SABR 53: Research Presentations
Learn more about our SABR 53 research presentations on this page. Click here to learn more about the poster presentations on display at SABR 53. Abstracts and presenter bios are available below.
Visit SABR.org/convention for more coverage of the 2025 SABR convention. All baseball fans are welcome to attend SABR 53.
Thursday, June 26
10:00-10:25 a.m. (Trinity 1-5)
RP01: The Death of a League: The Fall of the American Association, 1952-1962
John Bauer
Though others have called themselves by a similar name, the American Association under discussion here lasted for 60 years, from 1902 through 1962. Based in the Midwest, it played in the largest (non-MLB) cities and at the highest level of the minor leagues. After a half-century of success and stability, the Association began to collapse after 1952, as many of its flagship cities became expansion or relocation franchises. Often overshadowed in the baseball literature by the Pacific Coast League, the story of the American Association’s demise has not previously been fully researched.
John Bauer (jwbauer72@gmail.com) resides with his wife and two children (with one now at college) in Bedford, New Hampshire. By day, he is general counsel of an insurance group headquartered in Manchester, New Hampshire, with specialties in corporate and regulatory law. By night, he spends many spring and summer evenings staying up too late to watch the San Francisco Giants, and he is a year-round avid reader of baseball, history, and baseball history. He is a past and ongoing contributor to various SABR projects.
10:00-10:25 a.m. (Irving Lecture Hall)
RP02: Heroes Get Remembered, But Legends Never Die: Properly Recognizing the Contributions of Negro League Veterans
Brenden Gilbreath
In May 2024, MLB and the MLB Players Association (MLBPA) unveiled the Negro League Financial Assistance Plan with the stated goal of recognizing the contributions of Negro League athletes to the game of baseball. The plan is designed to benefit those who played in the Leagues and are still alive. Unfortunately, the plan is written such that only two players are currently eligible. Gilbreath argues that the only way to achieve MLB’s goal is to allow Negro League veterans’ families to access this plan, and proposes a joint partnership between MLB and the MLBPA to award annual benefits to the families of those who have passed, similar to those already made available to MLB alumni.
Brenden Gilbreath (gilbreathbrenden@gmail.com) is a law student at Texas Tech School of Law. His submission comes from an article published in the State Bar of Texas Sports & Entertainment Law Journal and the Estate Planning & Community Property Law Journal. He is a second-year law student from the tiny ranching town of Fayetteville, Texas. Having served as the Vice President of Texas Tech Law’s Sports Law Society and working with the Texas Tech Athletic Department, Brenden hopes to transition into sports law and litigation in the Dallas-Fort Worth area after law school.
10:30-10:55 a.m. (Trinity 1-5)
RP03: How the 1910 Athletics Got Babe Ruth Suspended (Sort of)
Chris Betsch
Babe Ruth and two teammates were suspended by the newly-appointed baseball commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis at the beginning of the 1922 season, because of a barnstorming tour after the 1921 World Series. But why was that against the rules? As Betsch explains, it arose out of embarrassment from an unsuccessful Athletics trip to Cuba in 1910. The reason for the rule, and the manner in which its application shifted over the next decade is the topic of this presentation.
Chris Betsch (cbbetsch@gmail.com) has been a SABR member since 2019. He and his family reside in New Albany, Indiana, and he is a member of the Pee Wee Reese Chapter in Louisville, Kentucky. Chris has written several SABR Bios and Games Projects, as well as articles for the newsletters of the Minor Leagues and Deadball Eras committees. He has contributed to SABR publications including The 1939 Baltimore Elite Giants and When Minor League Baseball Almost Went Bust.
10:30-10:55 a.m. (Irving Lecture Hall)
RP04: The Legacy and Future of Baseball in Fort Worth
Jude Butler
Butler discusses the legacy of baseball in Fort Worth, looking at early ball, including LaGrave Field, the Fort Worth Cats, the Fort Worth Black Panthers, and prominent African American players. He discusses the grand plans the city of Fort Worth has for a riverwalk district that include the demolition of LaGrave Field. He has worked with the city of Fort Worth on creating a historic landmark, and will also discuss his recent efforts to revive the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame. His ultimate goal is to create a permanent museum space and shares his journey with the Houston SABR chapter piecing together what happened to the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame and meeting with other museum directors, including those from the Kansas Baseball Hall of Fame.
Jude Butler (judeabutler@gmail.com) grew up in Fort Worth and began his journey in baseball history researching the Fort Worth Cats while in high school. This spring, he finished his master’s degree in history at the University of Kansas, where he researched the history of baseball in Lawrence, Kansas. His senior thesis, “More than a Sport: Early Developments of Baseball in Lawrence, Kansas” is featured in the Spring 2025 publication of the SABR Baseball Research Journal. This summer, Butler is moving back to Fort Worth to continue his research on Texas baseball history and reestablish the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame.
