This Week in SABR: August 28, 2020

August 28, 2020/in This Week in SABR /by Jacob Pomrenke

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 August 28, 2020:

Read articles from The National Pastime: A Bird’s Eye View of Baltimore

Welcome, friends, to our “virtual visit” to the Charm City!

A book or magazine is always that, but our need to transport ourselves through the written word to other places and times is felt quite keenly in 2020, when the real-life 50th SABR convention in Baltimore has been postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thank you to all the donors and sustainability benefactors who made the publication of The National Pastime: A Bird’s-Eye View of Baltimore possible.

You can read all of the articles from this journal online now at SABR.org or download the e-book edition for free!

Read online: Click here to read articles from The National Pastime online at SABR.org
Download the e-book: Click here to download a free e-book edition of The National Pastime at the SABR Store
Purchase the print edition: Click here to pre-order the print edition of The National Pastime from University of Nebraska Press

The National Pastime serves as SABR’s convention-focused publication. Published annually, this research journal provides in-depth articles focused on the respective geographic region where the national convention is taking place in a given year.

Two weeks left to register for 2020 SABR/IWBC Women in Baseball Conference

Registration is still open for the second annual SABR/IWBC Women in Baseball Conference on September 11-13, 2020. All baseball fans are welcome to attend!

This year’s conference — co-sponsored by SABR and the International Women’s Baseball Center, and hosted by Rockford University — will be a virtual event centered around the theme “Celebrating African American Women in Baseball.” Presentations and panels will take place on Zoom.

Our featured speaker will be Lauren Meyer, Emmy Award-nominated director of The Other Boys of Summer. In addition to learning about topics such as the Dolly Vardens, Maud Nelson, Tillie Ford, the Hagerstown Mollys, and much more, there will also be a celebration of the Negro Leagues Centennial on Saturday night, with a special design unveiling for an outdoor pylon.

Register now: Click here to register for this event at SABR.org. The All-Inclusive Package is $50, and includes access to all presentations and panels, Negro Leagues Centennial Celebration on Saturday night, 2 raffle tickets, and a commemorative program booklet. Regular registration is $25 for all baseball fans.
Schedule: Click here to view the complete schedule, along with presenter bios and abstracts.
Raffle: Purchase a raffle ticket ($5 each) when you register for a chance to win baseball memorabilia prizes, including autographed baseballs, caps, and books from IWBC authors, SPoRT Makeup kits, Rockford Peaches apparel, and the grand prize — a personal phone call from AAGPBL legend and IWBC founder Maybelle Blair!

If you have any questions, please contact Leslie Heaphy at lheaphy@kent.edu.

Visit SABR.org/women-in-baseball-conference to learn more.

Join us for more Stay Home With SABR virtual events

SABR chapters and committees are encouraged to set up virtual meetings to stay engaged with our members throughout the world at SABR.org, as part of our Stay Home With SABR initiative to assist in limiting the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

This week, we heard from Round Rock Express GM Tim Jackson, Now Taking the Field author Thomas Stone, American Association commissioner Joshua E. Schaub, and Miami Marlins Membership Experience Executive Eric Sutcliffe.

Here are some more upcoming virtual events you can attend online; check the Events Calendar for complete details:

September 2: Baltimore Babe Ruth Chapter meeting with Dan Joseph (7:00 p.m. EDT)
September 2: Buck O’Neil/North Florida Chapter meeting (7:00 p.m. EDT)
September 4: John Donaldson Statue Dedication Ceremony (4:00 p.m. CDT)
September 5: Talkin’ Baseball: Jim Meisner (9:00 a.m. EDT)
September 8: Casey Stengel NYC Chapter meeting with D.B. Firstman (7:00 p.m. EDT)
September 11-13: SABR/IWBC Women in Baseball Conference
September 12-14: Bob Broeg St. Louis Chapter: Jim Rygelski Research Conference
September 13: Detroit Chapter open baseball forum (7:00 p.m. EDT)

Find more upcoming virtual meetings and watch replays of past events on our SABR Events Calendar page.

SABR Ted Williams Chapter: 2020 Opening Day Viewpoints

SABR’s San Diego Ted Williams Chapter invites you to check out their Opening Day Viewpoints report, which captures nine members’ viewpoints surrounding the Padres’ 2020 Opening Day — their thoughts, insights, and humor on a unique period in MLB and Padres history.

