This Week in SABR: April 26, 2019

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Welcome to “This Week in SABR!” Click here to view this week’s newsletter on the web. Here’s what we’ve been up to as of April 26, 2019:

Mark Armour elected as SABR President; Nowlin, Levin win Director seats

SABR members have elected a new President and Director and re-elected one incumbent to the organization’s Board of Directors in the 2019 election.

Mark Armour was elected as SABR’s President in an unopposed race, receiving 955 of 975 first-preference votes.

Bill Nowlin was re-elected as a SABR Director, receiving 552 of 1,008 first-preference votes. Allison Levin was also elected as a SABR Director, receiving 277 first-preference votes. Chris Dial finished runner-up for a Director’s seat with 177 first-preference votes.

Armour’s election creates a vacancy for a Director’s seat, and a candidate will be appointed by the Board of Directors. Any SABR member who is interested in filling the rest of that seat’s term — which begins at the conclusion of the Annual Business Meeting at SABR 49 in June and runs until 2021 — should fill out the candidate statement form and send an email to board2019@sabr.org.

Special thanks go out to Tellers Committee members Stephen Barnes, Mort Bloomberg, and Johanna Wagner for certifying the results on April 24 at the SABR office. The 2019 SABR elections featured online voting for the 10th consecutive year as well as traditional paper ballots. A total of 1,008 votes were received, constituting about 18.43 percent of the membership.

SABR members can find complete 2019 election results, including write-in candidates and voting totals, posted here. A historical list of SABR’s Board of Directors can be found by clicking here. Past voting totals can be found here.

SABR 49: Announcing new speakers and panelists

We’re excited to announce some of our featured speakers and panelists for SABR 49, which will be held June 26-30, 2019, at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego.

All baseball fans are welcome to attend SABR 49. Early registration is available until May 6; click here to register.

  • Randy Jones, 1976 National League Cy Young Award winner, charter member of Padres Hall of Fame, and owner of Randy Jones BBQ at Petco Park
  • Carlos Hernández, who played 11 seasons in the major leagues and was a key contributor on the Padres’ 1998 World Series team; now a Spanish-language color analyst on Fox Deportes
  • Mark Sweeney, who played 14 seasons in the major leagues as a outfielder, first baseman, and pinch-hitter extraordinaire from 1995 to 2008; now a TV analyst on Fox Sports San Diego

1984 San Diego Padres Panel

  • Kurt Bevacqua, San Diego Padres infielder and 1984 World Series hero
  • Bob Chandler, San Diego Padres broadcaster, 1970-2003
  • Ron Rapoport, sports columnist and author
  • Ballard Smith, former President of the San Diego Padres

MLB Umpires Panel

  • Gerry Davis, MLB umpire since 1984, crew chief for three World Series, who has called more postseason games than any umpire in baseball history
  • Greg Gibson, MLB umpire since 1999, who called the 2011 World Series, and was behind the plate for Randy Johnson’s 2004 perfect game and Clayton Kershaw’s 2014 no-hitter
  • Mike Port, Major League Baseball’s Vice President of Umpiring from 2005 to 2011
  • Moderator: Fred Rodgers, SABR Ted Williams Chapter

The Baseball Encyclopedia 50th Anniversary Panel

  • Sean Forman, founder of Baseball-Reference.com and president of Sports Reference, LLC
  • David S. Neft, the driving force behind The Baseball Encyclopedia in 1969
  • David W. Smith, president and founder of Retrosheet.org
  • Moderator: John Thorn, Major League Baseball’s Official Historian

Women in Baseball Panel

  • Perry Barber, professional baseball umpire for more than 30 years and 2018 recipient of SABR’s Dorothy Seymour Mills Lifetime Achievement Award
  • Jewel Greenberg, producer of Girls of Summer: Big Diamond Dreams, a documentary film about the girls and women who play baseball throughout the world
  • Justine Siegal, founder of Baseball For All and the first female coach in Major League Baseball
  • Janet Marie Smith, Senior Vice President of Planning and Development for the Los Angeles Dodgers, who oversaw construction and renovations to Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Fenway Park, Turner Field, and Dodger Stadium
  • Moderator: Jean Ardell, author of Breaking into Baseball: Women and the National Pastime and co-author with Ila Borders of Making My Pitch: A Woman’s Baseball Odyssey

Click here to learn more about our featured speakers and panelists. Stay tuned for more announcements about SABR 49 soon!

