This Week in SABR: January 11, 2019

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 January 11, 2019:


Last chance: Register early for the 2019 SABR Analytics Conference

Join us for the eighth annual SABR Analytics Conference on Friday, March 8 to Sunday, March 10, 2019, at the Hyatt Regency Phoenix, 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. The early-bird registration discount ends on Monday, January 14, 2019, so register today to join us!

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 2019 SABR Analytics Conference, visit SABR.org/analytics.


Join us for SABR Day on Saturday, January 26

The 10th annual SABR Day will be held Saturday, January 26, 2019. More than 40 meetings are scheduled for SABR Day around the country. 

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. Check out SABR.org/sabrday for more information on a SABR Day meeting close to you.

Chapter leaders, please be sure to send any details on your SABR meeting to Jacob Pomrenke at jpomrenke@sabr.org so we can update our SABR Day map.

SABR Day meetings are now scheduled for Saturday, January 26 in the following cities:

  • Arlington, TX (Banks-Bragan Chapter)
  • Atlanta, GA (Magnolia Chapter)
  • Austin, TX (Rogers Hornsby Chapter)
  • Boston, MA (Boston Chapter)
  • Burlington, VT (Gardner-Waterman Chapter)
  • Cherry Hill, NJ (Goose Goslin Chapter)
  • Cincinnati, OH (Hoyt-Allen Chapter)
  • Columbus, OH (Hank Gowdy Chapter)
  • Cooperstown, NY (Cliff Kachline Chapter)
  • Denver, CO (Rocky Mountain Chapter)
  • Hoboken, NJ (Elysian Fields Chapter)
  • Houston, TX (Larry Dierker Chapter)
  • Indianapolis, IN (Oscar Charleston Chapter)
  • Knoxville, TN (East Tennessee Chapter)
  • Lexington, KY (Sweet Lou Johnson Chapter)
  • Little Rock, AR (Robinson-Kell Chapter)
  • Los Angeles, CA (Allan Roth Chapter)
  • Minneapolis, MN (Halsey Hall Chapter)
  • Montreal, QC (Quebec Chapter)
  • New Orleans, LA (Schott-Pelican Chapter)
  • New York, NY (Casey Stengel Chapter)
  • Phoenix, AZ (Hemond-Delhi Arizona Chapter)
  • Rochester, NY (Luke Easter Chapter)
  • San Diego, CA (Ted Williams Chapter)
  • Seattle, WA (Northwest Chapter)
  • Tallahassee, FL (Buck O’Neil/North Florida Chapter)
  • Toledo, OH (Bresnahan-Mud Hens Chapter)
  • Toronto, ON (Hanlan’s Point Chapter)
  • Victoria, BC (Northwest Chapter)
  • Washington, DC (Bob Davids Chapter)

In addition, SABR Day meetings will also be held on the following dates due to venue or chapter availability. Click on a link below for more information:

For a complete recap of 2018 SABR Day activities, visit SABR.org/sabrday/2018.


Rogers Hornsby Chapter’s Winter Meeting tomorrow highlighted by Rob Neyer

SABR’s Rogers Hornsby Chapter will hold its 13th annual Winter Meeting from 9:30 a.m.-4:00 p.m., on Saturday, January 12 on the third floor of the Old Main Building at Texas State University-San Marcos (601 University Drive, San Marcos, TX 78666).

Our meeting will feature a conversation with Rob Neyer. Rob is a pioneer in baseball analysis and writing, having worked for Bill James and STATS Inc. before spending 15 years as a columnist at ESPN. Since then he’s worked at SB Nation, FOX Sports, and other outlets. He is currently the commissioner of the West Coast League and the author of the new book Power Ball. He will join us via Skype and will be interviewed by Gilbert Martinez.

The meeting is open to all baseball fans and is free to attend. Click here for more details.


Coming soon: Registration information for SABR 49 convention in San Diego

SABR will be returning to San Diego for our 49th national convention on June 26-30, 2019, at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in downtown San Diego, California. Registration information and our special hotel room block will be available next week at SABR.org/convention, along with a call for presentation abstracts and the Yoseloff Scholarship application.

The Manchester Grand Hyatt is conveniently located within walking distance from Petco Park; our host hotel, a frequent host of baseball’s Winter Meetings, features a spectacular waterfront resort-like setting with shopping, dining, and entertainment venues in abundance at the nearby Gaslamp Quarter. The San Diego Central Library’s Sullivan Family Baseball Research Center, just a few blocks away, is home to the spectacular SABR Collection curated by our host chapter, the San Diego Ted Williams Chapter.