Click here to download the PDF file:

https://sabr.box.com/v/2020-SDSABR-Opening-Day

The report was compiled by Tom Larwin and Andy Strasberg, and includes contributions from Bob Chandler, Greg Funk, Bob Hicks, Norman Macht, Frank Myers, J. Scott Shaffer, and Tom Willman.

Students: Last chance to apply for a Fall 2020 internship with SABR

The Society for American Baseball Research is seeking remote interns to work during the Fall 2020 semester.

An internship with SABR will involve responsibilities across a variety of disciplines, possibly including:

Working with the Director of Editorial Content or Publications Director to help publish and/or produce content for our website at SABR.org
Working during a virtual SABR event, such as the SABR/IWBC Women in Baseball Conference
Working with other SABR staff members on organizational duties, membership renewal drives, customer service

Interested candidates should be able to demonstrate basic office-related computer skills and have a reliable Internet connection for remote working. Experience with WordPress (or other content management systems) and Zoom (or other virtual-conference platforms) is a plus. A working knowledge of baseball — and an awareness of the game’s general history and basic statistics — is required.

The internship is an educational opportunity that may count toward college credit, covering 15-20 hours per week with a flexible schedule. The internship will be for a fixed period of time and is designed to provide the intern with skills and training that may be applicable to working in a nonprofit research environment or in other research-based organizations.

Please send a resume and cover letter in PDF form to jpomrenke@sabr.org by 5:00 p.m. MST Monday, August 31, 2020.

New SABR Baseball Reminiscence group launched

SABR’s Board of Directors has approved a new initiative: the Baseball Reminiscence online chartered community, led by Monte Cely, Jon Leonoudakis, Jim Kenton, and George Sommerfeld.

Since 2015, SABR members in Texas, California, Connecticut, and New York have created a field of dreams by sharing their passion and baseball memories with those dealing with Alzheimer’s and dementia, with chronic medical issues or who are socially isolated and lonely.

The SABR Baseball Reminiscence chartered community group invites you to join this effort to share baseball memories and help make those who feel that they don’t belong, belong.

Experienced SABR volunteers can provide resources and personal assistance to help you start a program in your community. Other volunteer roles include, just to name a few: talk about your favorite player or team, share some memorabilia, help with technology, or capture and share a memory of your own in pictures or video. You will find the experience to be both enjoyable and rewarding.

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

SABR Digital Library: Pride of Smoketown: The 1935 Pittsburgh Crawfords

Add a new baseball book to your collection from the SABR Digital Library:

Pride of Smoketown: The 1935 Pittsburgh Crawfords
Edited by Frederick C. Bush and Bill Nowlin
Associate editors Len Levin and Carl Riechers
ISBN (paperback): 978-1-970159-25-7, $34.95
ISBN (e-book): 978-1-970159-24-0, $9.99
8.5” x 11”, 349 pages

Click here to read the full description of this book at SABR.org.

SABR members, get this e-book for FREE!

E-book: Click here to download the e-book version of Pride of Smoketown for FREE from the SABR Store. Available in PDF, Kindle/MOBI and EPUB formats.
Paperback: Get a 50% discount on the Pride of Smoketown paperback edition from the SABR Store ($17.95 includes shipping/tax; delivery via Kindle Direct Publishing can take up to 4-6 weeks.)

SABR members can download all Digital Library e-books for free or save 50% off the paperback editions. To find all titles, 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.

SABR office continuing to work remotely

The SABR office, housed at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication in Phoenix, Arizona, has been closed indefinitely due to the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) situation. Staff members will work remotely until it is advisable to resume normal operations on-site.

Please contact a member of the SABR staff by email or phone with any questions.

SABRcast with Rob Neyer: Listen to an interview with author Kat Williams

Baseball fans, tune in this season to SABRcast with Rob Neyer, a weekly podcast hosted by award-winning author and longtime SABR member Rob Neyer.

Episode #74 on Monday, August 24 featured Dr. Kat Williams, a Professor of Women’s Sport History at Marshall University, author of The All-American Girls After the AAGPBL: How Playing Pro Ball Shaped Their Lives, and Isabel “Lefty” Alvarez: The Improbable Life of a Cuban American Baseball Star. She is a lifelong baseball fan, and former shortstop. It is her sincere belief that she accomplished all the former goals because of the latter. Through her teaching, scholarship and advocacy she has dedicated many years to the preservation of girl’s and women’s baseball history. She continues that work as president and a founding member of the International Women’s Baseball Center.

