This Week in SABR: June 2, 2017

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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 June 2, 2017:

SABR 47: Celebrate the legacy of Jackie Robinson

We’re just a few weeks away from SABR 47 in New York City! We hope you’ll join us June 28-July 2, 2017 at the Grand Hyatt in Midtown Manhattan.

A Celebration of 70 Years: Jackie Robinson’s Journey, scheduled for 9:00 a.m. on Friday, June 30, will explore the legacy of the Brooklyn Dodgers’ baseball pioneer seven decades after he broke the major leagues’ color barrier in 1947. Our panelists are expected to include:

  • William C. Rhoden, columnist and editor-at-large for TheUndefeated.com and former award-winning columnist and author at the New York Times
  • Lee Lowenfish, author of the award-winning Branch Rickey: Baseball’s Ferocious Gentleman
  • Larry Lester, SABR Negro Leagues Committee chair and co-organizer of the annual Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference
  • More panelists TBA soon

They will join an All-Star lineup of featured speakers at SABR 47 that is expected to include: New York Mets GM Sandy Alderson and Manager of Baseball Research and Development T.J. Barra, New York Yankees Sr. VP/Assistant GM Jean Afterman, J.G. Taylor Spink Award winner Claire Smith, former major-league pitcher and Ball Four author Jim Bouton, MLB Official Historian John Thorn, MLB Network’s Brian Kenny, Mark DeRosa, and Joel Sherman, MLB.com correspondent Lindsay Berra, Driving Mr. Yogi author Harvey Araton, longtime New York Times columnist George Vecsey, sports and political commentator Keith Olbermann, Henry Chadwick Award recipients David S. Neft and Peter C. Bjarkman, former Yogi Berra Museum director Dave Kaplan, authors Mark Armour, Mitchell Nathanson, and Marty Appel, Larry Ritter Book Award winner Glenn Stout, Canadian baseball broadcaster Alain Usereau, and more. Click here to learn more about our featured speakers and panelists.

For more information, visit SABR.org/convention.

SABR 47: Committee meeting speakers to include Strat-O-Matic founder Hal Richman

From the Nineteenth Century to modern Statistical Analysis, SABR’s nearly three dozen research committees reflect the diverse interests of our membership, and the committees’ annual meetings at this summer’s SABR 47 convention in New York City will also have a variety of interesting guest speakers.

Our newest guest speaker is Hal Richman, founder of the the popular baseball board game Strat-O-Matic, who will be speaking at the Games and Simulations Committee meeting on Saturday, July 1, along with Keith Avallone of PLAAY.com Sports Simulation Board games.

Other committee meeting speakers at SABR 47 are expected to include: sportscaster and commentator Keith Olbermann (Baseball Cards), J.G. Taylor Spink Award winner Claire Smith and pro umpire Perry Barber (Women in Baseball), legendary statistician David S. Neft (Baseball Records), former Kansas City Monarchs All-Star Jim Robinson (Negro Leagues), filmmaker and journalist Reynaldo Cruz (Latino Baseball), award-winning authors Peter C. Bjarkman (Latino Baseball) and Glenn Stout (Deadball Era); Tom Villante, batboy for the 1940s New York Yankees and founding director of the Jackie Robinson Foundation (Oral History); and Alain Usereau, French-language play-by-play broadcaster (Baseball and the Media). Convention attendees won’t lack for fun stories and insight from our guest speakers at SABR 47.

The full schedule of research committee meetings at SABR 47 in New York is now available by clicking on the link below:

https://sabr.org/convention/sabr47-committees

Committee meetings are open to any SABR convention attendee. Any committee leaders who do not see their annual meeting listed here should contact Jacob Pomrenke to get added to the schedule.

SABR 47: Check out the full schedule

We hope you’ll join us for SABR 47 this month at the Grand Hyatt New York. Our annual convention is chock-full of interesting panels, presentations, and research committee meetings.

Click here to view the SABR 47 daily schedule.