11:00-11:25 a.m. (Trinity 1-5)
RP05: Baysball: the Giants, the A’s and the 1989 Earthquake Series
Robert F. Garratt
The prospect of the 1989 World Series as a dramatic matchup seemed certain: the Oakland A’s, a seasoned postseason team and winners of back-to-back American League pennants, against their regional rival, the upstart San Francisco Giants, who hadn’t won the National League pennant in 27 years. Playing only 9 miles apart by water, this was a West Coast version of New York’s many “subway series.” The Series was expected to be a battle between the A’s Bash Brothers Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire, and Giants sluggers Will Clark and Kevin Mitchell. Instead, the power surge came from the massive Loma Prieta earthquake that struck shortly before Game Three started. Garratt explores how owners and officials of the team, MLB, and the respective cities worked through the crisis and finally restarted the World Series 10 days later.
Robert F. Garratt (garrattrf@gmail.com) is an Emeritus Professor of English and Humanities at the University of Puget Sound where he served as the university’s first Dolliver Distinguished Professor of Humanities and as Director of the Humanities Program. He has written widely on modern Irish literature and history. He is a contributing author in a number of SABR publications including the BioProject and the Team Ownership Histories. He has also published in NINE, the journal on baseball and culture. He is the author of Home Team: The Turbulent History of the San Francisco Giants (2017) and Jazz Age Giant: Charles A. Stoneham & New York City Baseball in the Roaring Twenties (2023). He lives on Whidbey Island with his wife, Sally.
11:00-11:25 a.m. (Irving Lecture Hall)
RP06: Gone But Not Forgotten: A Tour of Lost Dallas/Fort Worth Professional Ballparks of the 20th Century
Tom Bowen
In their 50-plus years in the Dallas Metroplex, the Rangers have called three ballparks home. But professional baseball has been in Dallas and Fort Worth much longer than that, and there were numerous other fields that hosted baseball in the 20th century—none of which are still standing. Marshalling newspaper accounts and information from local (non-baseball) historians, Bowen has gathered stories and pictures that illustrate the rich history of those ballparks and the people who brought cheers and boos to them.
Tom Bowen (tbowen@websiteoptimizers.com) is a member of the Banks-Bragan SABR Chapter in Dallas/Fort Worth. He is a Digital Marketing consultant helping small and medium-sized businesses nationally. A contributor to the SABR BioProject and an avid baseball card collector, he often finds himself spending hours getting lost inside Baseball-Reference.com or Newspapers.com unearthing interesting baseball stories.
11:30-11:55 a.m. (Trinity 1-5)
RP07: From the Sublime to the Ridiculous: The Ownerships of the (Oakland) Athletics, 1980-2025
Steve Treder
In the 45 years since Charlie Finley sold the club, the erstwhile Oakland Athletics have won a World Series and lost two others; they have reached the postseason 12 other times. While displaying some on-field success, however, their ownership has devolved from the exemplary Haas family to John Fisher. Their stewardship of their stadium became so awful that they eventually decamped from Oakland to a minor league ballpark, and their plan to move to Las Vegas appears sketchy at best. In this presentation, Bay Area baseball scholar Treder details the downward spiral of a once-proud franchise.
Steve Treder (stevet@wmgnet.com) is the author of the Seymour Medal-winning biography Forty Years a Giant: The Life of Horace Stoneham. His next book, a history of the Giants and Athletics in the San Francisco Bay Area, will be published soon. Steve wrote a weekly column on baseball history for The Hardball Times for more than 10 years. He has presented his work many times at the Cooperstown Symposium, the NINE Spring Training Conference, and the SABR National Convention. But still: When he grows up, he intends to play center field for the San Francisco Giants.
11:30-11:55 a.m. (Irving Lecture Hall)
RP08: The Texas League Controversy of 1914
Eric Bynum
The Waco Navigators won three consecutive Class B Texas League titles from 1914-1916. Bynum focuses on the first of their titles, shared with the Houston Buffaloes. Houston was accused of delaying the last game of the season until it was too dark to play, allowing it to win the title by percentage points over Waco. The league Commissioner ultimately made a decision that eventually led to Houston and Waco having the same record and sharing the title. Bynum explores what led to this decision, while touching on the rather brief major league career of the Navigators’ Harvey Grubb.
Eric Bynum (esbynum@gmail.com) has been a die-hard Atlanta Braves fan in Texas since the 1980s thanks to WTBS. A history teacher by trade, he loves to travel the world and see baseball in as many places as possible. He is taking a break from his PhD to work on writing about baseball once again and plans on continuing to research the teams of the Big State League, especially the teams of Temple, Texas, where he grew up.