Visit SABR.org/sabrcast to listen to the full episode.

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. To learn more, visit SABR.org/sabrcast.

5 new SABR biographies published

Five new biographies were posted this week as part of the SABR Baseball Biography Project. Here are the new bios published this week:

Brian Denman, by Bill Nowlin
Jim Dorsey, by Bill Nowlin
Art Jacobs, by Stephen V. Rice
Lary Sorensen, by Tom Schott
Chico Walker, by Bill Nowlin

All new biographies can be found here: SABR.org/bioproject

Find any SABR biography: You can visit sabr.org/bioproject to search for any player — or manager, executive, scout, spouse, broadcaster, or umpire — who appears in the SABR BioProject. In addition, we have pages for Ballparks, Broadcasters, Executives, Games, Managers, Scouts, Spouses, Umpires, Writers, people who were Famous Outside Baseball, and a lot more.

10 new stories published by the SABR Games Project

Ten new game stories were posted this week as part of the SABR Games Project— including a few from our new First Games Back project. Here are the new game stories:

April 16, 1929: Earl Averill homers in first plate appearance during Indians’ debut, by Gordon Gattie
April 18, 1950: Sal Maglie returns to Giants after four-season suspension hiatus, by Jack Zerby
September 7, 1950: Hoot Evers hits for the cycle as Tigers stage ‘sensational comeback’, by Mike Huber
April 15, 1958: Indians’ Herb Score returns for Opening Day start but falls to A’s, Ned Garver, by Gordon Gattie
August 4, 1963: Mickey Mantle returns to Yankees in a pinch, by Howard Elson (first-time author)
October 2, 1968: Bob Gibson strikes out 17 to set World Series record, by John J. Watkins
April 8, 1969: Tony Conigliaro returns to Red Sox after near-fatal beaning, by Bill Nowlin
June 8, 1969: Rusty Staub helps Expos end 20-game losing skid, becomes ‘Le Grand Orange’, by Gary Belleville
September 11, 1976: Minnie Miñoso returns to the majors after 12 seasons, by Mark Stewart
August 19, 1979: John Denny, George Hendrick lead Cardinals past Giants, by Tom Schott

New Games Project stories can be found 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.
Social media: Follow the SABR Games Project on Twitter or Facebook to keep up with new stories and updates.

Listen to recent episodes of Behind the Numbers: Baseball SABR Style on SiriusXM on Saturdays

Behind the Numbers: Baseball SABR Style on SiriusXM, a radio show hosted by former SABR Board President Vince Gennaro, is back at a new time. Listen to new episodes at 5:00-6:00 p.m. ET on Saturdays on MLB Network Radio.

You can also listen to archives of recent episodes on-demand on the SiriusXM Internet Radio app.

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.

SABR members invited to fill out Baseball 2040 survey

SABR member Marty Resnick is working on a research project, “Baseball 2040 – The Future According to Baseball,” and invites all members to fill out a short survey about the different trends, technologies, and issues that will have the most impact on Major League Baseball in the future.

Click here to take the Baseball 2040 survey

Baseball, and its history, is a reflection on culture and society in the past and present, and it could also be input, context, and/or predictor for predicting plausible futures. This research will focus on how we could look at the future through the lens of baseball.

For any comments or questions, please contact Marty Resnick.

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.

Name	Hometown	Name	Hometown
Cory Caouette	San Jose, CA	Dennis Hernandez	San Juan, PRI
Brian Carter	Las Vegas, NV	Greg Holcombe	Bloomingdale, IL
Christopher Chavis	Alexandria, VA	Jeff Maehre	Battle Creek, MI
Jon Chess	Gresham, OR	Curtis Milbourn	San Angelo, TX
Jameson Cohenn	New York, NY	Doug Mosley	Boca Raton, FL
Roland Colton	Laguna Niguel, CA	Daniel Neumann	Washington, DC
Scott DeCapua	Springfield, MA	Bill Panageas	Lebanon, NJ
Kevin Decker	Hillsborough, NJ	Patrick Petty	Fort Plain, NY
Brian Fall	Schenectady, NY	Doug Poswencyk	Hillsborough, NJ
Bob Gerencser	Cheshire, CT	Vincent Rossetti	Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Shannon Gordon	Ypsilanti, MI	Andrew Tarwerdi	Albany, NY

Research Committee news

Here are the new research committee updates this week:

