Rich Arpi, who had handled our participation for many years. The volunteers talked to many people about SABR and distributed membership applications as well as displaying our Spread of Baseball in Minnesota project, which was started by Rich Arpi and now includes contributions from a number of members. Two webpages have information on the spread of baseball, Pre-pro Baseball and Pre-pro Clubs and Games in Minnesota. — Stew Thornley

Our SABR Day meeting was rescheduled for February 7 due to a nasty winter storm, but the Hall of Fame Media Panel proved to be worth the wait. The panel included David Kull, Sr. Deputy Editor at ESPN Digital Media; Bob Wirz, former chief spokesperson for Baseball Commissioners Bowie Kuhn and Peter Ueberroth; JW Stewart, Sports Anchor at NBC Connecticut; David Heuschkel, sports editor and former Boston Red Sox beat writer; and WTIC Radio legend Scott Gray, who served as our Moderator. — Steve Krevisky

TwinsDaily.com threw its second annual Winter Meltdown at Mason’s Restaurant and Barre, a block away from TwinsFest where the Halsey Hall Chapter had set up an informational booth. SABR members Aaron Gleeman and John “Twins Geek” Bonnes, along with special guests from the Minnesota Twins (including team president Dave St. Peter), participated in the Winter Meltdown. View more photos at the Halsey Hall Chapter website. — Stew Thornley

The Quebec Chapter held a productive meeting on SABR Day 2015. Six members were on hand to celebrate baseball and its history. Robert Duval was the headliner of the meeting. He talked about former major leaguer Tim Harkness. Born in Lachine, a Montreal suburb, Harkness played for the Dodgers and the Mets between 1961 and 1964. Quebecers are used to hearing about French speaking players of the period such as Ron Piché and Claude Raymond. Harkness, however, remains a relative unknown mostly because he moved to Toronto in the late seventies. Our members also talked about the Major League season to come. Our consensus was that the Cubs would be the team to beat in the National League followed closely by the Dodgers. In the American, the Blue Jays were deemed definitive contenders for the pennant. The chapter gave itself a new mandate, that of figuring out who can be called a “Quebec Player”. The case of former St. Louis outfielder Oscar Taveras (who died in a car accident in October of 2014) was discussed. Born in the Dominican Republic, Taveras arrived in the Province of Quebec at age 12 but left four years later to avoid being drafted. Since he played baseball in Montreal, that his family still live in the city and that his departure from Quebec was not voluntary but simply a strategic move, our members granted Quebec player status to Taveras. He becomes the 31st Quebec player to reach the Majors. — Patrick Carpentier

On SABR Day at Slugger’s in Greer Stadium, Gerald Wood spoke with us about his Seymour Medal-winning book Smoky Joe Wood: The Biography of a Baseball Legend. Peggy Gripshover talked about her ongoing research on the life and times of Charles H. Weeghman, the man who built what we now know as Wrigley Field in Chicago. Doug Scopel, Nashville Sounds Vice President of Baseball Operations & Communications gave us a history of Greer Stadium and answered questions regarding the new ballpark being constructed in Nashville for the Sounds, First Tennessee Park. A representative from the Tennessee Association of Vintage Baseball talked about the league and recent expansion of two new teams in the Chattanooga area this coming season. — Skip Nipper

On a nasty, icy day in New York City, when the talk of the town seemed to be the Patriots and their deflated footballs, many New Yorkers gathered to discuss our national pastime at the New York Public Library. The conference opened with some sadness as Chicago Cubs legend Ernie Banks passed away the night before. But there was excitement, too, as folks in SABR’s Casey Stengel Chapter began to settle in to hear a great lineup of speakers. The three panels on the agenda included one about baseball legend Frank Robinson, another about what it’s like to be an MLB scorekeeper, and a presentation about new information about Babe Ruth. The Frank Robinson panel featured ESPN’s Peter Keating and Willie Weinbaum. It was particularly special because this year is the 40th anniversary of Robinson becoming the first black manager in Major League Baseball. Keating and Weinbaum showed a short clip from an ESPN “Outside the Lines” special that highlighted moments of Robinson’s career. After a short lunch break, we regrouped to learn about MLB scoring from official scorers Billy Altman and Jordan Sprechman. Each of these fantastic scorers has recorded some astounding moments in baseball history, from Derek Jeter’s 3,000th hit to the game where the Yankees hit three grand slams to the first no-hitter in Mets history by Johan Santana. The final panel of the day was also very entertaining. The speaker was Michael Gibbons, the Executive Director of the Babe Ruth Birthplace Museum in Baltimore. The museum focuses on his pre-MLB days and features parts of the home where Ruth grew up before being whisked off to boarding school by his parents at the age of seven.  Gibbons said that one of the great parts of his job is that he almost gets to work with “The Bambino” every day. The sixth annual SABR Day was a lot of fun and it was a thrill to attend. Click here to read Max Mannis’ full recap at SIKids.com. — Max Mannis