Friday, June 27
8:30-8:55 a.m. (Trinity 1-5)
RP09: Julio, Ichiro, Miñoso, and … Carrillo? Professional Baseball’s 4,000 Hit Club
Adam Darowski, Scott Simkus, and Von Spalding
Only two players have collected 4,000 career hits in the American major leagues. Many more, however, have reached that benchmark if we include the postseason, minor leagues, international competitions, winter leagues, and other professional leagues. Darowski, Simkus, and Spalding have enumerated over 20 players who meet their criteria for total hits in professional baseball. Some, like Ichiro, Miñoso, and Julio Franco, are well known for their accomplishments in many settings, but other names will surprise attendees.
Adam Darowski (ad@sports-reference.com) is the Executive Director of Design for Sports Reference, makers of Baseball Reference, Immaculate Grid, Stathead, and more. He created the Hall of Stats in 2012, joined SABR in 2013, and is currently focused on Negro Leagues and Latin American baseball research.
SABR member Scott Simkus created a Negro League card set for the Strat-O-Matic Game Company in 2009. His first book, Outsider Baseball: The Weird World of Hardball on the Fringe, was published in 2014. A member of the award-winning Seamheads Negro Leagues Database team, Simkus’s statistical research is now part of the official Major League record.
Von Spalding is an independent baseball researcher based in Georgia. He started work on the global professional leaderboards in 2023 and is currently seeking minor league and Puerto Rican winter league post season, Caribbean Series and Inter-American Series statistics.
8:30-8:55 a.m. (Irving Lecture Hall)
RP10: Don’t Forget Harry Heilmann!
John Nogowski
Ted Williams – unsatisfied with rounding-up from .3996 to .400 – went 6-for-8 on the last day of 1941. But he’s hardly the only player to perform final-day batting title heroics. Tigers outfielder Harry Heilmann won two of his four batting titles – each time overtaking at least one competitor — by putting up huge numbers on the last day of the season. Nogowski recounts the events, and the well-known players involved, at the end of 1925 and 1927.
John Nogowski (soxgreateight@yahoo.com) is a retired author, former educator and sportswriter. He has written eight books, two on baseball, including his most recent, Diamond Duels. He has written extensively on sports, music (three books on Bob Dylan), teaching, politics and currently writes a Substack. He currently is working on a book on Neil Young. His name may sound familiar as his son played in the major leagues for the St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates, and was briefly a Yinzer folk hero in Pittsburgh. They are still selling his jersey there.
9:00-9:25 a.m. (Trinity 1-5)
RP11: The Influence of Bat Speed and Swing Length on Fouling Off 2-Strike Pitches: A Bayesian Causal Analysis
Ebenezer Olubayode
Bat speed and swing length have long been recognized as key factors in hitting success, influencing contact quality and launch angles. Olubayode applies newly available Statcast data tracking bat speed and swing length to take a fresh look at plate discipline in high-pressure counts. He uses Bayesian causal inference rather than machine learning to estimate fouling probability in two-strike counts, using batter mechanics, pitch characteristics and game context as predictors. He also models interaction effects among these variables to evaluate their combined impact on plate protection, reaching surprisingly specific results.
Ebenezer Olubayode (olubayodeeben@gmail.com) is a sports data analyst with expertise in baseball analytics, scouting, player evaluation, and sports business strategy. Growing up in Nigeria, where baseball opportunities were scarce, he developed a deep understanding of the game through independent research and statistical analysis. He holds SABR, Rapsodo, and professional scouting certifications. At the University of Oklahoma, he teaches fitness courses and works with the Sooners softball team, tracking offensive play calls, assessing batter-pitcher matchups, and optimizing lineups. His research focuses on statistical Bayesian modeling, biomechanics, and injury prevention, and he has presented at the SABR Analytics Conference and Sabermetrics: Scouting & Science of Baseball Conference.
9:00-9:25 a.m. (Irving Lecture Hall)
RP12: Gavy Cravath: His Time is Now
Rick Reiff
Was Gavy Cravath actually a superstar, doomed to be overshadowed by the advent of the lively ball and the large shadow of Babe Ruth’s personality? Reiff summons up metrics unknown in Cravath’s time, and describes the very different world of professional baseball during the Deadball Era, to support his case for reconsidering the man’s career. Cravath was the first player to hit at least 100 homers in both the minors and the majors. Though chiefly known for his Baker Bowl home run prowess, Reiff notes that others had the same opportunities there but were unable to do so, and that his road home run totals were not dissimilar from those of other deadball sluggers.
