AUGUST 19, 2026 — All student and young professional members of SABR are invited to join us for our next SABR Scholar Session, held virtually on Zoom at 7:00 PM Eastern on Thursday, September 24, 2026.

Join host Tyrone Brooks, Senior Director, Front Office and Field Staff Diversity Pipeline Program at Major League Baseball, for our free virtual series created exclusively for SABR student and young professional members.

During this session, Tyrone will discuss baseball’s offseason hiring timeline and ways you can set yourself apart from other applicants. We’ll also spend some time linking you with fellow student and young professional members in a networking session designed to build your connections throughout the industry.

• To learn more or to pre-register for the SABR Scholar Session on Zoom, please contact Jessica Smyth.

AUGUST 19, 2026 — Throughout the 2026 season, SABR members will have a chance to vote on SABR’s All-Time Eras Teams as we celebrate the 150 years of baseball and American history since the founding of the National League in 1876.

On Tuesday, August 18, SABR revealed the Integration Era team in a special Zoom webinar, covering players and teams from 1947 to 1972.

More than 1,000 SABR members cast a vote on these ballots. The top vote recipients at each position were selected for the first team. Click on a link below to view the players, managers, and executives selected, along with their SABR biographies and statistics from Baseball-Reference.com:

Click here to view the Integration Era Team (1947-1972)

• Outfielders: Willie Mays, Henry Aaron, Ted Williams
• Infielders: Yogi Berra (C), Willie McCovey (1B), Jackie Robinson (2B), Brooks Robinson (3B), Ernie Banks (SS)
• Starting Pitchers: Bob Gibson, Sandy Koufax, Warren Spahn, Juan Marichal, Whitey Ford
• Relief Pitchers: Hoyt Wilhelm, Roy Face
• Manager: Casey Stengel
• Executive: Bill Veeck

Before the team was unveiled, acclaimed author Howard Bryant delivered a presentation on baseball during the Integration Era. Click here to watch a video recording of Bryant’s presentation and the team reveal.

The All-Time Eras Teams project is an interactive opportunity for all SABR members to participate in, debate with one another, and learn more about the iconic players and figures from different eras. Each ballot period will culminate with a virtual Zoom webinar which includes a presentation covering that era of American history prior to the unveiling of the team chosen by our members.

Coming soon

• Voting for the Free Agency Era (1973–2000) teams will open on Friday, August 21 at SABR.org. All SABR members are eligible to vote in the online ballot. The final team will be revealed in a Zoom webinar on Wednesday, September 16, with a presentation by Daniel A. Gilbert of the University of Illinois.

Visit SABR.org/all-time-eras-teams to learn more about the project.

Vogelsang, a SABR member since 2004, took over as president of the Bay Area-based Lefty O’Doul Chapter in 2007, and has served in a leadership role for the past two decades.

“Baseball gives us many gifts and one of those gifts to me has certainly been SABR,” Vogelsang said. “It’s been a pleasure to give back to the organization and to the people who have given so much to me. SABR works because of all of you and you give to it, and I’m happy to be a part of that work. … SABR is truly for everyone. I’m not a historian or a researcher or an author or an analyst. I’m a baseball fan, and I’ve been so happy to find a home with all of you here in SABR.”

As a chapter leader, Vogelsang has organized many events with a variety of great speakers. In recent years, she has helped to schedule many joint meetings, both in person and virtually, with other local chapters in northern California. She has also stepped up and helped out in many other ways within SABR, including as a member of the Editorial Board, the Friends of SABR fundraising committee, and the planning committee for the SABR/IWBC Women in Baseball Conference. She is one of SABR’s strongest ambassadors, promoting the organization every chance she gets.

Click here to learn more about the Founders’ Day Award.

On Saturday, August 1, 2026, the MLB Players Association 60th Anniversary Panel was held at SABR 54 at the Hilton Cleveland Downtown hotel in Cleveland, Ohio.

Panelists included award-winning historians Mark Armour, Dan Levitt, and Michael Haupert, along with Ezra Frankel, Director of Baseball Economics for the MLB Players Association. The panel was moderated by Katie Krall, SABR Director and a professor at Northwestern University.

• Audio: Click here to listen to the MLB Players Association 60th Anniversary Panel at SABR 54 (54:15; MP3)

Here are some highlights:

On the early origins of the MLB Players Association

• Armour: “The union started in 1954 and it was more or less a house union. Marvin Miller was pretty disdainful about it in his book, and I think (he was) justified. The owners essentially paid for the office, which is illegal in New York. And they more or less approved (and) actually hired the people that worked for the union. There was a judge, (Robert) Cannon, who worked for them for a while. Basically his job in practice was to essentially collect the various grievances that players had — which would be things like the showers aren’t working in the clubhouse in Milwaukee or I didn’t get paid for the spring training money they owed me — and he would just go to the owners and say, ‘Here is what we need.’ And the owners would say, yes, no, yes, no. Then he’d go back to the players and he’d say, ‘OK, here’s what you get.’ And that’s really all it was. It wasn’t until the mid-1960s that some of the stronger union people (among) the players, which included Robin Roberts, Bob Friend, Jim Bunning — they were not liberals by any means, but they were people that thought the system was inefficient and didn’t work well for the players, and they needed stronger pensions and whatnot. So they worked on hiring a real labor person, which ended up being Marvin Miller. That was in 1966, 60 years ago. Over the years, they’ve more or less considered 1966 to be the beginning of the union, even though technically it was not. But I think it really at that point acted like what you would think of as a true partnership and with collective bargaining and all the rest.”
• Levitt: “The reason the union is called the Players Association, that was super intentional in terms of the syntax and the way that the organization was structured. This was the heyday of the steelworkers union and the Teamsters and the auto workers union. But clearly the players didn’t consider themselves in the same category as those sort of unionized employees. And they also weren’t. Their key issue was the pension fund. Sure, they would have liked more money (salaries) and they thought the reserve clause was probably unfair, but that was not what they were thinking about at that time. That was sort of the consciousness that Marvin Miller took a long time to help raise. It was really about the pension fund. When Norman Lewis, who was one of the early legal consultants to the association in the 1950s, said, ‘Well, maybe we should start looking at more than the pension fund for you guys,’ the owners suggested, ‘Well, maybe you should get rid of Norman Lewis.’ And the players did. So there was definitely this sense of they wanted to be collegial.”

