This Week in SABR: August 30, 2024
Welcome to “This Week in SABR” on Friday, August 30, 2024.
Click here to view this newsletter on the web.
Check out the new SABR MLB Team Employee Database
Jean Fruth to keynote SABR/IWBC Women in Baseball Conference
Listen to all panels, presentations from SABR 52 in Minneapolis
Read articles from The National Pastime 2024
Call for papers: Turnstyle: The SABR Journal of Baseball Arts
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Check out the new SABR MLB Team Employee Database
A historical database of Major League Baseball team employees — covering more than 40,000 people dating back to the late 19th century — is now available online through SABR’s Business of Baseball Committee. The SABR MLB Team Employee Database offers a new lens into major-league front and back offices, from team owners to ticket sales.
The MLB Team Employee Database is available for viewing to all SABR members on the Research Resources page. Browse or search by person, team, or season to learn more about the scope of baseball and business operations.
Click here to read the full announcement at SABR.org.
Jean Fruth to keynote 2024 SABR/IWBC Women in Baseball Conference
Celebrated baseball author and photographer Jean Fruth will be the keynote speaker for the sixth annual SABR/IWBC Women in Baseball Conference, which will be held virtually on September 20-22, 2024.
Fruth is a co-founder of Grassroots Baseball, an organization that celebrates the amateur game around the world and encourages kids to play ball, and the author of three books, including the upcoming See Her Be Her.
- Register: Click here to register for the 2024 SABR/IWBC Women in Baseball Conference
- Schedule: Click here for the full schedule of panels and presentations
This year’s conference — co-sponsored by SABR and the International Women’s Baseball Center and hosted by Rockford University — is a virtual Zoom event. The conference will feature research presentations, panels, pylon unveiling, and presentation of the Dorothy Award.
Visit SABR.org/women-in-baseball-conference for complete details.
Listen to all panels and presentations from SABR 52
Couldn’t make it to Minneapolis for SABR 52? Check out complete coverage of our 2024 convention from SABR.org/convention. Here are some of the new recordings and highlights posted online this week:
- Listen to highlights from the Black Baseball in Minnesota Panel with Carl Rogan, Peter Gorton, Todd Peterson, and Frank M. White (audio)
- Listen to highlights from the Umpires Panel with Jeff Nelson, Stew Thornley, Emma Charlesworth-Seiler, Bill Nowlin (audio)
- Listen to highlights from all 32 research presentations at SABR 52 (audio)
- Listen to highlights from committee meeting presentations and panels, including Melissa Ludtke, Don Daglow, Bob Busser, Vinay Kumar, Herm Krabbenhoft, Mark S. Sternman, Stew Thornley, J.R. Wildridge, Gary Livacari, and more (audio)
For more coverage of SABR 52, visit SABR.org/convention.
Read articles from The National Pastime: Baseball in the Land of 10,000 Lakes
All articles from the new 2024 edition of The National Pastime can now be found online in the Research Collection at SABR.org.
All SABR 52 attendees received a souvenir print edition of The National Pastime, our annual convention journal, focusing on baseball in the Twin Cities. The e-book edition was sent out to all members this week.
- Download the e-book: Click here to download a free e-book edition of The National Pastime 2024.
- Buy the magazine: Purchase the print edition of The National Pastime 2024 from Amazon.com.
We hope you enjoy reading The National Pastime!
Call for papers: 2025 SABR Frederick Ivor-Campbell 19th Century Base Ball Conference
All SABR members are invited and encouraged to submit a Research Presentation Proposal Abstract on any topic of 19th-century baseball for the 2025 Frederick Ivor-Campbell 19th Century Base Ball Conference at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. The 16th annual Ivor-Campbell Conference is scheduled for April 25-26, 2025. The deadline for proposal Abstracts is October 31, 2024.
Click here to read the full announcement at SABR.org.
Call for papers: Turnstyle: The SABR Journal of Baseball Arts
With the recent release of Volume 4 of Turnstyle: The SABR Journal of the Baseball Arts, SABR’s Baseball and the Arts Committee now turns its sights to submissions for Volume 5. All SABR members are encouraged to send along your submission, or your questions, to editors Joanne Hulbert or Jay Hurd before June 1, 2025. We are looking for poetry, memoir, artwork, humor, short fiction, historical fiction, science fiction, and parody.
Click here to read the full announcement at SABR.org.
