This Week in SABR: December 16, 2016

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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 December 16, 2016:

Just two weeks left to help us reach our donation-drive goal in 2016

This has been a banner year for SABR, and your year-end charitable gift can help us bring 2016 to an even more successful close.

SABR continues to offer unparalleled opportunities for involvement and benefits for members around the world. We depend upon the volunteer work of members to mount our exciting events like the SABR Convention (in New York City next summer), the SABR Analytics Conference in Phoenix, and the Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference; to produce groundbreaking research through the SABR Digital Library e-book program (with 8-10 free e-books provided to members each year), the Baseball Research Journal, and The National Pastime; and to expand the online resources of the research committees, regional chapters, the BioProject, the Games Project, and much more. SABR continues to offer unparalleled opportunities for involvement and benefits for members around the world.

As a 501(c)3 organization, tax-deductible donations allow SABR to expand member opportunities and to become an even larger voice in the baseball community. Many members have already become donors, and you can join them right now by making your gift online at SABR.org/donate. Please help us reach our donation drive goal!

You can also send your donation by check to: SABR, Cronkite School at ASU, 555 N. Central Ave. #416, Phoenix, AZ 85004.

All of us at SABR appreciate your support of our great organization and the game we love.

To learn more, visit SABR.org/donate.

Don’t forget: It’s time to renew your SABR membership!

For those of you whose SABR memberships expire by December 31 — you can check your current membership status here — it’s now time for you to renew! We’re excited about the upcoming year ahead of us and we hope you’ll take advantage of all the great membership benefits offered to SABR members in 2017.

You can renew your membership for 1 year or 3 years online at the SABR Store; by phone at (602) 496-1460; or by mailing this downloadable PDF form and your payment to the office at: SABR, Cronkite School at ASU, 555 N. Central Ave. #416, Phoenix, AZ 85004.

Dues are the same as they have been in recent years: $65 for one year or $175 for three years, with discounts available to anyone under 30 or over the age of 65. 

For one low price, you get two editions of the Baseball Research Journal, the expanded e-book edition of The National Pastime; 8-10 free e-books published by the SABR Digital Library; “This Week in SABR” every Friday; access to research resources such as Paper of Record (with complete archives of The Sporting News); discounts to all SABR conferences such as the National Convention (New York City in 2017), the SABR Analytics Conference, the Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference, and the Frederick Ivor-Campbell 19th Century Conference; and much, much more.

We believe SABR has something for everyone, from the active researcher to someone passionate about baseball. We hope you’ll invite your friends, colleagues and family members to join at store.sabr.org.

  • Add a family member for $15: Any SABR member can add a family member in the same household for $15 per year; they will receive all electronic member benefits and access to the website, but no printed publications. To add a new family member, please contact Membership Director Deb Jayne. Note: In order to renew your existing family membership, you must log in to the SABR website under the family member’s username/e-mail address, not your own.

Early registration now open for 2017 SABR Analytics Conference

Early registration is now open for the sixth annual SABR Analytics Conference on March 9-11, 2017, at the Hyatt Regency Phoenix. We hope you’ll join us next spring in Arizona, where we’ll bring together the top minds in the baseball analytics community to discuss, debate and share insightful ways to analyze and examine the great game of baseball.

Our guest speakers and panelists are expected to include Jessica Mendoza, ESPN “Sunday Night Baseball” analyst; Brian Kenny, MLB Network host; Vince Gennaro, SABR President; Eno Sarris, FanGraphs staff writer; and many more still to be announced.

All baseball fans are welcome to attend. Click a link below for more information:

SABR has a long and storied history with baseball statistical analysis, evidenced by the link between our name and sabermetrics. SABR’s long history in this area of baseball research, coupled with our mission of advancing the understanding and knowledge of baseball, makes us the perfect choice to coordinate and host this ground-breaking event.

The Analytics Conference schedule consists of a combination of Guest Speakers, Panels, and Research Presentations — plus the unique Diamond Dollars Case Competition, in which undergraduate, graduate and law school students from across the country analyze and present a real baseball operations decision.

For more information on the 2017 SABR Analytics Conference, visit SABR.org/analytics.

