This Week in SABR: August 29, 2025

August 29, 2025/in This Week in SABR /by wpadmin

Welcome to “This Week in SABR” on Friday, August 29, 2025.
Please note: The SABR office will be closed on Monday, September 1 for the Labor Day holiday.
Click here to view this newsletter on the web.

Save the date: SABR 54 will be in Cleveland in 2026
Free Rapsodo course offered with SABR Analytics Certification purchase
Early registration now open for SABR/IWBC Women in Baseball Conference
Call for papers: 2026 SABR Frederick Ivor-Campbell 19th Century Base Ball Conference
Learn more about new SABR Institutional Memberships

Save the date! SABR 54 will be in Cleveland in 2026

Save the date! SABR will be heading to Cleveland, Ohio for our 54th annual convention on July 29-August 2, 2026, at the Hilton Cleveland Downtown hotel. Registration information for SABR 54 and our special hotel room block will be available at SABR.org/convention in early 2026.

The Hilton Cleveland Downtown hotel includes a top-floor bar above Cleveland’s skyline with views of Lake Erie and it is conveniently located near many restaurants and attractions on East 4th Street. The hotel is also a short walk from Progressive Field, where the Cleveland Guardians will host a weekend series against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The SABR 54 convention logo was created by acclaimed sports graphic designer and SABR member Todd Radom.

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

Free Rapsodo course offered with SABR Analytics Certification purchase

For a limited time only, get a free Rapsodo Certified class included with the purchase of any SABR Analytics Certification course. Online and video based, SABR Analytics Certification and Rapsodo courses combine to help learners elevate their baseball data knowledge alongside skills relating to the technical tools used in player development operations.

Purchase any SABR Analytics Certification course below between now and September 22, 2025, and get access to a complimentary Rapsodo Certified course.

Rapsodo course access information will be delivered via email after SABR Analytics Certification course purchase has been made.

Visit SABR.org/analytics/rapsodo to learn more.

Early registration now open for 2025 SABR/IWBC Women in Baseball Conference

Join us for the seventh annual SABR/IWBC Women in Baseball Conference, which will be held virtually on September 19-21, 2025. 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 — is a virtual Zoom event. The conference will feature research presentations, panels, pylon unveiling, presentation of the Dorothy Seymour Mills Lifetime Achievement Award, and keynote speaker Dr. Harriet Kimbro-Hamilton, author, filmmaker, professor, and daughter of Negro Leaguer Henry Kimbro.

Register now: Click here to register for this event at SABR.org. Early registration is $55 before September 12 and $65 afterward; includes Zoom access to all presentations and panels, awards ceremony, and virtual social hour, plus digital program booklet.
Schedule: Click here for the full schedule of panels and presentations. Zoom sessions will be held from 6:30-8:00 p.m. on Friday, September 19; 10:00 a.m.-8:20 p.m. on Saturday, September 20, and 11:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. on Sunday, September 21. (All times listed are in the Eastern Time Zone.)

Visit SABR.org/women-in-baseball-conference for complete details.

Call for papers: 2026 SABR Frederick Ivor-Campbell 19th Century Base Ball Conference

All SABR members are invited and encouraged to submit a Research Presentation Proposal Abstract on any topic of 19th-century baseball for the 2026 Frederick Ivor-Campbell 19th Century Base Ball Conference at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. The 17th annual Ivor-Campbell Conference is scheduled for April 24-25, 2026. The deadline for proposal Abstracts is October 31, 2025.

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

Phillies’ Kyle Schwarber hits four home runs in a game

Philadelphia Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber became the 21st player in AL/NL history to hit four home runs in a single game on Thursday, August 28 against the Atlanta Braves at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.

Schwarber hit a solo home run in the first inning, a two-run homer in the fourth inning, and three-run homers in the fifth and seventh innings. He finished 4-for-6 with four home runs and a team-record nine RBIs.

Click here for a comprehensive list of all 4-HR games in professional baseball history at SABR.org.

Learn more about new SABR Institutional Memberships

A SABR Institutional Membership is the perfect way to connect your group with baseball’s rich history. Whether you are supporting historical or analytical researchers or engaging with baseball fans in your community, SABR provides the network, tools, and expertise to enhance your offerings.

