SABR Members Elect New President, 2 Incumbents to Board of Directors
Members of the Society for American Baseball Research have elected a new President and re-elected two incumbents to the organization’s Board of Directors.
Vince Gennaro was elected as SABR’s new President in an unopposed race, receiving 962 of 998 first-place votes. He will replace outgoing President Andy McCue at the conclusion of the Annual Business Meeting, which will be held during the SABR 41 national convention at the Long Beach Hilton in Southern California. The meeting is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, July 7 in the ballroom of the hotel.
Related link: Nominations for SABR Secretary will be received until June 24. Click here for details.
Gennaro, who lives in Purchase, New York, has served as SABR’s Secretary since 2009. He is the author of Diamond Dollars: The Economics of Winning in Baseball, a consultant to MLB teams, and he teaches in the graduate programs at Columbia University and Manhattanville College. His non-baseball work is highlighted by a 20-year career at PepsiCo — including roles as Division President and GM of a billion-dollar bottling business — and ownership of a pro sports franchise.
F.X. Flinn, who also ran unopposed, was re-elected for the fourth time as SABR’s Treasurer, receiving 949 of 985 first-place votes. Flinn, who lives in Quechee, Vermont, is the senior member of the SABR Board, having also been elected as Treasurer in 2001, 2005 and 2008. In 1990, he started Expert Systems Development Corp, an IT consulting firm specializing in data warehousing, knowledge management and process development. After graduating from Cornell University in 1975, he worked in the trade book publishing industry for Doubleday and Bantam. In 1981 he became involved with the Rotisserie League founders and in 1984 published the first book on fantasy sports, Rotisserie League Baseball.
Paul Hirsch, who lives in Danville, California, was re-elected as a Director for his second term over candidates Todd Lebowitz and Ty Waterman. Hirsch received 424 of 1,043 first-place votes, while Lebowitz received 329 and Waterman 275. After Waterman’s votes were redistributed in a run-off (because no candidate received a 50 percent-plus-one majority), Hirsch was elected with 567 votes to Lebowitz’s 393.
Hirsch has been on the Board since 2007. A SABR member since 1983, Hirsch has been leader of the Lefty O’Doul Chapter, a member of the Umpires and Rules Committee, helped plan the 1998 SABR convention in San Mateo, California, and chairs the fundraising committee. He also owns a marketing and PR firm, Paul Hirsch Professional Communications.
Special thanks go out to Tellers Committee members Mort Bloomberg, Bob Flynn and S. Brian Fromm for helping the SABR staff to certify the results on June 7 at the SABR office.
The 2011 SABR elections featured online voting for the second consecutive year as well as traditional paper ballots. A total of 1,062 votes were received. About 17 percent of the membership participated in the election.
The SABR Board of Directors will hold its next meeting at 6 a.m. on Wednesday, July 6 during the SABR convention.
A complete history of SABR’s Board of Directors can be found here.
(Note: This article has been revised from its original version.)
Originally published: June 7, 2011. Last Updated: June 7, 2011.