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


Craig Brown wins 2018 George Michael SABR Pictorial History Award

The 2018 George Michael SABR Pictorial History Award, which was established by SABR’s Pictorial History Research Committee to honor significant contributions to the knowledge and understanding of historical baseball imagery, has been awarded to Craig Brown, founder of the Threads of Our Game website on 19th-century baseball uniforms.

Brown launched Threads Of Our Game in the summer of 2014 and over the past four years he has been working his way through the 19th century. He currently is studying the uniforms of 1895. In the four years since the launch, Threads had reached several important milestones. More than 500 pages have now been posted to the site, with more than 1,200 historical baseball images shown. The project now has more than 50 baseball historians contributing research, with “diggers” specializing in player identifications and newspaper research.

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

Related links:


SABR Negro Leagues Committee awards $1,000 scholarships in 2018 essay contest

SABR’s Negro Leagues Research Committee was pleased to award $1,000 scholarships to four high school seniors in its 10th annual Thomas R. Garrett Scholarship essay contest in 2018. The winners are:

  • Rube Foster Scholarship: Marith Anderson, Rush-Henrietta Senior High School (Henrietta, New York)
  • Jimmie Crutchfield Scholarship: Kasey Fung, St. Ignatius College Preparatory (San Francisco, California)
  • Robert Peterson Scholarship: Dallas Lim, Lincoln East High School (Lincoln, Nebraska)
  • Tweed Webb Scholarship: Kiaran Octavius Turner, Ridgeview High School (Orange Park, Florida)

The contest was open to high school seniors and carrying a minimum GPA of 2.5 at the end of their junior year. Students had to write a 1,200-word essay answering a question related to one of the Negro League figures who are the namesakes of the scholarships.

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


Sign up today for the 2019 SABR Ivor-Campbell 19th Century Base Ball Conference

The 11th annual Frederick Ivor-Campbell 19th Century Base Ball Conference will be held April 26-27, 2019, at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.

Note: Space is extremely limited and some research presentations will be double-tracked. On the final page of your registration form, please indicate your preferred choice of Research Presentation for each of the six pairs that are double-tracked.

  • Registration: Click here to download the registration form (PDF). Registrations can be accepted by mail only: send BOTH completed 19th Century Base Ball Conference registration forms to: Peter Mancuso, 6970 Ely Road, New Hope, PA 18938. Enclose your personal check for the appropriate amount and make payable to “SABR,” with “Fred 19cBB Conference” written on the check’s memo line.
  • Cost: Conference registration is $65 per person, including the Saturday luncheon. Tickets for the optional Friday evening Welcoming Dinner ($45) at Templeton Hall and Saturday evening Post-Conference Gathering ($35) at the historic Otesaga Hotel can also be purchased in advance for you or a guest. Anyone who wishes to purchase an extra ticket for a guest to attend the Saturday luncheon only ($35) can also do so.
  • RSVP: Please mail your registration form no later than February 6. Registration is limited to the first 80 people to sign up, so please register early!
  • Contact: For questions, or if you miss the registration mailing deadline, contact Peter Mancuso at peterplus4@earthlink.net to see if space is still available.

The 2019 conference will be highlighted by a keynote address from baseball historian Joanne Hulbert, along with a panel discussion on “The Birth of Baseball Cards” with John Thorn, Peter Devereaux, Tom Shieber, and Jeff Katz; a special presentation by Richard Hershberger on “The Evolution of Baseball Rules”; a Member Spotlight interview of Priscilla Astifan by Bob Bailey; plus book signings, research presentations, and a welcome dinner.

For more information, or to register, visit SABR.org/ivor-campbell19c.


SABR Digital Library: Base Ball’s 19th Century “Winter” Meetings, 1857-1900

The hot stove is heating up, so settle in and add this new baseball book from the SABR Digital Library to your collection:

Base Ball’s 19th Century “Winter” Meetings, 1857-1900
Edited by Jeremy K. Hodges and Bill Nowlin
Associate Editors: Len Levin, Robert Tholkes, Jim Frutchey, William J. Ryczek, Clifford Blau, and Maurice Bouchard
Foreword by John Thorn 
ISBN (paperback): 978-1-9438-1691-0, $29.95
ISBN (e-book): 978-1-9438-1690-3, $9.99
384 pages, 8.5″ x 11″

Click here to read the full description of this book at SABR.org.