For more information on SABR 47, or to register, visit SABR.org/convention.

SABR 47: Mets GM Sandy Alderson, manager Terry Collins to highlight “A Day at the Ballpark” session at Citi Field

For the second year in a row and third time in four years, SABR will present “A Day at the Ballpark” before the New York Mets game on Friday, June 30 at Citi Field. Click here to register for SABR 47 and join us! Full registration and single-day rates are available for purchase.

The pregame ballpark session will be held from 3:00-5:00 p.m. on Friday afternoon at Citi Field, followed by the game that night between the Mets and the Phillies. Our guest speakers are expected to include:

  • Mets general manager Sandy Alderson, in a one-on-one session moderated by MLB.com’s Barry Bloom
  • Mets manager Terry Collins, also in a one-on-one interview with Bloom

Mets Broadcasters Panel with

  • Josh Lewin, New York Mets radio play-by-play announcer
  • Wayne Randazzo, New York Mets pregame and postgame show host
  • Steve Gelbs, New York Mets field reporter

Mets Analytics Panel with

  • T.J. Barra, New York Mets’ Director of Baseball Research and Development
  • Joe Lefkowitz, Senior Manager, Baseball Systems & Development for the Mets
  • Pat Roessler, Assistant Hitting Coach for the Mets
  • Moderator: Vince Gennaro, SABR President

Note: Purchase of either full SABR 47 conference registration or Friday single-day registration AND a Mets game ticket will be required to attend this special session. Visit SABR.org/convention to learn more.

Register now to join us at SABR.org/convention.

Full and single-day registration is open for SABR 47 in New York City; sign up now to join us!

In addition to regular registration for the full conference, single-day registration for SABR 47 is now available at SABR.org/convention.

The SABR 47 convention will be held June 28-July 2, 2017, at the Grand Hyatt New York. All baseball fans are welcome to attend. Full registration or single-day registration can be purchased online by clicking here or on-site during convention registration hours beginning on Wednesday, June 28 at the Grand Hyatt.

The single-day rates for SABR 47 are:

  • Thursday, June 29: $149 for SABR members, $179 non-members
  • Friday, June 30: $99 for SABR members, $129 non-members (does not include Mets game ticket)
  • Saturday, July 1: $149 for SABR members, $179 non-members

The single-day rate includes admission to all SABR 47 convention panels, research presentations, and committee meetings at the Grand Hyatt New York. Registration can be purchased on-site via cash, check, or credit card (sorry, no American Express accepted.) Please note: Admission to the SABR 47 Awards Reception, the Donors Breakfast, and the Mets game are not included.

If you would like to join us for the SABR 47 “A Day at the Ballpark” pregame session at Citi Field on Friday, June 30, you must be registered for SABR 47 AND have a Mets game ticket to enter the ballpark early. You can purchase either a full registration or a Friday single-day registration and show it to ballpark security, along with your Mets game ticket, to attend the SABR 47 pregame session at Citi Field. Our guest speakers are expected to include Mets general manager Sandy Alderson, manager Terry Collins, executives T.J. Barra and Joe Lefkowitz, assistant hitting coach Pat Roessler, and broadcasters Josh Lewin, Wayne Randazzo, and Steve Gelbs.

Please note: Our SABR block of New York Mets game tickets is no longer available, but you can purchase a game ticket on your own by visiting Mets.com.

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.

Click on a link below for more information about SABR 47.

We hope you’ll join us in a few weeks in New York City! Visit SABR.org/convention to learn more.

For a multimedia look at every SABR convention since 1971, click here.

SABR 47: Transportation tips

As you prepare for your trip to SABR 47 this month, members of the host Casey Stengel Chapter have compiled a list of transportation tips — including directions from regional airports to the Grand Hyatt New York — to help visitors and convention attendees enjoy their stay in New York City. If you have any questions during your stay, please don’t hesitate to ask a friendly SABR 47 volunteer for assistance.

