This Week in SABR: November 27, 2024

November 27, 2024/in This Week in SABR /by sabr

Welcome to “This Week in SABR” on Wednesday, November 27, 2024. Please note: The SABR office will be closed for Thanksgiving on November 28-29. Click here to view this newsletter on the web.

All donations will be matched on Giving Tuesday
Call for papers: The National Pastime 2025
Scholarships available to attend 2025 SABR Analytics Conference
Apply now for a SABR Local Grant in 2025
Seeking volunteers for Weiss Baseball Player Questionnaires

All donations will be matched on Giving Tuesday, December 3

With the holiday season upon us and another year coming to a close, we want to thank you for your continuing support of SABR. Donations from members like you are vital as SABR looks to add research resources, expand programming, and strengthen the connection of our baseball community. Next Tuesday, December 3, is “Giving Tuesday” a global movement encouraging people to support the causes near and dear to their hearts.

Thanks to one generous member, you have the opportunity to DOUBLE the impact of your donation on Giving Tuesday next week. Janet Marie Smith, renowned ballpark architect who is famous for her work on Oriole Park at Camden Yards and renovation projects at Fenway Park and Dodger Stadium, will match all donations made on December 3 up to a grand total of $5,000.

You can support SABR’s annual Bring it Home Campaign by making a gift of $150 or more by December 31, 2024. We will use your best gift of $150, $300, $500, or $1,000 to amplify SABR’s general operations. Visit SABR.org/donate/2024 to learn more or donate today.

Call for papers: The National Pastime 2025

The next SABR national convention will be held on June 25-29, 2025, in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas. The 2025 issue of our annual convention journal, The National Pastime, will focus on the region, which includes not only the DFW Metroplex but also North, Central, and West Texas, as well as Oklahoma and parts of Louisiana and Arkansas (but not Houston or South Texas). If it is covered by the Rangers Radio Network, we’re interested.

All SABR members are welcome to submit an article for TNP. To submit an article idea or abstract, please fill out this form by December 15, 2024. If the form does not give enough space to adequately explain the idea, please upload a document. Only submissions sent using the online portal will be considered.

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

Early registration is now open for 2025 SABR Analytics Conference

Early registration is now open for the SABR Analytics Conference, which will be held in person from March 14-16, 2025, at the Beus Center for Law and Society on Arizona State University’s Downtown Phoenix Campus in Phoenix, Arizona.

We’ll bring together the top minds in the baseball analytics community to discuss, debate, and share insightful ways to analyze and examine the great game of baseball. Register today to join us!

Registration: Click here to register for the 2025 SABR Analytics Conference. Early-bird registration is $395 for SABR members, $495 for non-members, and $150 for currently enrolled high school or college students. Student-only virtual registration is $50. Students should email Scott Carter with a photo of their student ID to receive the discounted registration link.
Student Registration: Students should email Scott Carter with a photo of their student ID to receive a special link to register at a discounted rate. Students have the option of choosing virtual ($50) or in-person ($150) registration. Both include access to General Session panels and presentations on Friday, March 14 through Sunday, March 16, and a student-only virtual session on Thursday, March 13. All student registrations also include a one-year SABR membership ($25 value) and a complimentary Rapsodo certification course ($395 value). SABR membership will be fulfilled after event sign-up and access to Rapsodo course will be delivered after the conference.
Diamond Dollars Case Competition: Click here to register your team for the 2025 Diamond Dollars Case Competition. Registration is $1,750 per team, which includes admission to all SABR Analytics Conference sessions and a one-year SABR membership for each participant.
Yoseloff Scholarship: Students, apply now for a Yoseloff Scholarship to attend the 2025 SABR Analytics Conference. Deadline: January 3, 2025.
Sarah Langs Women in Baseball Analytics Scholarship: Applications are now open for the 2025 Sarah Langs Women in Baseball Analytics Scholarship. Deadline: January 3, 2025.
Research Awards: We’re seeking nominations for the 2025 SABR Analytics Conference Research Awards. Deadline: December 31, 2024.
Certification Courses: The first three courses in the online, on-demand SABR Analytics Certification program, including the newest offering Level Three – Introduction to Baseball Programming, are available now. Click here to learn more or to sign up.