A SABR Institutional Membership is ideal for libraries, museums, and historical societies; high schools; and higher education departments, especially History, American Studies, and Sports Analytics programs.

Institutional Members receive unlimited access to SABR’s extensive collection of digital publications; exclusive research resources, including access to historical newspaper databases; engagement opportunities with SABR experts and a network of baseball historians and analysts.

To learn more, contact Paul J. Zwirecki for details on membership options and enrollment.

Writing opportunity: Spring Training book project

The editors of an upcoming SABR publication are seeking original articles and essays that explore all aspects of baseball’s spring training, including notable and historical locations, prominent or influential people, cultural implications, memorable moments, or personal narratives. All SABR members are welcome to contribute. Please send queries to editor David Pegram by October 1, 2025.

Click here to learn more about contributing to upcoming SABR projects.

Paul D. Adomites, 77, of Oil City, Pennsylvania, died on Thursday, August 21. Adomites joined SABR in 1982 and served as the organization’s Publications Director from 1987 to 1990. His tenure was highlighted by the five-volume SABR Review of Books, a groundbreaking series of baseball literature reviews, essays, and interviews. Adomites also edited Baseball in Pittsburgh, the 1995 SABR convention journal, and served on the Seymour Medal selection committee for many years. In addition to his baseball work, he was a prolific author of books and articles on oil history, bridges, and American culture. He met his wife, Rosemary Morgan Adomites, in 1983 and they married on Valentine’s Day in 1986. Together they shared a life full of creativity, gardening, and quiet joy in Emlenton before moving to Oil City. Rosemary preceded him in death in 2022. He is survived by his brother, David Adomites, and Joy Bayer.

Find new updates to the SABR Research Collection below, including the Baseball Biography Project, Games Project, and Oral History Collection.

5 new stories published at SABR Games Project

August 31, 1941: Ted Williams hits one into a stiff wind for 31st home run of season, by Bill Nowlin
June 5, 1970: Cocó Laboy’s ninth-inning homer snaps Montreal Expos’ 11-game skid, by Gary Belleville
June 5, 1970: Indians, Red Sox affiliates face off in veteran minor-league umpire’s last game, by Kurt Blumenau
July 11, 1975: Walter Alston booed in St. Louis but Dodgers win, by Stew Thornley
April 29, 2008: Max Scherzer retires 13 straight, fans 7 in perfect debut for Diamondbacks, by Larry DeFillipo

Visit SABR.org/gamesproject to learn more about the SABR Games Project or to get involved.

From Setbacks to Success: The 1945 Cleveland Buckeyes
Edited by Vince Guerrieri, Thomas Kern, and Bill Nowlin

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:

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
Noah Binczewski	Philadelphia, PA	Jocelyn Lewis	Arlington, VA
Travis Bradley	Ellettsville, IN	Robert Livingston	Bellingham, WA
Otto Bruno	Rochester, NY	Xingjian Ma	Shanghai, CHN
Christopher Caruso	Philadelphia, PA	Jim Manara	Gilbert, AZ
Rebecca Case	Arlington, VA	Barry Popik	Goshen, NY
Lindsay Crosby	Auburn, AL	Ezequiel Rosario Mateo	Lawrence, KS
Matthew Fischer	Towson, MD	Mike Savage	Georgetown, TX
Aram Goudsouzian	Memphis, TN	Ronnie Miko Tancio	Makati, PHL
Emily Hassey	Newtown Square, PA	Zheng Xu	Shanghai, CHN
Micah Julian	Valencia, CA	Wei Yu	Shanghai, CHN
Larry Kimbrough	Cumming, GA	Nick Zywalewski	Lansdale, PA
Brandon Krouppa	Fairlawn, OH

Events Calendar: Find details of all upcoming SABR events.
Video Replays: This week, we heard from Bill Brown (War-Time Athletes); Kevin Hurd (From Randy Johnson to Dallas Braden); Stephen V. Rice (“The Baseball Portraits of Carl J. Horner”); and Steve Shaw (High Leverage Baseball). Click here to view video replays of virtual SABR events.