For more information on SABR 49, or to register, visit SABR.org/convention.

Subscribe to SABRcast with Rob Neyer on your favorite podcast networks

Listen to a new episode of SABRcast with Rob Neyer, a new weekly podcast hosted by award-winning author and longtime SABR member Rob Neyer — which is now available on your favorite podcast networks! Subscribe to SABRcast on your favorite podcast networks, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play, and listen to each episode as soon as it’s released on Mondays.

Visit SABR.org/sabrcast to listen to Episode #4, which features interviews with Meredith Wills, whose articles for The Athletic on changes to the composition of the baseball have helped explain MLB’s recent home-run surge; and Rob Arthur of Baseball Prospectus, who notes that the “rabbit ball” is causing home runs to skyrocket in Triple-A games this season, as well.

Every week, SABRcast will feature insights and analysis of what’s happening in modern baseball on and off the field, plus compelling interviews with figures from around the game — and music from The Baseball Project.

To learn more, visit SABR.org/sabrcast.

Two weeks left to register early for SABR 49 in San Diego

We hope you’ll join us for what promises to be a spectacular SABR 49 convention this summer in San Diego. Conference and hotel registration is now available at SABR.org/convention.

Click here for more information on the SABR 49 All-Inclusive Package, Early-Bird Registration, and optional sessions. Click here to register for SABR 49.

  • Registration: Click here for complete information on the SABR 49 All-Inclusive Package, Early-Bird Registration, and optional sessions. Or click here to register for SABR 49! We’re again offering a special All-Inclusive Package for the annual SABR convention. For the $369 all-inclusive rate, SABR members can get:
    — Full registration to SABR 49 in San Diego (early-bird: $289; regular rate: $319)
    — 1 ticket in the Upper Infield Reserved (1B) section to the Padres vs. Cardinals game on Friday, June 28 at Petco Park ($24 value)
    — 1 ticket to the Awards Luncheon on Friday, June 28 ($70 value)
    — 1 exclusive SABR 49 convention logo lapel pin
    — 2 complimentary Continental breakfasts on Thursday and Friday mornings*
    *The Continental breakfast benefit is only available when you register for the All-Inclusive Package.
    Non-members can pay $399 for the All-Inclusive Package; the deadline to register is Monday, May 6, 2019.
  • Hotel: The special SABR group rate at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego of $224/night (single rate) or $254/night (double rate) is only available to registered convention attendees. After you register for the SABR 49 convention, you will receive an e-mail confirmation with details on how to book your hotel room at the SABR group rate. If you do not receive your confirmation email after registering, please contact Deb Jayne at djayne@sabr.org. There are a limited number of rooms in our group block, so be sure to register for SABR 49 early!
  • Awards Luncheon: SABR will host a special Awards Luncheon on Friday, June 28 at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego. The Awards Luncheon, which includes a meal, will feature the announcement of SABR’s annual awards — including the Bob Davids Award, our highest honor. One ticket to the Awards Luncheon is included in the all-inclusive package or guest tickets are available for $70 when you register for SABR 49.
  • Special film screening of Moe Berg documentary: We are pleased to host a special screening of the new documentary film, Moe Berg: The Spy Behind Home Plate, on Thursday, June 27 during SABR 49 in San Diego with filmmaker Aviva Kempner. The event will be open to all SABR convention attendees. In this first ever feature-length documentary about the enigmatic Berg, Kempner focuses her camera on a little-known Jewish hero. learn more about the film or to view a trailer, visit spybehindhomeplate.org.
  • Speakers: Click here to learn more about our featured speakers and panelists at SABR 49.
  • Research presentations: Click here to view the full list of research presentations at SABR 49.