Central Florida’s Auker-Seminick Chapter met Saturday, January 31 (Jackie Robinson’s birthday) with 16 members and friends attending at the Dr. Phillips Library in southwest Orlando for a spirited Hot Stove discussion. The chapter conducted a mock Hall of Fame vote, with results mirroring the same four players recently elected to the Hall of Fame by the BBWAA: Pedro Martinez (100%), Randy Johnson (93%), John Smoltz (88%), and Craig Biggio (81%). The Central Florida chapter also voted Mike Trout as the new “Face of Baseball,” as the successor to Derek Jeter, with Trout edging Andrew McCutchen (a native of nearby Fort Meade, Florida) by one vote. Others nominees for the “Face of Baseball” designation included Buster Posey, Giancarlo Stanton, Clayton Kershaw, and Justin Verlander. Members Harvey and Arleen Cohen conducted a 26-question trivia question contest with two members correctly answering 20 of the 26 questions, which ranged from A-Z (Earl Averill to Don Zimmer).  — Rod Caborn

Nearly 30 brave souls made their way through an Alberta Clipper, dispensing wind chills in the teens, to attend the Connie Mack Chapter’s SABR Day at Drexel University. Wet snow made for great snowballs , but our search for a Santa Claus to pelt with them, was in vain. We also lost four of our speakers who were unable to make the trip. Since our program was truncated from the outset, we were able to permit the presenters more time and to expand the Q&A. This led to some more extended discussion. Bob Gomberg made a presentation on “Beep Baseball,” a game for blind players. Jack Morris reported on the 4th Naval District Baseball team during World War I. Peter Mancuso talked about the 2014 19th Century and Origins meeting held this past November in New York City. James Robinson shared his experience of teaching a BB course at Temple University and the techniques he employs to keep students involved. Steve Glassman presented on Mickey Cochrane as the A’s GM in 1950. Dick Rosen gave a talk on the Cuban-American Major League Clubs Series played during the winters from 1908 to 1913 in Cuba.  — Dick Rosen

37 SABR members and friends were in attendance for the Flame Delhi Chapter’s SABR Day meeting at Tempe Diablo Stadium. Sean Kane of Painted Gloves Collectibles showed off his unique artwork, which included original gloves focused on such players as Roberto Clemente, Tom Seaver, Johnny Bench, and Cecil Cooper. Veteran baseball writers Barry Bloom and Tony DeMarco squared off in a lively discussion on the future of the Baseball Hall of Fame and the ramifications of the Steroid Era. Chuck Johnson delivered a presentation on Mariano Rivera and the intracacies of the modern save rule. Some members then took the occasion to go downstairs and view Tempe Diablo Stadium’s new exhibit on Cactus League spring training history, which was written by chapter president Rodney Johnson.   — Jacob Pomrenke

Held in the luxurious Lexus Club at PNC Park, our SABR Day meeting began with our annual Hall of Fame report and update from Sam Reich. This was followed by an entertaining presentation by Harry Funk on “The American Association and its Ties to the Pittsburgh Pirates.” We then had a special guest, Dennis Degenhardt from Wisconsin, who gave us a very informative presentation on former Pirate Ginger Beaumont. Dennis was presented with a check for $500, our chapter’s contribution to the proposed plaque honoring Beaumont at Beaumont Field in Burlington, Wisconsin. After lunch, local KDKA sportscaster Rich Walsh conducted a spirited discussion of the Pirates and the upcoming 2015 season. Rich was followed by Don Thomson, who discussed the players who narrowly missed Triple Crown designation with his presentation “Triple Crown Lite.” Our final speaker, Stephanie Liscio, leader of the Cleveland SABR chapter, took us on a trip through the history of League Park which just happens to be where they will be having their SABR Day on February 7. We concluded the day with a Pirates trivia contest with Jim Haller taking home the prize. We thank the Pittsburgh Pirates for donating the use of the Lexus Club for our use. — George Skornickel