Rick Reiff (rr@rickreiff.com) is editor-at-large of the Orange County Business Journal and a host and producer of public affairs programs. He has covered Southern California for 35 years in print and on air. He was lead reporter on the Akron (Ohio) Beacon Journal team that won the 1987 Pulitzer Prize for general news reporting. He also was a staff writer at Forbes. He is a four-time Golden Mike winner, three-time Emmy nominee, and 2018 recipient of the Orange County Press Club’s Lifetime Achievement Award. A SABR member since 2018, he roots (usually in vain) for the American League franchises in Chicago, Cleveland, and Anaheim.
9:30-9:55 a.m. (Trinity 1-5)
RP13: How Slow Was Steve Trachsel? How Fast Was Mark Buehrle?
Chris Jaffe
After years of people bemoaning the increasingly slow game pace, MLB recently introduced a pitch clock. This move has been widely hailed and is clearly the most popular move of Rob Manfred’s tenure as commissioner. Jaffe explores polar opposite pre-pitch clock poster boys, the deliberate Steve Trachsel and the fast-working Mark Buehrle. He presents a methodology for determining their approximate paces in 2004, and compares them to other pitchers that year, while also looking for other factors such as whether catchers also impacted pace of play.
Chris Jaffe (jaffechris1@gmail.com) is a community college history professor. He used to write for the late, great website The Hardball Times. In 2010, he wrote the book, Evaluating Baseball’s Managers, that won the Sporting News-SABR Baseball Research Award.
9:30-9:55 a.m. (Irving Lecture Hall)
RP14: Baseball’s Mad Scientist: James E. Bennett
John Racanelli
As baseball equipment technology developed at breakneck speed in the late 19th century, inventors of fielding gloves (and every other baseball-related contrivance) raced to the United States Patent Office to protect their designs, often driven by dreams of fame and fortune. While George Rawlings, Harry Decker, and Bob Reach, offered practical improvements that found acceptance with professional ballplayers, James E. Bennett patented two of the strangest — and most impractical — items of baseball gear ever conceived shortly after the turn of the 20th century. Racanelli offers a historical perspective into the innovation of fielding glove technology and a brief glimpse into the mind of an inventor who seemed to have little notion of how baseball works.
John Racanelli (johnbracanelli@gmail.com) is a Chicago lawyer with an insatiable interest in baseball-related litigation. When not rooting for his beloved Cubs (or working), he is probably reading a baseball book or blog, planning his next baseball trip, or enjoying downtime with his wife and family. He is membership director for the Emil Rothe Chicago Chapter, founder and co-chair of the SABR Baseball Landmarks Research Committee, and a regular contributor to the SABR Baseball Cards Research Committee blog. His series of articles, “Death and Taxes and Baseball Card Litigation,” was a 2023 McFarland-SABR Baseball Research Award winner.
11:00-11:25 a.m. (Trinity 1-5)
RP15: More-Than-One and Done
Neal D. Traven
Every January, the baseball world is abuzz about the BBWAA Hall of Fame election. Who was elected? Which first-year candidates didn’t reach 5% (“one and done”)? Was anyone elected in their last chance, or did they “age out”? Lost amidst these questions are the players who previously got past the initial hurdle and were still eligible; some of those players eventually fall below the 5% threshold and leave the ballot, becoming “more-than-one and done”. Traven’s presentation concerns those players, some of whom stayed on the ballot for years before fading away.
Neal D. Traven, PhD (beisbol0925@gmail.com) has been SABR Board Secretary, Statistical Analysis Committee co-chair, creator of the peer-review system for review and judging of convention presentations, and a SABR member since 1984. In 2023, he won SABR’s highest honor, the Bob Davids Award. A retired epidemiologist, the graduate of Dartmouth and Pitt has written or co-written numerous peer-reviewed research papers. His lifelist includes 49 US states (going to Alaska this year?) and 52 MLB ballparks (adding Globe Life Field here). He and wife Elizabeth Gray reside in West Seattle, enjoying their spectacular view of Puget Sound and Olympic National Park.
11:00-11:25 a.m. (Irving Lecture Hall)
RP16: The Giants in Marlin, 1908-1918
R.J. Lesch
For 11 years, John McGraw took his Giants to tiny Marlin, Texas for spring training. Other clubs had been there previously, none for more than two years. So why did the Giants stay there for over a decade? Lesch uses contemporary data resources to place the Marlin experience (featuring regimens designed by McGraw) in the context of the evolution of spring training practices.