On how Marvin Miller persuaded the players to support the union

• Haupert: “The union kind of coalesced around the idea that the players were unhappy with the way their pension was being handled. Originally, they were supposed to get a certain percentage of the All-Star Game revenue from television and tickets. Well, the problem was they had no idea how much revenue was really coming in because the owners wouldn’t check the contract with them. The TV contract wasn’t for the All-Star Game; it was an overall contract for a bunch of games. Major League Baseball’s owners said, ‘This is how much the All Star Game is worth.’ And the players suspected, rightly, that they were undervaluing the All-Star Game. And that’s how they really started to get movement in that direction. Ultimately, when Miller came along, he accepted a proposal from the owners that was really not a good one initially — the owners said, ‘Forget the percentage. We just want to give you a lump sum of money, and we’re going to give you $4 million.’ Miller was pretty sure that was less than the percentage they were supposed to get. But he couldn’t get access to the contract. So instead what he did was, he pointed out to Major League Baseball that the arrangement they had was illegal because they were paying for the offices of the players association, which was illegal under labor law. So they agreed they wouldn’t do that anymore. And the arrangement Miller made was instead of the players contributing $340 out of their salary, which they did for their pension, that MLB would just fund it completely with this $4 million. The $340 would then go not back to the players, but would go into union dues instead. And the $50 in union dues would go back to the players. So what Miller sold them was, ‘You’re going to get a $50 increase in your take home pay, no change whatsoever in anything else.’ But now all of a sudden you’re funding your own union, which is not only legal … but they (owners) inadvertently admitted that they really were a profitable business. And those admissions would come back to haunt them later on. So Miller gave up in the short run for the players, but very astutely gained in the long run. He gained a lot of leverage. … It put them on a really solid basis that they could bargain with in the future.”
• Armour: “Miller was a lifelong baseball fan. I think he definitely got a kick out of getting this job. But one thing he convinced the players of, which ran counter to what the owners had been telling them for a long time, is that they were the game. He preached that his whole career. ‘You are the game. You’re the reason why people come to the game.’ And some of the players, like Joe Torre, later talked about the fact that ‘I was always taught by my teams that I was interchangeable. I had no stake in this situation. The owners were the game, and we were lucky to play.’ The owners would tell this to the press, and a lot of the public, frankly, believed that you’re damn lucky to have this job. Tim McCarver said, ‘I just assumed these people were going to take care of me. And I learned later, the hard way, that they weren’t going to take care of me. I had to take care of myself and the players.’ It definitely created this ‘rah, rah’ thing among the players that, ‘Yeah, it’s us. That’s the game.’ And I think that made them really stick together in the tough times that were ahead.”

On public misconceptions about revenue sharing and team finances

• Frankel: “I don’t know if misunderstood is the right word, but fans and the general public maybe just don’t know as much about … the financial support that exists for all 30 clubs in the system right now, but in particular (for) smaller market, lower revenue clubs. I’ll break that down three ways. One is national revenue — that’s revenue generated by MLB and distributed equally to the 30 clubs. That includes a lot of things, but the main thing it includes is national TV dollars, ESPN, Fox. … That’s billions of dollars brought in and distributed equally to all 30 clubs. What this practically means is that the World Series winner each year gets the same cut of postseason TV dollars as the team that finishes last in the standings. … Second, we have a collectively bargained system of revenue sharing that transfers every year hundreds of millions of dollars from higher revenue teams — Dodgers, Yankees, Cubs, Red Sox, a few examples — to lower revenue teams. We’re in Cleveland, Cleveland is one of those teams. But other examples, Tampa, Miami, Pittsburgh (are) all receiving collectively hundreds of millions of dollars. And then the third example is luxury tax proceeds. We have a system right now where higher payroll teams are taxed and half of it is distributed again to lower revenue teams. So we have systems in place right now that provide significant support for all teams in all markets, but particularly for lower revenue teams. In this round of negotiations, we’re essentially proposing to enhance how revenue sharing works, to provide in the case of revenue sharing more support for some of these lower revenue teams, but make sure that revenue shows up back on the field.”

On attributes that makes for a successful player representative

• Frankel: “I can start by saying it doesn’t really matter what I or anyone who works at the players association wants in a rep. It exclusively matters what other players want in their reps. The reps are elected by their teammates. That being said, there are some core qualities and characteristics we see amongst most of our player reps and executive subcommittee members. … Communication and education are the most important things. Our reps tend to be very good at soliciting feedback from their clubhouses and then providing the information we give them and educating their teammates. I think a lot of the guys are well educated and understand the history of the union, understand the stuff we’re talking about today, understand what players before them fought for, and what essentially gave them the rights they have now. I guess the last thing I’ll say is they understand the responsibility. It’s a huge responsibility. These guys have a day job. Sitting in bargaining meetings listening to lawyers blab for two hours isn’t always the most fun, but they do it. They’re educated, they keep their teammates educated, and they understand what they’re doing now is going to be important, not just for them, but essentially generations of players to come after them.”

For more coverage of SABR 54, visit SABR.org/convention.

On Saturday, August 1, 2026, the Cleveland Guardians Analytics Panel was held at SABR 54 at the Hilton Cleveland Downtown hotel in Cleveland, Ohio.

Panelists included Sky Andrecheck, Assistant General Manager of the Cleveland Guardians; Kyle Burris, Vice President of Baseball Research and Development with the Cleveland Guardians; and Keith Woolner, Principal Data Scientist in Baseball Research and Development for the Cleveland Guardians. The panel was moderated by Zack Meisel, Senior Writer at The Athletic.

