SABR 50: Bill Carle wins record 5th Trivia Contest; Pennsylvanians take team title
A three-year hiatus couldn’t stop Bill Carle from repeating as SABR Trivia Contest champion on Saturday, August 20, 2022, at SABR 50 in Baltimore.
Carle, of Lee’s Summit, Missouri, won his fifth individual title, defeating R.J. Lesch of Carlisle, Pennsylania, in the finals. Meanwhile, Dan Massey, Jesse Marquart, Ted Knorr, and Marc Wise — a team of members with Pennsylvania ties calling themselves “PA-PA-Pact” — captured the team title over “The Quaternions” of Mark Simon, Cary Smith, Elliot Hines, and Steve Krevisky.
Carle’s fifth career individual title moves him one ahead of Mike Caragliano for the all-time SABR record. Carle also took home the top spot at the most recent SABR convention held in 2019 in San Diego. (SABR’s annual conference went all-virtual in 2020 and 2021.) Carle’s other trivia wins came in 2000, 2010, and 2011. Carle has also won seven team contests for 12 overall trivia championships, tying him with Mark Kanter for the lead in SABR convention history.
The team title was won by three members from the Keystone State: Marquart and Massey from Lancaster; and Knorr from Harrisburg; along with Wise, who now resides in Vernon, Connecticut.
Massey has won three individual trivia titles, in 2014, 2017, and 2018, but this was his first as part of a team. Knorr, the founder of SABR’s Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference, is a regular trivia champion when it comes to Black baseball, but this was his first win at the Annual Convention. Marquart and Wise are also first-time SABR trivia champs.
The other team semifinalists were The Tigers: Reynaldo Cruz, Chuck Hildebrandt, Bill McMahon, and Alain Usereau; and the Tony Phillips All-Stars: Jeff Twardus, Stephen Roney, David Raglin, and Lesch. Massey and Scott Kent were also semifinalists in the individual contest.
The SABR Trivia Contest was moderated by D. Bruce Brown, president of the Baltimore Babe Ruth Chapter and co-chair of Horsehide Trivia with T. Scott Brandon. Brown and Brandon wrote and edited the questions. Assistance in evening sessions at SABR 50 was given by David Firstman, Scott Carter, Damian Begley and others. Brandon assembled the game boards of the semifinal and final rounds.
To view a list of previous SABR Trivia Contest winners, click here.
For more coverage of SABR 50, visit SABR.org/convention.
Originally published: August 20, 2022. Last Updated: August 22, 2022.