This Week in SABR: January 15, 2021

January 15, 2021/in This Week in SABR /by Jacob Pomrenke

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 15, 2021:

SABR 50 at 50: Films and TV

As part of the SABR 50 at 50 project to commemorate the organization’s fiftieth anniversary, we present 50 of the most memorable baseball-related moments in films and television for the past 50 years.

In compiling this list we considered feature films, documentary films, documentary shorts, scenes from films, television series, scenes or skits from television series, and television commercials.

There were hundreds of nominations, and the quantity and quality of filmed baseball content keeps increasing. There is likely a great baseball documentary being made as you read this.

Visit SABR.org/50at50/films to read the list and the short description for each of the shows, along with selected video clips for each entry.

— Mark Armour

Submit your questions for Bob Costas, Tim Mead for virtual SABR Day event on January 30

SABR commemorates its 50th anniversary in 2021 and will launch its year-long celebration with SABR Day on Saturday, January 30. SABR Day will be hosted virtually around the globe for the first time, giving baseball fans a chance to come together — wherever they live — to share their love of the game.

The program will include conversations with broadcasting legend Bob Costas of MLB Network, with moderator Marty Appel, and National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum President Tim Mead, with moderator Bruce Markusen.

Q&A: Visit SABR.org/sabrday to submit your questions of Bob and Tim in advance, and we will make every effort to have them answer as many as possible during their SABR Day sessions.

“We are honored and thrilled to have Bob Costas and Tim Mead join us for the first-ever virtual SABR Day,” SABR CEO Scott Bush said. “There is not a better way to lead off our Golden Anniversary and we excitedly look forward to sharing SABR with the entire baseball community.”

SABR Day registration will be free for SABR members. A $10 donation will be requested of non-members. Click here to register online. The virtual SABR Day program will run from 2:00-4:00 p.m. EST on January 30.

Early registration discount expires January 31 for 2021 SABR Virtual Analytics Conference

Early registration is open only through January 31 for the SABR Virtual Analytics Conference, which will be held over four days in online sessions from March 11-14, 2021. 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. Register today to join us!

Programming will run on Thursday and Friday evening from 6:30-9:00 p.m. Eastern, all day Saturday from 12:00-8:00 p.m. Eastern, and Sunday afternoon from 1:00-5:00 p.m. EDT.

Registration: Click here to register for the 2021 SABR Virtual Analytics Conference. Early-bird registration is $75 for SABR members, $100 for non-members, and $50 for currently enrolled high school or college students (includes one-year SABR membership) through January 31, 2021. Students should email Scott Carter with a photo of their student ID to receive the discounted registration link.
Diamond Dollars Virtual Case Competition: Register your team or learn more about the 2021 Diamond Dollars Virtual Case Competition.
Research Awards: Stay tuned for more information on the 2021 SABR Analytics Conference Research Awards.

Stay tuned for more details on guest speakers, panelists, and presenters! Visit SABR.org/analytics to learn more.

SABR member Kazuo Sayama elected to Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame

Kazuo Sayama, a prolific baseball historian and SABR member, was elected to the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame, along with Katsuji Kawashima, who managed Japan’s national team to a silver medal during the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.

Sayama, who joined SABR in 1983, is the author of numerous articles and dozens of acclaimed books on Japanese baseball history, including Gentle Black Giants: A History of Negro Leaguers in Japan (1986); The Mystery of “Jap Mikado”: First Japanese in American Professional Baseball (1996); and An Inside History of US-Japan Baseball (2005). He also appeared in a 2006 PBS documentary film about Japan’s iconic Koshien high school baseball tournament.

Gentle Black Giants was translated into English and re-published in 2019 by Bill Staples Jr., chair of SABR’s Asian Baseball Committee. Sayama traveled more than 6,000 miles to attend the 1983 SABR convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he met Negro Leagues historian John Holway and began his pioneering research into the Philadelphia Royal Giants’ tours of Japan between 1927 and 1934. Sayama later contributed an article, “‘Their Throws Were Like Arrows’: How a Black Team Spurred Pro Ball in Japan,” for SABR’s Baseball Research Journal in 1987.

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

Apply now to participate in the 2021 Diamond Dollars Virtual Case Competition

The 2021 Diamond Dollars Virtual Case Competition will be held online from 11:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. EST on Friday, March 12, 2021, as part of the SABR Virtual Analytics Conference.