Century Committee: Watch highlights from the Ray Chapman 100th Anniversary Panel
Games Project: Check out the new First Games Back project
Negro Leagues: September 2020 newsletter

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

Regional Chapter news

Here are the new regional chapter updates this week:

Boston Chapter: Read a new “Dispatches From the Mudville Bureau,” by Joanne Hulbert (Boston, MA)
Rogers Hornsby Chapter: August 22 meeting recap (Austin, TX)
Ted Williams Chapter: Download the 2020 Opening Day Viewpoints chapter report (San Diego, CA)

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

SABR Events Calendar

Scroll up to the top of this newsletter to learn more about the upcoming virtual events on the SABR calendar. In addition, the following in-person meetings are scheduled on our Events Calendar:

September 4: John Donaldson Statue Dedication Ceremony (Glasgow, MO)

We strongly recommend that all SABR chapters follow CDC public health guidelines and your local/state government regulations when scheduling any in-person meetings and events.

Find details on all upcoming meetings on our SABR Events Calendar page.

Around the Web

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

Shakeia Taylor: Dear Jackie, (Baseball Prospectus)
Marc Carig: ‘History is being made every minute’: Hope and frustration on Jackie Robinson Day (The Athletic)
Cory Frontin and Craig Goldstein: A Reward for a Functioning Society (Baseball Prospectus)
Ken Rosenthal: Baseball players, too, are starting to rise up and use their power (The Athletic)
Michael Baumann: Strikes Across MLB Have Challenged the League’s Apolitical Foundation (The Ringer)
Marc Normandin: Thanks to MLB Players, MLB Might Actually Take a Stance for Black People (Baseball Prospectus)
Jon Tayler: With Absence Called For, MLB Is Disappointingly Present (FanGraphs)
Grant Brisbee: Giants and Dodgers boycotted their game because they had to (The Athletic)
Eno Sarris: The ball is different again, and it’s changing the way pitches move. Now what? (The Athletic)
Travis Sawchik: Cleveland’s League-Leading Rotation Relies On Homegrown Talent … From A Single Draft (FiveThirtyEight)
Jim Margalus: Lucas Giolito no-hitter a reward for those who kept watching (Sox Machine)
Eric Longenhagen: Do Teams Have Exploitable 40-Man Crunch? (FanGraphs)
Mark Simon: Who Was The Top Defensive Player of the First Half? (ACTA Sports)
Hannah Keyser: Life in ‘Slam Diego’: Don Orsillo explains the fervor around Fernando Tatis Jr. and the Padres (Yahoo! Sports)
Emma Baccellieri: How MLB Travel Directors Control Chaos at the Trade Deadline (Sports Illustrated)
Rob Arthur: Middle-Aged Pitchers Are Prospering In The Shortened Season (Baseball Prospectus)
Michael A. Fletcher: When baseball organized an early ‘All-Star’ game to remember Martin Luther King Jr. (The Undefeated)
Rachael McDaniel: The Written History of the Unwritten Rules: “Instruments of the Devil” (FanGraphs)
Jay Jaffe: Hall of Fame Says “Wait ‘Til Next Year” to Era Committees, Too (FanGraphs)
Amanda Lane: War, Pandemic, and Seattle Baseball in 1918 (Lookout Landing)
Ryan Whirty: One hundred years ago, the National Negro Baseball League took to the diamonds (Louisiana Weekly)
Ryan Whirty: New Orleanians on the Canadian Prairies: 1937 Broadview Buffaloes (Home Plate Don’t Move)
Matt Monagan: How did the eephus start? (MLB.com)
James H. Overfield: Seasons of Buffalo Baseball, 1857-2020 is now available (Niagara Frontier Publications)
David Laurila: Fred Lynn on His Time as a Tiger (FanGraphs)
Sarah R. Ingber/Davy Andrews/Roger Cormier: Too Far From Town: A Coda (Baseball Prospectus)
AAGPBL veteran Mamie Redman dies at 90 (SABR Wally Pipp Chapter)
Mark Eberle: Kansas baseball from 1858 to 1941 (YouTube)
Jason Schwartz: Oops (SABR Baseball Cards Blog)
Nick Vossbrink: Everything must be considered (SABR Baseball Cards Blog)
Jeff Katz: On Becoming Complete: A Spiritual Journey (SABR Baseball Cards Blog)
Kenneth Nichols: A Brief Analysis of Baseball Card Prose and How It Makes Us Better Writers (1956-1959) (SABR Baseball Cards Blog)

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.

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