SABR Digital Library: Baseball’s Business: The Winter Meetings: 1901-1957

Warm up by the hot stove with the newest e-book from SABR Digital Library:

Baseball’s Business: The Winter Meetings: 1901-1957 (Volume One)
Edited by Steve Weingarden and Bill Nowlin
Associate editors: Marshall Adesman and Len Levin
Foreword by Roland Hemond
ISBN (paperback): 978-1-9438-1637-8
ISBN (e-book) 978-1-9438-1636-1
390 pages, 8.5″ x 11″

“I treasured going to the Winter Meetings. You don’t see people for a whole year and then here you are, face to face, and trying to make a deal.”  — Roland Hemond (Winter Meetings attendee since 1952)

This new SABR book about the history of the Winter Meetings contains stories and hidden treasures that may help resolve moments of wonder that have periodically crossed your mind as a baseball fan or as a scholar. 

So much of baseball history happened at the Winter Meetings. This book provides you with a historical answer to the business of baseball over many of the early years of the minor leagues, the National League, and the American League, and even features a chapter on the Eastern Colored League Winter Meetings. Important philosophies regarding chosen identity, reactions to societal trends, agreements on how to operate, approval of new members, and player transactions emerged from the discussions and decisions made at the winter meetings. 

This book represents the first of two volumes to cover the history of Baseball’s Winter Meetings. Volume One covers the years 1901 through 1957, and Volume Two (to be published in 2017) covers the years 1958 through 2016. The first volume covers the years of twentieth century baseball from the first year there were two “major leagues” — the American League having begun as a major league in 1901 — and running through the final year before expansion to the West Coast. The second volume brings coverage of the Winter Meetings through the 2016 gathering in Washington, D.C.

Volume One comprises the collective work of a team of 38 SABR researchers and editors. The overall project was initiated by SABR’s Business of Baseball Committee, the brainchild of editor Steve Weingarden. Volume Two will comprise the work of a number of the same authors and editors, but more than two dozen others. All in all, well over 60 SABR members will have contributed to this effort, including Abigail Miskowiec, Aimee Gonzalez, Andy Bokser, Bill Felber, Bill Nowlin, Bob LeMoine, Chris Jones, Christopher Matthews, Dale Voiss, Dennis Pajot, Ely Sussman, Eric Frost, Frederick C. Bush, Gary Levy, Gregory H. Wolf, Jacob Pomrenke, Jason C. Long, Jeremy Green, Jerry Nechal, Jim Howlenhaus, Jim Overmyer, Joe Marren, Marshall Adesman, Mike Lynch, Nick Klopsis, Nick Waddell, Paul Hensler, R.J. Lesch, Rich Bogovich, Roland Hemond, Silvio Sansano, Stephen R. Keeney, Steve Weingarden, Steven Bryant, Ted Leavengood, Travis Stern, and Zak Schmoll.

SABR members, get this e-book for FREE!

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 members can download all SABR Digital Library publications for free and get 50% off the paperback edition. Find all current and past titles at SABR.org/ebooks.

Students: Apply now for a Yoseloff Scholarship to attend 2017 SABR Analytics Conference

With generous funding from The Anthony A. Yoseloff Foundation, Inc., SABR will award up to four scholarships to high school and college students who wish to attend the 2017 SABR Analytics Conference. This scholarship will pay for registration, air transportation and lodging up to a total value of $1,250. All applications must be postmarked or e-mailed to Jeff Schatzki at jschatzki@sabr.org no later than December 31, 2016.

The objective of this scholarship fund is to encourage student engagement with baseball analytics, and to engender an active interest in baseball research and SABR. The Yoseloff scholarship is to assist young researchers who want to attend SABR’s Analytics Conference and to introduce them to fellow SABR members and professionals within the baseball community. Through this fund, SABR hopes to inspire future baseball research, expose students to high-quality research and build the research capability of interested students.

Click here to learn more or to download the 2017 Yoseloff Scholarship application.

Register now for the 2017 Diamond Dollars Case Competition at SABR Analytics

The SABR Analytics Conference is pleased to host the unique Diamond Dollars Case Competition on Thursday, March 9, 2017. Click here for more details.

In the Diamond Dollars Case Competition, undergraduate, graduate and professional school students from colleges and universities across the country compete against each other by preparing an analysis and presentation of a baseball operations decision — the type of decision a team’s GM and his staff is faced with over the course of a season. The cases are developed by SABR President Vince Gennaro, author of Diamond Dollars: The Economics of Winning in Baseball, and consultant to MLB teams. The Diamond Dollars Case Competition is the first national competition to be based solely on baseball operations issues.

