This Week in SABR: April 11, 2025
Welcome to “This Week in SABR” on Friday, April 11, 2025.
Click here to view this newsletter on the web.
Member Benefit Spotlight: Accessing the Weiss Baseball Questionnaires
Watch a video replay of the SABR Webinar on Torpedo Bats
2 weeks left to take advantage of early-bird discounts for SABR 53
SABR 500 Club membership referral drive
Deadlines approaching for student scholarship applications
Call for papers: 2025 SABR/IWBC Women in Baseball Conference
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Member Benefit Spotlight: Accessing the Weiss Baseball Questionnaires
The SABR Research Collection is home to 50+ years of groundbreaking baseball research, and we are excited to launch a new collection — exclusively online for SABR members — of the Weiss Baseball Questionnaires. This archive of nearly 100,000 self-completed surveys of professional baseball players, compiled over six decades by longtime SABR member William J. Weiss, is now available at SABR.org/weiss-baseball-questionnaires.
- Click here to watch a short video on how to access the Weiss Baseball Questionnaires in our Member Benefit Spotlight
The Weiss Baseball Questionnaires provide comprehensive information on dozens of future Hall of Famers and notable baseball figures on their lives and baseball careers. In addition to biographical details, the forms also include schools attended, signing scouts, offseason hobbies and jobs, memorable on-field experiences, and military service. These surveys were sent out and compiled by Weiss between 1945 to 2005.
Click here to read the full announcement at SABR.org.
Watch a video replay of the SABR Webinar on Torpedo Bats
On Wednesday, April 9, SABR brought together a group of experts for a special webinar to discuss the newest equipment craze in baseball, the Torpedo Bat. Our panelists included:
- Alan Nathan, Professor Emeritus of Physics, University of Illinois
- Jed Lowrie, former MLB All-Star infielder and Stanford University alumnus
- Keenan Long, Founder and CEO, LongBall Labs
- Moderator: Scott Bush, SABR Chief Executive Officer
Click here to watch a video replay of this discussion on YouTube.
2 weeks left to take advantage of early-bird discounts for SABR 53
This summer we’ll head to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex on June 25-29, 2025, for the 53rd SABR convention. SABR 53 will feature a Texas-sized speaker lineup we know you’ll love, alongside an invigorated social experience emphasizing SABR’s ability to unite all of us in baseball fellowship. All baseball fans are welcome to attend.
Please note: Early-bird registration discounts expire on Friday, April 25, so register today to join us for SABR 53!
Here are some of our featured speakers and panelists:
- Iván Rodríguez, Texas Rangers great and 2017 Baseball Hall of Fame inductee
- Bruce Bochy, Texas Rangers manager and four-time World Series champion
- Chris Young, Texas Rangers President of Baseball Operations
- Elvis Andrus, former Texas Rangers All-Star infielder
- Don Fehr, former Executive Director of the MLB Players Association
- Steve Rogers, Special Assistant, MLB Players Association, and former Montreal Expos All-Star pitcher
- Bradford William Davis, Fort Worth Star-Telegram columnist
- Tom Schieffer, former Texas Rangers president
- Rob Matwick, Executive Vice President, Public Affairs, Texas Rangers
- Jack Hill, former Senior Vice President, Project Development, Texas Rangers
- James Beckett, founder and CEO of Beckett Media
- Tim Purpura, former Houston Astros general manager and Texas League president
- Bob Baillargeon, former Texas League player
- Rick Herrscher, former Texas League player
- Stay tuned for more speakers and panelists to be announced!
If you’ve never attended a SABR convention, this is the perfect year to join us and make new baseball friendships. If you’re a veteran attendee, we can’t wait for you to experience our rejuvenated convention experience. It will be an incredible week of baseball fellowship in the heart of Texas and we hope you’ll make plans to be part of it!
Visit SABR.org/convention to register now or learn more.
SABR 500 Club membership referral drive
Do you have friends or family members who would love SABR? Now is the time to encourage them to join during our SABR 500 Club membership drive!
The SABR 500 Club is a referral-based membership drive with the goal of welcoming 500 new SABR members between March 1 and April 30, 2025. New members who sign up for an annual or multi-year membership during the referral period will receive a custom baseball card set featuring SABR-Rucker Archive images of members of the 500 home run club. Current members who refer three or more new members during the drive, regardless of membership type, will receive their choice of a card set or SABR logo lapel pin. The current SABR member who refers the most new members will receive a complimentary registration for SABR’s 53rd annual convention in Dallas-Fort Worth this June. Cash prizes will also be awarded to SABR chapters with the most referrals.
Visit SABR.org/500-club to learn more.
Join us on April 16 for a SABR Live Oral History Interview with Dale Murphy
Baseball fans, join us for a special virtual event at 7:30 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday, April 16: a live SABR Oral History interview with former National League MVP and Atlanta Braves great Dale Murphy.
