This Week in SABR: January 24, 2014

/in /by

Welcome to “This Week in SABR!” Here’s what we’ve been up to as of January 24, 2014:

Join us for SABR Day on Saturday, January 25

You’re not going to want to miss the fifth annual SABR Day on Saturday, January 25!

SABR Day is our annual Hot Stove gathering to celebrate the beginning of a new baseball season. It’s always held on the weekend between the NFL championship games and the Super Bowl. On that day, SABR’s regional chapters organize baseball events around the globe, and you’re all invited to attend.

SABR Day meetings can include premier guest speakers, such as National Baseball Hall of Fame President Jeff Idelson, who’s speaking at our New York City SABR Day meeting, or former Pirates pitcher and World Series champion Bob Friend, who’s speaking at our Pittsburgh SABR Day event.

Other guest speakers for SABR Day include former major league player Johnny Antonelli and manager Joe Altobelli (both speaking in Rochester, N.Y.); front office executives John Vuch (St. Louis), John Dittrich (Phoenix), and Ned Rice (Washington, D.C.); and authors Ed Achorn (Philadelphia), Jane Leavy (New York), Josh Suchon (Albuquerque), J.B. Hogan (Little Rock), and Danny Gallagher (Toronto.)

Some SABR chapters, such as those in Austin, Des Moines, Indianapolis, Montreal and Victoria, are meeting informally at a restaurant or library just to talk baseball or present their new research. Other chapters, such as Houston, Minneapolis and Dallas-Fort Worth, will participate in their local MLB team FanFests scheduled for Saturday.

In Boston, we’ll have a book signing and discussion with the authors of SABR’s newest Digital Library publication, New Century, New Team: The 1901 Boston Americans.

In Cooperstown, we’ll listen to some great research presentations from Jim Gates, Tom Shieber, Bruce Markusen and Mike Piazzi at the Baseball Hall of Fame’s Bullpen Theater.

In Denver, we’ll follow up the SABR Day Media Panel with our traditional mass game of catch in the parking lot at nearby Coors Field.

The Chicago and Milwaukee chapters plan to meet in the middle — at the Brat Stop in Kenosha, Wisconsin — for a meeting with guest speakers Christopher Kamka of Comcast Sportsnet, Kane County Cougars announcer Wayne Randazzo, and Jake McGhee, General Manager of the Kenosha Kingfish.

In Central Florida, SABR members and guests will tour the St. Petersburg Museum of History’s “Little Cooperstown” exhibit.

All baseball fans are welcome on SABR Day; you don’t have to be a SABR member to attend, although if you like what you see we hope you’ll sign up.

You can find details of all 30+ SABR Day 2014 meetings at SABR.org/sabrday. Find one near you and join us!

  • Sunday, January 26: SABR Day doesn’t end at midnight! The Lefty O’Doul Chapter in San Francisco and the Northwest Chapter in Seattle have scheduled their SABR Day events for Sunday afternoon. In San Francisco, we’ll celebrate the history of women in baseball at the Linedrives and Lipsticks exhibit at the San Francisco Public Library on Larkin Street. Be among the first to visit this wonderful exhibit honoring the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League and enjoy an afternoon learning more about the many roles that women have played in America’s pastime. We have a special lineup of speakers including Dorothy Mills, Jean Ardell, Leslie Heaphy, Monica Nucciarone, and David Block. And in Seattle, we’ll have our own private suite at the Mariners’ FanFest with special guest speakers from the Mariners front office. Find details at SABR.org/sabrday. Hope to see you there!
  • Schedule changes: Please note that tomorrow’s SABR Day meeting in Louisville, Kentucky, has been postponed due to inclement weather; that meeting will be rescheduled at a later date. The SABR Day meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina, has also been postponed. Please check the SABR Events Calendar at SABR.org/events for more information.

To view all SABR Day 2014 events on a map, click here or click the image below.

Milwaukee Brewers owner Mark Attanasio to speak at 2014 SABR Analytics Conference

We are pleased to welcome Milwaukee Brewers owner Mark Attanasio as a featured speaker at the third annual SABR Analytics Conference, to be held March 13-15, 2014 at the Hyatt Regency Phoenix in Phoenix, Arizona.