Four- to five-person student teams are asked to evaluate a baseball operations case problem. The student team presents their analysis and recommendations to a panel of judges that includes MLB front office executives. More than a dozen alumni from the first five Diamond Dollars Case Competitions have secured internships or permanent positions within Major League Baseball.

For more information on the 2017 Diamond Dollars Case Competition, please contact SABR President Vince Gennaro or click here for rules and entry requirements.

Read articles from the Fall 2016 Baseball Research Journal online

Good news! The Fall 2016 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, although we hear many have already arrived. For digital subscribers, the e-book edition was delivered to your inboxes last week.

As editor Cecilia M. Tan writes, this issue includes articles on “obscure” topics that are often the most fascinating, and the most painstakingly researched. She calls them rabbit holes, and the researcher who dives down them pulls us, Alice-like, right into Wonderland with them. In this BRJ, we get a deep dive on the life of Violet Popovich, the show girl who famously shot Billy Jurges of the Chicago Cubs, the offseason trap shooting career of Chief Bender, and a light shined on a baseball league that has nearly been forgotten by history, the International Girls Baseball League. Sometimes a researcher goes down a rabbit hole and after their article is published, they keep going: Bryan Soderholm-Difatte published a paper previously demonstrating that George Stallings employed platooning with the 1914 “Miracle” Braves. He’s back this time with a look at 1913, and while he was working on the paper, play by play information for 1912 and 1911 became available. The result is the meaty, delicious conclusion that pinpoints 1913 as the beginning of platooning as we know it. Another researcher who has been going down a rabbit hole is Tom Thress in his pursuit of the ultimate baseball statistic, Player Won-Lost records. He presents here a follow-up to his previous paper on the topic.

And that’s just a fraction of what’s in this issue. Click here to read all articles online at SABR.org.

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

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.

We hope you enjoy reading the Fall 2016 Baseball Research Journal!

Save the date! SABR Day is coming up on January 28, 2017

Just a reminder to all that the eighth annual SABR Day will be held Saturday, January 28, 2017. We’re starting to compile details now on 2017 SABR Day chapter meetings around the country. We’ll post them as soon as we get them at SABR.org/sabrday.  

Regional SABR meetings are open to all baseball fans and are usually free to attend, so bring a friend! Guest speakers often include current and former baseball players, managers, umpires, executives, scouts, writers and authors.

SABR Day events are scheduled for Saturday, January 28, 2017, in the following cities:

  • Columbus, OH (Hank Gowdy Chapter)
  • Denver, CO (Rocky Mountain Chapter)
  • Houston, TX (Larry Dierker Chapter)
  • Kenosha, WI (joint meeting of Emil Rothe/Chicago and Ken Keltner Badger State Chapters)
  • Louisville, KY (Pee Wee Reese Chapter)
  • New Orleans, LA (Schott-Pelican Chapter)
  • New York, NY (Casey Stengel Chapter)
  • Philadelphia, PA (Connie Mack Chapter)
  • Rochester, NY (Luke Easter Chapter)
  • St. Louis, MO (Bob Broeg Chapter)
  • San Francisco, CA (Lefty O’Doul Chapter)
  • More events TBA soon!

Click here for complete details on all events on our 2017 SABR Day map (or click here to view details on a spreadsheet).

In addition, SABR Day meetings will also be held on these dates due to schedule or venue availability. Click on a link below to learn more:

Chapter leaders, please be sure to send any details on your SABR meeting to Blane Ferguson at bferguson@sabr.org so we can update our SABR Day map at SABR.org/sabrday.

8 new SABR biographies published

Eight new biographies were posted this week as part of the SABR Baseball Biography Project, which brings us to a total of 3,953 published biographies. Here are the new bios published this week:

All new biographies can be found here: http://sabr.org/bioproj/recent

Van Lingle Mungo biographies now posted online

In SABR’s Van Lingle Mungo: The Man, The Song, The Players, edited by Bill Nowlin and published by SABR in 2014, we paid tribute to an iconic baseball song with lyrics made up entirely of player names from the 1930s and ’40s.