Register: Click here to register your team for the 2021 Diamond Dollars Virtual Case Competition. Registration is $995 per team, which includes admission to all SABR Virtual Analytics Conference sessions and a one-year SABR membership for each participants. Please include your school name, along with names and contact information for up to 5 participants.
Questions: Please contact Vince Gennaro with any questions about participating.

Visit SABR.org/analytics/case to learn more.

Last call for papers: 2021 The National Pastime

The National Pastime is SABR’s annual summer journal, which since 2009 has been themed to the location of the SABR national convention. Last year’s theme was Baltimore, but the 2020 convention was pushed forward to 2021 due to the global pandemic — meaning that in 2021 we were free to explore a new thematic direction. We are taking advantage of this unique opportunity to expand and challenge our thinking and become Baseball Futurists.

The 2021 issue of The National Pastime will focus on the future through the lens of baseball. Just as baseball and its history is a reflection of the culture and society of the past and present, it can also serve as input, context, and/or predictor of plausible futures for sports in the United States and other countries. Tentatively subtitled The Future According to Baseball, this issue of The National Pastime will collect thought-provoking articles from a variety of disciplines.

This issue of The National Pastime will be co-edited by Marty Resnick and Cecilia Tan. Marty will be taking queries and abstracts until January 15, 2021, and will make assignments no later than January 30. First drafts of articles will be due no later than March 8 and rewrites (if needed) will be due by April 15. To query, send an email to marty@teamresnick.com with the subject line “TNP Query” and a key word or two on your subject.

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

Join us for more Stay Home With SABR virtual events

SABR chapters and committees are encouraged to set up virtual meetings to stay engaged with our members throughout the world at SABR.org, as part of our Stay Home With SABR initiative to assist in limiting the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

Can’t-Miss Event: On Saturday, January 16 from 1:00-3:00 p.m. EST, the Jack Graney Chapter in Cleveland will host a virtual meeting with three great speakers to kick off our baseball year: Ken Rosenthal and Zack Meisel of The Athletic and Clint Longenecker of the Cleveland Indians front office. Click here to register online for this free Zoom meeting.
Live Transcripts in Zoom meetings: To enhance the accessibility of SABR’s virtual events, attendees for all online meetings that use SABR’s Zoom account now have access to live closed-caption transcripts through Rev.com. Just click on the Live Transcript button in the Zoom control panel at the bottom of your screen and choose between on-screen subtitles or a full transcript window. After you turn on the closed captioning, a text file with the transcript will automatically download to your computer after you exit the Zoom meeting. Closed-caption transcripts for selected video recordings will be available on request from the SABR office.

This week, we heard from Tom Shieber as part of the SABR Nineteenth Century Committee’s monthly Speaker Series.

Here are some more upcoming virtual events you can attend online; check the Events Calendar for complete details:

January 16: Babe ‘n’ Bob (Md.) Chapter Breakfast (9:00 a.m. EST)
January 16: Hank Gowdy (Ohio) Chapter meeting with Randy Mobley (9:30 a.m. EST)
January 16: Jack Graney (Ohio) Chapter meeting with Ken Rosenthal, Zack Meisel, and Clint Longenecker (1:00 p.m. EST)
January 16: Emil Rothe Chicago Chapter meeting with Ralph Carhart (3:00 p.m. EST)
January 18: Boston Chapter meeting with Curt Smith (8:00 p.m. EST)
January 18: Larry Dierker Chapter meeting with James Click, Scott Bush, and Mike Acosta (7:00 p.m. CST)
January 19: Bob Broeg St. Louis Chapter meeting with Eno Sarris (6:30 p.m. CST)
January 19: IBWAA: Up Next with Ben Chase (9:00 p.m. EST)
January 21: Rocky Mountain Chapter meeting (12:00 p.m. MST)
January 21: Magnolia Chapter meeting with Graig Kreindler (7:30 p.m. EST)
January 21: Ken Keltner Badger State Chapter meeting with Kyle Cody, J.P. Feyereisen, Jonathan Stiever, and Daulton Varsho (7:00 p.m. CST)
January 23: NW Ohio Chapter meeting (9:00 a.m. EST)
January 23: Bob Davids Chapter meeting with Eddie Robinson, Bob Carpenter, Fred Valentine, Brad Snyder, and Jerry Brewer (9:30 a.m. EST)
January 23: Josh Gibson Foundation speaker series with Ted Knorr (10:00 a.m. EST)
January 23: Schott-Pelican (New Orleans) Chapter meeting (10:00 a.m. CST)

Find more upcoming virtual meetings on our SABR Events Calendar page.

