Join us for the SABR 48 convention this week in Pittsburgh!
The most passionate and knowledgeable baseball fans in the world are coming to the Steel City this week!
Register today for SABR 48 to join us on June 20-24, 2018, at the Wyndham Grand hotel in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Find the full convention schedule online at SABR.org/convention/sabr48-schedule.
All baseball fans are welcome to attend; full conference registration and single-day registration is available at SABR.org/convention or on-site at the Wyndham Grand beginning on Wednesday, June 20.
SABR 48 will be highlighted by these innovative and interesting panel discussions, which will all be held at the Wyndham Grand hotel:
- Opening Remarks: Frank Coonelly: Pittsburgh Pirates president Frank Coonelly will be on hand to deliver the opening remarks at SABR 48. 9:30 a.m., Thursday, June 21
- The Great One: The Life and Legacy of Roberto Clemente: Panelists include Duane Rieder, Executive Director and Curator of the Roberto Clemente Museum; and Danny Torres, LatinoSports.com and LaVidaBaseball.com writer. Moderator: Adrian Burgos Jr., Editor-in-Chief of La Vida Baseball and author of Playing America’s Game: Baseball, Latinos, and the Color Line. 10:30 a.m., Thursday, June 21
- Wendell Smith of the Pittsburgh Courier: His Life and Legacy: Panelists include Chris Lamb, professor of journalism at Indiana University-Indianapolis and author of Conspiracy of Silence: Sportswriters and the Campaign to End Segregated Baseball; Larry Lester, chair of SABR’s Negro Leagues Research Committee and author of nine books on baseball history; Pamela E. Walck, media professor at Duquesne University and author of an upcoming book on the Pittsburgh Courier; and David K. Wiggins, professor at George Mason University and author of the upcoming book, More than a Game: A History of the African American Experience in Sport. 3:00 p.m., Thursday, June 21
- Media Panel: Panelists include Steve Blass, Pittsburgh Pirates color commentator and former major-league pitcher; Joe Block, Pittsburgh Pirates play-by-play announcer; Greg Brown, Pittsburgh Pirates play-by-play announcer; Lanny Frattare, the longest-tenured broadcaster in Pittsburgh Pirates history. Moderator: Curt Smith, author and baseball broadcasting historian. 9:00 a.m., Friday, June 22. Please note: The Media Panel will serve as this year’s annual Baseball and the Media Committee meeting at the SABR 48 convention.
- Pirates Player Panel: Panelists include former Pirates pitchers and 1979 World Series champions John Candelaria and Grant Jackson. Moderator: Joe Block, Pirates broadcaster. 9:15 a.m., Saturday, June 23
- Branch Rickey: The Pittsburgh Pirates Years: Panelists include Dick Groat, 1960 NL MVP and World Series champion with the Pirates; Jeffrey Flannery, who oversees the “Branch Rickey Papers” at the Library of Congress; Jack Bowen, son of legendary Pirates scout Rex Bowen. Moderator: Lee Lowenfish, author of Branch Rickey: The Ferocious Gentleman. 1:00 p.m., Saturday, June 23
We’ll also have some special guest speakers at our research committee meetings, including:
- Dick Bosman, former major-league pitcher and co-author of Dick Bosman on Pitching: Lessons from the Life of a Major League Ballplayer and Pitching Coach
- Bob Webb and Evan Pattak, Pittsburgh Pirates official scorers
- Tom Shieber, Senior Curator at the National Baseball Hall of Fame Library and a 2018 Henry Chadwick Award recipient
- Herm Krabbenhoft, Deadball Era researcher
- Jim Leeke, author of From the Dugouts to the Trenches: Baseball During the Great War, 2018 Larry Ritter Book Award winner
- Clem Axel Paredes, Cuban writer and tour operator on Hall of Famer Cristóbal Torriente
- Anne Keene, author of The Cloudbuster Nine: The Untold Story of Ted Williams and the Baseball Team That Helped Win World War II
- Perry Barber, winner of the 2018 Dorothy Seymour Mills Lifetime Achievement Award for women in baseball
On Friday, June 22, SABR will present “A Day at the Ballpark” before the Pittsburgh Pirates game on Friday, June 22 at PNC Park. The pregame ballpark session will be held from 2:30-4:30 p.m. that afternoon at PNC Park, followed by the game that night between the Pirates and the Diamondbacks. Our guest speakers are expected to include:
- Neal Huntington, Executive Vice President/General Manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates
- Dan Fox, Senior Director of Baseball Informatics of the Pittsburgh Pirates
- Joe Block, Pittsburgh Pirates play-by-play announcer
- Thomas E. Kennedy, former project executive, Sports & Exhibition Authority of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County
Purchase of SABR 48 conference registration (full or single-day rates) AND a game ticket will be required to attend this special session. Guests and spouses can get in the ballpark early with purchase of a special SABR 48 Ballpark Session pass ($25) and a Pirates game ticket. Click here for more details.
At SABR 48, there also will be 32 groundbreaking presentations of baseball research — including studies of all aspects of baseball past and present, from Honus Wagner and Forbes Field to the Negro Leagues’ Homestead Grays and Pittsburgh Crawfords to modern pace-of-play concerns, MLB Statcast, and much more.
As always, there’s the highly competitive and entertaining SABR Trivia Contest finals on Saturday night, not to mention informed and opinionated baseball talk all week long with new and old friends that you’ll meet during the convention.
Visit SABR.org/convention to learn more about SABR 48.
Originally published: June 17, 2018. Last Updated: June 17, 2018.