This Week in SABR: December 2, 2011

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Here’s what we’ve been up to as of December 2, 2011:

SABR Digital Library launches with “Can He Play: A Look At Baseball Scouts And Their Profession”

We’re pleased to launch the new SABR Digital Library with the publication of CAN HE PLAY? A Look At Baseball Scouts And Their Profession, available to all SABR members as a free e-book download through February 29, 2012:

http://sabr.org/ebooks

CAN HE PLAY? collects the contributions of 26 SABR members on the subject of scouts, including biographies and historical essays. The book touches on more than a century of scouts and scouting with a focus on the men (and the occasional woman) who have taken on the task of scouring the world for the best ballplayers available. In CAN HE PLAY? we meet the “King of Weeds,” a Ph.D. we call “Baseball’s Renaissance Man,” a husband-and-wife team, pioneering Latin scouts, and a Japanese-American interned during World War II who became a successful scout—and many, many more.

SABR members, click the link below to get your free download of our new book on baseball scouts:

For 40 years, SABR and its members have led the way in publishing the best baseball historical and statistical research. Our publications program is shifting to take advantage of new methods of publishing. Not only will we continue to publish new books like CAN HE PLAY?, which showcase the best efforts of SABR’s members, chapters and committees, but now new technology makes it possible for us to bring out-of-print titles back again. Books will be available in digital formats as well as paperbacks produced by “print on demand” (POD).

Stay tuned throughout the year for new (and old!) titles that we’ll be adding to the SABR Digital Library. SABR members will get discounted rates for all e-book publications.

New Analytics Conference speaker: Derrick Hall

Arizona Diamondbacks president and CEO Derrick Hall has been added to the list of speakers for the inaugural SABR Analytics Conference, joining Chicago Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts and Cleveland Indians president Mark Shapiro. More speakers will be announced soon.

Don’t forget to sign up by December 31, 2011, to get the early registration rate for the:

SABR Analytics Conference, presented by Bloomberg Sports
When: March 15-17, 2012
Where: Hilton Phoenix East/Mesa, 1011 West Holmes Avenue, Mesa, AZ 85210

Never before have as many of the top minds of the baseball analytic community come under one roof to discuss, debate and share learnings of insightful ways to analyze and examine the great game of baseball. Some of the topics we are planning to cover include: how technology is changing baseball; Managers Panel on how analytics has changed the game; GM Panel on how analytics shape decisions; measuring player performance; technology and in-game strategy, and much more.

The SABR Analytics Conference will begin on Thursday, March 15 and conclude on Saturday, March 17 at the Hilton Phoenix East/Mesa in Arizona. The schedule will consist of a combination of Guest Speakers, Panels and Research Presentations — plus the inaugural SABR Case Competition, in which graduate students will analyze and present a real baseball operations decision, and be judged by MLB front office executives.

The early registration rate ($250 for SABR members and students; $350 for non-members) is available until December 31, 2011. SABR has secured a special hotel rate of $139/night at the Hilton, which includes complimentary wireless high-speed Internet, parking and breakfast buffet for two.

To register for the SABR Analytics Conference, visit SABR.org/analytics.

To sign up for the Case Competition, visit SABR.org/analytics/case or contact SABR President Vince Gennaro.

SABR at the Baseball Winter Meetings

SABR will have a booth at next week’s 110th annual Baseball Winter Meetings, December 5-8 at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas, Texas. Stop by and say hello!

Are you a SABR member who is planning to attend the Winter Meetings? Let us know at jpomrenke@sabr.org. We’ll send out a list later tonight of all SABR members who have responded so you can look for some familiar faces while you’re there.

For more information on the Winter Meetings, visit http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/events/wintermeetings.jsp

2012 SABR elections: Call for nominations

The SABR Nominating Committee seeks nominations for candidates for the Spring 2012 elections. All candidates for the Board of Directors must have been members of the Society for at least the preceding four years to be eligible for election. Deadline for nominations is February 1, 2012. Nominees must prepare a Candidate Statement Form following guidelines that will be available from any Nominating Committee member. The Candidate Statement Form must be received by the Nominating Committee chair no later than February 29, 2012. The offices to be filled:

  • Vice President (2-year term; currently Bill Nowlin)
  • Secretary (3-year term; currently Todd Lebowitz)
  • Director (3-year term; currently Gary Gillette)

Self-nominations are welcome. If you would like to nominate yourself or another candidate or suggest a question for the candidates, contact a member of the Nominating Committee: chair Barry Mednick (bmednick@adelphia.net), Rich Schabowski (RICKIU76@aol.com), and Barry Deutsch (barryid@pobox.com).

Submit your Brooklyn Dodgers research for Ron Gabriel Award

The Ron Gabriel Award — named after the late Bob Davids Chapter member and former SABR Vice President — honors the author(s) of the best research, published or unpublished, on the subject of the Brooklyn Dodgers completed during the preceding calendar year. Eligible works include but are not limited to magazine and journal articles, previously unpublished chapters or articles in anthologies or other books with multiple authors, unpublished research papers, written versions of oral presentations, books, databases and websites.

Nominations should be sent to William Dahlberg at dahlbergwn@gmail.com no later than January 31, 2012. All nominations must include a copy of the research material, a link to the material or some other reference enabling the award committee to review the work. If the committee is unable to find a suitable award candidate, the prize money will be awarded to the Brooklyn Dodger Museum.