R.J. Lesch (rjlofiowa@gmail.com) is a business analyst living in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He has been a White Sox fan since the Harry Caray days and a SABR member since 1998. He is delighted to be a member of the Deadball Era and Baseball and the Arts committees. R.J. was a co-founder of the Field of Dreams Chapter in Iowa and the Mathewson-Plank Chapter in Central Pennsylvania. He is also an avid fencer and certified fencing coach, his specialty being sabre. This can be confusing to family and friends.
11:30-11:55 a.m. (Trinity 1-5)
RP17: Khris Davis: “Mr. .247”
David Firstman
Consistency in one’s job is an admirable trait. Being able to count on someone to do the same thing year in and year out is comforting. Fans in San Diego rested easy knowing that Tony Gwynn would hit over .300 every year. Cardinal rooters took comfort in the fact that Albert Pujols was good for 30+ homers yearly, and Yankee rooters would be conditioned to expect that Mariano Rivera would save 30 to 40 games each year. The most recent and extreme example of this occurred from 2015-2018, when outfielder Khris Davis hit exactly .247 each year. Firstman details Davis’s year-by-year “pursuit” of this “achievement”, pointing out why it is actually more difficult to hit .247 than, say, .250, and determines the “consecutive seasons with same stat” record-holders while further describing Davis’s unprecedented “pursuit”.
David Firstman (dbfirstman@gmail.com) is a Data Analyst for the city of New York. His research on the history and impact of “Three True Outcomes” won the best poster presentation award at SABR 48, and was included in the SABR 50 at 50 anthology book. His talk on Dan Uggla’s unlikely 33-game hit streak won best oral presentation at SABR 51. He is the author of Hall of Name, a book profiling 100 of the most memorable monikers in baseball history, and is currently working on a book profiling the players with the longest hit streaks since 1941.
11:30-11:55 a.m. (Irving Lecture Hall)
RP18: Billy Martin in Texas
John J. Burbridge Jr.
As he did everywhere he went, Billy Martin played an outsized and eventful role during his tenure running the Texas Rangers. Bob Short hired Martin late in 1973, naming him GM as well as manager. It was Martin who traded for Fergie Jenkins, and he also promoted Mike Hargrove and Jim Sundberg from the farm system. Short sold the club in 1974, and even though he was no longer the GM, Martin led the Rangers to 84 wins that year. But the clock was ticking on Billy, and his self-destructive behavior got him fired in July 1975. As Burbridge recounts, managing the Rangers was Billy Martin’s controversial career in microcosm.
John J. Burbridge Jr. (burbridg@elon.edu) is a Professor Emeritus at Elon University where he was both a dean and professor. While at Elon he introduced and taught Baseball and Statistics. He has authored several SABR publications and presented at SABR conventions, the NINE Spring Training Conference, and the Seymour Medal Conference meetings. He is a lifelong New York Giants baseball fan. The greatest Giants-Dodgers game he attended was a 1-0 Giants’ victory in Jersey City in 1956. Yes, the Dodgers did play in Jersey City in 1956 and 1957.
Saturday, June 28
8:30-8:55 a.m. (Trinity 1-5)
RP19: Al Lopez and the 1925 Florida State League Championship
Mark Panuthos
Most baseball fans know Alfonso Ramon Lopez for his distinguished Major League career as a gifted catcher and a prodigious manager. While his major league career is well-chronicled, Panuthos discusses how Lopez began his baseball career in 1920s Tampa, a relatively small, remote, and ethnically divided city known primarily for cigars and an emergent tourism industry. Born in ethnically and racially divided Tampa, Lopez literally saved professional baseball in Tampa and ultimately was embraced by both halves of the city as Tampa’s first native-born Major Leaguer and the city’s first Hall-of-Famer.
Mark Panuthos (BronxZooSouth@yahoo.com) is the Head of Upper School at Admiral Farragut Academy and an adjunct professor of history at St. Petersburg College. His research has focused on the origins of baseball in the Tampa Bay area and was featured on Baseball From the Beginning: The Origins of Baseball in Tampa Bay, a Major League Baseball production. He earned his BA and MA in American History from the University of Florida and lives in Palm Harbor with his wife (Nicolle), and his daughter (Helena) and son (Niko).
8:30-8:55 a.m. (Irving Lecture Hall)
RP20: The Baseball Portraits of Carl J. Horner, 1902-1909
Stephen V. Rice
At his Boston portrait studio from 1902-09, Swedish immigrant Carl J. Horner expertly photographed hundreds of major leaguers. His iconic photos include the most famous portrait of Honus Wagner and portraits of both stars and obscure players from the Deadball Era. These portraits appeared in baseball guides and on baseball cards of the era, helping to popularize the great American game. Rice discusses Horner’s life and work through his website that displays 450 of Horner’s baseball portraits in a series of online galleries.