Click here to view replays of hundreds of recorded SABR virtual events.

Register now for the virtual SABR Ivor-Campbell 19th Century Conference in 2021

Registration is now open for the 11th annual SABR Frederick Ivor-Campbell 19th Century Base Ball Conference, which will be held virtually on April 22-24, 2021. All baseball fans are welcome to register for this special online event.

The 2021 virtual conference will be highlighted by a keynote address from Major League Baseball’s Official Historian John Thorn, along with a panel discussion on National League president William Hulbert with Jack Bales, Richard Hershberger, Bill Lamb, and moderator Bill Ryczek; a special presentation by Jim Gates on the “Penny Marshall Sheet Music Collection” at the Baseball Hall of Fame; a Member Spotlight interview of Tom Gilbert by Bob Bailey; plus research presentations.

Registration: Click here to register online. The cost is $35 per person. Each attendee must register separately in order to receive the Zoom meeting information.
Schedule: Click here to view the full schedule for the 2021 Ivor-Campbell Conference. Online sessions will be held from 8:00-10:00 p.m. EDT on Thursday, April 22; 12:00-5:30 p.m. EDT on Friday, April 23; and 12:00-5:00 p.m. EDT on Saturday, April 24. Registration provides access to all panels and presentations for each day.

For questions, please contact Peter Mancuso at peterplus4@earthlink.net.

To learn more about the conference, visit SABR.org/ivor-campbell19c.

Watch highlights from SABR Detroit Chapter’s Hank Greenberg Birthday Symposium

SABR’s Detroit Chapter hosted a special Hank Greenberg 110th Birthday Virtual Symposium on Saturday, January 9, to celebrate the pioneering Jewish superstar and prolific Detroit Tigers slugger.

The Zoom symposium, hosted by Nathan Bierma, included a presentation by Herm Krabbenhoft on “Correcting the Record: Revising the Runs & RBI Totals of Hank Greenberg and his Tigers Teammates” and a panel discussion on “Hank Greenberg’s Life and Legacy” with Steve Greenberg, filmmaker Aviva Kempner, and author John Rosengren.

Click here to watch the symposium online at SABR.org.

Read articles from the Fall 2020 Baseball Research Journal online

Good news! The Fall 2020 edition of the Baseball Research Journal was recently mailed out to all SABR members. This issue includes a special illustrated cover of Hall of Fame catcher and Negro Leagues legend Josh Gibson by SABR member Gary Cieradkowski. Click here to learn more about Gary’s design for the new BRJ cover.

Those of you who receive the print edition should find your BRJ arriving in the next two to four weeks. For digital subscribers, the e-book edition was delivered on December 21.

All articles from the Fall 2020 Baseball Research Journal can now be read online at SABR.org.
Click here to download the e-book edition of the Fall 2020 Baseball Research Journal.
Click here to order a copy of the print edition of the Fall 2020 Baseball Research Journal from Amazon.com.

We hope you enjoy reading the Fall 2020 Baseball Research Journal!

New SABR project on baseball tickets seeking contributors

SABR is excited to announce a new research project focused on the history, evolution, and future of baseball tickets. Led by Sacramento-Dusty Baker Chapter member Tony Oliver, the project will weave an investigation on how and when each ticket element originated, analysis on design changes throughout the eras of the sport, and how industry advances drove adoption of technology.

Tony is seeking volunteers to help with the research, writing, and editing, as well as anyone wishing to share stories about their ticket collections and the meaning behind the tickets they’ve saved.

Interested in helping out? Contact Tony Oliver for more details.

SABRcast with Rob Neyer: Listen to an interview with author Jason Turbow

Baseball fans, tune in this season to SABRcast with Rob Neyer, a weekly podcast hosted by award-winning author and longtime SABR member Rob Neyer.

