This Week in SABR: December 9, 2016

/in /by

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 9, 2016:

ESPN’s Jessica Mendoza, MLB Network’s Brian Kenny to speak at 2017 SABR Analytics Conference

We are pleased to announce that ESPN analyst Jessica Mendoza, MLB Network host Brian Kenny, FanGraphs writer Eno Sarris, and SABR President Vince Gennaro will be among the featured speakers and panelists at the sixth annual SABR Analytics Conference in Phoenix, Arizona.

The SABR Analytics Conference will be held Thursday, March 9 to Saturday, March 11, 2017, at the Hyatt Regency Phoenix. The conference is open to all baseball fans, and early registration is now available online. Click here to register!

Mendoza joined ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball” as a full-time analyst in 2016 and is the first woman to call an MLB postseason game. Kenny is a host on MLB Network and 25-year national TV and radio veteran. Gennaro has been SABR’s President since 2011 and is the director of Columbia University’s sports management graduate program. Sarris is a staff writer for FanGraphs, where he specializes in pitching analytics. Click here to learn more about our featured speakers at the SABR Analytics Conference.

In its first five years, the SABR Analytics Conference has brought together many of the top minds of the baseball analytic community under one roof to discuss, debate, and share insightful ways to analyze and examine the great game of baseball. Stay tuned as we announce more featured speakers and panelists at the 2017 SABR Analytics Conference! Please note: All speakers are subject to change depending on availability.

For more information, visit SABR.org/analytics.

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.

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 almost 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.

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.

Roland Hemond: Treasuring my memories of the Winter Meetings

Longtime MLB executive Roland Hemond wrote the foreword to our newest SABR Digital Library publication, “Baseball’s Business: The Winter Meetings: 1901-1957,” edited by Steve Weingarden and Bill Nowlin. Click here to learn more about the book or to purchase a copy.

The first Winter Meetings I attended was in 1952. I was with the Boston Braves, and we traveled by train from Boston to Phoenix — two-and-a-half days it took. I haven’t missed many of the Winter Meetings through the years. I know I went to at least 50 in a row, for sure.

I started in baseball working for the Hartford Chiefs. I used to unlock the ballpark in the morning and help Harvey Stone, the trainer, to sweep out the park. Clean it up and get the concession stands ready. Sell tickets in the afternoon and do some p.a. announcing sometimes. Then I would check in the ticket takers and the concessions people at the end of the night, and then lock up the park at 11, 11:30 at night. You wear all sorts of hats, but you’re getting your start.

1952 was my first full year with the Boston Braves. I joined them late in September ’51. I was typing up scouting reports and stuff like that. John Quinn was the general manager then. He was on that train. We picked up Bob Coleman, the manager, at Evansville. We picked up certain people as we would go along. There were about 8 or 10 people in the Braves party. My boss was John Mullen, the farm and scouting director.

We didn’t have computers then, so we had big boxes with all of our scouting reports. It was quite an adventure. I enjoyed the conversation. I did a lot of listening. I was a youngster, breaking in. I figured the best way to learn was to keep quiet and listen to these baseball people.

It’s strange today. When I drive to the office here in Phoenix, I see that building — the Westward Ho Hotel. It brings back the memories every time I drive by.

— Roland Hemond

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

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. All baseball fans are welcome to attend.

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.

Students: One month left to apply 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.

Call for Papers: One week left to submit abstracts for 2017 The National Pastime

The 2017 SABR national convention will take place in New York City from June 28 through July 2. To coincide with the convention, the summer 2017 issue of The National Pastime will focus on New York City and tri-state regional baseball.

Given just how much of baseball’s history is tied up with New York and environs, what we’ll be looking for in this issue are topics that are a little bit off the beaten path. Millions of words have already been written about the four major-league teams that have graced the city, as well as the Knickerbockers, Alexander Cartwright, and other popular topics. As such, we’re particularly looking for new or less traveled angles on the well-known subjects, and for subjects relating to baseball and New York City that aren’t perhaps as well known. The Negro Leagues, minor leagues, New York area scouts, collegiate baseball? 

There’s plenty to explore and, ideally, we’ll have a wide variety of topics and articles. Research articles may be historical, biographical, or analytical, but please avoid personal narrative, oral histories, or interviews. 

This issue of The National Pastime will be edited by SABR Publications Director Cecilia Tan. She will be taking queries and abstracts until December 15, 2016, and will make assignments no later than January 1, 2017. First drafts of articles will be due no later than March 1 and rewrites (if needed) will be due by April 1.