• Audio: Click here to listen to the Cleveland Guardians Analytics Panel at SABR 54 (58:24; MP3)

Here are some highlights:

On the evolution of baseball front offices

• Andrecheck: “I think it’s amazing just to think about how much the game has changed and how much more emphasis there is on analytics than there ever was before. When I was growing up, I was a huge baseball fan, a huge math guy, and had always dreamed of working in a baseball front office, but there was really no path. But we all know Moneyball happened, and I was lucky enough to have Keith hire me in 2010. At that point, there were not that many jobs in the game. And now we’ve seen front offices explode with the number of analysts. But what’s also amazing to me, that I didn’t necessarily foresee, is the explosion of data that’s available. When I first walked into the Cleveland offices, we pretty much just had the box score data, and pitch effects had just come online. We were starting to get some data about pitch characteristics, but besides that, we didn’t have a lot else to work with. And now, just the explosion of data, everything that’s being tracked with Statcast, biomechanics, and everything else, it’s created so many more interesting things to look into throughout the game.”
• Woolner: “I collected baseball cards. I was good at math. But there was never an indication there would be a place in the baseball front office for someone with my skill set, particularly someone who was a very bad baseball player. When I got to college, just on a whim, I did send a resume to the commissioner’s office and I got two letters back. The first one was a very polite form rejection letter, and the other one was a misdirected memo that was supposed to be sent to umpires about how long the breaks between innings were going to be in the upcoming season. And to this day, I’m still not sure which one I’m supposed to frame.”

On using data to support player development and on-field strategy

• Burris: “It’s a little bit of everything, right? Everything from thinking about things like pitch design, if this guy were able to throw 1 mile an hour harder or get his cutter to cut 1 inch more, how much more effective would that pitch be? Or something along the lines of defensive positioning, in order to maximize the likelihood of an out or minimize the expected run scored by the offense, where would be the best place to position the fielders? … What’s really kind of cool since I’ve started is how much of a complicated engineering problem solving some of the baseball analytics problems have been. The biomechanics data, especially when you’re processing that data at scale, that’s going to be a real engineering bear to have to work through. So it’s not just a growth in the analytics departments, it’s a growth in baseball systems. Folks who are working with the data on the back end and then also folks who are working with the data on the front end. That way we can essentially take the data in, harness it, apply analytical tooling to that, and then be able to display that for folks throughout the organization.”

On the pressures of the trading deadline

• Andrecheck: “I think your organization is trying to capture all the information about all the players that we could potentially acquire, and of course, about our own information on our own players as well. So our decision makers, Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff, are really canvassing our entire organization to try to leverage that information, gather as much information as we can, and then bring that into an ultimate decision. The analytics we provide are a big part of that. Obviously, also our scouting or player development group, we have a lot of different inputs that go into that in order to hopefully make the best decisions we can at the deadline.”

On the path from writing to working in a front office for a team

• Woolner: “When I first got this job in 2007, I thought, ‘Wow, this is so cool. I have one of 30 jobs that will ever exist in this industry.’ At the time, I could not conceive of a team really needing more than one — there were certainly no teams that had gone and gotten more than one. I look at it now, and it’s a genuine career path that people can aspire to that. There are sports analytics tracks in colleges that can prepare people for the kind of work we’re doing. And the hiring has not let up. We have hundreds of people now in R&D and analytics groups across front offices, and that’s not including all of the vendors and other companies supplying technology and information and services to help us do our analytics. So it’s grown much bigger than I ever thought it would, and it makes me doubt whether people should ever trust anything I forecast.”

For more coverage of SABR 54, visit SABR.org/convention.

Welcome to “This Week in SABR” on Friday, August 14, 2026.
Click here to view this newsletter on the web. 

SABR Defensive Index rankings released through August 9
More highlights, photos from SABR 54 in Cleveland
Join us next week for All-Time Eras Teams webinar with Howard Bryant
Analytics Certification courses now available in Spanish
Learn more about SABR Institutional Memberships

SABR Defensive Index rankings released through MLB games of August 9

New York Yankees left fielder Cody Bellinger and Chicago Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong lead their respective leagues in the updated SABR Defensive Index rankings through Major League Baseball games of Sunday, August 9, 2026.

• Click here to view full SDI rankings by position through games of Sunday, August 9, 2026

The SABR Defensive Index is used to help select the winners of the Rawlings Gold Glove Award® and Rawlings Platinum Glove Award, presented by SABR.

Click here to read the full announcement at SABR.org.

Check out more highlights, photos from SABR 54 in Cleveland

Couldn’t make it to Cleveland for SABR 54? Check out stories, photos, and multimedia clips from the SABR 54 convention in Cleveland below.

• Listen to highlights from Chris Antonetti’s welcome remarks (audio)
• Listen to highlights from Bob Kendrick’s fireside chat with Stephanie Liscio (audio)
• Listen to highlights from 1990s Cleveland Indians panel with Sandy Alomar Jr., Carlos Baerga, Mike Hargrove, Kenny Lofton, Charles Nagy (audio)
• Listen to highlights from Major League Q&A with filmmaker David S. Ward (video)
• Listen to highlights from Tom Hamilton’s Oral History interview with John McMurray (audio)
• Listen to highlights from Billy Altman’s presentation, Learning the Score: Bats, Balls, and Rock & Roll (audio)
• View photo galleries from each day at SABR 54
• Anthony Salazar selected as 2026 Bob Davids Award recipient
• Levon Nazarian, Chuck Hildebrandt win 2026 convention presentation awards
• Bob DiBiasio, Jim Folk honored with 2026 SABR Roland Hemond Award
• SABR chapters, committees honored for exceptional performance in 2025-26
• Scott Kent comes home with plenty of hardware in SABR 54 Trivia Contest
• Overlooked 19th Century Base Ball Legends project concludes with final 8 selections
• Cecilia Tan: 9 Things I Learned at SABR 54 (Why I Like Baseball)
• Jason Schwartz: Baseball Cards Committee Recap of SABR 54 (SABR Baseball Cards)
• Marc Bona: ‘Baseball Art as the Game’s Storyteller’ on display in downtown Cleveland (Cleveland.com)
• Justice B. Hill: A powerful voice Cleveland needs to hear about League Park’s future is coming here (Cleveland.com)
• Tom Stone: SABR 54 convention recap (Now Taking the Field)
• Stay tuned for more highlights, stories, and photos from SABR 54 soon!

For more coverage of SABR 54, visit SABR.org/convention.

Listen to highlights from 1990s Cleveland Indians panel

On Friday, July 31, the 1990s Cleveland Indians Panel was held at SABR 54 at the Hilton Cleveland Downtown hotel in Cleveland, Ohio.

