Join us for SABR Day on January 27, 2018
You’re not going to want to miss the ninth annual SABR Day on Saturday, January 27, 2018!
SABR Day is our annual Hot Stove gathering to celebrate the beginning of a new baseball season. It’s always held on the weekend between the NFL championship games and the Super Bowl. On that day, SABR’s regional chapters organize baseball events around the globe, and you’re all invited to attend.
- 2018 SABR Day schedule: Click here for complete details on all of Saturday’s events on our 2018 SABR Day map (or click here to view details on a spreadsheet)
SABR Day meetings can include premier guest speakers, such as new Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora, who will speak at the SABR Day event in Puerto Rico, and former Los Angeles Dodgers general manager and current Toronto Blue Jays scout Dan Evans, who will speak at the Rocky Mountain Chapter meeting in Denver.
SABR’s Boston Chapter will hold a special Winter Festival at Fenway Park, hosted by Red Sox historian and SABR member Gordon Edes. Speakers will include former Red Sox reliever and Yale University graduate Craig Breslow and presentations from historians Bill Nowlin, Bob Brady, and Saul Wisnia on a number of other Boston-related baseball topics, including the tale of a nomadic college team, the Wentworth Leopards; the Reviving Baseball in the Inner Cities program; and the amazing Boston Renegades and their Beep Baseball saga. Lunch is included, plus you can participate in The Great Red Sox Trivia Contest with a prize of four tickets and a personal tour of Fenway Park conducted by Edes. Register now to join us in Boston.
SABR’s Casey Stengel Chapter in New York City, hosts of last summer’s SABR 47 national convention, have a terrific SABR Day event on Saturday at the New York Public Library, with guest speakers that include Tyler Kepner of the New York Times, major-league umpire Phil Cuzzi, “Talking Baseball” radio host Ed Randall, former New York Mets player Art Shamsky, baseball scout Tom Giordano, and NYPL Senior Rare Book Cataloger Virginia Bartow, who will present highlights from the library’s collections. Learn more at sabrnyc.org.
Two of our newest chapters in New Jersey, the Elysian Fields Chapter in Hoboken and the Goose Goslin Chapter in Cherry Hill, will host SABR Day events for the first time on Saturday. The Elysian Fields Chapter will meet at the Hoboken Library, with Negro Leagues documentary filmmaker Lauren Meyer, plus Chris Shearn from the YES Network and representatives from the Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center. The Goose Goslin Chapter will meet at the Cherry Hill Public Library, where presentations will be given on the chapter’s Hall of Fame namesake and Mike Schmidt.
In Cooperstown, our SABR Day meeting at the Baseball Hall of Fame’s Bullpen Theater will included presentations from Hall of Fame senior curator Tom Shieber, Library Director Jim Gates, and author Douglas Gladstone.
In Louisville, the Pee Wee Reese Chapter and Cincinnati’s Hoyt-Allen Chapter will jointly gather at the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory with special guests John Erardi of the Cincinnati Enquirer, who will give a talk on “Tony Perez: From Cuba to Cooperstown,” and Joe Cox, author of Almost Perfect: The Heartbreaking Pursuit of Pitching’s Holy Grail.
In Milwaukee, the Ken Keltner Chapter will meet at the J&B’s Blue Ribbon sports bar to hear from Milwaukee Brewers broadcaster Jeff Levering, plus presentations from historian Bob Buege on baseball’s first All-Star Game and Patrick Steele, author of the upcoming book Home of the Braves.
In Seattle, our Northwest Chapter will host a SABR Day meeting at Seattle Pacific University’s Ames Library with Seattle Mariners Director of Baseball Analytics Jesse Smith and Mariners former general counsel Bart Waldman.
In Toronto, join the Hanlan’s Point Chapter for a sneak peek at SABR member Bill Humber’s “Baseball Spring Training” class (now in its 40th year!) at Seneca College with special guest Shi Davidi, Toronto Blue Jays columnist for Sportsnet.ca. This special class is free to all fans only on SABR Day, January 27, and will include research presentations and discussions on Canadian baseball history.
We also have a multitude of international events scheduled for SABR Day this year, with Hot Stove meetings in Montreal, Toronto, and Victoria (B.C.) in Canada; plus events in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; and last week’s introductory meeting of the new Taiwan Chapter.
Other guest speakers for SABR Day on Saturday are expected to include: Minnesota Twins catcher Mitch Garver (Albuquerque), International League president Randy Mobley (Rochester); Miami Herald writer Clark Spencer (Ft. Lauderdale); former Seattle Pilots draftee Jerry Bell and Harriet Kimbro-Hamilton, daughter of Negro Leaguer Henry Kimbro (Nashville); former major-league pitcher John D’Acquisto and writers Barry Bloom, Marty Lurie, and Tony DeMarco (Phoenix); Florida State University baseball director of operations Chip Baker (Tallahassee); authors Doug Feldmann and Ed Wheatley (St. Louis), Andy McCue and Fred Rodgers (San Diego), and Brian Engelhardt and Eliza Richardson (Pittsburgh), among many others.
Some SABR chapters, such as Austin, Birmingham, Des Moines, Durham, Fort Wayne, Knoxville, Las Vegas, and New Orleans, will meet informally for lunch or just to talk baseball with friends. We hope you’ll come check it out.
All baseball fans are welcome on SABR Day; you don’t have to be a SABR member to attend, although if you like what you see we hope you’ll sign up.
You can find details of more than 50 meetings scheduled for SABR Day 2018 at SABR.org/sabrday. Find one near you and join us!
-
SABR Day doesn’t end at midnight! Some chapters held their SABR Day meetings last week, due to venue or schedule availability. But don’t miss the upcoming Baltimore Babe Ruth Chapter and Lefty O’Doul/Bay Area Chapter events this Sunday, January 28. Guest speakers in Baltimore will include Tim Kurkjian of ESPN, SABR VP Leslie Heaphy, Baltimore baseball documentarian Ken Mars, and more; click here for complete details. In San Francisco, we’ll celebrate the grand opening of the Baseball Reliquary exhibit on African American Baseball at the San Francisco Main Library with a viewing of the film Only the Ball was White, and a panel discussion afterward with Baseball Reliquary founder Terry Cannon, former major-leaguer Nate Oliver, and artist/historian Bill Cormalis Jr.; click here for complete details. Our SABR chapters in Cleveland, Detroit, and Little Rock are also planning to meet on Saturday, February 3. Find complete details at SABR.org/sabrday. Hope to see you there!
Originally published: January 25, 2018. Last Updated: January 25, 2018.