Apply now for a Yoseloff Scholarship or Sarah Langs Women in Baseball Analytics Scholarship

With generous funding from The Nanar and Anthony Yoseloff Foundation, Inc., SABR will award up to four Yoseloff Scholarships to high school and college students who wish to attend the SABR Analytics Conference on March 14-16, 2025, in Phoenix, Arizona. This scholarship will pay for registration, transportation and lodging fees associated with the conference up to a total value of $1,250.

Awarded annually to four recipients, the Sarah Langs Women in Baseball Analytics Scholarship will provide meaningful professional development and networking opportunities for female identifying students or young professionals pursuing a career in baseball analytics and data science. This scholarship will pay for all registration fees and expenses associated with the 2025 SABR Analytics Conference in Phoenix, Arizona; plus registration for all courses in the online SABR Analytics Certification program. Click here to learn more or to apply.

Click here to learn more about SABR Scholarships.

Call for papers: 2025 SABR Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference

SABR’s Negro Leagues Research Committee will host the 25th annual Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference on August 7-9, 2025, in Louisville, Kentucky. This interdisciplinary conference welcomes proposals for oral and poster presentations from all research fields. Previous presenters have included college faculty, public school teachers, graduate students, and independent scholars.

Presentations may focus on any topic related to the theme, or other Black baseball topics. Some possibilities include Louisville Black Caps, Louisville Unions, Louisville Black Colonels, Felton Snow, Sammy Hughes, barnstorming, future research, Malloy history, and much more. Proposals should include a 250-word abstract, plus a brief biographical note with contact information. For poster presentations, please indicate the number and size of posters you wish to display.

Please email your proposals to Leslie Heaphy before March 3, 2025.

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

Apply now for a SABR Local Grant in 2025

The SABR Local Grants program provides an opportunity for chapters, research committees, and chartered communities to apply for funding for their projects under SABR’s Four Pillars: Research, Scholarship, Preservation, and Future of the Game.

Applications are now open for a 2025 SABR Local Grant at SABR.org/local-grants. Submissions will be accepted until January 31, 2025. A Grants Review Board will review all submissions and respond with their final determination in February 2025.

Visit SABR.org/local-grants to learn more or to apply.

Call for volunteers: Weiss Baseball Player Questionnaires

Thanks to the hard work of a fantastic team of volunteers, more than 100,000 Bill Weiss Baseball Player Questionnaires of players from 1945-2005 have now been transcribed. These questionnaires will give baseball researchers tremendous first-hand knowledge from the pens of 18-year-old minor-leaguers.

We’re now seeking volunteers to help match the players to their Baseball-Reference IDs, making it easier for everyone to find their favorite player. We have finished more than one-third of the players so far, and we are seeking more help to finish by the end of 2024. No experience or time commitment is needed, just a love for baseball, data, and history. You can jump right into volunteering at tinyurl.com/WeissPage, or reach out to Jason Sigler to get an informational video and more instructions.

Seeking submissions for Found Poetry of Baseball Announcers book

This is the last call for submissions for an upcoming SABR book project, Here Comes The Pizzer: The Found Poetry of Baseball Announcers, scheduled for publication in the spring of 2025.

SABR members are asked to take play-by-play calls from throughout history and fashion them into “found” poems. Found poems take existing texts and refashion them, reorder them, and present them as poems. Examples can be found in the most recent edition of Turnstyle.

To send in a submission, fill out the following form by December 15 or contact editor Eric Poulin with questions.

Be aware of holiday email phishing scams

SABR has been alerted of an email phishing scam sent to some members in recent weeks. These emails may appear to be from your chapter leader or a SABR staff or board member, asking for assistance, personal information, or to complete an “urgent” financial transaction. Indications of scam emails include a bogus “from” address instead of a sender address you know and trust, and grammatically incorrect sentences and/or phrases.

