Bak, Goldman, Lamb win 2016 McFarland-SABR Baseball Research Awards
The 2016 winners of the McFarland-SABR Baseball Research Award, which honors the best articles on baseball history or biography completed or published during the preceding calendar year, are:
- Richard Bak, “Digging Up Bob Troy,” unpublished
- Doron Goldman, “The Double Victory Campaign and the Campaign to Integrate Baseball,” from Who’s on First: Replacement Players in World War II, eds. Marc Z. Aaron and Bill Nowlin, 2015 (SABR)
- William Lamb, “Jury Nullification and the Not Guilty Verdicts in the Black Sox Case,” Baseball Research Journal, Fall 2015 (SABR)
Bak (2005) and Lamb (2010) are previous winners of the McFarland-SABR award. Goldman is a first-time winner.
The selection committee passed along the following comments about the winners:
- Bak: “[He] shows outstanding research skills, excellent writing, and an interest in what I saw as off-beat topics … at least ones that I would not have known about unless I volunteered for this job. I don’t believe that many people have heard about Bob Troy, and his is a compelling story.”
- Goldman: “It’s thoroughly researched, well-written, and refreshingly concise, not to mention intriguing in its combining of the campaigns to defeat fascism and integrate the game.”
- Lamb: “Written from a lawyerly viewpoint, but far from obfuscating. … I found the research and writing first-rate, and the content fascinating. Lamb shows how the case unraveled, especially how emotion trumped reason and resulted in the acquittals of Jackson, Cicotte, and Williams.”
The McFarland-SABR Baseball Research Award honors the author(s) of the best articles or papers, published or unpublished, on baseball history or biography completed during the preceding calendar year. Eligible works include magazine and journal articles, previously unpublished chapters or articles in anthologies or other books with multiple authors, and unpublished research papers and written versions of oral presentations. Each winner will receive a plaque and a cash prize of $200.
The awards will be presented at the 46th annual SABR convention, July 27-31, 2016, at the Hyatt Regency Miami in Miami, Florida.
The selection committee consists of: Len Levin (chair), Phil Bergen, Warren Corbett, Chuck Hilty, and Bill Humber. To submit a nomination for the 2017 awards, please send an electronic copy (or three print copies) of the work, along with the title, author, and publisher information (if applicable) to Len Levin.
For a complete list of winners of the McFarland-SABR Baseball Research Award, click here.
Originally published: April 20, 2016. Last Updated: April 20, 2016.