Episode #93 on Monday, January 11 featured Jason Turbow on the life and legacy of Hall of Fame manager Tommy Lasorda, the celebrity skipper of the Los Angeles Dodgers for 21 years. Turbow is the best-selling author of three baseball books, They Bled Blue on the 1981 Los Angeles Dodgers; Dynastic, Bombastic, Fantastic on the 1970s Oakland A’s; and The Baseball Codes on the game’s unwritten rules.

Visit SABR.org/sabrcast to listen to the full episode.

Subscribe to SABRcast on your favorite podcast networks, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher, and listen to each episode as soon as it’s released on Mondays. To learn more, visit SABR.org/sabrcast.

7 new SABR biographies published

Seven new biographies were posted this week as part of the SABR Baseball Biography Project. Here are the new bios published this week:

Juan Bell, by Malcolm Allen
Russ Christopher, by Joseph Wancho
Bill Lyons, by Gregory H. Wolf
Charlie Mason, by Tim Hagerty
Rafael Palmeiro, by Ralph Caola
Tom Poquette, by Len Pasculli
William Selden, by Stephen V. Rice

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

Find any SABR biography: You can visit sabr.org/bioproject to search for any player — or manager, executive, scout, spouse, broadcaster, or umpire — who appears in the SABR BioProject. In addition, we have pages for Ballparks, Broadcasters, Executives, Games, Managers, Scouts, Spouses, Umpires, Writers, people who were Famous Outside Baseball, and a lot more.
Seeking authors for 2021 Hall of Fame candidates: As part of our BioProject Hall of Fame Ballot initiative, we are still seeking authors for all of the first-time players on this year’s ballot, including Tim Hudson, A.J. Burnett, Nick Swisher, and Shane Victorino. Please contact bioassign@sabr.org if you are interested in writing about one of these players.

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:

October 8, 1915: Phillies’ Pete Alexander benefits from the breaks to win Game 1, by Bill Nowlin
October 9, 1915: Red Sox’s Rube Foster pitches a gem and drives in winning run in Game 2, by Bill Nowlin
October 10, 1946: Garagiola, Cardinals batter Boston to even up World Series, by Bill Nowlin
October 11, 1946: Boston’s Joe Dobson shines with two-hitter to win Game 5, by Bill Nowlin
June 16, 1957: Billy Martin switches uniforms and homers in Kansas City Athletics debut, by Bruce Harris
October 4, 1961: Whitey Ford pitches third consecutive World Series shutout as Yankees win Game 1, by Tim Otto

New Games Project stories can be found at SABR.org/gamesproject.

Get involved: Have memories of a game you attended? Or a game you watched that caught your interest? Write about it! 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. We have editors and fact checkers who are willing to help you write your first article.
Social media: Follow the SABR Games Project on Twitter or Facebook to keep up with new stories and updates.
Read all stories from Babe Ruth greatest games book: Click here to read all stories from The Babe (SABR, 2019), edited by Bill Nowlin and Glen Sparks, online at the SABR Games Project.

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

Behind the Numbers: Baseball SABR Style on SiriusXM, a radio show hosted by former SABR Board President Vince Gennaro, is back at a new time. Listen to new episodes at 4:00-5:00 p.m. ET on Saturdays on MLB Network Radio.

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.

Call for SABR award nominations

SABR Baseball Research Award (outstanding research articles/projects; deadline: 1/31/2021)
Jefferson Burdick Award (significant contributions to baseball card hobby; deadline: 1/31/2021)
McFarland-SABR Baseball Research Award (best history/biography articles; deadline: 2/15/2021)

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

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.

Name	Hometown	Name	Hometown
Stephen Dertinger	Webster, NY	Iaan Lopez	Port Charlotte, FL
Doug Etzel	St. Louis, MO	Rob Methven	Seattle, WA
Michael Fichman	Philadelphia, PA	Glenn Miller	Ft. Myers, FL
Frank Flood	Farmington Hills, MI	Ben Potenziano	St. Petersburg, FL
Thomas Frohnhoefer	US Armed Forces	Marc Robinson	Fairborn, OH
Kevin Heidorn	Milwaukee, WI	Michael Santiago	Port Charlotte, FL
Robin Hirsch-Jacobson	Columbia, MO	Jenny Scarlata	Brooklyn, NY
Wayne Johnson	St. Louis, MO	Manny Silver	Hollywood, FL
Brian Kritz	Washington, DC	John Snell	Calgary, AB
Richard Lampert	Philadelphia, PA	T.R. Sullivan	Plano, TX
Dennis Lewin	Beachwood, OH	Yoni Zierler	Jerusalem, ISR

Research Committee news

Here are the new research committee updates this week:

Baseball Cards: Call for nominations: 2021 Jefferson Burdick Award
Biographical Research: December 2020 newsletter
Nineteenth Century: Winter 2021 newsletter

Find all SABR research committee newsletters at SABR.org/research/committees.