Visit SABR.org/convention to learn more or to register for the SABR 49 convention.

Bak, Fitts, McMurray win 2019 McFarland-SABR Baseball Research Awards

Addie JossThe 2019 winners of the McFarland-SABR Baseball Research Award, which honors the best articles on baseball history or biography completed or published during the preceding calendar year, are:

  • Richard Bak, “The Rise and Fatal Fall of Tenny Blount,” unpublished
  • Robert Fitts, “Baseball and the Yellow Peril,” Base Ball: New Research on the Early Game, Vol. 10 (McFarland & Co.)
  • John McMurray, “Addie Joss and the Benefit Game,” Base Ball: New Research on the Early Game, Vol. 10 (McFarland & Co.)

The McFarland-SABR Baseball Research Award honors the author(s) of the best articles or papers, published or unpublished, on baseball history or biography completed during the preceding calendar year. The awards will be presented at the 49th annual SABR convention, June 26-30, 2019, at the Manchester Grand Hyatt hotel in San Diego, California.

The selection committee consists of: Len Levin (chair), Phil Bergen, Warren Corbett, Chuck Hilty, Bill Humber, and Jan Finkel.

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

2019 SABR Frederick Ivor-Campbell 19th Century Base Ball Conference begins today in Cooperstown

The 11th annual Frederick Ivor-Campbell 19th Century Base Ball Conference begins today at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.

The 2019 conference will be highlighted by a keynote address from baseball historian Joanne Hulbert, along with a panel discussion on “The Birth of Baseball Cards” with John Thorn, Peter Devereaux, Tom Shieber, and Jeff Katz; a special presentation by Richard Hershberger on “The Evolution of Baseball Rules”; a Member Spotlight interview of Priscilla Astifan by Bob Bailey; plus book signings, research presentations, and a welcome dinner.

To learn more, visit SABR.org/ivor-campbell19c.

Listen to SABR’s ‘broadcast’ of the greatest baseball game of the 19th century

1869 Cincinnati Red StockingsOn June 14, 1870, the Cincinnati Red Stockings’ historic 81-game winning streak ended in a thrilling 11-inning contest against the Atlantic club of Brooklyn — considered by many to be the greatest baseball game of the 19th century.

The Red Stockings were the first and most famous all-professional baseball club in America, completing an undefeated season in 1869 and continuing their winning streak into 1870. Their unprecedented success sparked national interest in the fortunes of the club, which was led by brothers Harry and George Wright, veteran pitcher Asa Brainard, first baseman Charles Gould; and 20-year-old Cal McVey.

SABR members John Thorn, Bill Ryczek, and Joanne Hulbert take you back in time to June 14, 1870, at the Capitoline Grounds in Brooklyn with a special re-created play-by-play broadcast of “the finest game ever played.”

This broadcast excerpt was recorded in January 2018 and debuted last spring during SABR’s Frederick Ivor-Campbell 19th Century Base Ball Conference at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.

Click here to listen to the Red Stockings-Atlantics broadcast at SABR.org.

Read all articles from Spring 2019 Baseball Research Journal online at SABR.org

Good news! The Spring 2019 edition of the Baseball Research Journal has been mailed out to all SABR members.

Those of you who receive the print edition should find your BRJ arriving in the next two to four weeks. For digital subscribers, the e-book edition was delivered on Wednesday, April 10. 

To learn more about contributing to a future SABR publication, click here.

We hope you enjoy reading the Spring 2019 Baseball Research Journal!

Give back to SABR through AmazonSmile

AmazonSmile is an easy way to give back to SABR through online purchases made on Amazon.com. AmazonSmile will donate a portion of the purchase price of your eligible Amazon purchases to SABR.

Click here to learn more about supporting SABR through AmazonSmile.

Millions of Amazon products are eligible for donations and are marked “Eligible for AmazonSmile” on their product detail page. Remember, you must visit the AmazonSmile site (smile.amazon.com) first in order for your purchases to be eligible for donations.

