This Week in SABR: August 7, 2026
Welcome to “This Week in SABR” on Friday, August 7, 2026.
Click here to view this newsletter on the web.
Anthony Salazar selected as 2026 Bob Davids Award winner
More highlights, photos from SABR 54 in Cleveland
Levon Nazarian, Chuck Hildebrandt win 2026 convention presentation awards
All-Time Eras: Voting now open for Integration Era Team
Analytics Certification courses now available in Spanish
Learn more about SABR Institutional Memberships
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Anthony Salazar selected as 2026 Bob Davids Award winner
Anthony Salazar, the longtime chair of the Latino Baseball Committee and former SABR Director, was announced as the winner of the Bob Davids Award during the SABR 54 Closing Ceremonies on Saturday, August 1 at the Hilton Cleveland Downtown hotel in Cleveland, Ohio. The award — which is the Society’s highest honor — honors SABR members whose contributions to SABR and baseball reflect the ingenuity, integrity, and self-sacrifice of the founder and past president of SABR, L. Robert “Bob” Davids.
“I’m very humbled and honored to accept this award,” said Salazar, who is the first Latino recipient of the Bob Davids Award. “I accept it on behalf of my wonderful chapter in the Pacific Northwest and all of our great members. I accept it on behalf of the Latino Baseball Committee, which does incredible work to bring to light players who are often overlooked and underserved. And I accept this on behalf of all of you who work hard to create this wonderful organization.”
Click here to read the full announcement at SABR.org.
Check out highlights, photos from SABR 54 in Cleveland
Couldn’t make it to Cleveland for SABR 54? Check out stories, photos, and multimedia clips from the SABR 54 convention in Cleveland below.
- Listen to highlights from Chris Antonetti’s welcome remarks (audio)
- Listen to highlights from Bob Kendrick’s fireside chat with Stephanie Liscio (audio)
- Listen to highlights from Tom Hamilton’s Oral History interview with John McMurray (audio)
- View photo galleries from each day at SABR 54
- Anthony Salazar selected as 2026 Bob Davids Award recipient
- Levon Nazarian, Chuck Hildebrandt win 2026 convention presentation awards
- Bob DiBiasio, Jim Folk honored with 2026 SABR Roland Hemond Award
- SABR chapters, committees honored for exceptional performance in 2025-26
- Scott Kent comes home with plenty of hardware in SABR 54 Trivia Contest
- Overlooked 19th Century Base Ball Legends project concludes with final 8 selections
- Cecilia Tan: 9 Things I Learned at SABR 54 (Why I Like Baseball)
- Jason Schwartz: Baseball Cards Committee Recap of SABR 54 (SABR Baseball Cards)
- Marc Bona: ‘Baseball Art as the Game’s Storyteller’ on display in downtown Cleveland (Cleveland.com)
- Justice B. Hill: A powerful voice Cleveland needs to hear about League Park’s future is coming here (Cleveland.com)
- Stay tuned for more highlights, stories, and photos from SABR 54 soon!
For more coverage of SABR 54, visit SABR.org/convention.
Listen to highlights from Bob Kendrick’s fireside chat with Stephanie Liscio
On Wednesday, July 29, Bob Kendrick of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum sat down for a fireside chat during the SABR 54 Welcome Reception at the Hilton Cleveland Downtown hotel in Cleveland, Ohio.
Kendrick has served as president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City since 2011. The session was moderated by Stephanie Liscio, the author of Integrating Cleveland Baseball: Media Activism, the Integration of the Indians, and the Demise of the Negro League Buckeyes and past president of SABR’s Jack Graney Chapter in Cleveland.
Click here to listen to audio highlights at SABR.org.
Listen to highlights from Chris Antonetti’s welcome remarks
On Thursday, July 30, Chris Antonetti of the Cleveland Guardians delivered the welcome remarks at SABR 54 at the Hilton Cleveland Downtown hotel in Cleveland, Ohio. Antonetti is the President of Baseball Operations for the Cleveland Guardians and in his 11th season as the club’s top baseball decision-maker.
Click here to listen to audio highlights at SABR.org.