It’s time to renew your SABR membership!

‘Tis the holiday season, which means it’s time to renew your SABR membership for 2012. For most of you, your annual membership will expire on December 31*. (If you don’t know when your membership expires, go to the Members’ Info page and click the link that says “See when your membership expires”.)

You can renew your membership for 1 year or 3 years online at the SABR Store; by phone at (602) 343-6450; or by mailing this downloadable PDF form and your payment to the SABR office at 4455 E. Camelback Road, Ste. D-140, Phoenix, AZ 85018.

Dues are the same as they have been in recent years: for this, you get three publications (two issues of the Baseball Research Journal and one issue of The National Pastime); access to research resources such as Paper of Record (with complete archives of The Sporting News); discounts to SABR conferences such as the national convention (Minneapolis 2012), the Arizona Fall League Conference, the spring Analytics Conference and Case Competition, and the summer Jerry Malloy Negro Leagues Conference; access to our SABR-L e-listserv; research committees, regional chapter meetings; and more.

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

* All members are on the “rolling” calendar system as of August 1, 2011. If you signed up before that date and continue to renew, your annual membership will expire on December 31 as it always has.

Please consider a donation to SABR

Here at SABR, we are proud of our mission to foster the study of baseball, to assist in developing and maintaining the history of the game, to facilitate the dissemination of baseball research, and to stimulate interest in baseball. These are worthy goals, and when combined with fellowship, community, and our great publications, SABR has a lot to offer. Of course, all of this takes resources.

If you support SABR and all the groundbreaking research our members have and will produce, please consider donating online at SABR.org/donate or via mail. No amount is too big or too small, and as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, your donation to SABR is tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. If you have given in the past, we remain grateful and hope you will consider giving again. If you are a first-time donor, welcome aboard!

Donor Levels

  • $25-$99: receive a “Donor” convention badge ribbon entitling early entry into the SABR 42* Banquet
  • $100-$249: receive the above benefit plus a ticket to the Donor Breakfast at SABR 42* that features a “State of SABR” presentation by our executive leadership
  • $250-$499: receive all of the above benefits plus the new SABR Lapel Pin
  • $500-$1,499: receive all of the above benefits plus a SABR MVP Polo Shirt
  • $1,500-$2,499: receive all of the above benefits plus a junior suite upgrade at the SABR 42* hotel
  • $2,500 and up: receive all of the above plus an executive level room upgrade at the SABR 42* hotel.

*SABR 42 convention-related incentives assume payment of registration fees.

While the incentives are attractive, the real benefit is the satisfaction received from contributing to the continuing knowledge and appreciation of our national pastime. For more information, please contact SABR’s Director of Operations, Jim Cassandro, at jcassandro@sabr.org or (602) 343-6452.

Seven new biographies posted at SABR BioProject

Seven new biographies were posted this week as part of the SABR Baseball Biography Project, bringing us to a total of 1,717 published biographies:

All new biographies can be found here: http://bioproj.sabr.org/bioproj.cfm?a=n&m=61

Writing a biography for the BioProject is an easy way to get involved as a SABR member. Find out how by visiting our BioProject Resources page or reading the FAQs section.

  • Harry Caray biographer needed: The assigned author of the Harry Caray biography for the 1964 St. Louis Cardinals book project had to step down. If you would like to write a biography on the legendary broadcaster, contact Bill Nowlin at bnowlin@rounder.com for details. The turnaround is quick: A draft would need to be turned in by the end of this month. If you think you can hit that deadline, get in touch with Bill ASAP

Seamheads Negro Leagues Database update: 1923 Negro National League stats

SABR member Gary Ashwill writes:

We’re pleased to announce the addition of the 1923 Negro National League, compiled by Patrick Rock, to the Negro Leagues Database. Patrick’s work was the first statistical compilation of a Negro league season to reach the levels of thoroughness and completeness that we’re aspiring to here, and has been a key inspiration for my own work. Patrick originally prepared these statistics for Replay Games, and his 1923 Negro National League Yearbook for Replay (2004) is one of the great unsung accomplishments of Negro league scholarship.

The 1923 season saw the Kansas City Monarchs finally come into their own. Led by right fielder Heavy Johnson (.406, 20 home runs), pitcher-outfielder Bullet Rogan (.362, 14-11), slugging shortstop Dobie Moore (.365), and veteran pitcher-manager José Méndez (12-4), the Monarchs edged their arch-rivals, the Chicago American Giants, in September.

Read the full article here: http://seamheads.com/2011/11/29/negro-leagues-database-update-1923-negro-national-league

Chapter meeting recaps

Attention, chapter leaders: Just a reminder that the third annual SABR Day is scheduled for January 28, 2012. Please send the details of your SABR Day meeting to Jacob Pomrenke at jpomrenke@sabr.org. We’ll post them as soon as we get them at SABR.org/sabrday.

Upcoming SABR events:

Visit SABR.org/latest for details on all upcoming SABR events.

In other recent SABR news:

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

Find more information about SABR at the Members’ Info page here: http://sabr.org/about/members-info.

If you would like us to include an upcoming event, article or any other information in “This Week in SABR”, e-mail Jacob Pomrenke at jpomrenke@sabr.org.

Replying to this e-mail goes to an undeliverable address. If you would like to contact the SABR office, please visit: http://sabr.org/about/contact-sabr


Originally published: December 2, 2011. Last Updated: April 3, 2020.

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