Steve Elsberry, 78, of Windsor Heights, Iowa, died unexpectedly on Saturday, August 24. He joined SABR in 1983 and led the Field of Dreams Iowa Chapter for many years as its resident “Umpire in Chief.” He was a season-ticket holder with the Iowa Cubs for more than two decades and in 2004 he was declared the 10 millionth fan through the gates. After growing up in the Bay Area, where he became a lifelong San Francisco Giants fan, he moved to Iowa in 1997 and married his wife, Lyn, in 2005. They both attended and organized many SABR events together over the years, including the inaugural Dubuque Baseball Classic this past spring. Services were held on August 29 at Principal Park in Des Moines. Click here to read the full obituary.
Find new updates to the SABR Research Collection below, including the Baseball Biography Project, Games Project, and Oral History Collection.
3 new stories published at SABR BioProject
- David Allen, by Vincent T. Ciaramella
- Mike Sullivan, by Bill Lamb
- Cheney Stadium (Tacoma, WA), by Jake Rinloan
Visit SABR.org/bioproject to learn more about the SABR Biography Project or to get involved.
7 new stories published at SABR Games Project
- September 4, 1927: Waner brothers both hit ‘bouncing’ home runs in Pirates’ win over Reds, by Richard Cuicchi
- August 27, 1949: Ted Williams and Vern Stephens vie for home run crown as Red Sox beat White Sox, by Bill Nowlin
- July 17, 1954: Dodgers field first majority-Black lineup in National League history, by Alan Stowell
- August 28, 1968: Bob Gibson fans 14 in shutout vs. Pirates for 19th win of season, by Gregory H. Wolf
- May 28, 1989: George Bell walks off White Sox as Blue Jays bid farewell to Exhibition Stadium, by Larry DeFillipo
- September 1, 2007: Red Sox rookie Clay Buchholz no-hits Orioles in his second big-league start, by Bill Nowlin
- July 11, 2021: NL stars win Futures Game as Rachel Balkovec makes historic coaching appearance for AL, by Barrett Snyder
Visit SABR.org/gamesproject to learn more about the SABR Games Project or to get involved.
Turnstyle: The SABR Journal of Baseball Arts, Volume 4
Edited by Joanne Hulbert and Jay Hurd
Visit SABR.org to download the free e-book edition or save 50% off the paperback edition of all Digital Library books.
Here are some SABR headlines from recent weeks that we don’t want you to miss:
- D. Bruce Brown selected as 2024 Bob Davids Award winner
- SABR Defensive Index rankings released through August 11
- SABR to celebrate Founders’ Day beginning in 2025
- Save the date! SABR 53 will be in Dallas/Fort Worth in 2025
- Download the 2024 SABR Annual Report
- SABR special committee: 1949-50 Negro American League, independent Black teams are major-league caliber
- Check out highlights from the Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference
- Tyrone Brooks appointed to SABR Board of Directors
- Bill Smith honored with 2024 Roland Hemond Award
- Chris Von der Ahe selected as SABR’s Overlooked 19th Century Base Ball Legend
- Read articles online from Spring 2024 Baseball Research Journal
- Check out highlights, photos, and stories from the 2024 SABR Analytics Conference
- SABR Digital Library: Dodger Stadium: Blue Heaven on Earth
- Learn more about recipients of SABR Local Grants in 2024
- Find complete collection of SABR-Rucker Archive baseball images online
- Historical Black Newspapers Collection added to SABR Research Resources
- Get a gift for baseball fan in your life with the SABR Store @ CafePress
Please give a warm welcome to all new SABR members who joined this week! View more Members-Only resources at members.sabr.org or click here to download the Membership Handbook. Find contact information for any SABR member in the online Membership Directory.
| NAME | HOMETOWN | NAME | HOMETOWN | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amaury Almonte | Santo Domingo, DOM | Arthur Mills | Spartanburg, SC | ||
| Brent Bourrel | Grand Forks, BC | Levon Nazarian | Cherry Hill, NJ | ||
| Michael Braun | DeForest, WI | Leonard Parsons | Kalamazoo, MI | ||
| Scott Devereux | Hoboken, NJ | Neil Pierre-Louis | Boston, MA | ||
| Josh deVries | Manchester, NH | Nate Quigley | Elkins Park, PA | ||
| Mark Fields | Fort Mitchell, KY | Ron Richards | Silver Spring, MD | ||
| Matt Fiene | Overland Park, KS | Anisa Rodriguez | La Quinta, CA | ||
| Jack Foster | Falls Church, VA | Jason Seidl | Morristown, NJ | ||
| Jason Fridge | Philadelphia, PA | William Stevens | Arlington, MA | ||
| Garrett Gossman | Merced, CA | Marc Summerfield | Bel Air, MD | ||
| David Huber | Jackson, MS | Etienne Tremblay | Saint-Henri-de-Taillon, QC | ||
| Jacob Knighton | Albuquerque, NM | Nick Wan | Cincinnati, OH | ||
| Pandelis Kriadis | Montreal, QC | Rick Wilton | Lafayette, IN |
- Events Calendar: Find details of all upcoming SABR events.