Just as 1930s and 1940s Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants pitcher Van Lingle Mungo was surprised that Dave Frishberg wrote a song around his name back in 1969, so he might have been surprised to come across this book all these years later. Frishberg’s song “Van Lingle Mungo” (which you can listen to on YouTube here) listed 37 ballplayers in the lyrics. A different version contained three different names. That’s a total of 40, and all 40 are represented with biographies in this book, including John Antonelli and Frankie Crosetti, Ferris Fain and Johnny Sain, and Bobby Estalella and Art Passarella.

The SABR BioProject biographies that appeared in Van Lingle Mungo can now be read online at: http://sabr.org/category/completed-book-projects/van-lingle-mungo

You can also purchase the book or download the e-book by clicking here. SABR members can download all SABR Digital Library e-books for free at SABR.org/ebooks.

6 new stories published by the SABR Games Project

Six 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 here: http://sabr.org/gamesproject/recent. Find all published Games Project articles at SABR.org/GamesProject.

  • Get involved: 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.
  • Still seeking a Chief Editor: For those of you who have reached out offering to edit or fact-check games over the past few weeks: Thank you! Thanks to numerous responses, we are now sufficiently staffed in this area to more quickly process game articles toward publication. However, we are still seeking a Chief Editor to help coordinate the editing for all Games Project stories. This is a crucial role that is necessary to keep the project running smoothly. If you are interested, please contact Greg Erion or Bruce Slutsky for more information.

Interested in baseball cards? Join SABR’s Baseball Cards Research Committee

Want to learn more about the history and evolution of baseball cards? SABR’s newly revived Baseball Cards Research Committee is seeking new members. Last week, Mark Armour and Chris Dial were approved as the committee co-chairs by the SABR Board of Directors. 

The committee has launched a new website at https://sabrbaseballcards.blog; check out all the great content that has been posted this week:

The committee’s purpose is to encourage more interactive knowledge sharing about the history and importance of baseball cards as a representation of the game itself and to research the history of the relationship between statistics and baseball cards. The committee also provides a forum for discussion on other important aspects of the baseball card industry, such as memorable, important and famous series designs; the influx of new card sets and limited-edition inserts in the 1980s and ’90s; documentation on all of the major card companies and important figures in the evolution of the baseball card industry; and research into the evolution of the game as viewed through the lens of baseball cards (batting gloves, player/managers, the DH, record-setting achievements, the steroids era, etc.)

Any SABR member can sign up for announcements or contribute to future committe newsletters. Click here to learn more.

For more information on all 30 SABR research committees, click here.

Listen to Behind the Numbers: Baseball SABR Style on SiriusXM on Sundays

Behind the Numbers: Baseball SABR Style on SiriusXM, a radio show hosted by SABR President Vince Gennaro is back for the Hot Stove League offseason, at a new time: 4:00-5:00 p.m. ET on Sundays, on MLB Network Radio.

This week’s guests are SABR member David Kagan, physics professor from California State University at Chico, and Craig Edwards of FanGraphs.

You can also watch video highlights of Behind the Numbers: Baseball SABR Style on SiriusXM on MLB.com. Click here to watch more video highlights of Baseball SABR Style from MLB.com. 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.

Save the date: SABR 47 will be in New York City in 2017

SABR will be returning to the Big Apple for our 47th national convention on June 28-July 2, 2017, at the Grand Hyatt New York. Registration information will be available at SABR.org/convention in early 2017. The New York Mets are scheduled to play the Philadelphia Phillies in a three-game series at Citi Field during SABR 47.

The Grand Hyatt New York, one of the city’s most historic and luxurious hotels, is conveniently located in Midtown Manhattan just steps from Grand Central Terminal and within walking distance of many major attractions, including Times Square, the Empire State Building, and the New York Public Library. The Grand Hyatt is also easily accessible to all forms of transportation: planes, trains, automobiles (including car services), and more.

SABR 47, which is open to all baseball fans, will include top featured speakers from around the baseball world — front office executives, players, managers, scouts, writers and analysts. More details will be announced in early 2017 at SABR.org/convention.

SABR’s 2017 national convention will be our 47th annual gathering; the organization’s founding in Cooperstown in 1971 is counted as the first. Learn more about SABR’s convention history by clicking here.