Click here for complete details and criteria.

To be published in a SABR journal, your SABR membership must be current. (Click here to check your current membership status.) For full writers’ guidelines and details on how to prep your manuscript for submission, click here.

John Schuerholz, Bud Selig elected to Baseball Hall of Fame

Two past SABR Convention keynote speakers were elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame this week.

Atlanta Braves president John Schuerholz and MLB Commissioner Emeritus Bud Selig were selected by the Today’s Game Era committee for induction into Cooperstown. The Baseball Writers’ Association of America ballot will be unveiled on January 28, 2017, and Induction Day is scheduled for Sunday, July 30 during Hall of Fame Weekend in Cooperstown.

Schuerholz, who was the keynote speaker at the SABR 40 Awards Luncheon in Atlanta in 2010, became the first general manager to win World Series titles in each league, guiding the Kansas City Royals to their first championship in 1985 and winning it all with the Atlanta Braves a decade later. During Schuerholz’s tenure as GM, the Braves won an unprecedented 14 division titles in a row from 1991 to 2005. He served as the Royals’ GM from 1981 to 1990, having worked for the franchise since its inaugural expansion season in 1969.   

Selig, who headlined the SABR 31 convention in his hometown of Milwaukee in 2001, was baseball’s longest-tenured commissioner since Kenesaw Mountain Landis. He oversaw two rounds of expansion in 1993 and 1998, the addition of two Wild Card teams, the creation of interleague play, MLB.com, the World Baseball Classic and the introduction of instant replay, all following a three-decade stint as principal owner of the Milwaukee Brewers.

Find more multimedia highlights from past SABR Conventions — including a list of all 25 Hall of Famers who have spoken at our annual summer gathering — at SABR.org/content/sabr-convention-history.

The Hall of Fame Weekend festivities next July will also feature the presentation of the J.G. Taylor Spink Award to ESPN’s Claire Smith — the first woman to be honored with the Spink Award — and the presentation of the Ford C. Frick Award for broadcasting excellence to the late Oakland Athletics announcer Bill King, along with the SABR Cliff Kachline Chapter’s annual Induction Day meeting after the ceremony on Sunday evening.

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)
  • Kenosha, WI (joint meeting of Emil Rothe/Chicago and Ken Keltner Badger State Chapters)
  • New Orleans, LA (Schott-Pelican Chapter)
  • New York, NY (Casey Stengel Chapter)
  • Rochester, NY (Luke Easter Chapter)
  • St. Louis, MO (Bob Broeg Chapter)
  • San Francisco, CA (Lefty O’Doul Chapter)

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.

9 new SABR biographies published

Nine new biographies were posted this week as part of the SABR Baseball Biography Project, which brings us to a total of 3,945 published biographies. Here are the new bios published this week:

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

4 new stories published by the SABR Games Project

Four 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.

Seamheads relaunches award-winning Negro Leagues Database

SABR member Dan Hirsch writes, “It’s been over five years since we originally launched the Negro Leagues Database. Over that time, there have been significant additions to the database, in terms of new seasons and statistics. But the website and the presentation of these statistics have largely remained the same. In May of 2015, I overhauled the Major League part of The Baseball Gauge, and I’ve wanted to do the same with the Negro Leagues section. Today, we re-launch the award-winning Negro Leagues Database.”

Read the full article here: http://seamheads.com/blog/2016/12/05/introducing-the-new-negro-leagues-database/

The relaunch also includes stats from the 1942 and 1943 Negro National League seasons. As SABR member Scott Simkus writes, “With war raging overseas, Negro league rosters were once again ravaged by the draft, with star players Monte Irvin, Ted Strong, and Max Manning headlining a list of more than a couple dozen active African-American ballplayers entering the armed services. Additionally, a loosening of travel restrictions allowed Roy Campanella, Bill Wright, Ray Dandridge, and several other key contributors to play their summer ball in Mexico in ‘43, instead of here in the States. But the Negro leagues still featured the services of many future Hall of Famers, including Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, Buck Leonard, Cool Papa Bell, Willard Brown, Jud Wilson, Leon Day, and Larry Doby. The departures opened the door to some younger faces, with future big leaguers Sam Jethroe, Henry Thompson, and Joe Black all having an impact, or making their blackball debuts.” Click here to learn more.