All fans are invited to attend this interview session on Zoom, which will be conducted by Oral History Committee chair John McMurray. The interview will be recorded and added to SABR’s Oral History Collection archive afterward.
Click here to read the full announcement at SABR.org.
Call for papers: 2025 SABR/IWBC Women in Baseball Conference
SABR and the International Women’s Baseball Center have announced a call for papers for the seventh annual SABR/IWBC Women in Baseball Conference, scheduled as a virtual event for September 19-21, 2025.
Registration information will be available soon at SABR.org/women-in-baseball-conference.
The theme for this year’s conference is “Women Beyond the Diamond.” Topics can focus on ideas such as announcers, owners, executives, writers, artists, architects, and much more. All topics and time periods related to women’s baseball are welcome. Abstracts accepted for posters and/or oral presentations.
Please submit abstracts of approximately 200 words, along with contact information and a short biography, by July 1, 2025, to Leslie Heaphy.
New Three Rivers Stadium historical markers to be unveiled in Pittsburgh
All baseball fans are invited to join SABR’s Forbes Field Chapter at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, April 17 near North Side Gold Lot 1A in Pittsburgh for the official dedication of three additional historical markers commemorating the baseball history of Three Rivers Stadium, including:
- Second base, where Roberto Clemente doffed his hat to appreciative fans following his 3,000th hit
- The pitcher’s plate, where multiple pitchers entered local baseball lore by hurling no-hit games
- A beautiful informational panel that gives an overview of these events and more
These have been added to the long list of Pittsburgh historical markers along with the previously dedicated home plate. A number of the region’s dignitaries will make remarks, and festivities will include the commemoration of the 70th anniversary of Clemente’s first big league hit, which happened on April 17, 1955 at Forbes Field in nearby Oakland. The locations of the new markers are on the sidewalks of West General Robinson St. The ongoing project was funded in part through the SABR Local Grants program.
Click here to read the full announcement at SABR.org.
2025 Virtual Candidate Forum scheduled for April 17
All SABR members are invited to join us for a Virtual Candidate Forum featuring candidates for the two Director’s seats in the upcoming Board of Directions election. The forum, moderated by Joe Shaw, will take place on Zoom from 8:00-9:00 p.m. Eastern on Thursday, April 17.
Candidates will have a chance to introduce themselves and answer questions about the organization. SABR members will elect two of these candidates to the Board of Directors.
Click here to read the full announcement at SABR.org.
Last call: Apply now for SABR Convention, Negro Leagues student scholarships
With generous funding from The Nanar and Anthony Yoseloff Foundation, Inc., SABR will award up to four scholarships to high school and college students who wish to attend this summer’s SABR convention:
- Yoseloff Scholarship—SABR 53: With generous funding from The Nanar and Anthony Yoseloff Foundation, Inc., SABR will award up to four scholarships to high school and college students who wish to attend the SABR 53 convention on June 25-29, 2025, in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas. This scholarship will pay for all registration fees and expenses associated with the conference. Deadline to apply: April 11, 2025. Click here to learn more or to download an application.
In addition, SABR’s Negro Leagues Committee awards $1,000 scholarships to high school seniors in its annual Thomas R. Garrett Scholarship essay contest. Students must write a 1,200-word essay answering a question related to one of the Negro League figures who are the namesakes of the scholarships. Deadline to apply: April 15. Click here to download an application or learn more about the scholarships.
Visit SABR.org/scholarships to learn more about student scholarship opportunities.
December 2 Board minutes posted
Minutes from the Board of Directors conference call on December 2, 2024 have now been posted on the SABR website.
Click here to view all past minutes of SABR Board meetings.
Find new updates to the SABR Research Collection below, including the Baseball Biography Project, Games Project, and Oral History Collection.
New Oral History interview: Michael Young
- Michael Young, Texas Rangers All-Star infielder and AL batting champion for 14 seasons
Recorded April 3, 2025, by John McMurray
Visit SABR.org/oralhistory to find more interviews from the SABR Oral History Collection.
8 new stories published at SABR Biography Project
- Bob Cobb, by Dan Taylor and David Hourin
- Joe Grahe, by Michael Trzinski
- Joe Simmons, by David Rader
- Scott Taylor, by David Moore
- Frenchy Uhalt, by Dan Schoenholz
- Russ Van Atta, by Steve Kuzmiak
- Nip Winters, by Abigail Miskowiec
- Sam Zoldak, by Joseph Wancho
Visit SABR.org/bioproject to learn more about the SABR BioProject or to get involved.