Listen to an Oral History interview with broadcaster Tom Hamilton
On Friday, July 31, Cleveland Guardians broadcaster Tom Hamilton recorded a SABR Oral History interview with John McMurray during SABR 54 in Cleveland, Ohio. Hamilton is in his 37th season of calling Cleveland baseball on the radio. He was the recipient of the 2025 Ford C. Frick Award from the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Click here to listen to audio highlights at SABR.org.
Nazarian, Hildebrandt win 2026 convention presentation awards
Levon Nazarian was selected as the winner of the 2026 Doug Pappas Award for the best oral research presentation and Chuck Hildebrandt as the SABR Convention Poster Presentation Award winner at SABR 54 in Cleveland.
Nazarian, a Professor of Radiology and Chief of Musculoskeletal Imaging at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, won the Pappas Award for his presentation, “Stress Ultrasound of the Ulnar Collateral Ligament of the Elbow: Can We Predict Who Will Need Tommy John Surgery?”
Hildebrandt won the SABR Convention Poster Presentation Award for his poster, “Nepo Babies: Father-Son Duos Throughout Major League History.”
Click here to read the full announcement at SABR.org.
SABR chapters, committees honored for exceptional performance in 2025-26
At the SABR 54 Closing Ceremonies in Cleveland, SABR CEO Scott Bush recognized 20 regional chapters and six research committees whose performance in the past year exceeded SABR’s standards.
Under the guidance of SABR’s Jessica Smyth, our regional chapters continued working to further improve their operations by prescribing guidelines for governance, recruitment, research projects, and more.
Click here to read the full announcement at SABR.org.
Save the date! SABR 55 will be in Birmingham in 2027
Save the date! SABR will be heading to Birmingham, Alabama for our 55th annual convention on August 4–8, 2027. Registration information for SABR 55 and our special room block at the Sheraton Birmingham Hotel will be available at SABR.org/convention in early 2027.
Birmingham is home to Rickwood Field, the oldest professional baseball park in the United States, along with the Negro Southern League Museum and the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute Tour.
Click here to read the full announcement at SABR.org.
All-Time Eras: Voting now open for Integration Era Team
Throughout the 2026 season, SABR members will have a chance to vote on SABR’s All-Time Eras Teams as we celebrate the 150 years of baseball and American history since the founding of the National League in 1876. The All-Time Eras Teams project is an interactive opportunity for all SABR members to participate in, debate with one another, and learn more about the iconic players and figures from different eras.
- Cast your vote now for the Integration Era team (1947-1972). Or click here to view the full player list for the Integration Era ballot. All current SABR members are eligible to vote.
Each ballot period will culminate with a virtual Zoom webinar which includes a presentation covering that era of American history prior to the unveiling of the team chosen by our members. The Integration Era team will be unveiled on Tuesday, August 18, along with a special presentation by acclaimed author Howard Bryant. Click here to pre-register for this Zoom meeting.
Visit SABR.org/all-time-eras-teams to learn more about the project, including players selected to the 19th Century Era, Deadball Era, and Segregation Era teams.
SABR Analytics Certification courses now available in Spanish
SABR is pleased to announce that the first three courses in the SABR Analytics Certification Program are now available in Spanish, expanding access to its online, on-demand curriculum for Spanish-speaking students, coaches, scouts, front-office professionals, and fans around the world.
SABR se complace en anunciar que los primeros tres cursos del Programa de Certificación en Analítica de SABR ya están disponibles en español, ampliando el acceso a su plan de estudios en línea y bajo demanda para estudiantes, entrenadores, cazatalentos, profesionales de oficinas centrales y aficionados de habla hispana en todo el mundo.
The newly translated courses include:
- Level One: Conversational Analytics and Critical Thinking in Baseball
- Level Two: Advanced Analytics in Baseball
- Level Three: Introduction to Baseball Programming
Since its launch, the SABR Analytics Certification Program has helped learners develop practical skills in baseball analytics through expert-led instruction, real-world applications, and portfolio building exercises. By offering these courses in Spanish, SABR is taking an important step toward making high-quality analytics education more accessible to the global baseball community. Translation services were provided by LingoPal AI and José Hernández Lagunes.
Click here to read the full announcement at SABR.org.
Get your SABR merch at our new online shop
SABR is excited to announce the launch of the new SABR Shop, an online store featuring SABR-branded apparel, home goods, prints, and more for baseball fans.
