SABR 50: Featured Speakers
Learn more about our featured speakers and panelists at SABR 50 below.
Mark Armour is an award-winning baseball historian and co-writer of the Major League Baseball Players Association’s official history. His newest book, Intentional Balk with Dan Levitt, chronicles the history of cheating in baseball. In 2002, he led the formation of SABR’s Baseball Biography Project and he served as the BioProject director until 2016. He was the recipient of the Bob Davids Award in 2008 and the Henry Chadwick Award in 2014. He has served as President of SABR’s Board of Directors since 2019.
Greg Bader is the Senior Vice President of Administration & Experience for the Baltimore Orioles, where he oversees all administrative and service functions of the club and all facets of the Camden Yards experience, including ballpark operations, customer service, broadcasting, and brand marketing. He has been a member of the organization since 1994, most recently serving as Vice President of Communications & Marketing from 2012 to 2019 until taking on his current role. He serves on the Board of Directors for Baltimore Convention and Tourism and is chair of the Marketing & Communications Committee for Visit Baltimore.
Mike Bordick spent 14 years as a shortstop in the major leagues from 1990 to 2003 and he was elected to the Baltimore Orioles Hall of Fame in 2011. While playing for the Orioles from 1997 to 2002, he was one of the best defensive players in club history, setting records for most consecutive error-less games and chances at shortstop, and making the American League All-Star team in 2000. Following his retirement, he spent nine seasons as an Orioles broadcaster with MASN and graduated with a degree in physical education and kinesiology from the University of Maine, where he led the Bears to two College World Series berths in the 1980s. He currently serves as Chairman of the Board for League of Dreams, a Maryland nonprofit that provides sports programs to people of all ages with special needs.
Tyrone Brooks is the Senior Director of MLB’s Front Office & Field Staff Diversity Pipeline Program, which was established to identify, develop and grow the pool of qualified minority and female candidates for on-field and baseball operations positions throughout the industry. Prior to joining MLB, he worked in the Pittsburgh Pirates front office from 2009 to 2015, most recently as Director of Player Personnel. He began his career in baseball with the Atlanta Braves in 1996 and spent 11 years with the team before moving on to the Cleveland Indians. He is also the founder of the Baseball Industry Network, which covers the full gamut of people working in industry of baseball. He served on the SABR Board of Directors from 2019 to 2021.
Kevin Brown is in his first season as the Baltimore Orioles’ lead television play-by-play voice and his fourth season overall with the team. He also serves as a play-by-play commentator for several college sports across ESPN networks. From 2010 to 2017, he was the director of broadcasting and media relations for the Syracuse Chiefs, the Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. He graduated from the Newhouse School at Syracuse University.
Joe Castiglione is in his 40th season as a broadcaster for the Boston Red Sox radio network, the longest tenure of any announcer in the franchise’s storied history. Prior to coming to Boston, Castiglione called games in Cleveland and Milwaukee. He taught classes in broadcast journalism at Northeastern University and other schools for 29 years and since 1990 he has also served as a Jimmy Fund staff member in fundraising. He is the author of two books, Broadcast Rites and Sites and Can You Believe It, 30 Years Inside Red Sox Baseball. He was inducted into the Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2014.
Dan Connolly is a senior writer covering the Baltimore Orioles for The Athletic. Previously, Dan was senior writer and editor for BaltimoreBaseball.com, a website he co-created in 2016, and writer for the Baltimore Sun.
Judy Pace Flood, a pioneering African American actress whose TV and film credits include Peyton Place, The Young Lawyers, and Brian’s Song, was by Curt Flood’s side as he challenged Major League Baseball’s reserve clause all the way to the US Supreme Court in the late 1960s and ’70s. Following his self-imposed exile and return to America, Curt and Judy married in 1986 and were together until his death in 1997. She has spent recent years ensuring that Curt’s courage and sacrifice are never forgotten, and championing her late husband’s election to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Mike Gibbons is the Director Emeritus and Historian at the Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum, where he has worked since 1982. During his tenure as Executive Director from 1982 to 2017, he helped build the museum into a nationally recognized tourist attraction, expanded its offerings to include more Maryland sports history, and oversaw the development of the Sports Legends Museum at Camden Yards. He has served as President of the International Sports Heritage Association and the Greater Baltimore History Alliance. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Maryland State Athletic Hall of Fame.