7 new stories published at SABR Games Project
- October 9, 1905: Mathewson, Giants dominate Athletics in World Series opener as interleague championship resumes, by Alan Stowell
- September 28, 1974: Red Sox stave off elimination behind Luis Tiant, Dick Pole, by Troy Olszewski (first-time author)
- April 11, 1985: Injured Cal Ripken Jr. sits as Orioles lose in exhibition at US Naval Academy, by Kurt Blumenau
- June 2, 1990: Randy Johnson throws first no-hitter in Seattle Mariners history, by Jake Rinloan
- July 9, 2000: Tyler Houston’s three home runs upstage Hideo Nomo’s triumph in Milwaukee Sausage Race, by Larry DeFillipo
- April 22, 2007: Four consecutive home runs help Red Sox beat Yankees and sweep a home series, by Bill Nowlin
- April 5, 2019: Jorge Polanco hits for cycle, but Twins’ wildness, fielding fiascoes lead to loss against Phillies, by Mike Huber
Visit SABR.org/gamesproject to learn more about the SABR Games Project or to get involved.
New additions to 19th Century League and Team Resources collection
SABR’s Nineteenth Century Committee has added more files to the 19th Century League and Team Resources collection, which aims to collect all available pre-1900 baseball documents and make them available online to future researchers.
The collection now includes rules and regulations from the Board of Arbitration of 1886-1900, including an introduction to these files. Click here to learn more.
Here Comes the Pizzer: The Found Poetry of Baseball Broadcasts
Edited by Eric Poulin
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:
- Check out highlights, photos, and stories from the 2025 SABR Analytics Conference
- Learn more about recipients of SABR Local Grants in 2025
- Rob Fitts, Gary Gillette, Richard Malatzky honored with Henry Chadwick Award
- 2025 Sporting News-SABR Baseball Research Award winners announced
- SABR members approve By-Laws revision in 2025 special election
- Hundreds of ProQuest US newspapers added to SABR Research Resources
- SABR Digital Library: When Minor League Baseball Almost Went Bust: 1946-1963
- Save the date! 2025 SABR/IWBC Women in Baseball Conference is September 19-21
- Read SABR biographies of 2025 Baseball Hall of Fame inductees
- Browse the new, searchable SABR MLB Team Employee Database
- Find complete collection of SABR-Rucker Archive baseball images online
- Historical Black Newspapers Collection added to SABR Research Resources
- Get a gift for baseball fan in your life with the SABR Store @ CafePress
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.
| NAME | HOMETOWN | NAME | HOMETOWN | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tim Brennan | Bethel, VT | Jeffrey Lambert | Pembroke Pines, FL | ||
| Allison Cavallin | Sandstone, MN | Mack McKeithan | Arden, NC | ||
| Martha Coons | Florence, MA | Andrea McKinney | Naples, FL | ||
| Ricardo Cruz Garcia | Bonsall, CA | Mike Mullee | Red Bank, NJ | ||
| Michael DiCosimo | Reading, PA | Kai Nelson | New York, NY | ||
| Hung Kuan Fan | Xinbei City, TWN | Kevin O’Reilly | Skokie, IL | ||
| Michael Garbose | Philadelphia, PA | Gary Rapp | Bronx, NY | ||
| Phill Giggey Sr | Stillwater, OK | Gabrielle Rockwell | Soddy Daisy, TN | ||
| Doug Gladstone | Wilton, NY | Derek Rose | Saint Charles, MO | ||
| Takao Hanyu | Tokyo, JPN | Kirk Rourke | Kirksville, MO | ||
| John Heinen | Apex, NC | Bruce Sarte | Gilbertsville, PA | ||
| Keith Hodos | Youngstown, OH | Matt Thompson | Menomonee Falls, WI | ||
| Blake Hutchison | Verona, WI | Nikki Thorpe | Hartwell, GA | ||
| Richard Klein | Washington, DC | Stephen Timon | Dallas, TX | ||
| John Kurtz | Las Vegas, NV |
- Events Calendar: Find details of all upcoming SABR events.
- Video Replays: This week, we heard from Kat Williams (All The Way: The Life of Trailblazer Maybelle Blair); Zak Ford with Josh Stewart and Matt Walbeck (Called Up); Will Bardenwerper (Homestand); Richard Hershberger (Strike Four); Ralph Carhart (“New Jersey: The Incubator of Baseball”); Kevin Doyle (“US Navy Baseball, 1864-1910”); and the Hoyt-Allen Cincinnati Chapter SABR Day meeting. Click here to view video replays of virtual SABR events.