Among the featured items are exclusive prints showcasing cover art from the Baseball Research Journal, along with a growing collection of SABR merchandise celebrating the organization’s worldwide community. Baseball Research Journal posters feature every edition including the artwork of acclaimed artist and SABR member Gary Cieradkowski, with iconic depictions of Babe Ruth and Satchel Paige amongst other legends of the game. Apparel options include hats, shirts, sweatshirts, and pullovers in men’s, women’s, and unisex selections. New merchandise and designs will continue to be added in the coming months, offering fresh options for the SABR fan in your life.
Visit the SABR Shop today at sabr.shop.
Call for papers: 2027 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 2027 Frederick Ivor-Campbell 19th Century Base Ball Conference at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. The 18th annual Ivor-Campbell Conference is scheduled for April 16-17, 2027.
The deadline for proposal Abstracts is October 31, 2026. Your abstract must be between 250-500 words for a 20- to 25-minute presentation focused primarily on events taking place prior to 1901. Please include name, title, and contact information and send your proposal as a Microsoft Word or PDF attachment to Peter Mancuso.
Click here to read the full announcement at SABR.org.
Register now for 2026 SABR Northern New Jersey 19th Century Baseball Interdisciplinary Symposium
SABR’s Nineteenth Century Research Committee will host the Northern New Jersey 19th Century Interdisciplinary Symposium as a special virtual event on Saturday, November 14, 2026. The focus of this symposium will be on the rich early baseball and related history of the region, which extends from the New York state border south through Monmouth and Mercer counties.
- Registration for all SABR members is now open; click here to sign up. The cost is $15 per person. The one-day Zoom event will run from approximately 12:00 PM to 5:30 PM Eastern Time on November 14.
The symposium will be highlighted by a keynote address from Jonathan Mercantini, Associate Provost for Special Projects and Professor of History at Kean University. He is an appointed member of the New Jersey Historical Commission and a Trustee of the New Jersey Council for the Humanities. The welcome address will be given by John Thorn, the Official Historian of Major League Baseball and the co-founder of SABR’s Nineteenth Century Committee.
Click here to read the full announcement at SABR.org.
Learn more about 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.
Call for papers: Turnstyle: The SABR Journal of Baseball Arts
With the recent release of Volume 5 of Turnstyle: The SABR Journal of the Baseball Arts, SABR’s Baseball and the Arts Committee now turns its sights to submissions for Volume 6.
All SABR members are encouraged to send along your submission, or your questions, to editors Joanne Hulbert or Jay Hurd before September 15, 2026. We are looking for poetry, memoir, artwork, humor, short fiction, historical fiction, science fiction, and parody.
Click here to read the full announcement at SABR.org.
July 29-30 Board minutes posted
Minutes from the Board of Directors meeting on July 29 and the Annual Business Meeting at SABR 54 on July 30, 2026, 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.
5 new stories published at SABR Biography Project
- Mike Costanzo, by Barrett Snyder
- John Hinton, by Vincent T. Ciaramella
- León Kellman, by Adam Darowski
- Robert McNichol, by Carole J. Olshavsky
- Darryl Motley, by Eric Harrington
Visit SABR.org/bioproject to learn more about the SABR BioProject or to get involved.
3 new stories published at SABR Games Project
- May 8, 1926: Another day in the Cobb and Gehrig feud as Tigers beat Yankees in New York, by Gary Sarnoff
- October 15, 2022: Cleveland’s ninth-inning rally stuns Yankees in Game 3 of ALDS, by Tim Otto
- August 28, 2025: Kyle Schwarber’s four-homer game paces Phillies’ rout of Braves, by Thomas J. Brown Jr.
Visit SABR.org/gamesproject to learn more about the SABR Games Project or to get involved.
