Announcing finalists for 2018 SABR Analytics Conference Research Awards
We’re pleased to announce the finalists for the 2018 SABR Analytics Conference Research Awards, which will recognize baseball researchers who have completed the best work of original analysis or commentary during the preceding calendar year.
Nominations were solicited by representatives from SABR, Baseball Prospectus, FanGraphs, The Hardball Times, and Beyond the Box Score. Here are the finalists for the 2018 SABR Analytics Conference Research Awards:
Contemporary Baseball Analysis
- Glenn Healey, “The New Moneyball: How Ballpark Sensors Are Changing Baseball,” Proceedings of the IEEE (Vol. 105, No. 11), November 2017.
- Ben Lindbergh and Mitchel Lichtman, “The Juiced Ball is Back,” The Ringer, June 14, 2017.
- Harry Pavlidis, Jonathan Judge, and Jeff Long, “Introducing Pitch Tunnels,” Baseball Prospectus, January 24, 2017.
- Travis Sawchik, “Dictating the Action with Joey Votto,” FanGraphs, May 31, 2017.
- Stephanie Springer, “Get a Grip,” The Hardball Times, October 25, 2017.
Contemporary Baseball Commentary
- R.J. Anderson, “The Year of Catcher Concussions and MLB’s Battle to Do Better With Head Trauma,” CBS Sports, September 28, 2017.
- Emma Baccellieri, “Major League Baseball’s Statcast Can Break Sabermetrics,” Deadspin, December 18, 2017.
- Sam Miller, “Forget the Ninth Inning — Andrew Miller is Here to Save the Game,” ESPN The Magazine, March 30, 2017.
- Jeff Passan, “The Home Run is the King of Baseball. Is That a Good Thing?” Yahoo! Sports, September 19, 2017.
- Eno Sarris, “Matt Cain: The Giants’ Horse That Changed Baseball Stats … Twice,” The Athletic, September 27, 2017.
Historical Analysis/Commentary
- Grant Brisbee, “Why Baseball Games Are So Damned Long,” SB Nation, March 28, 2017.
- Jay Jaffe, “Analyzing the ‘Giant’ Controversy Surrounding the Indians’ 22-Game Winning Streak,” Sports Illustrated, September 15, 2017.
- John LaRue, “The Homogenization of Ballparks,” The Hardball Times, February 13, 2017.
- Rob Mains, “One Entire Season of Baseball from the 1960s”, Baseball Prospectus, September 11-14, 2017, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4.
- Stew Thornley and Bob Tholkes, “From Recorder to Judge: The Evolution of the Scorer in the Nineteenth Century,” SABR Baseball Research Journal, Fall 2017.
Details and criteria for each category can be found here. Only one work per author was considered as a finalist.
Voting for the winners will be conducted online beginning next week at SABR.org, BaseballProspectus.com, FanGraphs.com, HardballTimes.com, and BeyondtheBoxScore.com, with results weighted equally at 20%.
Results will be announced and presented at the seventh annual SABR Analytics Conference, March 9-11, 2018, at the Hyatt Regency Phoenix in Phoenix, Arizona. Learn more or register for the conference at SABR.org/analytics.
Originally published: January 26, 2018. Last Updated: January 26, 2018.