Upcoming Virtual Meetings
- April 14: Clyde Sukeforth (NH/ME) Chapter meeting with Dan Schlossberg (7:00 p.m. EDT)
- April 14: New SABR Member Experience Meeting (8:00 p.m. EDT)
- April 15: 19th Century Baseball Book Club (8:00 p.m. EDT)
- April 16: Bud Metheny (VA) Chapter meeting with Ken Clawson (7:30 p.m. EDT)
- April 16: SABR Live Oral History: Dale Murphy (7:30 p.m. EDT)
- April 17: Larry Doby (SC) Chapter meeting with Ken Clawson (7:00 p.m. EDT)
- April 17: 2025 Virtual Candidate Forum (8:00 p.m. EDT)
Upcoming In-Person Meetings
- April 12: Sebring-Stovey Williamsport Chapter meeting (Williamsport, PA)
- April 12: Ken Keltner Badger State Chapter meeting (Milwaukee, WI)
- April 12: Baltimore Babe Ruth Chapter meeting (Baltimore, MD)
- April 12: Larry Dierker Chapter ballgame/meeting (Sugar Land, TX)
- April 12: Southwest Florida Chapter meeting (Naples, FL)
- April 13: Rogers Hornsby Chapter meeting (Austin, TX)
- April 15: Bob Davids Chapter Hot Stove Dinner (Silver Spring, MD)
- April 16: Rocky Mountain Chapter monthly lunch (Denver, CO)
- April 17: Three Rivers Stadium historical marker dedication (Pittsburgh, PA)
- April 17: Magnolia (GA) Chapter monthly meeting (Sandy Springs, GA)
- April 18: Maddux Brothers-Las Vegas Chapter ballgame/meet-up (Las Vegas, NV)
- April 19: Babe ‘n’ Bob Chapter Breakfast (Edgewater, MD)
- April 19: Halsey Hall Chapter spring meeting (Minneapolis, MN)
- April 19: Oklahoma Chapter meeting (Tulsa, OK)
To add your SABR event to our calendar listings, please contact Jacob Pomrenke.
- Nineteenth Century: Spring 2025 newsletter
Sign up for SABR research committee announcements at SABR.org/research/committees.
- Bob Broeg St. Louis Chapter: Spring 2025 newsletter (St. Louis, MO)
- Ken Keltner Badger State Chapter: April 2025 newsletter (Milwaukee, WI)
- Rocky Mountain Chapter: April 2025 newsletter (Denver, CO)
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:
- Save 40% off the purchase of baseball books at University of Nebraska Press through June 13
- Alan Nathan: The Physics of the Torpedo Bat (FanGraphs)
- Justice B. Hill: Fifty years later, Frank Robinson’s managerial debut still matters to those who were there (Andscape)
- Evan Drellich: For baseball-loving Schimmel sisters, major-league careers honor a family history (The Athletic)
- Rob Mains: Forbes’ Analysis Indicates a Surprising Development. The Reason Isn’t What You Think. (Baseball Prospectus)
- Esteban Rivera: So Far, Corbin Carroll’s Stance Change Is Paying Off (FanGraphs)
- Bruce Schoenfeld: How Analytics Marginalized Baseball’s Superstar Pitchers (New York Times)
- Russell A. Carleton: Was There Really A Steroid Era? (Baseball Prospectus)
- Mark Simon: The Last 10 Seasons of Strike Zone Runs Saved (Sports Info Solutions)
- Hannah Keyser/Zach Crizer: Are the Dodgers too good for baseball’s own good? (The Bandwagon)
- Alex Speier: Exploring mental health in MLB: What resources do players like Jarren Duran have, and are they used? (Boston Globe)
- Jay Jaffe: After Fumbling Away a Playoff Berth Last Year, the Twins Continue To Bumble (FanGraphs)
- Jayson Stark: Will Vlad Jr. join his dad in the Hall of Fame? How his early career numbers stack up (The Athletic)
- Steven Goldman: There Are No New Problems, Only Old Solutions (Baseball Prospectus)
- Kiri Oler: An Uppercut Blow to the Braves’ Offense (FanGraphs)
- Tyler Kepner: Octavio Dotel — the pitcher everybody wanted — left a legacy of strikeouts and smiles (The Athletic)
- Davy Andrews: Hunter Goodman Isn’t Choosy (FanGraphs)
- David Laurila: Landen Roupp Spins a Curveball, Hayden Birdsong Throws a Kick-Change (FanGraphs)
- Tony Oliver: José “Gacho” Torres, the first Major Leaguer born in Puerto Rico (Negro Leaguers in Puerto Rico)
- Michael Clair: The college baseball team that just snapped a 100-game losing streak (MLB.com)
- Amanda Lane Cumming: He Ain’t Heavy (Hittin’), He’s My Brother: A Look at Mariners Siblings (NW Baseball History)
- Jason Schwartz: The Five Essential Donruss Diamond Kings Cards of 1982 (SI Collectibles)
- Steve Dunn: The Rippey Ruckus, a three-day baseball tournament on an 85-year-old Iowa baseball field (Pug, Fireball and Company)
- Jeff Cohen/Len Aberman: Baseball and BBQ interview with Ryan Thompson (Baseball and BBQ)
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.
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Originally published: April 11, 2025. Last Updated: April 11, 2025.