56 members and guests of the Bob Broeg SABR Chapter attended the annual Hot Stove Luncheon on SABR Day at Mike Shannon’s Steaks and Seafood Restaurant in downtown St. Louis. Chapter president Brian Flaspohler welcomed everyone to the event prior to the enjoyment of a buffet style lunch featuring a standard ballpark fare of burgers, hot dogs, brats, nachos, lettuce salad, pretzels, potato salad and dessert. The first speaker of the afternoon was former major leaguer Tom Lawless. In his eight-year career he played for the Reds, Expos, Cardinals, and Blue Jays; and recently concluded the 2014 season as the interim manager of the Houston Astros. Next up was Bob “Droopy Drawers” Sampson from Decatur, Illinois, a pioneer of vintage baseball. Bob still toils for the Rock Springs Ground Squirrels during the summer even though younger men have already ‘retired’. Chris Correa, the newly named Director of Scouting for the St. Louis Cardinals was the next guest speaker. He spoke of the immediate concerns in the organization following the death of Oscar Taveras, the various levels and types of scouting, combining statistical analysis with old school techniques in the development and assessment of prospects, and named a few coming prospects to keep an eye on. This year’s heavy-hitting clean-up hitter was 2007 Spink Award winner Rick “The Commish” Hummel. The final guest speaker of the day was Paula Homan, Curator & Manager of the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame and Museum.  — Jim Leefers

This past Saturday, the San Diego Central Library once again hosted the San Diego-Ted Williams SABR Chapter‘s Winter Meeting on the 8th floor amongst the Baseball Research Center collection. … This time the special guest speaker were Wells Oliver and Brian McBurney from the Padres front office, Padres Social Hour host Jesse Agler, and UT San Diego reporter and native San Diegan Kirk Kenney. At last year’s Winter Meeting, SABR announced they had acquired the late Bill Weiss’ collection of baseball documents and books. It’s now been 89% inventoried. The amount of items in this collection is mind-blowing. But the most mind-blowing thing of all might be the 62 (1943 -2005) seasons of minor league records. Sixty-two seasons. Don’t think about that for too long or your brain will start oozing out of your ears. Click here to read the full recap at PadresPublic.com. — Scott Dunsmore

Thanks to all of you who came out to enjoy our SABR Day at Ricky’s on Saturday. Good group, as always. Special thanks to our guest speakers Amaury Pi-Gonzalez, who talked about baseball and life in Cuba, the Hispanic Baseball Heritage Museum, and his career as a Spanish-language broadcaster. Ricky Ricardo, owner of Ricky’s Sportsbar, chatted with us about what it is like to run the restaurant. Thanks again to Ricky and his wife Tina for their hospitality. Chapter members sharing research included Andre Lower, on his Earned Wins concept of ranking pitchers, Dan VanDeMortel about Ernie Banks and his work on the 1971 Giants; and Bennett Jacobsen, whose new book is the Joy of Ballpark Food. — Marlene Vogelsang

John Poff joined us for SABR Day to talk about his baseball career, thanks to his old friend and our colleague, Tom Drake. John was a star athlete at Findlay High School, after which he played for the Duke Blue Devils in college. He then signed with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1974, beginning an eight-year career in professional ball. Many of those years were with the Oklahoma City ’89ers in the old American Association. He also made brief major league appearances with the Phillies and the Milwaukee Brewers. Wood County native and SABR trivia king David Fleitz discussed his recent books and other topics of interest to baseball fans. John Husman brought us up to date on the Toledo Mud Hens and talked about the upcoming season. — Steve Lauer

The 44th annual meeting of the Bob Davids Chapter included an all-star lineup of guest speakers: Adam Cromie, Assistant General Manager and Director, Baseball Operations, Washington Nationals; Michael Hand, Chief Marketing Officer/President, MiLB Enterprises; perennial favorite David W. Smith of Retrosheet; Bowie BaySox manager Gary Kendall; John Eisenberg, the longtime Baltimore Sun sportswriter; and Jack Greenhouse, who pitched in Australia. We also had a baseball trivia contest, baseball book vendors, and memorabilia raffle. — D. Bruce Brown

Support SABR today!

Donate Join

Cronkite School at ASU
555 N. Central Ave. #406-C
Phoenix, AZ 85004
Phone: 602-496-1460

About

History

Meet the Staff

Board of Directors

Annual Reports

Diversity Statement

Contact SABR

DONATE

© SABR. All Rights Reserved