This Week in SABR: June 26, 2026

June 26, 2026/in This Week in SABR /by wpadmin

Welcome to “This Week in SABR” on Friday, June 26, 2026.
Click here to view this newsletter on the web.

SABR 54: Single-day registration now open for Cleveland convention
SABR All-Time Eras Team revealed for Segregation Era
Highlights from Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference in Memphis
SABR Four Pillars Fund: Thanks for your support
Download the 2026 SABR Annual Report
Jewish Major Leaguer interviews added to SABR Oral History Collection

SABR 54: Single-day registration now open for Cleveland convention

We’re just a few weeks away from SABR 54! The SABR 54 convention will be held July 29–August 2, 2026, at the Hilton Cleveland Downtown hotel in Cleveland, Ohio. All baseball fans are welcome to attend. Full registration or single-day registration can be purchased online in advance or on-site during convention registration hours beginning on Wednesday, July 29 at the Hilton hotel. Click here for complete details on SABR 54 registration rates.

The single-day rates for SABR 54 are:

Thursday, July 30: $140 for SABR members, $170 non-members
Friday, July 31: $140 for SABR members, $170 non-members
Saturday, August 1: $140 for SABR members, $170 non-members

The single-day rate includes admission to all SABR 54 convention panels, research presentations, and committee meetings at the Hilton hotel. Registration can be purchased on-site via cash, check, or credit card (sorry, no American Express accepted.)

The full schedule is now available online. Our featured speakers and panelists are expected to include Chris Antonetti, Sandy Alomar Jr., Carlos Baerga, Tom Hamilton, Mike Hargrove, Kenny Lofton, Charles Nagy, Paul Hoynes, David S. Ward, Sky Andrecheck, Keith Woolner, Kyle Burris, and more.

Visit SABR.org/convention to learn more.

Call for on-site volunteers at SABR 54

Anyone who is interested in helping out as an on-site volunteer at the registration area during SABR 54 in Cleveland is encouraged to contact SABR’s Jessica Smyth to sign up. Convention volunteers help to pass out registration badges and goody bags, ballgame tickets, and convention merch. Volunteers will receive a free convention T-shirt if they sign up for a shift.

All-Time Eras Team announced for Segregation Era (1920-1946)

Throughout the 2026 season, SABR members will have a chance to vote on SABR’s All-Time Eras Teams as we celebrate the 150 years of baseball and American history since the founding of the National League in 1876. On Wednesday, June 24, SABR revealed the Segregation Era team in a special Zoom webinar, covering players and teams from 1920 to 1946. More than 840 SABR members cast a vote on these ballots. The top vote recipients at each position were selected for the first team. Click on a link below to view the players, managers, and executives selected, along with their SABR biographies and statistics from Baseball-Reference.com:

Click here to view the Segregation Era Team (1920-1946)

Before the team was unveiled, Seth S. Tannenbaum of Manhattanville University delivered a presentation on “Increased Access and Persistent Barriers: Professional Baseball from 1920 to 1946.” Click here to watch a video recording of Tannenbaum’s presentation and the team reveal.

Visit SABR.org/all-time-eras-teams to learn more about the project.

Coming soon: Voting for the Integration Era (1947–1972) teams will open on July 24 at SABR.org. All SABR members are eligible to vote in the online ballot. The final team will be revealed in a Zoom webinar on Tuesday, August 18, with a presentation by author Howard Bryant. Click here to pre-register for the Zoom meeting.

Photos, highlights from Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference in Memphis

SABR’s annual Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference was held on June 18-21, 2026, at the SpringHill Suites Memphis Downtown in Memphis, Tennessee.

The conference was highlighted by a screening of the new film documentary Black Diamonds, Blues City: Stories of the Memphis Red Sox; a panel on Memphis Red Sox All-Star Bob Boyd with Thomas Van Hyning and Alex Painter; and a special presentation on Negro American League president J.B. Martin by J.B. Martin IV. Attendees also enjoyed a “meet and greet” reception at the Withers Collection Museum & Gallery on Beale Street; a Memphis Redbirds baseball game at AutoZone Park; and a visit to the National Civil Rights Museum.

Presentations were given by Loren Broaddus, James Brunson III, Julia Bucci, Alan Cohen, Gary Gillette, Aram Goudsouzian, Clem Hamilton, Curt Hart, Chris Jensen, Ted Knorr, David Krell, Stephen V. Rice, Neil Sharma, Paul Spyhalski, Tom Thress, Daniel Torres, and Ryan Whirty. Click here to view the full conference schedule.

Visit SABR.org/malloy to learn more.

SABR Four Pillars Fund: Thanks for your support!

Thank you so much for your support of SABR’s Four Pillars Fund. I’m thrilled to share that through the generosity of our donors we were able to exceed our $85,000 goal!

As we’ve outlined in this campaign, Research, Preservation, Scholarship, and the Future of the Game are the four pillars on which SABR stands as an organization. Each represents one of our core values, and together they form the foundation of a global community dedicated to understanding, celebrating, and advancing the great game of baseball.

Thanks to the support of our donors, we’re not only fortifying that foundation, but we’re also building what comes next by supporting research, committing to preservation, furthering the reach of our scholarship, and building a bridge to the future of the game.