Jennifer Grondahl is the Senior Vice President of Community Development & Communications for the Baltimore Orioles, where she focuses on building and maintaining relationships with partners, community leaders, civic organizations, fans, and the media to enhance the club’s community outreach efforts. She also oversees the organization’s community and philanthropic initiatives, as well as the Orioles Charitable Foundation. Prior to joining the organization in 2018, she served as Founder/President of Maestro Marketing & Events. She was also the President of the YMCA Foundation of Sarasota, Inc. from 2013-16, and the Executive Director of the American Cancer Society from 2002-04. She holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Bethany College in West Virginia and received her certificate in fundraising management from Indiana University’s Lilly Family School of Philanthropy in 2016.
Bill Jenkinson is the author of The Year Babe Ruth Hit 104 Home Runs and several other books on baseball. He is the top expert on the history of long-distance home runs, and he has consulted for projects with the Baseball Hall of Fame, Major League Baseball, the Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum, ESPN, and many other organizations.
Tim Kurkjian joined ESPN in March 1998 as both a reporter for Baseball Tonight and a senior writer. He continues to provide insight and analysis through his writing as well as regular appearances on Baseball Tonight and SportsCenter. He also is a regular analyst in the booth for ESPN’s national television games and is a staple in ESPN’s Little League World Series coverage. He has authored three books, including most recently I’m Fascinated by Sacrifice Flies in 2016. He covered the Baltimore Orioles for the Baltimore Sun beginning in 1986 before moving on to Sports Illustrated from 1989 to 1997. He is a native of Bethesda, Maryland, and a graduate of the University of Maryland.
Larry Lucchino served as President of the Baltimore Orioles from 1989 to 1993, when he oversaw the building of Oriole Park at Camden Yards. He also has served as President and CEO with the San Diego Padres (1995-2001), where he spearheaded the opening of Petco Park, and the Boston Red Sox (2002-2015), with whom he won three World Series championships. He is currently Chairman/Principal Owner of the Worcester Red Sox.
Sig Mejdal is the Baltimore Orioles’ Vice President and Assistant General Manager, where he oversees all aspects of the club’s growing analytics efforts while assisting GM Mike Elias in all manner of baseball operations decisions. He spent six seasons working in the Houston Astros front office and contributed to the Astros’ 2017 World Series championship, and also worked for the St. Louis Cardinals for seven seasons. Prior to his baseball career, he worked for NASA as a biomathematician and first joined SABR at 12 years old before earning his bachelor’s degrees in mechanical engineering and aeronautical engineering from the University of California at Davis and master’s degrees in operations research and cognitive psychology from San Jose State University.
Boog Powell is one of the most beloved Baltimore Orioles players in the team’s storied history. He played first base for 17 major-league seasons from 1961 to 1977, winning two World Series championships with the O’s in 1966 and ’70. He earned American League MVP honors in 1970 and finished his career with 339 home runs. Since 1992, when the Orioles began playing at Camden Yards, he has operated Boog’s BBQ on Eutaw Street, a must-visit attraction for any baseball fan.
Eve Rosenbaum is the Assistant General Manager, Baseball Operations, for the Baltimore Orioles, where she oversees roster management, transactions, financial planning, and major league operations and administration, while continuing to play a key role in player evaluation and acquisition across the pro and amateur markets. Before she was named to her current role in June 2020, she was the team’s Director of Baseball Development. Previously, she spent five seasons with the Houston Astros, most recently serving as the club’s Manager of International Scouting. She also worked for the National Football League from 2012 to 2015 as Manager of Business Intelligence and Optimization. She earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a minor in philosophy from Harvard University and was a catcher on the Crimson varsity softball team.
Nicole Sherry is in her second season as the Baltimore Orioles’ Director of Field Operations after spending the previous 14 seasons as the team’s Head Groundskeeper. In 2006, she became the second woman ever to serve as the head groundskeeper with a major-league team, joining Heather Nabozny of the Detroit Tigers. From 2001 to 2003, she served as the Orioles’ Assistant Head Groundskeeper before spending three seasons with the Double-A Trenton Thunder in the New York Yankees organization. She holds a bachelor’s degree in agriculture from the University of Delaware.