Attanasio is entering his 10th season as the Chairman and Principal Owner of the Milwaukee Brewers. The Brewers have qualified for the postseason twice during his tenure, advancing to the National League Division Series in 2008 and the NL Championship Series in 2011. The Brewers won the NL Central Division championship in 2011, their first division crown since 1982.

Attanasio has been an accomplished investment management executive for more than 25 years. He is a co-founder and managing partner of Crescent Capital Group, Inc., an employee-owned Los Angeles-based asset management firm. He is also an investor in the Milwaukee Admirals of the American Hockey League. He earned his A.B. From Brown University and his J.D. From the Columbia University School of Law.

For more information or to register for the 2014 SABR Analytics Conference, visit SABR.org/analytics.

2014 SABR Analytics: Telling Stories in the Age of Sabermetrics Panel

We are pleased to announce the Telling Stories in the Age of Sabermetrics Panel at the 2014 SABR Analytics Conference. Time and date TBA.

The wide embrace of metrics as a way to both explain and understand all sports, not just baseball, has changed the way sports writers and editors must approach their jobs. Join us for a discussion of the ways in which metrics have changed coverage of games, and the very nature of what readers have come to expect from, and writers must be able to bring to, the daily sports press.

The SABR Analytics Conference will be held March 13-15, 2014, at the Hyatt Regency Phoenix in downtown Phoenix, Arizona. Register today at SABR.org/analytics.

The scheduled panelists for the Telling Stories in the Age of Sabermetrics Panel are: Howard Megdal, Contributing Writer, Sports on Earth; Emma Span, Senior Editor, Sports on Earth; Mike Tanier, Staff Writer, Sports on Earth; moderator: Steve Madden, General Manager, Sports on Earth.

Please note: All speakers and panelists are subject to change due to availability.

For more information on the 2014 SABR Analytics Conference, visit SABR.org/analytics.

Announcing finalists for 2014 SABR Analytics Conference Research Awards

We’re excited to announce the finalists for the 2014 SABR Analytics Conference Research Awards, which will recognize baseball researchers who have completed the best work of original analysis or commentary during the preceding calendar year.

Nominations were solicited by representatives from SABR, Baseball Prospectus, FanGraphs, The Hardball Times, and Beyond the Box Score. Here are the finalists for the 2014 SABR Analytics Conference Research Awards:

Historical Analysis/Commentary

Contemporary Baseball Commentary

Contemporary Baseball Analysis

Details and criteria for each category can be found here. Only one work per author was considered as a finalist.

Voting for the winners will be conducted online beginning next week at SABR.org, BaseballProspectus.com, FanGraphs.com, HardballTimes.com, and BeyondtheBoxScore.com, with results weighted equally at 20%.

Results will be announced and presented at the third annual SABR Analytics Conference, March 13-15, 2014, at the Hyatt Regency Phoenix in Phoenix, Arizona. Learn more or register for the conference at SABR.org/analytics.

Early registration rate expires February 10 for 2014 SABR Analytics Conference

It’s less than two months away from the third annual SABR Analytics Conference, and you won’t want to miss what we have in store for 2014!

Please note: Early registration rates will expire at 12:00 a.m. MST on Monday, February 10, so reserve your spot today. Early registration rates are $395 for SABR members, $495 for non-members. Students who are currently enrolled in high school or college can register for $350. Click here to register for the 2014 SABR Analytics Conference.

The 2014 SABR Analytics Conference will be held March 13-15, 2014, at the Hyatt Regency Phoenix, 122 N. 2nd St., Phoenix, AZ 85004. Click here to book your hotel room at the special SABR group rate of $169/night (plus tax.) Or call (602) 252-1234 and mention that you’re with the SABR Analytics Conference.

Complimentary wireless Internet is available in all rooms booked under the SABR block. The cutoff date to book your room is February 18, 2014. The SABR group rate is only available for the nights of March 10 to March 18, 2014, based on availability. Book your room today!