If you receive a suspicious message, please exercise email security best practices by not clicking on any links or opening any attachments, and closely scrutinizing the address of the questionable email sender. Please delete any scam emails immediately.

Find new updates to the SABR Research Collection below, including the Baseball Biography Project, Games Project, and Oral History Collection.

7 new stories published at SABR Games Project

June 9, 1903: Pirates’ streak of 56 scoreless innings pitched snapped by Phillies, by Gary Belleville
August 20, 1960: Ted Williams draws career walk 2,000, then hits two 3-run homers, by Bill Nowlin
July 11, 1966: Scout Barney Lutz’s lifetime in baseball ends at NY-Penn League game, by Kurt Blumenau
July 8, 1972: Red Sox narrowly miss going above .500 in 16-inning loss to Angels, by Christopher D. Chavis
July 28, 1987: Barry Bonds hits first career inside-the-park home run in Pirates’ loss to Phillies, by John Fredland
September 2, 1996: David Cone returns to Yankees after aneurysm surgery, pitches seven no-hit innings, by Harrison Golden
March 30, 2023: Melissa Lambert makes history, but Twins shut out Royals on Opening Day, by Barrett Snyder

In addition, the following stories from Sandy Koufax (2024) were also posted online this week:

July 6, 1955: A wild beginning: Sandy Koufax loses in his first start for Dodgers, by Mark S. Sternman
September 3, 1955: Bonus baby Sandy Koufax pitches 5-hit shutout against Pirates for second win, by Steven C. Weiner
May 16, 1957: Koufax strikes out 13, combines with Cubs pitchers to tie NL strikeout record, by Howard Rosenberg
June 22, 1959: Sandy Koufax sets a night-game strikeout record and meets Saint Benny, by Luis A. Blandón Jr.
August 31, 1959: Sandy Koufax strikes out 18 Giants to tie major-league record, by Glen Sparks
May 23, 1960: Sandy Koufax stops first-place Pirates with one-hitter, by John Fredland
September 20, 1961: Hurricane Sandy strikes the West Coast, by Kevin Larkin
September 27, 1961: Sandy Koufax surpasses Mathewson for NL strikeout record in breakout season, by Richard Cuicchi
May 26, 1962: Sandy Koufax shines on the mound and at the plate, by Brian Williams
June 13, 1962: Sandy Koufax hits first home run to beat Warren Spahn and Braves, by Tim Otto
June 18, 1962: Sandy Koufax beats Bob Gibson, 1-0; Tommy Davis hits walk-off home run in 9th, by Thomas J. Brown Jr.
May 15, 1963: Sandy Koufax fans 12 Phillies and allows no walks in 12 innings, by Bruce Harris
September 17, 1963: Sandy Koufax sets shutout record for southpaws in St. Louis, by Glen Sparks

Visit SABR.org/gamesproject to learn more about the SABR Games Project or to get involved.

Dazzling Debuts: First At-Bat Home Runs
Edited by Giselle Stancic, Bill Nowlin, and Jacob Pomrenke

Visit SABR.org/dazzling-debuts for exclusive highlights online or to download the free e-book edition.

Here are some SABR headlines from recent weeks that we don’t want you to miss:

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
James Byland	New Albany, IN	Bernard Paul	Zionsville, IN
Ping Chang	Taipei, TWN	Kayla Peak	Stephenville, TX
Jim Davis	Glenmont, NY	Jesus Pineda	Baton Rouge, LA
Brenna Haney	Astoria, NY	Tim Sitar	Fairfax, VA
Christopher King	Phoenix, MD	Simon Steeves	Bath, NB
Owen Meyer	Rockville, MD

Events Calendar: Find details of all upcoming SABR events.
Video Replays: Click here to view video replays of virtual SABR events.