Panelists included Sandy Alomar Jr., 1990 American League Rookie of the Year, Gold Glove-winning catcher, and 1997 All-Star Game MVP; Carlos Baerga, fan favorite as a switch-hitting second baseman during his 14-year major league career; Mike Hargrove, who won two AL pennants and 5 consecutive AL Central Division titles as Cleveland’s manager from 1991 to 1999; Kenny Lofton, all-around star center fielder who holds Cleveland franchise record for stolen bases; and Charles Nagy, three-time All-Star pitcher and Cleveland Indians Hall of Fame inductee. The panel was moderated by Paul Hoynes, Cleveland Plain Dealer sports writer and 2026 BBWAA Career Excellence Award recipient.

Click here to listen to highlights from this panel at SABR.org.

Listen to highlights from Major League Q&A with filmmaker David S. Ward

On Thursday, July 30, acclaimed filmmaker David S. Ward and author Jonathan Knight led a discussion about the classic baseball film Major League during the SABR 54 convention at the Hilton Cleveland Downtown hotel in Cleveland, Ohio. A screening of the film for SABR 54 attendees followed the Q&A.

Ward is the writer and director of Major League, the classic 1989 baseball film about the Cleveland Indians, along with a pair of sequels. The Indians were his favorite childhood team while he was growing up in northern Ohio. His screenplay for The Sting won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay in 1974. He was also nominated for an Oscar in the same category in 1994 for Sleepless in Seattle (co-written with Nora Ephron and Jeff Arch). His other feature films include Cannery Row, King Ralph, and The Program.

Knight is the author of The Making of Major League: A Juuuust a Bit Inside Look at the Classic Baseball Comedy, a best-seller on the classic 1989 film.

Click here to listen to highlights from this session at SABR.org.

Listen to highlights from Billy Altman on Learning the Score: Bats, Balls, and Rock & Roll

On Saturday, August 1, Billy Altman gave a presentation on “Learning the Score: Bats, Balls, and Rock & Roll” during the SABR 54 convention at the Hilton Cleveland Downtown hotel in Cleveland, Ohio.

Altman is an award-winning cultural journalist, critic and historian; a founding curator of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland; and an official scorer for Major League Baseball at New York Mets and Yankees games since 2004.

Click here to listen to highlights from this presentation at SABR.org.

Join us next Tuesday for SABR All-Time Eras Teams webinar on Integration Era

Throughout the 2026 season, SABR members will have a chance to vote on SABR’s All-Time Eras Teams as we celebrate the 150 years of baseball and American history since the founding of the National League in 1876. The All-Time Eras Teams project is an interactive opportunity for all SABR members to participate in, debate with one another, and learn more about the iconic players and figures from different eras.

• Join us from 8:00-9:00 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday, August 18 for a special Zoom webinar as we reveal the Integration Era (1947-1972) team, and hear a presentation by award-winning author Howard Bryant. Click here to pre-register for this Zoom event.

Bryant is the award-winning author of 11 books, including acclaimed biographies of Henry Aaron and Rickey Henderson. His newest book is Kings and Pawns: Jackie Robinson and Paul Robeson in America. He is a four-time finalist for the National Magazine Award, an Emmy Award winner, and a two-time winner of the Casey Award. He was the guest editor of The Best American Sports Writing in 2017 and is a regular contributor to NPR’s Weekend Edition.

Visit SABR.org/all-time-eras-teams to learn more about the project, including players selected to the 19th Century Era, Deadball Era, and Segregation Era teams.

SABR Analytics Certification courses now available in Spanish

SABR is pleased to announce that the first three courses in the SABR Analytics Certification Program are now available in Spanish, expanding access to its online, on-demand curriculum for Spanish-speaking students, coaches, scouts, front-office professionals, and fans around the world.

SABR se complace en anunciar que los primeros tres cursos del Programa de Certificación en Analítica de SABR ya están disponibles en español, ampliando el acceso a su plan de estudios en línea y bajo demanda para estudiantes, entrenadores, cazatalentos, profesionales de oficinas centrales y aficionados de habla hispana en todo el mundo.

The newly translated courses include:

• Level One: Conversational Analytics and Critical Thinking in Baseball
• Level Two: Advanced Analytics in Baseball
• Level Three: Introduction to Baseball Programming

Since its launch, the SABR Analytics Certification Program has helped learners develop practical skills in baseball analytics through expert-led instruction, real-world applications, and portfolio building exercises. By offering these courses in Spanish, SABR is taking an important step toward making high-quality analytics education more accessible to the global baseball community. Translation services were provided by LingoPal AI and José Hernández Lagunes.

Click here to read the full announcement at SABR.org.

Get your SABR merch at our new online shop

SABR is excited to announce the launch of the new SABR Shop, an online store featuring SABR-branded apparel, home goods, prints, and more for baseball fans.

Among the featured items are exclusive prints showcasing cover art from the Baseball Research Journal, along with a growing collection of SABR merchandise celebrating the organization’s worldwide community. Baseball Research Journal posters feature every edition including the artwork of acclaimed artist and SABR member Gary Cieradkowski, with iconic depictions of Babe Ruth and Satchel Paige amongst other legends of the game. Apparel options include hats, shirts, sweatshirts, and pullovers in men’s, women’s, and unisex selections. New merchandise and designs will continue to be added in the coming months, offering fresh options for the SABR fan in your life.

Visit the SABR Shop today at sabr.shop.

Call for papers: 2027 SABR Frederick Ivor-Campbell 19th Century Base Ball Conference

All SABR members are invited and encouraged to submit a Research Presentation Proposal Abstract on any topic of 19th-century baseball for the 2027 Frederick Ivor-Campbell 19th Century Base Ball Conference at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. The 18th annual Ivor-Campbell Conference is scheduled for April 16-17, 2027.

The deadline for proposal Abstracts is October 31, 2026. Your abstract must be between 250-500 words for a 20- to 25-minute presentation focused primarily on events taking place prior to 1901. Please include name, title, and contact information and send your proposal as a Microsoft Word or PDF attachment to Peter Mancuso.

Click here to read the full announcement at SABR.org.