- Video Replays: This week, we heard from author Ken Smoller (Last Comiskey). Click here to view video replays of virtual SABR events.
Upcoming Virtual Meetings
- September 2: Clyde Sukeforth (NH/ME) Chapter meeting with Alan Cohen (7:00 p.m. EDT)
- September 3: Elysian Fields (NJ) Chapter meeting with Lee Kluck (7:00 p.m. EDT)
- September 3: Boston Chapter meeting with Melissa Ludtke (7:00 p.m. EDT)
- September 3: Games and Simulations meeting with Chris Witt (8:00 p.m. EDT)
- September 4: Baltimore Babe Ruth (MD) Chapter meeting with Eric Vickrey (7:00 p.m. EDT)
- September 7: Bob Davids Talkin’ Baseball: Gary Sarnoff (9:00 a.m. EDT)
- September 8: Baltimore Babe Ruth (MD) Chapter meeting with J.B. Manheim and Lawrence Knorr (7:00 p.m. EDT)
Upcoming In-Person Meetings
- August 30: Southwest Florida Chapter ballgame/meet-up (Fort Myers, FL)
- August 31: Larry Dierker Chapter ballgame/meet-up (Corpus Christi, TX)
- September 4: Bob Broeg St. Louis Chapter fellowship meeting (St. Louis, MO)
To add your SABR event to our calendar listings, please contact Jacob Pomrenke.
- Origins: August 2024 newsletter
Sign up for SABR research committee announcements at SABR.org/research/committees.
- Casey Stengel Chapter: August 2024 newsletter (New York, NY)
Sign up for SABR chapter announcements at SABR.org/chapters.
Click here to learn more about SABR chartered communities.
Here are some recent articles published by and about SABR members:
- Tom Stone: SABR 52 Convention Recap in Minneapolis (Now Taking the Field)
- J.J. Cooper: Why Is Hitting So Hard In MLB Nowadays? (Baseball America)
- Sarah Langs: Taking a deep dive into Shohei Ohtani’s historic 40-40 feat (MLB.com)
- Mark Simon: Aaron Judge, Blake Perkins, and Home Run Robberies (Sports Info Solutions)
- Lindsey Adler: Now Batting for the Red Sox: The Other Team’s Catcher (Wall Street Journal)
- Russell A. Carleton: Two Strikes, You’re Out (Baseball Prospectus)
- Jay Jaffe: The Royals Are For Real, and They’re Breathing Down the Guardians’ Necks (FanGraphs)
- Ginny Searle: The Playoff Field Is Basically Set (Baseball Prospectus)
- Evan Drellich: As Amazon nixes $115 million investment in Diamond, what comes now? (The Athletic)
- Richard Staff: The Minor League Shrink And The Growing Gap Between Triple-A And The Bigs (Defector)
- Tyler Kepner: 47 years later, a former Yankee top prospect’s quest to get his face on a Topps baseball card (The Athletic)
- David Laurila: Walter Pennington Ponders His Zero-Zero Slider (FanGraphs)
- Rob Mains: When They Score: Part One, Innings (Baseball Prospectus)
- Jayson Stark: 5 players poised to rewrite the record book (The Athletic)
- Alex Speier: Triston Casas’s pregame routines are something to see (Boston Globe)
- John Thorn: Baseball’s First Play-by-Play (Our Game)
- Davy Andrews: An Incomplete History of Foul Tips to the Throat (FanGraphs)
- Dan Cichalski: Visit these 7 Minor League stadiums, and the neighboring national park (MLB.com)
- Roy Carlson: 1962 Topps Baseball Bucks: Show Me The Money (Sports Collectors Daily)
- Rich Kienzle: How the Pittsburgh Pirates’ ‘Beat ‘em Bucs’ became the team’s iconic theme (WYEP.org)
- Michael Clair: A closer look at Hudson Valley’s remarkable ‘Bhutan Night’ (MLB.com)
- Scott Jarrett: The Cleveland Indians’ “Ten Cent Beer Night” (Good Seats Still Available Podcast)
- Ken Samoil: “All” National and “All” American 1902 California Tourists (SABR Pictorial History)
Please note: Some articles may require a separate subscription to view online. SABR does not endorse, and is not responsible or liable for, any content that appears on a third-party website.
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. To find past editions of TWIS, click here.
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Originally published: August 30, 2024. Last Updated: August 30, 2024.