Stephen V. Rice, PhD (steve@stephenvrice.com), a member of SABR since 2013, has authored more than 180 articles for the SABR BioProject and Games Project. He is a computer scientist at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital where he develops software that is used for cancer research and diagnosis.
9:00-9:25 a.m. (Trinity 1-5)
RP21: The “Savior” Does Not Answer Letters: Dave Hoskins and the Uneven, Unheralded, and Unfinished Integration of the Texas League
Jason A. Schwartz
We all know about Jackie Robinson. While the integration of the Texas League – and more broadly, organized baseball in Texas – shares many parallels, the various barrier breakers of the Lone Star State remain largely unrecognized, unsung, and even unknown. Between 1951 (Lamesa, Class C West Texas-New Mexico League) and 1955, all but one Texas League club integrated … and the sole holdout franchise folded in 1957. Delving deep into local newspapers, the national Black press, and SABR research, Schwartz lists the pioneers who integrated the Texas League. Attendees will receive trading cards of these heroes!
Jason A. Schwartz (jason.1969@yahoo.com) is a member of the Emil Rothe Chicago Chapter and co-chair of the SABR Baseball Cards Research Committee. His collection of Henry Aaron baseball cards and memorabilia is currently on display at the Atlanta History Center, and his baseball card-inspired artwork can be found at the Honus Wagner Museum and PNC Park.
9:00-9:25 a.m. (Irving Lecture Hall)
RP22: How Gen Z’ers in Korea Sparked a New Era of 10 Million Baseball Fans
Hunhee Cho and Eunwoo Jung
Baseball is hot in Korea! Now drawing nearly 11 million fans, the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) is especially popular among Gen Z Koreans. This boom has really taken off since the end of the COVID pandemic. Under the auspices of Korea’s generational research institute, Cho and Jung have undertaken quantitative and qualitative research protocols to investigate this phenomenon. They draw insights from these efforts, some of which might be applicable to MLB and Japanese baseball.
Hunhee Cho (chohunheearsenal@gmail.com) served until recently as the President of YAGONGSO, South Korea’s largest baseball academic community. He organized Conference: NEW ERA, a forum for discussing changes in Korean baseball. Based on interviews with 55 Gen Z female baseball fans, he published the book Beyond the Fence.
Eunwoo Jung leads the Univ Tomorrow youth marketing company, the first and only organization in Korea focused on the 20s demographic. He has been analyzing changes in the values and insights of people in their 20s, both in Korea and globally, for 20 years.
9:30-9:55 a.m. (Trinity 1-5)
RP23: The Great Negro League Home Run Log
Alan Cohen
The documentation of Negro League home runs is, at this point, in its infancy. The enormity of documenting player-by-player, date-by-date, and ballpark-by-ballpark home runs goes far beyond the documentation of home runs in the AL/NL majors. Josh Gibson alone homered in at least 114 different ballparks. Cohen starts by looking at major league parks used by Negro League teams, and reviews minor league and exclusively Negro League parks as well, providing details about interesting homers along the way.
Alan Cohen (adc0317@comcast.net) has been a SABR member since 2011. He chairs the BioProject fact-checking team, serves as Vice President-Treasurer of the Connecticut Smoky Joe Wood Chapter, and is a datacaster (MiLB stringer) with the Eastern League’s Hartford Yard Goats, the Class AA affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. He also works with the Retrosheet Negro Leagues project and has served on SABR’s Negro Leagues Committee. His biographies, game stories, and essays have appeared in more than 80 baseball-related publications. He has four children, nine grandchildren, and one great-grandchild, and resides in Connecticut with wife Frances, their cats Zoe and Ava, and their dog Buddy.
9:30-9:55 a.m. (Irving Lecture Hall)
RP24: Dying to Diehard: Growing Fan Identification Through Gamification
Allison Levin
We hear all levels of fandom and media having conversations about whether baseball is dying amongst the younger generations. It seems like everyone from the Commissioner, players, broadcasters, and fans have ideas on how to make the game more accessible and bring in younger fans. Levin examines one of those means to build fan identification and fan culture — gamification. She hypothesizes that much like what we historically observed with fantasy baseball, marketing to young fans through technology-enabled methods will increase consumption capital, which will lead to fan loyalty and positive word of mouth towards the league brand. Levin dives into the various approaches MLB, the teams, and partners are taking to gamify fandom and applies the uses and gratification theory to determine the success of the various methods.
Allison Levin (allison.levin@gmail.com) is a Professor of Sports Communication at Webster University. Her work explores social/cultural issues of sports fandom, particularly in baseball. Allison serves as Vice President of the SABR Board of Directors. She has presented on many topics at SABR conventions over the years and enjoys finding the topics that have little research and digging into them. She is a lifelong St. Louis Cardinals fan, but her favorite player is Clayton Kershaw.