Janet Marie Smith is the Executive Vice President of Planning and Development for the Los Angeles Dodgers, where since 2012 she has overseen the renovations to Dodger Stadium. She is well known in baseball for her work on Oriole Park at Camden Yards, which set the standard for a new wave of ballparks after its opening in 1992 and her oversight of renovations at Fenway Park for the Boston Red Sox from 2002-09. She worked on the transformation of Ed Smith Stadium for the Baltimore Orioles spring training home in Sarasota in 2011 and for the Atlanta Braves’ conversion of the 1996 Olympic Stadium to Turner Field. She is trained as an architect and urban planner and recently served as the Edward P. Bass Fellow at the Yale University School of Architecture. Her work outside of sports has included projects such as Battery Park City in New York and the revitalization of Baltimore’s waterfront.
Brad Snyder is a Georgetown University law professor and Guggenheim fellow who teaches constitutional law, sports law, and twentieth century American legal history. He has written books and law review articles about the history of the Supreme Court, including his forthcoming title, Democratic Justice: Felix Frankfurter, the Supreme Court, and the Making of the Liberal Establishment. Prior to law teaching, he worked as an associate at Williams & Connolly LLP and wrote two critically acclaimed books about baseball, including A Well-Paid Slave: Curt Flood’s Fight for Free Agency in Professional Sports. He is a graduate of Duke University and Yale Law School, and he clerked for the Hon. Dorothy W. Nelson on the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Joe Spear is a founder of Populous and one of the most acclaimed designers of sports facilities around the world. He was the design team lead for Oriole Park at Camden Yards, and has worked on 10 other MLB ballparks in the past three decades, including Progressive Field in Cleveland, which earned a National AIA Honor Award. He was selected for the VenuesNow Hall of Honor and a fellow of the American Institute of Architects. He has also been named one of the most influential people in baseball by USA Today, Baseball America, and Sports Business Journal.
Charles Steinberg is a Baltimore native who has worked in baseball for more than 40 years with the Orioles, San Diego Padres, Boston Red Sox, and now the Worcester Red Sox, where he has served as President since 2015. He started his career with his hometown Orioles, rising in 19 years from intern to head of public relations. He was Hall of Fame manager Earl Weaver’s statistician for six years and continued with manager Joe Altobelli through the Orioles’ 1983 World Series season. He created the club’s first video department in 1985, and its first customer service department in 1993, all while earning his undergraduate degree from the University of Maryland and his doctorate from Maryland’s dental school. It was with the Orioles in 1979 that he first worked with his longtime friend and mentor, Larry Lucchino, whom he followed to San Diego, Boston, Pawtucket, and now Worcester.
Bill Stetka has worked for his hometown Baltimore Orioles for the past 27 years and has been Director of Orioles Alumni since 2008. In 2022, he was also named the club’s official Team Historian. He has worked in the communications industry for more than four decades, including positions in media, public relations, and marketing. He began his professional career as a sportswriter for the Baltimore News American and later served as an official scorer for Major League Baseball for nine years before joining the Orioles front office staff. He attended his first Orioles game in 1961.
Shakeia Taylor is a Deputy Senior Content Editor at the Chicago Tribune and a Chicago-based baseball historian. She hosts a live virtual monthly event, SABR’s Ballpark Figures, where she interviews interesting figures from throughout the baseball world. Her work has appeared at SB Nation, FanGraphs, Baseball Prospectus, MLB.com, Yahoo! Sports, and other outlets. She was a recipient of the 2021 SABR Analytics Conference Research Award for historical baseball analysis/commentary.
Lisa Tolson is Senior Vice President of Human Resources for the Baltimore Orioles. She has spent 37 years in the organization and was named to her current role in May 2019. She began her career with the organization in group sales, before transitioning to finance and eventually finding a home in human resources. She received her professional certification through the Society for Human Resources Management in 2001 and her SHRM-CP certification in 2015. She also serves on the Board of Directors for the Brandon Tolson Foundation, which offers support to families after the sudden and tragic loss of a child.
For more information on SABR 50, visit SABR.org/convention.