1995 Cleveland Indians: The Sleeping Giant Awakes
Edited by Joseph Wancho
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:
- SABR Defensive Index rankings released through games of July 12
- Photos, highlights from Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference in Memphis
- 2026 executives, college baseball staffs added to SABR MLB Team Employee Database
- Overlooked 19th Century Base Ball Legends project concludes with final selections
- Field of Dreams Iowa Chapter dedicates historical marker for Council Bluffs ballpark
- 2026 Henry Chadwick Award recipients announced
- Save the date: Join us for SABR Analytics Conference on March 12–14, 2027
- Read articles from the Spring 2026 Baseball Research Journal
- New Research Resources portal and member login launched
- Learn more about recipients of SABR Research Grants in 2026
- Fourth course in SABR Analytics Certification program is now available
- Learn more about new SABR Institutional Memberships
- Negro Leagues statistics added to SABR Lahman Baseball Database
- View a collection of nearly 100,000 player surveys in the Weiss Baseball Questionnaires collection
- Hundreds of ProQuest US newspapers added to SABR Research Resources
- Find complete collection of SABR-Rucker Archive baseball images online
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 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dan Anthony | Berkeley, CA | Gary Magnuson | New Market, MD | ||
| Paul Campagna | Brooklyn, NY | Anna Neligan | Atlanta, GA | ||
| Alan Dean | Brooklyn, NY | James Paturas | Orange, CT | ||
| Richard Dombrovski | Azle, TX | Jose Perez | Los Angeles, CA | ||
| Brian Furlong | Woodway, TX | Charlie Romanow | Trenton, NJ | ||
| Matt Gordon | Sherman Oaks, CA | Jeff Romig | Atlanta, GA | ||
| Susan Griffin | State College, PA | Stuart Sokoloff | Clarksburg, MD | ||
| Justin Hay | Davenport, IA | Ted Sorrells | Hideaway, TX | ||
| David Henkin | San Francisco, CA | John Stanley | Carrollton, TX | ||
| Stann Kaplan | Huntington, NY | Jake Stephen | Somerset, NJ | ||
| John Kyle II | Davie, FL | Stuart Thomson | Everett, WA | ||
| Chris Louden | Oxford, OH | Jared Young | Edwardsville, IL |
Here is a list of SABR supporters for the month of July 2026.
| NAME | NAME | |
|---|---|---|
| Joe Arostegui | Peter Marcus | |
| Jake Bell | Bruce McClure | |
| Dana Berry | Brian McNeill | |
| David Bohmer | Stephen Milman | |
| D. Bruce Brown | Patrick Namanny | |
| Bruce Bumbalough | Linda Nichols | |
| Ralph Caola | Andrew North | |
| Ken Carrano | Bill Nowlin | |
| Angel Castillo | Thomas Pardo | |
| Vincent Comparato | John Rall | |
| Carter Cromwell | C. Paul Rogers III | |
| Chris Dial | Michael Rosenwasser | |
| Mark Drucker | Charles Roussel | |
| Mark Dugo | Bob Russon | |
| Helen Edwards | Gary Sarnoff | |
| Jonathan Epstein | Jason Scheller | |
| Daniel Evans | Douglas Schoppert | |
| David Firstman | Jonathan Schwebel | |
| Adam Foldes | Mary Shea | |
| Mike Grisz | Rob Sheinkopf | |
| Leslie Heaphy | Janet Marie Smith | |
| Timothy Herlich | Thomas Stone | |
| Rockwell Hoffman | Wesley Story | |
| David Hughes | Bob Tehan | |
| Rob Janes | Joseph Thompson | |
| Donald Jensen | Neal Traven | |
| Scott Kent | Steve West | |
| Steve Klugman | Beach Wires | |
| Peter Kushar | Jeffrey Wood | |
| Henry Levy | Don Zminda | |
| Peter Mancuso |
Want to become a Friend of SABR? Click here to make a recurring monthly contribution or click here to learn more about our Giving Circles to make a one-time contribution.
- Events Calendar: Find details of all upcoming SABR events.
- Video Replays: Click here to view video replays of virtual SABR events.