For more information on the SABR convention, visit SABR.org/convention.

Call for SABR award nominations

  • Seymour Medal, due 12/31/2016: The Dr. Harold and Dorothy Seymour Medal honors the best book of baseball history or biography published during the preceding calendar year. The award is presented during the Seymour Medal Banquet at the NINE Spring Training Conference every March. If you have a book to nominate with a 2016 publication date, contact Trey Strecker at ninebaseballeditor@gmail.com by December 31, 2016.
  • Larry Ritter Award, due 12/31/2016: Each year, SABR’s Deadball Era Committee presents the Larry Ritter Book Award to recognize the best new book primarily set in the Deadball Era that was published during the previous calendar year. The award is presented during the committee’s meeting at the annual SABR convention. If you have a book to nominate with a 2016 publication date, contact Doug Skipper at theskippers1@hotmail.com by December 31, 2016.
  • Ron Gabriel Award, due 12/31/2016: The Ron Gabriel Award annually honors the author(s) of the best research, published or unpublished, on the subject of the Brooklyn Dodgers completed during the preceding calendar year. To submit a nomination for the 2017 awards, please send a copy of your work to Gary Sarnoff at runtowin89@hotmail.com by December 31, 2016.
  • SABR Baseball Research Award, due 1/31/2017: The SABR Baseball Research Award (formerly the Sporting News-SABR Baseball Research Award) honors those whose outstanding research projects completed during the preceding calendar year have significantly expanded our knowledge or understanding of baseball. To submit a nomination for the 2017 awards, please contact Bill Felber at bfelber@att.net.
  • McFarland-SABR Baseball Research Award, due 2/15/2017: The McFarland-SABR Baseball Research Award honors the authors of the best articles on baseball history or biography completed or published during the preceding calendar year. To submit a nomination for the 2017 awards, please contact Len Levin at lenlevin5@hotmail.com.

Please note: Only ONE entry per nomination will be considered (do not submit multiple nominations for the same award). For more information on SABR Awards, click here.

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: http://sabr.org/content/this-week-in-sabr-archives.

For more information, click here.

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
James Albany Brighton, CO     Jordan Liff Chagrin Falls, OH
Danny Althoff Williamston, MI     Mark Schremmer Mission, KS
Greg Bailey Gadsden, AL     Nic Martino Oaklyn, NJ
Robert Boyer New Castle, DE     Harvey Meiselman Boynton Beach, FL
Stephen B. Bromley Hobe Sound, FL     Fred Mistretta Montvale, NJ
A.J. Bruhn Miami Lakes, FL     Robert Mutert Algonquin, IL
David Chapin Lebanon, NH     Peter Myers San Antonio, TX
Ray Cherry Dallas, TX     Daniel Orr San Antonio, TX
Timothy H. Clemens Shoreham, VT     Nicholas Pascal Germantown, TN
Andrew Cohen New York, NY     Angel Lluis Pujol Altafulla, ESP
Marcel Dugas Montreal, QC     Scot Reader Boulder, CO
Mark Harris Clinton, IL     Gloria Rubac Houston, TX
David Hornish Lindenhurst, NY     Robert Sanzone Boston, MA
Linus Huang Berkeley, CA     Dominic Theofan Ponte Vedra Beach, FL
Dave Jerome Fullerton, CA     Josh Wilker Chicago, IL
David Kantor University Heights, OH     Craig Witt Fredericksburg, VA
Deborah Kennedy Washington, DC     Mike Wuest Cayce, SC
Dan Kriner Cinnaminson, NJ        

 

Research Committee news

Here are the new SABR 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:

  • Chapter websites/social media: Chapter leaders, all chapters are encouraged to have a presence online to help raise awareness of SABR and bring extra attention to our research, events, and activities. Click here if your chapter is interested in learning more about creating a new chapter website or social media accounts, and for a complete list of chapter sites and social media accounts.
  • Best Practices handbook: Chapter leaders, download the new Chapter Leaders Best Practices Handbook on the Admin Tools page at admin.sabr.org. The handbook offers suggestions and guidelines for meetings, speakers, revitalizing a chapter, and getting publicity for SABR and chapter events.

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

SABR Events Calendar

Here is a list of upcoming SABR events:

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: December 16, 2016. Last Updated: April 3, 2020.

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