Register now for 2026 SABR Northern New Jersey 19th Century Baseball Interdisciplinary Symposium

SABR’s Nineteenth Century Research Committee will host the Northern New Jersey 19th Century Interdisciplinary Symposium as a special virtual event on Saturday, November 14, 2026. The focus of this symposium will be on the rich early baseball and related history of the region, which extends from the New York state border south through Monmouth and Mercer counties.

• Registration for all SABR members is now open; click here to sign up. The cost is $15 per person. The one-day Zoom event will run from approximately 12:00 PM to 5:30 PM Eastern Time on November 14.  

The symposium will be highlighted by a keynote address from Jonathan Mercantini, Associate Provost for Special Projects and Professor of History at Kean University. He is an appointed member of the New Jersey Historical Commission and a Trustee of the New Jersey Council for the Humanities. The welcome address will be given by John Thorn, the Official Historian of Major League Baseball and the co-founder of SABR’s Nineteenth Century Committee.  

Click here to read the full announcement at SABR.org.

Learn more about SABR Institutional Memberships

A SABR Institutional Membership is the perfect way to connect your group with baseball’s rich history. Whether you are supporting historical or analytical researchers or engaging with baseball fans in your community, SABR provides the network, tools, and expertise to enhance your offerings.

A SABR Institutional Membership is ideal for libraries, museums, and historical societies; high schools; and higher education departments, especially History, American Studies, and Sports Analytics programs. 

Institutional Members receive unlimited access to SABR’s extensive collection of digital publications; exclusive research resources, including access to historical newspaper databases; engagement opportunities with SABR experts and a network of baseball historians and analysts.

To learn more, contact Paul J. Zwirecki for details on membership options and enrollment.

Call for papers: Turnstyle: The SABR Journal of Baseball Arts

With the recent release of Volume 5 of Turnstyle: The SABR Journal of the Baseball Arts, SABR’s Baseball and the Arts Committee now turns its sights to submissions for Volume 6.

All SABR members are encouraged to send along your submission, or your questions, to editors Joanne Hulbert or Jay Hurd before September 15, 2026. We are looking for poetry, memoir, artwork, humor, short fiction, historical fiction, science fiction, and parody.

Click here to read the full announcement at SABR.org.

Retrosheet announces Summer 2026 updates

Retrosheet is pleased to announce its semi-annual update for Summer 2026 at Retrosheet.org. Major thanks go out to Joe Callahan for generating the “Games/People/Parks” portion of the website and to Rob Wood for his significant efforts in helping to prepare the data presented here.

New and updated data include 1908 and 1909 AL/NL event files; 1897 National League box-score files; 1933 and 1934 Negro League seasons; and more.

Click here to read the full announcement at SABR.org.

Writing opportunity: 2002 Anaheim Angels book

SABR is planning to publish a new book in 2027 for the 25th anniversary of the 2002 Anaheim Angels team that won the franchise’s first World Series championship. We are seeking authors to write a biography of Clay Bellinger, Ramón Ortiz, and Troy Percival, and a handful of memorable game recaps. If you are interested in contributing, please contact Bill Nowlin or Paul Hensler.

Find new updates to the SABR Research Collection below, including the Baseball Biography Project, Games Project, and Oral History Collection.

3 new stories published at SABR BioProject

• David Freese, by Gavin Winkler (first-time author)
• John Morrill, by Bob LeMoine
• Richie Zisk, by Joseph Wancho

Visit SABR.org/bioproject to learn more about the SABR Biography Project or to get involved.

6 new stories published at SABR Games Project

• August 22, 1886: Abner Powell’s canine calamity aids Chicken Wolf’s game-winning home run for Louisville, by Gene Gomes
• August 7, 1918: Pirates win on hottest day in Philadelphia history at 106 degrees, by Kurt Blumenau
• July 20, 1974: Willie Stargell’s 11th-inning home run beats Braves on Hank Aaron Day in Atlanta, by John Fredland
• July 19, 1975: Twins edge Yankees in ‘first’ American League pine tar game, by Mike Worley
• July 4, 2016: Red Sox bang out 21 hits on the Fourth of July, by Bill Nowlin
• August 7, 2023: Red Sox beat Royals on Pablo Reyes’ walk-off grand slam in ninth, by Bill Nowlin

Visit SABR.org/gamesproject to learn more about the SABR Games Project or to get involved.

The Negro Leagues’ 1931 Homestead Grays: The Color of Greatness
Edited by Thomas Kern and Bill Nowlin

Visit SABR.org to download the free e-book edition or save 50% off the paperback edition of all Digital Library books.

Here are some SABR headlines from recent weeks that we don’t want you to miss:

• Save the date! SABR 55 will be in Birmingham in 2027
• Photos, highlights from Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference in Memphis
• 2026 executives, college baseball staffs added to SABR MLB Team Employee Database
• Overlooked 19th Century Base Ball Legends project concludes with final selections
• Field of Dreams Iowa Chapter dedicates historical marker for Council Bluffs ballpark
• 2026 Henry Chadwick Award recipients announced
• Save the date: Join us for SABR Analytics Conference on March 12–14, 2027
• Read articles from the Spring 2026 Baseball Research Journal
• New Research Resources portal and member login launched
• Learn more about recipients of SABR Research Grants in 2026
• Fourth course in SABR Analytics Certification program is now available
• Learn more about new SABR Institutional Memberships
• Negro Leagues statistics added to SABR Lahman Baseball Database
• View a collection of nearly 100,000 player surveys in the Weiss Baseball Questionnaires collection
• Hundreds of ProQuest US newspapers added to SABR Research Resources
• Find complete collection of SABR-Rucker Archive baseball images online

Please give a warm welcome to all new SABR members who joined this week! View more Members-Only resources at members.sabr.org or click here to download the Membership Handbook. Find contact information for any SABR member in the online Membership Directory.

• Events Calendar: Find details of all upcoming SABR events.
• Video Replays: This week, we heard from Simeon Lipman (“The Stories Things Tell: Baseball History in Objects”); Loren Broaddus (Wasn’t Any Maybe So); and Jay Wigley (How Retrosheet Saved Baseball History). Click here to view video replays of virtual SABR events.