Upcoming Virtual Meetings

August 31: Baltimore Babe Ruth (MD) Chapter meeting with John Nogowski (7:00 p.m. EDT)
September 2: Clyde Sukeforth (NH/ME) Chapter meeting with Jude Butler (7:00 p.m. EDT)
September 2: Baseball Cards/Emil Rothe Chicago Chapter meeting with John Racanelli, Chris Kamka, Jeff English (7:00 p.m. CDT)
September 3: Baltimore Babe Ruth (MD) Chapter meeting with Michael Haupert (7:00 p.m. EDT)
September 4: Asian Baseball Committee meeting with Hunhee Cho and Eunwoo Jung (8:00 p.m. EDT)
September 4-5: 2025 Virtual NINE Conference
September 6: Women in Baseball Diamond Stories: Cecilia Tan (10:00 a.m. EDT)

Upcoming In-Person Meetings

August 30: Emil Rothe Chicago Chapter ballgame/meet-up (Geneva, IL)
August 31: Quebec Chapter ballgame/meet-up (Trois-Rivières, QC)
September 3: Bob Broeg St. Louis Chapter fellowship meeting (St. Louis, MO)

To add your SABR event to our calendar listings, please contact Jacob Pomrenke.

Origins/Protoball: August 2025 newsletter
Spring Training: Check out the new committee website at sabrspringtraining.com. Please contact David Pegram if you are interested in contributing.

Sign up for SABR research committee announcements at SABR.org/research/committees.

There were no new chapter updates this week.

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:

Jacob Bunge: Baseball Organists Keep Bringing the Heat, Thanks to Their 78-Year-Old Muse Nancy Faust (Wall Street Journal)
Tyler Kepner: A visit with Bobby Shantz, MLB’s oldest living MVP, as he nears his 100th birthday (The Athletic)
John Romano: Award or not, Taylor Walls is baseball’s gold standard at shortstop (Tampa Bay Times)
Sarah Langs: Paul Skenes, Tarik Skubal make more history (MLB.com)
Evan Drellich: As Savannah Bananas pursue ‘a billion fans,’ are they real competition for MLB? (The Athletic)
Rob Mains: Is Any Inning Magic? (Baseball Prospectus)
Jay Jaffe: Cal Raleigh Has Set a Record, and Leveled the AL MVP Race (FanGraphs)
Mark Simon: No. 1 Prospect Konnor Griffin Is A Defensive Standout (Sports Info Solutions)
Jonathan Judge: Adversarial Pitch Location (Baseball Prospectus)
Ben Clemens: Justin Verlander’s Latest Transformation (FanGraphs)
Alex Vigderman: Lessons from a Decade of Strike Zone Runs Saved (Sports Info Solutions)
Jayson Stark: It’s about time — why the BBWAA created a Relief Pitcher of the Year award (The Athletic)
Derrick Goold: Is it time to modernize the batting title and rethink batting average as its stat? (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
David Laurila: Wei-En Lin Is a Fast-Rising A’s Prospect Who Throws Strikes — Perhaps Too Many (FanGraphs)
Joshua Rodrigues: Navigating the Spectrum: Examining The Attack Angle Trade-off (Baseball Prospectus)
Stephen J. Nesbitt: Salt Lake City? Nashville? How six cities are faring in the race for an MLB expansion team (The Athletic)
David K. Li: The next league of their own: Hundreds of women’s baseball players try out for the pros (NBC News)
Howard Megdal: For WPBL and women’s baseball, a long-overdue IRL moment (The IX)
Paige Leckie: For baseball icon Maybelle Blair, WPBL is a dream come true (MLB.com)
Lindsey Voss: Uncovering Iowa’s contribution to the state’s baseball culture (WQAD.com)
Davy Andrews: How Much Candy Is in a Major League Dugout? (FanGraphs)
John Thorn: The Greatest Players You Never Saw: Bobby Lowe, 1894 (Our Game)
Jeff Cohen/Len Aberman: Baseball and BBQ interview with Jim Gosger (Baseball and BBQ)
Del Irani: NHK’s Deeper Look Focuses on Japanese Baseball with Rob Fitts (SABR Asian Baseball)
Rob Fitts: The 1908 Reach All-American Tour of Japan (SABR Asian Baseball)

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: August 29, 2025. Last Updated: August 29, 2025.

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