10:00-10:25 a.m. (Trinity 1-5)
RP25: How Many Games Did Satchel Paige Pitch?
Mark Armour
Satchel Paige “officially” pitched somewhere over 450 major-league games, some 179 of them in the integrated American League. If we include his many barnstorming and non-official games, he undoubtedly threw in almost 2,000 games during his 40-plus years on the mound. Using a wide range of sources, Armour has explored Paige’s journey across clubs, states, countries, and decades. Like Retrosheet, he doesn’t expect to ever complete the project; this presentation on Satchel Paige’s peripatetic odyssey reveals the current status of Armour’s quest.
Mark Armour (markarmour04@gmail.com) is the founder of the SABR BioProject and the Baseball Cards Committee, and has written or presented for SABR publications and conferences many times.
10:00-10:25 a.m. (Irving Lecture Hall)
RP26: A Haunted Player: The Impact of Stigma and Superstition on the Career of a Deadball Catcher
Paul Jackson
In the late 19th century, William Moffat Earle was arguably one of the most famous baseball players in the world. Signed by A.G. Spalding to play for the All-American squad on his famous 1888-89 world tour, “Little Billy Earle” received a new honorific that stuck to him the rest of his life: “Globetrotter”. But despite that talent, he spent relatively little time in the majors, and he seemed unable to stick long with any team at any level. Earle’s penchant for wearing out his welcome was remarked upon in contemporary sources, and an explanatory narrative arose, one eventually adopted even by Earle himself: his fellow players feared he was cursed. Jackson charts Earle’s many comings and goings across his 20 years playing professional baseball. He demonstrates how superstition and the fears of Earle’s fellow players actually played a part in his travels, and explains other surprising reasons that contributed to Earle’s remarkable if itinerant life in Victorian-era America.
Paul Jackson (pjacks2@gmail.com) writes about baseball, history, and culture on his featured Substack publication, Project 3.18. His work can be found at www.project-318.com. Paul has previously written for ESPN.com.
10:30-10:55 a.m. (Trinity 1-5)
RP27: Bright Lights, Black Stars
Paul Allen
Allen discusses the Negro League players who played in Canada and in southwestern Ontario’s Intercounty Baseball League (IBL). The IBL was founded in 1919 and boasts London, Ontario’s Labatt Memorial Park, the “World’s Oldest” continuously played baseball grounds as confirmed by the Guinness Book of World Records and MLB. He tells the little-known integrated baseball success story of the great Negro League players like Wilmer Fields, Shanty Clifford, Jimmy Wilkes, Gentry “Jeep” Jessup, Ed Steele, Max Manning, Barney Brown and many others, as well as their outstanding teammates. He also recognizes Satchel Paige’s impact on the Canadian baseball scene.
Paul Allen, BPE, M. Ed. (paulallen342@aol.com) is a retired Ontario Secondary School teacher who taught Physical Education, Health, History, Business, and Canadian Law courses at the high school level for 32 years. He is a graduate of Assumption University, McMaster, and Wayne State. He also served as an Assistant Principal at a private school in Boca Raton, Florida, worked as a consultant for the United States Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education for a year, and completed his teaching career in the Kingston, Ontario area. He is a two-time Intercounty Baseball League All Star who averaged over .300 in five seasons of his nine-year career with his best year of .371, good for third place in the batting race.
10:30-10:55 a.m. (Irving Lecture Hall)
RP28: From Fernandomania to Sho-Time: The Evolution of Media in Legacy Construction
Jem Jebbia
The legacies of Shohei Ohtani and Fernando Valenzuela extend beyond their exceptional on-field performances, shaped significantly by evolving media landscapes and shifting modes of fan engagement. Jebbia explores how traditional media during “Fernandomania” in the 1980s and social media in the “Ohtani era” have influenced public perception, fan identity, and the commercial success of these two international superstars. She provides a comparative framework for understanding how media shapes athletic legacies across different technological eras. She sheds light on how modern media dynamics continue to redefine baseball stardom, illustrating the profound impact of digital platforms on the sport’s global reach and cultural resonance.
Jem Jebbia (jem.jebbia@gmail.com) is a historian and sports legal analyst. She completed her doctoral work at Stanford University. Her dissertation, “The Fruits of Their Labor,” explored the relationship between race, law, and religion in California’s Central Valley. While completing extensive archival research for this project, she found a passion for sports history, building an online platform to share cultural and legal history of her favorite sports teams. Jem loves the Dodgers and hopes to complete her “journey to 30” next year.