Upcoming Virtual Meetings

December 2: SABR Board of Directors conference call (5:30 p.m. EST)
December 2: Clyde Sukeforth (NH/ME) Chapter meeting with Herm Krabbenhoft (7:00 p.m. EST)
December 4: Baltimore Babe Ruth (MD) Chapter meeting with Charlie Vascellaro (7:00 p.m. EST)
December 4: Joint SABR chapter meeting: John Racanelli (7:00 p.m. EST)
December 5: Pacific Northwest Chapter meeting (7:00 p.m. PST)
December 7: Bob Davids (DC) Chapter Talkin’ Baseball: Erik Sherman (9:00 a.m. EST)
December 7: Hank Gowdy Columbus (OH) Chapter meeting (9:30 a.m. EST)
December 7: Jack Graney (OH) Chapter book club meeting with Scott Longert (10:00 a.m. EST)
December 8: Clyde Sukeforth (NH/ME) Chapter meeting (7:00 p.m. EST)

Upcoming In-Person Meetings

November 30: Lajoie-Start Southern New England Chapter meeting (Greenville, RI)
December 4: Buck O’Neil/North Florida Chapter meeting (Tallahassee, FL)
December 4: Bob Broeg St. Louis Chapter fellowship meeting (St. Louis, MO)
December 7: East Tennessee Chapter meeting (Knoxville, TN)
December 7: Dayton Chapter book club meeting (Dayton, OH)
December 7: Halsey Hall Chapter book club meeting (Roseville, MN)
December 7: Sebring-Stovey Williamsport Chapter meeting (Williamsport, PA)

To add your SABR event to our calendar listings, please contact Jacob Pomrenke.

Origins: November 2024 newsletter

Sign up for SABR research committee announcements at SABR.org/research/committees.

Boston Chapter: November 20 meeting recap (Boston, MA)
Juan Marichal Chapter: November 22 meeting recap (Santo Domingo, DOM)

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:

Jay Jaffe: JAWS and the 2025 Hall of Fame Ballot: Ichiro Suzuki (FanGraphs)
Daniel Kramer: Could Ichiro become the Hall of Fame’s first unanimous position player? (MLB.com)
Eno Sarris: The book on Blake Snell doesn’t have it completely right (The Athletic)
Michael Clair: Meet the dancing, joyful slugger at the heart of Samurai Japan’s greatness (MLB.com)
Sarah Langs: The 7 oddest stat lines for winning pitchers in 2024 (MLB.com)
Mark Simon: Who Were 2024’s Most Overachieving Hitters? (Sports Info Solutions)
Alex Speier: What might happen if the Red Sox land Juan Soto? And what could happen if they don’t? (Boston Globe)
Davy Andrews: An Arm Angle Update That Ends With a Mystery (FanGraphs)
Jayson Stark: Buster Posey, Giants ‘excited’ about possible Madison Bumgarner reunion (The Athletic)
Daniel R. Epstein: Rōki Sasaki, Brought to You By Institutional Failures (Baseball Prospectus)
Michael Baumann: The New Adventures of Old First Basemen (FanGraphs)
David Laurila: Tyler Holton Deserved His Down-Ballot MVP Vote (FanGraphs)
Nick Faris: The forgotten league that united baseball and hockey icons (The Score)
Paul Hoynes: Former slugger, ‘The Beeg Mon’ Rico Carty, dead at 85 (Cleveland.com)
Patrick Dubuque: Wilbur Wood: The Last Pitcher (Baseball Prospectus)
Lewie Pollis: Billy Wagner and the Myth of the Failed Starter (Lewsletter)
Johnny Haynes: Two Black baseball greats on Hall ballot (Negro Leagues Up Close)
Jeff Cohen/Len Aberman: Baseball and BBQ interview with Keith O’Brien (Baseball and BBQ)

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.

Are you receiving our e-mails? “This Week in SABR” goes out by e-mail to all members on Friday afternoons. If they’re not showing up, try adding “sabr.notes@sabr.org” to your contact list to ensure they show up in your inbox.

Originally published: November 27, 2024. Last Updated: November 27, 2024.

Search the Research Collection

SABR Analytics Conference