SABR Digital Library: Jeff Bagwell in Connecticut

The Nutmeg State celebrates a Hall of Fame hometown hero in our newest book from the SABR Digital Library:

Jeff Bagwell in Connecticut:
A Consistent Lad in the Land of Steady Habits 
Edited by Karl Cicitto, Bill Nowlin, and Len Levin  
ISBN (paperback: 978-1-9438-1697-2, $19.95
ISBN (e-book): 978-1-9438-1696-5, $6.99
250 pages, 8.5″ x 11″

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

SABR members, get this e-book for FREE!

To see all titles in the SABR Digital Library, visit SABR.org/ebooks.

Having trouble downloading our e-books? To view PDF files on your computer, click here to download the free Adobe Reader software. Having trouble downloading e-books to your Kindle, Nook, Sony Reader or iPad? Click here for additional help.

New team ownership history: Boston Brotherhoods/Reds (1890-91)

1890 Boston RedsThe SABR Team Ownership Histories Project is a joint effort of SABR’s Business of Baseball Committee and the BioProject. The intention is to keep its essays up-to-date and to provide as much detail as possible about the organization and composition of ownership groups, franchise sales, relocations, stadiums, and other issues that provide the financial context for team success on the field.

One new article was published this week:

Click here to read all published team ownership histories at SABR.org.

The project also includes a new section on the defunct franchises in major-league history. We will be publishing more articles on defunct major-league franchises from the National Association, National League, American Association, Union Association, Players League, and Federal League.

Some team articles have been assigned, but anyone who wishes to contribute is encouraged to contact Andy McCue at amccue@sabr.org. The project is also looking for authors interested in writing the ownership history of the Milwaukee and/or Atlanta Braves, all versions of the Athletics, the Angels, Brewers, Nationals, Padres, Pirates, Rockies, Orioles, and Rays. Thanks to Len Levin for his work in copy editing all of these essays. To learn more or to read the author guidelines, click here.

6 new stories published by the SABR Games Project

Charlie HoughSix new game stories were posted this week as part of the SABR Games Project. Here are the new game stories:

New Games Project stories can be found at SABR.org/gamesproject/recent. Find all published Games Project articles at SABR.org/GamesProject.

  • Get involved: Have memories of a game you attended? Or a game you watched that caught your interest? Write about it! Writing for the Games Project is an easy way to get involved as a SABR member. Find out how by reading the Games Project FAQs section or checking out the Authors’ Guidelines. We have editors and fact checkers who are willing to help you write your first article.

Read all game stories from our new Colorado Rockies book at the SABR Games Project

In Major League Baseball A Mile High: The First Quarter Century of the Colorado Rockies, published by SABR in 2018 and edited by Bill Nowlin and Paul T. Parker, we told the story of the first 25 years of the major-league baseball team in Denver.

All game stories that appeared in the Colorado Rockies book can now be read online at the SABR Games Project. Included are recaps of the Rockies’ memorable debut at Mile High Stadium in 1993, the opening of Coors Field in 1995, the wacky game when the winning pitcher was the catcher in 2000, the start of a “Rocktober” run in the 2007 wild-card tiebreaker, Ubaldo Jimenez’s historic no-hitter in 2010, Nolan Arenado’s “cycle for the ages” in 2017, and more.

All of the biographies in Major League Baseball A Mile High are also available to be read online at the SABR BioProject.

Click here to download a free e-book edition or get 50% off the paperback edition of Major League Baseball A Mile High.

To view more books at the SABR Digital Library, visit SABR.org/ebooks.

Writing opportunities for upcoming SABR book projects

Brad ClontzNever written for SABR before? Here’s an opportunity to write your first story — and see it published next year in a SABR book on the 1995 Atlanta Braves. More than 1,000 different SABR members have written either a bio for the BioProject or a game for the Games Project. You can do it! And SABR’s volunteer editors are ready to work with you.

For the Braves book, we we still need authors for these 14 players, executives, and team personnel: Pedro Borbon Jr., Terry Clark, Brad Clontz, Darrell May, Matt Murray, Rod Nichols, Jose Oliva, Tom Thobe, Brad Woodall, Frank Fultz, Jimy Williams, Stan Kasten, Chuck LaMar, and Paul Snyder

If you might be interested in writing a biography for one of the above, please contact Bill Nowlin at Bill.Nowlin@rounder.com for more details.