To view the award-winning Seamheads Negro Leagues Database, visit http://www.seamheads.com/NegroLgs/index.php

Retrosheet announces Fall 2016 updates

Our friends at Retrosheet have announced their semiannual update for Fall 2016. The new features are:

In addition, many seasons have had updates and new games added to previously existing files. Tom Ruane has once again prepared the box scores and play-by-play text files and he had assistance from the following volunteers: Dave Lamoureaux, Jonathan Frankel, Herm Krabbenhoft, Ted Turocy, Joe Wancho, Steve Perrotta, Charles Saeger, John Kalous, Andre LeClerc, Tom Bradley, Tom Davis, Joe Elinich, Ron Weaver, Joe Murphy, Tom Stillman, Jim Riordan, Chuck Johnson, Travis Weir, and Pete Palmer.

The 1944 season was completed with the creation of deduced accounts for games lacking full play-by-play. Tom Thress continues to be the most productive volunteer, but others have helped with many games as well: Jim Wohlenhaus, Dick Cramer, Mark Pankin, Jim Herdman, John Gabcik, Bill McMahon.

Discrepancy files have now been completed from 1912 through 1975 as rigorous proofing has been completed for many recent seasons.

— David W. Smith

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: Sweeny Murti of WFAN Radio in New York and Eric Longenhagen 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.

In Memoriam

  • SABR member Mark A. Smith II, 41, died on Monday, December 5, 2016, at his home in Phoenix, Arizona. Mark joined SABR in 2012 and was a familiar face at Flame Delhi Chapter meetings in recent years. He was the Oakland Athletics’ Minor League Video Coordinator for eight seasons and was instrumental in the creation of that department in 2009. “The Oakland A’s suffered a tremendous loss with the unexpected passing of Mark,” said Billy Beane, Oakland A’s executive vice president of baseball operations. “He was a valued member of our organization. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends.” Before joining the A’s, Mark was a member of the United States Air Force from 1998 to 2007, serving as an aircraft maintenance officer at Mountain Home AFB in Idaho, Luke AFB in Arizona, and Al Dhafra AB in the United Arab Emirates. He got his start in baseball as a volunteer photographer with the Ogden Raptors of the Pioneer League in 2006 and then joined the Visalia Rawhide as a stadium operations manager the next season. Throughout his baseball career, he served as a tireless mentor to many students and anyone aspiring to work in sports through the Baseball Industry Network and Sports Management Worldwide. He graduated from Tuskegee University in 1998 with a bachelor’s degree in Aerospace Science Engineering and had recently begun pursuing his master’s degree at Northwestern University’s School of Professional Studies. A memorial service will be held on Monday, December 12 at Mt. Calvary Baptist Church, 1720 E. Broadway Road, Mesa, AZ 85204. Viewing will be held at 11:00 a.m. with the service at 12:00 p.m.

November 20 Board minutes posted

Minutes from the Board of Directors conference call on November 20, 2016, have now been posted on the SABR website.

You can view all past minutes of SABR Board meetings by going to the page below:

http://sabr.org/content/sabr-board-minutes

Or you can go to the Members’ Info page and click on “Org. files”, then “Board Minutes” to view the minutes.

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
Jeanne Armour Sarasota, FL     Patrick Maher Sherman Oaks, CA
Robert Cannon Santa Monica, CA     Denis McLaughlin Warwick, NY
Dean Carrano Bayside, NY     Matt Peace Colorado Springs, CO
Cruz Cisneros Fremont, CA     Jason Presley Huntsville, AL
Gregory Diener Manorville, NY     Ian Raezer Seattle, WA
Jason Ewanyshyn Georgetown, ON     Kevin Rosell Sugar Land, TX
Derek Granger Chandler, AZ     Robert Schon Tucson, AZ
Jennifer Hallett Young Harris, GA     Diane Shnitzler McLean, VA
Jim Kobbe Wichita, KS     Kenneth Smith Jr. Fort Worth, TX
Maureen Long Newtown, PA        

 

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.)

 

Follow us:
Contact us:
More info:

 


Originally published: December 9, 2016. Last Updated: April 3, 2020.

Support SABR today!

Donate Join

Cronkite School at ASU
555 N. Central Ave. #406-C
Phoenix, AZ 85004
Phone: 602-496-1460

About

History

Meet the Staff

Board of Directors

Annual Reports

Diversity Statement

Contact SABR

DONATE

© SABR. All Rights Reserved