Upcoming Virtual Meetings

• August 15: Hank Gowdy Columbus (OH) Chapter book club meeting with David Herman (9:30 AM EDT)
• August 15: Mathewson-Plank (PA) Chapter meeting with Justin Mckinney (3:00 PM EDT)
• August 16: Baltimore Babe Ruth Chapter meeting with Rick Vaughn (7:00 PM EDT)
• August 17: Bob Broeg St. Louis (MO) Chapter meeting with Ken Wilson (6:00 PM CDT)
• August 17: Clyde Sukeforth (NH/ME) Chapter meeting (7:30 PM EDT)
• August 17: Larry Dierker (TX) Chapter meeting (7:00 PM CDT)
• August 18: SABR All-Time Eras Teams Webinar with Howard Bryant (8:00 PM EDT)
• August 20: Bud Metheny (VA) Chapter meeting with Justin Mckinney (7:30 PM EDT)
• August 22: Rogers Hornsby (TX) Chapter meeting with Tim Christ (1:00 PM CDT)

Upcoming In-Person Meetings

• August 15: Babe ‘n’ Bob Chapter Breakfast (Edgewater, MD)
• August 15: Halsey Hall Chapter book club meeting (Roseville, MN)
• August 15: Robinson-Kell Chapter meeting (Bryant, AR)
• August 15: Bob Davids Chapter: Frederick Keys ballgame/meet-up (Frederick, MD)
• August 18: Northwest Ohio Chapter book club meeting (Toledo, OH)
• August 18: Bob Davids Chapter Hot Stove Dinner (Silver Spring, MD)
• August 19: Rocky Mountain Chapter monthly lunch (Denver, CO)
• August 19: Hank Gowdy Columbus Chapter ballgame/meet-up (Columbus, OH)
• August 20: Magnolia Chapter “Third Thursday” meeting (Sandy Springs, GA)
• August 22: Baltimore Babe Ruth Chapter Orioles ballgame/meet-up (Baltimore, MD)

To add your SABR event to our calendar listings, please contact Jacob Pomrenke.

• Statistical Analysis: July 2026 newsletter

Sign up for SABR research committee announcements at SABR.org/research/committees.

• Bob Davids Chapter: August 2026 newsletter (Washington, DC)
• Ken Keltner Badger State Chapter: August 2026 newsletter (Milwaukee, WI)
• Larry Dierker Houston Chapter: Summer 2026 newsletter (Houston, TX)
• Quebec Chapter: July 26 meeting recap (Trois-Rivières, QC)

Sign up for SABR chapter announcements at SABR.org/chapters.

Click here to learn more about SABR chartered communities.

Here are some recent articles published by and about SABR members:

• Lindsay Dial: The Anatomy of an RBI Checked Swing (Baseball Prospectus)
• Sam Gazdziak: RIP to the Ponce de Leon Magnolia (RIP Baseball)
• Jay Jaffe: Max Scherzer Headlines a Big Weekend For Strikeout Feats (FanGraphs)
• J.J. Cooper: River Ryan Is Older Than Most MLB Rookie Pitchers—Does That Matter? (Baseball America)
• Tim Stebbins: Sandy Alomar Jr. central to Guardians’ franchise renaissance, rise to 10,000 wins (MLB.com)
• Davy Andrews: Randy Arozarena, Contact Hitter? (FanGraphs)
• Rob Mains: Atlanta Braves Holdings Reports Second Quarter Earnings: Of Course They Made Money (Baseball Prospectus)
• Michael Baumann: Who’s Getting Their Money’s Worth From the ABS Challenge System? (FanGraphs)
• Hannah Keyser: The Dodgers are playing a different game than the rest of MLB. Their philosophy could shape baseball’s future. (CNN)
• Matt Breen: ‘Shoeless’ Joe Jackson is known for ‘Field of Dreams’ and the Black Sox. But his career started in Philly. (Philadelphia Inquirer)
• Michael Clair: Kelsie Whitmore records first three-home run game in WPBL history (MLB.com)
• Maddie Landis: Meet the Man Behind Sutter Health Park’s Name (Baseball Prospectus)
• Dan Szymborski: Yordan Alvarez Is Getting Close to a Triple Crown (FanGraphs)
• Mark Simon: MLB Runs Saved, Winning Percentage Leaders Are In Sync (Sports Info Solutions)
• Daniel R. Epstein: How to Bunt Wrong: A Pitch-by-Pitch Breakdown (Baseball Prospectus)
• Patrick Dubuque: The Unassuming Legend of Steve Holm (Baseball Prospectus)
• David Laurila: Davis Martin Had a First Inning to Forget at Fenway Park (FanGraphs)
• Justin Klugh: The 1941 Phillies Won’t Stay Dead (Baseball Prospectus)
• M. Shawn Hennessy: Diamonds Discovered in the Pacific: The Stinking Ninth (Chevrons and Diamonds)
• Gary Cieradkowski: Tommy Lasorda: Loyalty and The Fight of ’57 (Infinite Baseball Card Set)
• Alexander Rapp: Historic marker honoring pioneer ballplayer Bill Thompson set for unveiling at White Park (Concord Monitor)
• Christopher Chavis: September 11, 1918: The Last Hurrah Before the Drought (Baseball and Us)
• Nicholas Hodell: 1966 Brenham Cubs reminisce on historic baseball season (South Texas News)
• Rob Fitts: Godzilla Returns: The 2004 MLB Opening Series in Japan (SABR Asian Baseball)
• Andrew Hersh: 2001: A Card Odyssey (SABR Baseball Cards)
• Glenn Evans: Crossing the Tracks: 1926 (SABR Games and Simulations)

Please note: Some articles may require a separate subscription to view online. SABR does not endorse, and is not responsible or liable for, any content that appears on a third-party website.

This Week in SABR is compiled by Jacob Pomrenke. If you would like us to include an upcoming event, article, or any other information in “This Week in SABR,” e-mail jpomrenke@sabr.org. To find past editions of TWIS, click here.

Are you receiving our e-mails? “This Week in SABR” goes out by e-mail to all members on Friday afternoons. If they’re not showing up, try adding “sabr.notes@sabr.org” to your contact list to ensure they show up in your inbox.