Once again, we’re bringing together 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 at the:

SABR Analytics Conference
March 13-15, 2014
Hyatt Regency Phoenix
Phoenix, Arizona

The schedule will consist 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.

  • Early registration rates:
      — SABR members: $395 early rate; $595 full rate.
      — Non-SABR members: $495 early rate; $695 full rate. If you are not a SABR member, click here to join.
      — Students: $350; includes one-year membership to SABR. Must be a currently enrolled high school or college student. Please e-mail Deb Jayne with a photocopy of your student ID to receive the registration promo code.
     
    Please note: Lunch is included with your registration on Friday, March 14 and Saturday, March 15. The mixer/welcome reception is included with your registration on Thursday, March 13. Specify any special dietary needs when you register.
        
  • Hotel: The 2014 SABR Analytics Conference will be held at the Hyatt Regency Phoenix, 122 N. 2nd St., Phoenix, AZ 85004. Click here to book your hotel room at the special SABR group rate of $169/night (plus tax.) Or call (602) 252-1234 and mention that you’re with the SABR Analytics Conference.

    Complimentary wireless Internet is available in all rooms booked under the SABR block. The cutoff date to book your room is February 18, 2014. The SABR group rate is only available for the nights of March 10 to March 18, 2014, based on availability. Book your room today! 

Check back soon at SABR.org/analytics as we announce more featured speakers, panels and presentations!

For complete coverage of the 2013 SABR Analytics Conference, visit SABR.org/analytics/2013.

You can still renew your SABR membership for 2014!

For those of you whose memberships expired recently, there’s still a little time left to renew and be a part of the SABR community again in 2014. If you’ve already renewed, we thank you for your support and look forward to another exciting year ahead.

Renew now to receive the Spring 2014 edition of the Baseball Research Journal, plus discounts on registration to the 2014 SABR Analytics Conference and SABR 44 in Houston, and a lot more! We MUST receive your dues by February 28, 2014, in order for you to receive the upcoming BRJ.

  • Renew your membership for 1 year or 3 years online — or select our new 5-year, digital-only membership rate — 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.

We’re excited about the upcoming year ahead of us and we hope you’ll take advantage of all the membership benefits offered to SABR members in 2014 and beyond.

4 new biographies published by the SABR BioProject

Four new biographies were posted as part of the SABR Baseball Biography Project, which brings us to a total of 2,628 published biographies. Here are the new bios:

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

You can find the SABR BioProject at SABR.org/BioProject.

1984 Tigers bios posted online: Biographies from Detroit Tigers 1984: What a Start! What a Finish!, edited by Mark Pattison and David Raglin — from Jack Morris to Alan Trammell, from Willie Hernandez to Lou Whitaker, from Aurelio Lopez to Barbaro Garbey — can now be read online by clicking here. To download your free copy of the SABR e-book, click here. (Available in PDF, Kindle/MOBI and EPUB formats.) To get a 50% discount on the paperback edition, click here.

Bios on more than just ballplayers: The ambitious goal of the SABR Baseball Biography Project is to publish a full-life biography of every major league player in history. But SABR members write about a lot more than just ballplayers. In addition, we have pages for Ballparks, Broadcasters, Executives, Games, Managers, Scouts, Spouses, Umpires and a lot more on the BioProject website. You can browse all of these categories at http://sabr.org/bioproj/browse. So if you’ve ever thought, “Hey, that person (or ballpark) should get the full BioProject treatment” — write the story and we’ll publish it!

Get involved! If you’d like to help contribute to the SABR BioProject, visit our BioProject Resources page or read the FAQs section to get started. We’re also looking to expand the BioProject to include all “encyclopedic” articles on baseball-related subjects from past SABR publications or committee newsletters. If you come across an article you think should be included in the SABR “baseball repository” at the BioProject, send a copy or link to markarmour04@gmail.com or jpomrenke@sabr.org.

