Looking Back At The SABR 36 Convention
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Besides the opportunity for great baseball, one of the mainstays of every SABR summer is the annual convention held each year in a different Major League city. For the past 36 years, the annual convention has developed into the destination spot to celebrate baseball’s place in the pantheon of popular culture. Whatever the appropriate moniker for these people, there will be more than 600 of them wandering through Seattle this week, attending the 36th Society for American Baseball Research national convention today through Saturday at the downtown Renaissance Hotel.” “The final day of the 36th annual SABR convention was Saturday in Seattle. Some interesting speakers and a trip to Tacoma to boot!”
But don’t just take our word for it, here are some thoughts, reflections and reports looking back at SABR 36 held this
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Besides the opportunity for great baseball, one of the mainstays of every SABR summer is the annual convention held each year in a different Major League city. For the past 36 years, the annual convention has developed into the destination spot to celebrate baseball’s place in the pantheon of popular culture.
But don’t just take our word for it, here are some thoughts, reflections and reports looking back at SABR 36 held this year in Seattle.
Looking Back at SABR 36
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“NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That the Washington State Senate recognize the Society for American Baseball Research for its outstanding service in documenting one of America’s most treasured pastimes with both integrity and substantiation;”
– excerpt from Washington State Senate resolution 8620 by Senators Jacobsen, Johnson and Fraser (3/11/2005)
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“I will soon share this creation with the entire baseball world, as long as I can find an overhead projector in time for the annual SABR Convention in Seattle this June!” Neeman’s earlier attempts to produce the perfect player’s statistics failed, as each of his first eight results was identical to Albert Pujols’ 2005 batting line.”
– satire from “Mad Sabermetrician Creates The Perfect Baseball Player’s Statistics” by The Onion (5/18/2006)
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“Seamheads. Baseball nerds. Numbers freaks.
– from “Seamheads Convening in Seattle” by Dan Raley, Seattle Post-Intelligencer (6/28/2006)
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“We would also like to dispel the notion that we’re all a bunch of statheads. For the most part, we are historians. We love stories, and there will be a lot of good baseball stories to hear this week.”
– John Boyle quoting local SABR convention chair Anthony Salazar in “Plenty of Baseball Talk at SABR Convention,” The Seattle Times (6/27/2006)
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“[Jim] Bouton, 67, and his wife Paula are in town for the Society for American Baseball Research convention. He and former Seattle Pilots Jim Pagliaroni, Steve Hovley and Mike Marshall, as well as former P-I scribe Jim Caple, who now slums for ESPN.com, were on a panel Friday recalling a pathetic team that existed for a single season.”
– from “Jim Bouton Still Bring It With Gusto From The Inside” by Ted Miller, Seattle Post-Intelligencer (7/01/2006)
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“You had to be there, but his acappella rendition of “Proud to be an Astro” (lyrics unsuitable for a family newspaper, but check out page 331 of any vintage edition Ball Four) brought down the house.”
– from “Jim Bouton (Seriously) Raps Steroids” by Larry Stone, The Seattle Times (7/1/2006)
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“The convention attracts an eclectic mix of statisticians, historians and purists unified by a passion for baseball. The 530 or so in attendance this weekend marked the fourth-largest SABR gathering, and the largest for a convention west of the Mississippi.”
– from “SABR Convention Attracts Eclectic Mix” by Tim Booth, Associated Press (7/2/2006)
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John Zajc, SABR’s Cleveland-based executive director, likes the term “baseball fanaticism with intellect” to describe the 6,000 or so members, who include George Will, Keith Olbermann, Stan Musial and former Cleveland Browns general manager Ernie Accorsi.”
– from “The Many Faces of SABR” by Larry Stone, The Seattle Times (7/2/2006)
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– from “SABR 36 Recap plus a trip to Tacoma!” by Bob Timmerman, BaseballToaster.com (7/2/2006)
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“The CBA Panel had Dick Moss, Andy Zimbalist, and Mike Marshall. Rob did a great job moderating the panel, and understandably, I didn
Originally published: September 12, 2006. Last Updated: September 12, 2006.