If none of the above particularly inspire you, ask about other possibilities. We have, for example, an upcoming book on Venezuelan ballplayers which has a similar number of players still needing someone to write their story.

To learn more about upcoming SABR book projects, click here.

Behind the Numbers: Baseball SABR Style on SiriusXM moves to Saturdays this month

Behind the Numbers: Baseball SABR Style on SiriusXM, a radio show hosted by SABR President Vince Gennaro, will air in April at a new time. Listen in from 8:00-9:00 p.m. ET on Saturday, April 27 on MLB Network Radio.

This week’s guests are SABR member Richard Cramer, author of When Big Data Was Small: My Life in Baseball Analytics and Drug Design and the 2019 SABR Analytics Conference Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, and sabermetrician Dan Szymborski, who contributes to FanGraphs and ESPN.

You can also listen to archives of recent episodes on-demand on the SiriusXM Internet Radio App. Click here to learn more.

Behind the Numbers: Baseball SABR Style on SiriusXM focuses on examining and interpreting the statistical analysis that plays a critical role in baseball today. It airs weekly throughout the year on MLB Network Radio, available to subscribers nationwide on XM channel 89, Sirius channel 209, and on the SiriusXM Internet Radio App.

ICYMI: Highlights from last week’s This Week in SABR

We’ve heard your feedback: Some of you have said you look forward to “This Week in SABR” every Friday, but sometimes there are just too many compelling articles and announcements to read every week. We’re not complaining — hey, keep up the great work! — but we know the feeling. So in an effort to make the length of this newsletter more manageable to read, we’ll summarize some of the repeating/recurring announcements in a special “In Case You Missed It (ICYMI)” section of “This Week in SABR”.

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

All previous editions of This Week in SABR can be found here: https://sabr.org/content/this-week-in-sabr-archives.

Welcome, new members!

We’d like to welcome all of our new SABR members who have joined this week. You can find all Members-Only resources at members.sabr.org and the Membership Handbook can be downloaded here.

Please give these new members a warm welcome and help them make the most of their membership by giving them the opportunity to get involved in their local chapter or a research committee.

You can find contact information for any SABR member in the online membership directory (SABR.org/directory).

Name Hometown     Name Hometown
Richard Arvedson Houston, TX     Marvin Lesman Port St. Lucie, FL
Matthew Bednarski Wauwatosa, WI     Tony Lugo Parker, CO
Tom Best Monmouth, IL     James McGee Fremont, CA
Jim Carruthers Richmond, VA     James Sanderson Columbus, OH
Douglas Christy Sarasota, FL     George Snyder Indianapolis, IN
Charles Drake Cleveland Heights, OH     Jerry Sullivan Bowling Green, KY
Eric Hanlon Dallas, TX     Michael Takamori Corvallis, OR
David Hummel Philadelphia, PA     Michael Tutton Toronto, ON
Jenna Jachles Chevy Chase, MD     Mike Vinson Lubbock, TX
Brad Jones Nanaimo, BC     Ethan Waters La Quinta, CA
Gregory Lawson Lake Oswego, OR     Ken Zeidner Westfield, NJ

 

Research Committee news

Here are the new research committee updates this week:

Find all SABR research committee newsletters at SABR.org/research.

Regional Chapter news

Here are the new regional chapter updates this week:

Visit SABR.org/chapters for more information on SABR regional chapters.

SABR Events Calendar

Here is a list of upcoming events on the SABR calendar:

All SABR meetings and events are open to the public. Feel free to bring a baseball-loving friend … and make many new ones! Check out the SABR Events Calendar at SABR.org/events.

Around the Web

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

Read these articles and more at SABR.org/latest.

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.

Have trouble reading this e-mail? Click here to view this week’s newsletter on the web.

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 (and not the spam folder.)

 

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Originally published: April 26, 2019. Last Updated: April 3, 2020.

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