Call for SABR award nominations

  • SABR Baseball Research Award, due 1/31/2014: 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 2013 awards, please contact Bill Felber at bfelber@att.net.
  • McFarland-SABR Baseball Research Award, due 2/15/2014: 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 2013 awards, please contact Len Levin at lenlevin5@hotmail.com.

In Memoriam: Edward Budnick

We’re saddened to pass along the news that one of SABR’s earliest members, Edward Budnick, 82, of St. Clair Shores, Michigan, passed away on January 11, 2014. Ed joined SABR on September 30, 1971, just over a month after the Society’s founding, as member No. 51.

Born September 21, 1931, in Detroit, to Edward and Helen Budnick, Ed’s love of baseball was fostered from an early age. Detroit Tigers players who lived in his neighborhood during the baseball season would often give him baseballs and autographs, beginning a lifelong passion for collecting.

He attended all of the Tigers’ home games during the 1945 World Series, despite the fact that they were played during school days. Going to a World Series game was more important in his eyes than attending school. His dream growing up was to play baseball in the Major Leagues, specifically for the Detroit Tigers. He was once given the opportunity to try out for the Philadelphia Phillies as a shortstop, but didn’t make it.

To read the full obituary, 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.

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 New Member 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.

Name Hometown     Name Hometown
Bill Albrecht Evans, GA     Mike Johnson Chicago, IL
Yuki Ara Boston, MA     Stephen Kramer Lakewood, CO
Manuel Barcia Leeds, ENG     Peter Kushar Centennial, CO
Bradley Bartsch Hurst, TX     Thomas Latchford Omaha, NE
Charles Caccomo Port Chester, NY     Ben Lindenmuth Winters, CA
James E. Carrese Ballston Lake, NY     Pete McConville Bristol, CT
Atlee Champion Shiloh, IL     Kap Misir Metuchen, NJ
John Corradin Newark, DE     Jonathan Nadu Atlanta, GA
Joe DeFazio Sunbury, PA     Matthew Nadu Quarryville, PA
Nicholas DeVera Oregon, OH     Gabe Ortiz Yuma, AZ
John Edison Westerville, OH     Daniel Paret Keller, TX
Eddie Eichholz Bear, DE     Adam Revelette Waco, TX
Chris English Boston, MA     John Romps Bedford, NH
Luke Franken Augusta, GA     Jim Rook West Granby, CT
Elena Fregoso Poughkeepsie, NY     Al Schallau Palos Verdes, CA
Andrew Gibson Pittsburgh, PA     John Schmitmeyer Columbus, OH
Mitch Goldich Chicago, IL     Tim Smith Boston, MA
Mike Hajduk Bedford, TX     Jeff Stanger Carmel, IN
Ted Ingram Dallas, TX     Bob Toth Hudson, OH

 

Research Committee news

There were no new SABR research committee newsletters published this week.

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

Regional Chapter news

Here were the new chapter meeting recaps published this week:

Also, we have two chapter name changes to report: Our newly established international chapter in Italy will be called the Ed Abbaticchio Chapter, after the major leagues’ first Italian-American player who spent nine seasons with the Pirates, Braves and Phillies from 1897-1910. And our chapter in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, has renamed itself the Ernie Banks-Bobby Bragan DFW Chapter, in honor of two legendary baseball figures from the Metroplex. The Hall of Fame shortstop Banks was born and raised in Dallas, while Bragan served as president of the Texas League and the National Association before working for many years in the Texas Rangers front office. The Dallas-Fort Worth chapter was formerly called the Hall-Ruggles Chapter.

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, and sent out to all SABR members on Fridays. All previous editions of This Week in SABR can be found here: http://sabr.org/content/this-week-in-sabr-archives. 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.

Find exclusive Members’ Only resources and information here: http://members.sabr.org

Did you know you can renew your membership at any time? 1- and 3-year SABR memberships are available by clicking “Renew” at http://members.sabr.org. Please also consider a donation to SABR to support baseball research at SABR.org/donate.

Are you following us on Twitter or Facebook? Get SABR updates every day at @SABR or by searching “SABR” on Facebook.

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: January 24, 2014. 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