AUGUST 14, 2026 — New York Yankees left fielder Cody Bellinger and Chicago Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong lead their respective leagues in the updated SABR Defensive Index rankings through Major League Baseball games of Sunday, August 9, 2026.

• Click here to view full SDI rankings by position through games of Sunday, August 9, 2026

The SABR Defensive Index is used to help select the winners of the Rawlings Gold Glove Award® and Rawlings Platinum Glove Award, presented by SABR.

The SDI draws on and aggregates two types of existing defensive metrics: those derived from batted ball location-based data and those collected from play-by-play accounts. SDI utilizes MLBAM’s Statcast, Sports Info Solutions data, and STATS Perform data as well as traditional statistics with advanced analysis.

The SABR Defensive Index accounts for approximately 25 percent of the Rawlings Gold Glove Award selection process that will be added to the votes from the managers and coaches.

Bellinger’s SDI of 14.0 leads all fielders in the AL, followed by a trio of Boston Red Sox teammates, right fielder Wilyer Abreu (10.8), center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela (9.2), and third baseman Caleb Durbin (8.8). Detroit Tigers catcher Dillon Dingler (8.5) rounds out the top five.

Crow-Armstrong’s SDI of 13.4 is the highest in the NL among all qualified defenders, ahead of Los Angeles Dodgers center fielder Andy Pages (12.0), San Francisco Giants third baseman Matt Chapman (11.9), Arizona Diamondbacks right fielder Corbin Carroll (10.9), and Milwaukee Brewers second baseman Brice Turang (10.6).

The updated SDI results were released today by the Society for American Baseball Research.

The final SDI results will be released following the conclusion of the 2026 season at SABR.org. The SDI is compiled by the SABR Defensive Committee, which includes former SABR Board President Vince Gennaro; Sean Forman of Baseball-Reference.com; Joe Rosales of Sports Info Solutions; Tom Tango, MLB’s Senior Data Architect; author and defensive metrics expert Chris Dial; and author Michael Humphreys.

Here are the top 25 players in each League, through games of August 9, 2026:

American League leaders

National League leaders

• Click here to view full SDI rankings by position through games of Sunday, August 9, 2026

About SABR

The Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering research and disseminating the history and record of baseball. Founded in 1971, SABR has more than 7,700 members worldwide and has established itself as a vibrant baseball community and a premier distributor of ground-breaking baseball information. SABR features more than 80 regional chapters and more than 30 research committees, and produces three annual publications — two editions of The Baseball Research Journal and The National Pastime — in addition to other print and e-books. SABR also hosts two annual events: the National Convention each summer and the SABR Analytics Conference in March in Phoenix. For more information about SABR, visit SABR.org.

About the Rawlings Gold Glove Award®

The Rawlings Gold Glove Award^® is a registered trademark owned by Rawlings Sporting Goods Company, Inc. The award is correctly identified as the Rawlings Gold Glove Award. The name should not be shortened, abbreviated, or otherwise misused. Proper identification of this service mark using the registration symbol and the Rawlings name is important to protect the integrity of the program and perpetuate this worthy tradition. For more information, please visit www.Rawlings.com.

About Rawlings

Established in 1887, Rawlings is an innovative leading global brand and manufacturer of premium baseball and softball equipment, including gloves, balls, and protective headwear. Rawlings’ unparalleled quality, innovative engineering and expert craftsmanship are the fundamental reasons why more professional athletes, national governing bodies and sports leagues choose Rawlings. Rawlings is the Official Baseball, Helmet, Face Guard and Glove of Major League Baseball, the Official Baseball of Minor League Baseball and the Official Baseball and Softball of the NCAA and the NAIA.  The company is headquartered in St. Louis. For more information, please visit www.Rawlings.com.

AUGUST 11, 2026 — Throughout the 2026 season, SABR members will have a chance to vote on SABR’s All-Time Eras Teams as we celebrate the 150 years of baseball and American history since the founding of the National League in 1876.

• Join us from 8:00-9:00 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday, August 18 for a special Zoom webinar as we reveal the Integration Era (1947-1972) team, and hear a presentation by award-winning author Howard Bryant. Click here to pre-register for this Zoom event.

Bryant is the award-winning author of 11 books, including acclaimed biographies of Henry Aaron and Rickey Henderson. His newest book is Kings and Pawns: Jackie Robinson and Paul Robeson in America. He is a four-time finalist for the National Magazine Award, an Emmy Award winner, and a two-time winner of the Casey Award. He was the guest editor of The Best American Sports Writing in 2017 and is a regular contributor to NPR’s Weekend Edition.

The All-Time Eras Teams project is an interactive opportunity for all SABR members to participate in, debate with one another, and learn more about the iconic players and figures from different eras. Each ballot period will culminate with a virtual Zoom webinar which includes a presentation covering that era of American history prior to the unveiling of the team chosen by our members.

Visit SABR.org/all-time-eras-teams to learn more.

On Friday, July 31, 2026, the 1990s Cleveland Indians Panel was held at SABR 54 at the Hilton Cleveland Downtown hotel in Cleveland, Ohio.

Panelists included Sandy Alomar Jr., 1990 American League Rookie of the Year, Gold Glove-winning catcher, and 1997 All-Star Game MVP; Carlos Baerga, fan favorite as a switch-hitting second baseman during his 14-year major league career; Mike Hargrove, who won two AL pennants and 5 consecutive AL Central Division titles as Cleveland’s manager from 1991 to 1999; Kenny Lofton, all-around star center fielder who holds Cleveland franchise record for stolen bases; and Charles Nagy, three-time All-Star pitcher and Cleveland Indians Hall of Fame inductee. The panel was moderated by Paul Hoynes, Cleveland Plain Dealer sports writer and 2026 BBWAA Career Excellence Award recipient.

• Audio: Click here to listen to the 1990s Cleveland Indians Panel at SABR 54 (1:26:47; MP3)

Here are some highlights:

On playing in front of 455 consecutive sellouts in Cleveland

• Nagy: “It was just awesome. We came from a place (Municipal Stadium) that had 75,000 (seats) and we pretty much knew everyone who was in the stands. When we weren’t doing well and someone was yelling at you, you were like, ‘Bob, I heard that.’ … (Jacobs Field) was a state-of-the-art facility. People came out in the beginning to check out the new stadium and see what it was all about. And then we came out of the gate hot and started playing well, and then they just stayed. It was fantastic. It’s a tribute to the fans, we were so excited, they stayed from one through nine, no matter if we were down by three or up by four. We knew we always had a chance to win those games.” 