Regional Chapter news

Here are the new regional chapter updates this week:

Bob Davids Chapter: January 2021 newsletter (Washington, DC)
Boston Chapter: Read a new “Dispatches From the Mudville Bureau,” by Joanne Hulbert (Boston, MA)
Detroit Chapter: Watch highlights from Hank Greenberg Birthday Symposium
Larry Doby Chapter: Our South Carolina chapter has a new website! Check out updates from the Larry Doby Chapter at larrydobychapter.com.
Rogers Hornsby Chapter: Tony Kemp and Ross Ohlendorf thrill and delight at winter meeting (Austin, TX)

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

Around the Web

Here are some recent articles published by and about SABR members:

Mike Wilson: He Just Wanted to Play Catch. They Got Relief From Troubled Times. (New York Times)
Ken Rosenthal: Despite some financial incentives, MLB expansion is on hold. Here’s why (The Athletic)
J.J. Cooper: 120 Minor League Teams Receive Professional Development Licenses (Baseball America)
Emma Baccellieri: From ‘A League of Their Own’ to Building a Museum of Their Own (Sports Illustrated)
Jay Jaffe: Tommy Lasorda (1927-2021) Bled Dodger Blue (FanGraphs)
J.P. Hoornstra: Tommy Lasorda was baseball’s last celebrity manager (Los Angeles Daily News)
Steven Goldman: How Tommy Lasorda’s Dodgers Ragu Was Made (Baseball Prospectus)
Benjamin Hill: Taking a walk through Lasorda’s playing days (MiLB.com)
Jayson Stark: The DH idea everyone has been waiting for … or have they? (The Athletic)
Ben Clemens: The Costs and Benefits of Six-Man Rotations (FanGraphs)
Ben Lindbergh: Cleveland Could’ve Kept Francisco Lindor. The Team Just Valued Money More. (The Ringer)
Rob Arthur: Love This Trade For the Rays, But How’d They Actually Do? (Baseball Prospectus)
Rob Mains: Who Benefits from Deferred Payments? (Baseball Prospectus)
Eno Sarris: What is spin mirroring, and can it help identify fantasy baseball sleepers? (The Athletic)
Phil Birnbaum: Sabermetric Research: Splitting defensive credit between pitchers and fielders (Sabermetric Research)
Mark Simon: White Sox Bolster Their Pitching Staff (ACTA Sports)
Branson Wright: Red Sox coach Bianca Smith has spent her career proving she belongs (The Undefeated)
Hannah Keyser: Can we talk about how A.J. Hinch objected to the Astros’ sign-stealing scheme by smashing things with a bat? (Yahoo! Sports)
David Laurila: A Conversation With ’80s-’90s Slugger Mickey Tettleton (FanGraphs)
Roger Cormier: Dutch Rennert, The Last Fun Umpire (Baseball Prospectus)
John Thorn: What became of the trophy balls? (Our Game)
Lauren Blitstein: Chris Rainey, 69, was respected Yellow Springs teacher and coach (Oxford Observer)
Craig Brown: A deep dive on 1897 Boston Beaneaters uniforms (Threads of Our Game)
Jason Schwartz: SABR Century Project – Baseball Cards of 1921 (SABR Baseball Cards Blog)
Dylan Brennan: My Mount Rushmore of Vintage Sets (SABR Baseball Cards Blog)
Dave Sosidka: Dating McCarthy Postcards, Part 1- Unshuffling the Cards (SABR Baseball Cards Blog)
Brian Kritz: RIP Tommy Lasorda (1927-2021) (SABR Baseball Cards Blog)

Please note: Some articles may require a separate subscription to view online. SABR does not endorse, and is not responsible or liable for, any content that appears on a third-party website.

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

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