1:00-1:25 p.m. (Trinity 1-5)
RP29: The Merkle Aftermath: Two Weeks of Giants Shenanigans
Daniel R. Levitt
“Merkle’s Boner” threw the final two weeks of the 1908 National League season into an uproar as Chicago, New York, and Pittsburgh battled for the title. In addition to their on-field efforts, the Giants may have also been playing a different kind of hardball. Levitt presents evidence of numerous overtures by gamblers, players, Tammany Hall, and McGraw himself, aimed at the Phillies, the Braves, and the umpires. Pieces of this story have been reported before as isolated incidents, but Levitt’s extensive knowledge of McGraw and his times enables him to lay it out in whole.
Dan Levitt (dan@daniel-levitt.com) is the author of several award-winning baseball books and numerous essays. He is the Treasurer of SABR and co-chair of SABR’s Business of Baseball committee. Dan is a recipient of the Bob Davids Award and the Chadwick Award. His most recent book, Intentional Balk: Baseball’s This Line Between Innovation and Cheating, received the Seymour Medal.
1:00-1:25 p.m. (Irving Lecture Hall)
RP30: The Knuckleball: Baseball’s Magical Pitch
Melissa Booker
The knuckleball is about far more than just a pitcher’s grip on the baseball. It also involves, in great measure, the grip of the relationship between a mentor and his acolyte. Focusing on two such relationships – Phil and Joe Niekro learned the pitch from their father, Wilbur Wood sat at the knee of Hoyt Wilhelm – Booker elucidates how the knuckler necessitates trust and faith. Of necessity, it also enlists the catcher into the relationship. Using both documents and interviews with Lance Niekro, Alan Ashby, and others, Booker offers a different look at the meaning of the knuckleball.
Melissa Booker (melissa.a.booker@gmail.com) has been a SABR member since 2012. Her research projects usually focus on the people behind the games statistics and how they have impacted the game of baseball. She resides in Portland, Oregon.
1:30-1:55 p.m. (Trinity 1-5)
RP31: Babe Ruth’s Anomalous 1929 Season: Why Did His Bases on Balls Plummet?
Mike Haupert and Herm Krabbenhoft
Between 1926 and 1931, The Babe put up one astonishing season after another. He led the AL in homers, slugging, and OPS every year. Yet 1929 stands out from the rest – instead of leading the league in bases-on-balls (as he did in the other seasons), he walked only 72 times, the league’s tenth-highest total. Haupert and Krabbenhoft investigate this little-studied anomaly, and their research leads them to examine Babe Ruth’s finances and a major off-the-field tragedy that likely played a major role.
Mike Haupert (mhaupert@uwlax.edu) is Professor of Economics at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.
Herm Krabbenhoft, a retired organic chemist, has been a SABR member since 1981. Among the various baseball research topics he has pioneered are: Ultimate Grand Slam Homers, Consecutive Games On Base Safely (CGOBS) Streaks, Quasi-Cycles, Imperfect Perfectos, Minor League Day-In/Day-Out Double-Duty Diamondeers, Downtown Golden Sombreros, Pitcher’s Cycles. Herm is the author of Leadoff Batters of Major League Baseball (McFarland, 2001). Krabbenhoft has received a SABR Baseball Research Award three times (1992,1996, 2013). He is a lifetime Detroit Tigers fan — the Tigers’ Zeb Eaton hit a pinch-hit grand slam against the Yankees on the day Herm was born.
1:30-1:55 p.m. (Irving Lecture Hall)
RP32: Citizen Rosebud: Jesse Owens, the 1946 Portland Rosebuds, and the Story of the West Coast Negro Baseball Association
Justin Krebs
Jesse Owens displayed one of the outstanding feats of athleticism in history by winning four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics in Nazi Germany. Upon his return to the United States, he struggled financially and even raced horses as a publicity stunt. In 1946, he became owner of the Portland Rosebuds of the West Coast Negro Baseball Association (WCNBA) and the league’s first vice president. The WCNBA faced insurmountable challenges from the start – the teams were too far apart and there wasn’t enough time to promote the league, given its accelerated opening date. As the league’s fortunes declined, its members lost faith in the WCNBA President, Abe Saperstein, who also famously owned the Harlem Globetrotters. Krebs describes the poignant, little-known story of how a superstar reached the heights of fame and accomplishment, only to spend the rest of his life trying to make ends meet.
Justin Krebs (justinmkrebs01@gmail.com) is a recent graduate of the David B. Falk College of Sport at Syracuse University. He has worked at sports organizations including Hog Media, the Utica Blue Sox, Syracuse Crunch, and Pro Sports Fans. He looks to share lesser-known stories about sports icons because they are an important piece of United States and world history. He believes sport has the power to connect people of all backgrounds and bring people together, acting as a universal bridge.
For more information on SABR 53, click here.