On Cleveland’s powerful offense

• Alomar: “We always thought we were never out of the game. With the top of our lineup (Kenny Lofton and Omar Vizquel), we always had traffic (on the bases). … The excitement of playing in front of a sellout crowd, I felt like other teams, (especially) their bullpens, felt that too. It was almost like a playoff atmosphere every single day. When pitchers saw the bottom of the lineup (for other teams), they were like, ‘Oh man, I get a break right here.’ But there was no break with us, because everyone made contact and there was power up and down the lineup.”

On playing with Albert Belle

• Hargrove: “I don’t know which story to tell you. I got a couple I can’t tell you!”
• Lofton: “On any team I’m on, I want Albert Belle hitting fourth and playing left field, without a doubt. One thing about Albert, he was an RBI machine. People see all the antics and the things he did … but if you put a man on base and he strikes out, he is pissed. You put a runner in scoring position, he gets mad. … Carlos Baerga, we all know was (also) an RBI machine. If I’m on base and Carlos hits a double, I’m scoring. There was one time, I’m on first base and Carlos and Albert were going for the RBI team lead. Carlos hits a double and I touch second, I’m rounding third, I’m going to score. I look up, and Albert Belle is halfway down the line with his bat telling me to hold! He did not want Carlos to get that RBI. It was him, not the coach. And he ended up getting the base hit and I scored, and he got the RBI. So that’s Albert.”  
• Baerga: “He had to be perfect. He wanted to get better every day. This guy wrote everything down. You know how many little books he had, on every pitcher? I didn’t do that, but he did it — every year since he came up to the big leagues. … Every year he wanted to be the first player to throw out a baserunner from left field at third base. He did it five times in a row. I remember Mike (Hargrove) getting pissed off at him, ‘What are you doing? Hit the cutoff!’ … But Albert was one of the best players that I ever played with. I know he’s a Hall of Famer. Nobody put up the numbers that Albert Belle put up.”
• Alomar: “Albert was very analytically driven. He could play in this era, big-time. The one difference between him and Juan Soto is Albert would go out of his zone to get an RBI where Juan Soto will take a walk. Albert always said, ‘Batting averages can go up and down, but RBIs can only go up.’ ” 
• Nagy: “He wanted to play every day. He was in the lineup every day, regardless of how he felt, who was pitching, the weather. And everyone saw that and everyone respected him for that. He played hard and, to his credit, he became a really good outfielder. And his hitting spoke for itself.” 

On his 30-game hitting streak in 1997

• Alomar: “I was most focused on the pitching staff. I didn’t realize I was in a hitting streak until it was around 12 (games). You get a walk here, you get a blooper, you don’t feel like you hit the ball hard, and you don’t fee like you got a hit. People started bringing it to my attention and I’m like, ‘OK, now I gotta think about this too?’ The most important part was taking care of the pitching staff. But for some reason, I felt healthy the whole year, I was making hard contact more often than not. I don’t know, I got lucky many times. A couple of times I pinch-hit — thanks, Grover! He tried to screw up my hitting streak because he put me in as a pinch-hitter. He said, ‘I need a win, I don’t care about a hitting streak.’ “

For more coverage of SABR 54, visit SABR.org/convention.

On Saturday, August 1, 2026, Billy Altman gave a presentation on “Learning the Score: Bats, Balls, and Rock & Roll” during the SABR 54 convention at the Hilton Cleveland Downtown hotel in Cleveland, Ohio. 

Altman is an award-winning cultural journalist, critic and historian; a founding curator of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland; and an official scorer for Major League Baseball at New York Mets and Yankees games since 2004.

• Audio: Click here to listen to Billy Altman’s presentation, “Learning the Score,” at SABR 54 (58:45; MP3)

Here are some highlights:

On changing calls as an official scorer

• “You have up to 24 hours to change a call. With all the betting and everything, we’re encouraged to make calls as quickly as we can. You want to make sure you made the right call. Sometimes you might not see that a ball takes a bad hop. We can always look at a replay, if we’re not sure about a call. But you have to make the call first. And sometimes a media member will call or they call us from the dugout and ask us to take a second look at a play, and we’re happy to do so. The players are also able to do an appeal if they want to. It goes in front of a committee. You have to have a thick skin to do this job.”  

On baseball and music connections

• “I got to be good friends with Mike Piazza. He liked a lot of hair metal, Guns N’ Roses, Ratt, Poison, Motley Crue. In 2004, the Beastie Boys put out an album called To the 5 Boroughs, which they dedicated to New York after 9/11. And they had one song called “3 the Hard Way” and in the middle of this song, they rhymed Piazza with matzah. I got an advance on this and I’m in the Mets clubhouse and I say, ‘Mike, you got a shoutout on a Beastie Boys song.’ And he said, ‘Dude, no way!’ And I said, ‘Yes, way!’ So I got the record company to send Jay Horwitz, the Mets’ PR guy, a copy of the CD. I walk into the Mets clubhouse during their next homestand and as I’m walking in, I get punched in the right shoulder. I turn around and it’s Piazza. He says, ‘Dude, way!’ “

On opening the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

• “When the Rock Hall opened in 1995, we were all coming out from New York to Cleveland. I’d been writing for Rolling Stone since 1974. And whenever I went up to the office to deliver a review, [magazine co-founder] Jann Wenner came up to me and said, ‘Hi, I’m Jann Wenner.’ And this went on every time. ‘Hi, I’m Jann Wenner.’ When the Rock Hall opened in 1995, they had a walk-through for us. We’re going down the escalator, and Jann Wenner is down there with one of his sons. We get to the bottom and Jann walks over and he says, ‘Billy, great to see you. You guys did a great job.’ And later I said, ‘I’ve known Jann Wenner for 20 years and this is the first time he’s ever remembered my name.’ And my friend looks at me and he says, ‘Billy, we’re wearing name tags.’ ”     

For more coverage of SABR 54, visit SABR.org/convention.