Base Ball’s 19th Century “Winter” Meetings is one of three volumes — totaling more than 1,500 pages — devoted to the study of the business of baseball. Published previously were Baseball’s Business: The Winter Meetings: 1901-1957 (published in December 2016) and Baseball’s Business: The Winter Meetings: 1958-2016 (published in December 2017.) This volume looks at the years from 1857 through 1900, thus completing SABR’s study of the business meetings for a period spanning 161 years.

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.

Find all past SABR Digital Library titles at SABR.org/ebooks.


SABR Digital Library: Time for Expansion Baseball

Add a brand-new baseball book from the SABR Digital Library to your collection this season:

Time for Expansion Baseball
Edited by Maxwell Kates and Bill Nowlin

Associate Editors: Len Levin and Carl Riechers

ISBN (paperback):
978-4-2940-9768-7, $24.95
ISBN (e-book): 978-1-9438-1688-0, $9.99

429 pages, 8.5″ x 11″

Click here to read the full description of this book at SABR.org.

SABR members, get this e-book for FREE:


3 new SABR biographies published

Three new biographies were posted this week as part of the SABR Baseball Biography Project, which brings us to a total of 4,695 published biographies. Here are the new bios published this week: 

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


Read all bios from From Spring Training to Screen Test book online

In From Spring Training to Screen Test: Baseball Players Turned Actors, published by SABR in 2018 and edited by Rob Edelman and Bill Nowlin, we told the stories of the stars and supporting players on baseball diamonds who also became stars and supporting players in the movies, on Broadway, in vaudeville and, eventually, on television and in concert halls. Included are biographies of selected individuals from the famous (Gene Autry, Joe DiMaggio, Jim Thorpe, Bernie Williams …) to the forgotten (Al Gettel, Lou Stringer, Wally Hebert, Wally Hood …)

All of the biographies from From Spring Training to Screen Test are now available to be read online at the SABR BioProject:

https://sabr.org/category/completed-book-projects/spring-training-screen-test

Click here to download a free e-book edition or get 50% off the paperback edition of From Spring Training to Screen Test.

To find all titles in the SABR Digital Library, visit SABR.org/ebooks.


7 new stories published by the SABR Games Project

Seven 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 at SABR.org/gamesproject/recent. Find all published Games Project articles at SABR.org/GamesProject.


Listen to a new episode of Behind the Numbers: Baseball SABR Style on SiriusXM

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.

You can also listen to archives of recent episodes on-demand on the SiriusXM Internet Radio App. Click here to learn more. 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.


Call for SABR award nominations

  • SABR Baseball Research Award, due 1/31/2019: 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 2019 awards, please contact Bill Felber at bfelber@att.net.
  • McFarland-SABR Baseball Research Award, due 2/15/2019: 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 2019 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: https://sabr.org/content/this-week-in-sabr-archives.


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
Gene Abercrombie Maumee, OH     Joseph Loskywitz Bronxville, NY
Evan Alvarez Philadelphia, PA     Tom Mank Ithaca, NY
Allan Bell Columbia, MO     W Myles Mayberry Montgomery, AL
Thomas Brubaker Altoona, PA     Thomas Merrick Buffalo, MN
Michael Carver Arlington, VA     Ann B. Murphy Aptos, CA
Matthew Castelhano Silver Spring, MD     Eugene Powers St. Charles, MO
Jenna Ciccotelli Methuen, MA     Robert Reuther Pittsburgh, PA
Gary Coon Andover, MA     Jean-Pierre Rossi Montreal, QC
D.J. Daugherty Broomfield, CO     Jeremy Rothstein Jersey City, NJ
Devon Davila Alexandria, VA     Lorenzo Samaniego Mansfield, TX
Brendan Donley Oak Park, IL     Joel Sanchez San Juan, PRI
Chris Gabriel Centerport, NY     Russell Sharples Albemarle, NC
Tim Korey Cumming, GA     Alan Thurston New York, NY
Zachary Levinson Staten Island, NY     Ray Wilbur Lawrence, KS
Mats Lindeborg Uppsala, SWE        

 


Research Committee news

Here are the new 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:

  • SABR Day is coming soon! Chapter leaders, please be sure to send any details on your SABR Day meeting to Jacob Pomrenke at jpomrenke@sabr.org so we can update our interactive map at SABR.org/sabrday.

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


SABR Events Calendar

Here is a list of upcoming events on the SABR calendar:

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.

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Originally published: January 11, 2019. Last Updated: April 3, 2020.