Click here to view the SABR 47 transportation tips.

For more information on New York City’s award-winning restaurants, upcoming events, and other attractions, visit nycgo.com.

SABR 47: Poster presentations

Please note a schedule change: From 12:00-1:00 p.m. on Saturday, July 1, attendees at SABR 47 will have the opportunity to ask questions and talk with presenters of the poster presentations at the Grand Hyatt New York. Full presentation abstracts and presenter bios are available below:

https://sabr.org/convention/sabr47-posters

The posters will be available for viewing all week during the convention. The top poster presentation, as selected by on-site judging, will win the SABR Convention Poster Presentation Award. Check out a list of past winners here.

To view the list of SABR 47 oral research presentations, click here.

SABR Digital Library: NO-HITTERS

Don’t jinx yourself — add this new baseball book from the SABR Digital Library to your collection:

NO-HITTERS
Edited by Bill Nowlin
Associate editors: Len Levin and Carl Riechers
ISBN (paperback): 978-1-943816-51-4, $21.95
ISBN (ebook): 978-1-943816-50-7, $9.99
8.5 x 11″, 549 pages

Pitching a no-hitter is a dream for every major-league pitcher — once they have realized their dream of making it to the big leagues in the first place. Fewer than half the pitchers in the National Baseball Hall of Fame have thrown a no-hitter. Many of the biggest names in pitching have never done it.

This book focuses on pitchers who threw no-hitters and the no-hitters they threw. Naturally, we couldn’t present biographies of everyone who ever threw a no-hitter nor could we present Games Project accounts of all of them. From around 300 no-hitters thrown in the majors (out of over 213,000 games), we have selected 59 no-hitters to include, along with the biographies of the men who threw them.

We wanted the book to touch on a variety of matters, and to span the decades so that there was some representation from the earlier eras of baseball right up to more recent years. We tried to hit certain themes — first no-hitter in each league; first no-hitter thrown at 60 feet 6 inches; first in which the losing team scored a run; first pitcher to debut with a no-hitter; first extra-inning no-hitter; etc. You’ll find those all in here and maybe a surprise or two as well. 

This book represents the collective work of 56 different SABR members as authors and editors.

Contributors include: Marc Z Aaron, Bob Bailey, Parker Bena, Ray Birch, Warren Corbett, Cliff Corn, Rory Costello, Joe Cox, John DiFonzo, Charles F. Faber, Adrian Fung, Ben Girard, Chip Greene, Paul Hensler, Paul Hofmann, Michael Huber, John Husman, Jimmy Keenan, Norm King, Tara Krieger, Dirk Lammers, Leonte Landino, Jim Leeke, Bob LeMoine, Len Levin, Chuck McGill, David Nemec, Bill Nowlin, Len Pasculli, Jacob Pomrenke, Richard J. Puerzer, Alan Raylesberg, Stephen V. Rice, Carl Riechers, C. Paul Rogers III, John T. Saccoman, Steven Schmitt, Thomas E. Schott, Joe Schuster, David E. Skelton, Lyle Spatz, Bill Staples Jr., Stew Thornley, Casey Tibbitts, Adam J. Ulrey, Joe Wancho, Charlie Weatherby, and Gregory H. Wolf.

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 will get discounted rates for all Digital Library publications, including many for free. Visit SABR.org/ebooks to download your free copy of dozens of SABR e-books.

SABR Negro Leagues Committee awards $1,000 scholarships in 2017 essay contest

SABR’s Negro Leagues Research Committee is pleased to award $1,000 scholarships to four high school seniors in its ninth annual Thomas R. Garrett Scholarship essay contest in 2017. The scholarship recipients are:

Click here to learn more about the winners.

The students will be recognized at the SABR Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference on July 27-30, 2017, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The selection committee was comprised of educators Leslie Heaphy, AJ Taylor, Michelle Freeman, and Philip Ross.

The Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference is the only symposium dedicated exclusively to the examination of black baseball history. Learn more at SABR.org/malloy.

Last call! Vote now in SABR Overlooked 19th Century Legends election

Each year, SABR’s Nineteenth Century Research Committee selects its Overlooked 19th Century Base Ball Legend — a 19th century player, manager, executive or other baseball personality not yet inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.

Committee members vote to narrow down the ballot to 10 finalists, then all SABR members are eligible to cast a vote for the winner. The winner is announced at the Nineteenth Century Committee’s annual meeting at the SABR convention.

  • 2017 finalists: Earlier this year, members of the Nineteenth Century Research Committee selected the finalists for the 2017 Overlooked 19th Century Baseball Legend. Click here to download a PDF with the finalists’ bios, compiled by project chair Adam Darowski and Joe Williams. Voting in the final election will run until June 5, and will be open to all SABR members.
  • Vote now! Click here to access the 2017 ballot. All SABR members are eligible to vote in the election for this year’s Overlooked 19th Century Legend. You *MUST* select five candidates — ranking them from first choice to fifth choice — from among the candidates presented. You are only allowed to vote once. You are on the honor system to submit only one ballot. ALL BALLOTS MUST BE CAST PRIOR TO 11:59 p.m. PDT on Monday, June 5, 2017.

Click here for a list of past winners.

For more information on the Overlooked 19th Century Baseball Legends Project, contact Project Chairman Adam Darowski or visit the project’s Facebook page.

Students, last chance to apply for the 2017 SABR Women in Baseball Scholarship

SABR’s Women in Baseball Committee will award one $500 scholarship to a high school senior in its inaugural Women in Baseball Essay Contest in 2017.

Students must write an essay of 1,500 words or less addressing the following question: “Choose one person or event in women’s baseball history that you believe has made a significant impact on the game and explain the importance.”

Click here to download the 2017 SABR Women in Baseball Scholarship application and style guidelines (PDF)

All applications must be e-mailed or postmarked by June 5, 2017, and sent to Dr. Leslie Heaphy at Lheaphy@kent.edu or Kent State University at Stark, 6000 Frank Rd., North Canton, OH 44720. The winner will be notified by July 1.

Click here for more details and eligibility requirements.

In Memoriam: Jim Bunning

“There are those who can, and there are those who will,” an old saying goes. Jim Bunning, who died last Friday, May 26 at the age of 85, was clearly one of the latter. As Ralph Berger wrote in his SABR biography of the Hall of Fame pitcher, Bunning willed himself to become a great pitcher and then a successful politician through hard work and determination.

Ultimately, the lanky, 6-foot-3 freckle-faced kid from Kentucky would win 224 games, throw no-hitters in both leagues (the latter being a perfect game against the New York Mets on Father’s Day 1964), get elected to the US Senate, and be voted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 1996.

He made his major-league debut in 1955 with the Detroit Tigers and played nine seasons in the Motor City, leading the American League with 20 wins in 1957 and throwing a no-hitter against the Boston Red Sox in 1958. He was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies in 1963 and twice led the NL in shutouts. He was the second pitcher (behind Cy Young) to win 100 games and record 1,000 strikeouts in each league. He was a nine-time All-Star selection and when he retired in 1971, his 2,855 career strikeouts were second only to Walter Johnson in MLB history.

Following his baseball career, Bunning entered local politics in his home state of Kentucky. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1986 and served there until 1998, when he was elected to the U.S. Senate. He is the only Hall of Fame player to serve in Congress.

Bunning was also the keynote speaker at SABR’s 27th annual convention in 1997 at Louisville, Kentucky. You can listen to his keynote speech, with an introduction by former pitcher Ned Garver, by clicking here (MP3).

As Berger writes, “Bunning’s long tenure in the minor leagues and his election to the Hall of Fame in 1996 are testaments to his toughness and hard work. His political career may be remembered best for its brusque statements. His perfect game in June 1964 will always be remembered.”