Upcoming Virtual Meetings
- August 8: Bob Davids (DC) Chapter: Talkin’ Baseball with Seth Tannenbaum (9:00 AM EDT)
- August 10: American Baseball Biomechanics Society Journal Club meeting (4:00 PM EDT)
- August 10: Clyde Sukeforth (NH/ME) Chapter meeting (7:30 PM EDT)
- August 11: Elysian Fields (NJ) Chapter meeting with Simeon Lipman (7:00 PM EDT)
- August 12: Clyde Sukeforth (NH/ME) Chapter meeting with Loren Broaddus (7:30 PM EDT)
- August 12: New SABR Member Experience Meeting (8:00 PM EDT)
- August 13: Games and Simulations Committee meeting with Jay Wigley (8:00 PM EDT)
- August 15: Hank Gowdy Columbus (OH) Chapter book club meeting with David Herman (9:30 AM EDT)
- August 15: Mathewson-Plank (PA) Chapter meeting with Justin Mckinney (3:00 PM EDT)
- August 16: Baltimore Babe Ruth Chapter meeting with Rick Vaughn (7:00 PM EDT)
Upcoming In-Person Meetings
- August 9: Boston Chapter ballgame/ferry ride (Hull, MA)
- August 15: Babe ‘n’ Bob Chapter Breakfast (Edgewater, MD)
- August 15: Halsey Hall Chapter book club meeting (Roseville, MN)
- August 15: Robinson-Kell Chapter meeting (Bryant, AR)
- August 15: Bob Davids Chapter: Frederick Keys ballgame/meet-up (Frederick, MD)
To add your SABR event to our calendar listings, please contact Jacob Pomrenke.
- Statistical Analysis: July 2026 newsletter
Sign up for SABR research committee announcements at SABR.org/research/committees.
- Clyde Sukeforth Chapter: Summer 2026 newsletter (Northern New England)
- Halsey Hall Chapter: August 2026 newsletter (Minneapolis, MN)
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:
- Violet Miller: Women’s pro baseball comes home to Illinois, paving the way for next generation of ballplayers (WBEZ.org)
- Howard Megdal: Sights and sounds from the Women’s Pro Basebal League opener (The IX Sports)
- Gretchen Morgenson: Foul ball: These aging ex-MLB stars say the league is turning its back on them (NBC News)
- Jay Jaffe: Catching Lightning in a Bottle: A History of Trades à la Rutschman (FanGraphs)
- Ben Lindbergh: This Time, Teams Could Have Stopped the Dodgers (The Ringer)
- Mark Simon: July’s MLB Defensive Players of the Month (Sports Info Solutions)
- Sarah Langs: An MVP-filled 1st inning, brotherly love and a historic debut (MLB.com)
- Tyler Kepner: As Seattle salutes the 50 greatest Mariners, these funny 50 won’t make the cut (The Athletic)
- Daine Medlock: Diving Deeper Into Checked Swings (Sports Info Solutions)
- Hannah Keyser: Inside a Detroit Tigers clubhouse that still believes, even after trading away Tarik Skubal (CNN)
- Evan Drellich: As lockout looms, Braves’ Battery revenue surges while broadcast costs rise (The Athletic)
- Alex Speier: The Red Sox are red hot. Can their momentum be quantified? (Boston Globe)
- Nina Metz: The story behind the White Sox Pope hat giveaway (Chicago Tribune)
- Ryan Blake: The Rangers Lead The West (FanGraphs)
- Jayson Stark: The 10 wildest baseball games of July, from Orioles-Tigers to minor-league madness (The Athletic)
- Mario Delgado Genzor: Let’s Go Shopping for Some Stuff (Baseball Prospectus)
- David Laurila: Orioles Legend Jim Palmer Tackles a Challenging Career Quiz (FanGraphs)
- Steven Goldman: The Bronx Big Spenders in the Time of Cassette Tapes and Constant Disappointment (Baseball Prospectus)
- Gary Cieradkowski: Moonlight Graham: The Myth, the Legend, and the Bush League Ballplayer (Infinite Baseball Card Set)
- Sam Gazdziak: Obituary: Gil Blanco (1945-2026) (RIP Baseball)
- Christopher Chavis: April 1, 1963: The Day the Cubs and Red Sox Came to San Bernardino (Baseball and Us)
- Roy Carlson: 1986 Topps/O-Pee-Chee Baseball Tattoos Set Ripe with Relics (Sports Collectors Daily)
- Trevor Raichura: The 2004 MLB All-Stars Tour of Japan (SABR Asian Baseball)
- Mark Kozlevcar: Fake Scout – A Case of Mistaken Identity (SABR Asian Baseball)
- Tom Bowen: Multi-Brand Ballplayers (SABR Baseball Cards)
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 7, 2026. Last Updated: August 7, 2026.