4 new SABR biographies published

Four new biographies were posted this week as part of the SABR Baseball Biography Project, which brings us to a total of 4,074 published biographies. Here are the new bios published this week:

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

8 new stories published by the SABR Games Project

Eight 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 http://sabr.org/gamesproject/recent. Find all published Games Project articles at SABR.org/GamesProject.

If you have any questions about the Games Project, please contact Greg Erion. If you want to know if a game is available to write about, please contact Bruce Slutsky. After the article has been completed in accordance with our Authors’ Guidelines, please submit it to Len Levin, who will initiate the editing process and get your story ready for toward publication.

  • 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.
  • Contributor Release Form: As of January 1, 2017, all writers publishing articles (biographies, essays, game pieces, etc.) are being asked to sign a Contributor Release Form which can be sent via email to jpomrenke@sabr.org or hard copy to SABR, 555 N. Central Ave., Suite #416, Phoenix, AZ 85004. The form only needs to be filed once for all future SABR publications. Click here to download the form.
  • Seeking volunteers to help enhance Games Project articles on website: Any volunteer who is willing to assist with linking player biographies in previously published Games Project stories on the SABR website, please contact Jacob Pomrenke. No experience necessary. Must be comfortable working in Drupal, WordPress or other standard content management systems.

Listen to Behind the Numbers: Baseball SABR Style on SiriusXM on Sunday night

Behind the Numbers: Baseball SABR Style on SiriusXM, a radio show hosted by SABR President Vince Gennaro will air at its regular time from 7:00-8:00 p.m. ET this Sunday on MLB Network Radio.

This week’s guest is Ben Lindbergh of The Ringer.

You can also listen to archives of recent episodes on-demand on the SiriusXM Internet Radio App, and you can 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.

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.

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
Borja Alcaniz Barcelona, ESP     Gary Lepper Walnut Creek, CA
Karen Appleby Flagstaff, AZ     Melissa McNeill Conroe, TX
LT Bleasdale Carefree, AZ     Michael Minio Union, NJ
Michael Brint Elkins Park, PA     Stuart Nectow Webster, MA
Cody Colston Glen Burnie, MD     Mario Phillips Redondo Beach, CA
Mike Connors Hamburg, NY     Michael Pifer Gainesville, FL
Joseph Daley Dallas, TX     Daisy Porter-Reynolds Aurora, IL
Joseph Engelhardt Clearwater Beach, FL     Brady Randall Biddeford, ME
Brian Geller Long Beach, CA     Fritz Souder Rockville, MD
Benjamin Jacobs Fairport, NY     Nick Vossbrink Princeton, NJ
Paul Kvam Richmond, VA     Pamela Wicksel-Zayer Syosset, NY
Peter Laskowich West Paterson, NJ        

 

Research Committee news

Here are the new SABR research committee updates this week:

  • Check out the research committee meeting schedule at SABR 47 in New York City
  • Baseball and the Arts: The new SABR Journal of Baseball Arts is now accepting submissions. We will include contemporary works mixed with masterpieces from the past. We encourage submissions of art, poetry, fiction, memoir, and all musings about baseball. So if you are thinking about a short story, or have one in the works and are looking for a place to publish it, here’s the place for you. The length of a story should be less than 5,000 words, and artwork should be original and baseball-related. Email your proposals, finished work, or any questions to artsjournal@sabr.org. Click here to learn more.
  • Minor Leagues: Members of the Minor Leagues Committee are planning a trip during SABR 47 to see a Brooklyn Cyclones game on the night of Saturday, July 1. About 10 tickets are still available in our block if you are interested in attending the game with us. The tickets are $15, for the Field Box level behind the first-base dugout, and include a complimentary Cyclones hat. For more information or to RSVP, please contact Joe Wancho.

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

Regional Chapter news

Here are the new regional chapter updates this week:

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.)

 

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Originally published: June 2, 2017. Last Updated: April 3, 2020.

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