We’d again like to thank all SABR members for your support of the organization, and most especially those who contributed to the Four Pillars Fund listed here.

— Scott Bush

Call for papers: 2026 SABR/IWBC Women in Baseball Conference

SABR and the International Women’s Baseball Center have announced a call for papers for the eighth annual SABR/IWBC Women in Baseball Conference, scheduled as a virtual event for October 9–11, 2026. Registration information will be available soon at SABR.org/women-in-baseball-conference.

The theme for this year’s conference is “Batters Up: The Future is Now.” We welcome abstracts on all topics and time periods relating to women in all aspects of baseball, including research on history, sociological and economic impacts, and global developments; international growth of the game, MLB-sponsored girls baseball events, the first WPBL season, women in the front office, and more. Abstracts accepted for posters and/or oral presentations.

Please submit abstracts of approximately 200 words, along with contact information and a short biography, by July 6, 2026, to Leslie Heaphy.

Take advantage of member discount at new SABR Shop

SABR is excited to announce the launch of the new SABR Shop, an online store featuring SABR-branded apparel, home goods, prints, and more for baseball fans.

Among the featured items are exclusive prints showcasing cover art from the Baseball Research Journal, along with a growing collection of SABR merchandise celebrating the organization’s worldwide community. Baseball Research Journal posters feature every edition including the artwork of acclaimed artist and SABR member Gary Cieradkowski, with iconic depictions of Babe Ruth and Satchel Paige amongst other legends of the game. Apparel options include hats, shirts, sweatshirts, and pullovers in men’s, women’s, and unisex selections. New merchandise and designs will continue to be added in the coming months, offering fresh options for the SABR fan in your life.

Current SABR members can receive an introductory 10% discount by using the coupon code SABRShop26 at checkout. The offer is good for all products in the shop through June 30, 2026. Visit the SABR Shop today at sabr.shop.

SABR Digital Library: The Negro Leagues’ 1931 Homestead Grays: The Color of Greatness

Add a new baseball book to your collection from the SABR Digital Library:

The Negro Leagues’ 1931 Homestead Grays: The Color of Greatness
Edited by Thomas Kern and Bill Nowlin
Associate Editors: Adam Hopps, Len Levin, and Carl Riechers
ISBN (paperback): 978-1-960819-69-7, $34.95
ISBN (ebook): 978-1-960819-68-0, $9.99
8.5″ x 11″, 204 pages

The 1931 edition of the Homestead Grays might be the greatest collection of talent on one team in baseball history. They not only retained all-time greats like Oscar Charleston, Josh Gibson, and Smokey Joe Williams from the previous year, but brought in future Hall of Famers Jud Wilson to play third base and Willie Foster to augment the pitching staff. They even briefly added Satchel Paige late in the season. Their solid supporting cast included Tubby Scales, Vic Harris, Lefty Williams, Ted Page, and Ted “Double Duty” Radcliffe. This awesome collection of talent combined to post an overall record of 143-29-2 once all of their games against town teams, semipro squads, barnstorming squads, and organized Black professional teams are included. The Negro Leagues’ 1931 Homestead Grays: The Color of Greatness is the ninth in a series of SABR books about the great teams which played in the Negro Leagues during the first half of the twentieth century.

Visit SABR.org/ebooks to download your free e-book edition or save 50% off the purchase of a paperback edition.

Download the 2026 SABR Annual Report

SABR’s 2026 Annual Report was posted on the website this week and can be downloaded below:

Click here to download the 2026 SABR Annual Report (PDF)

On the Annual Reports page, you can download a copy of 2026 Chapter Reports, Committee Reports, Chartered Community Reports, and the Treasurer’s Report in the Appendix files on that page. All previous SABR Annual Reports can also be found online.

SABR 19th Century Grave Marker Project to honor baseball clown Frank “Slivers” Oakley on June 27

SABR’s 19th Century Grave Marker Project is pleased to announce the completion of its latest project for baseball clown Frank “Slivers” Oakley at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Maspeth, New York. All baseball fans are invited to join us for a dedication ceremony at 1:00 PM on Saturday, June 27, 2026.

Oakley was a star of the circus and vaudeville acts and his one-man baseball act inspired future generations of baseball clowns and mascots. As project chair Sam Gazdizak explains in an article at RIPBaseball.com, “Oakley became one of the earliest entertainers to bring baseball into the realm of pop culture. You can draw a line from the Phillie Phanatic and Blooper and Mr. & Mrs. Met all the way back to the early days of professional baseball. That line starts with Slivers.”

MLB Official Historian John Thorn first brought Slivers’ story to light and recommended him for inclusion in the Grave Marker Project. Thorn also made available online rare film footage of Slivers’ baseball act from a 1907 Vitagraph novelty film.

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

Find new updates to the SABR Research Collection below, including the Baseball Biography Project, Games Project, and Oral History Collection.

Interviews with Jewish Major Leaguers added to SABR Oral History Collection

A collection of interview transcripts from the Jewish Major Leaguers project was recently added to the SABR Oral History Collection. Most interviews were conducted for the book, Jewish Major Leaguers in Their Own Words: Oral Histories of 23 Players (McFarland, 2012), by Peter Ephross with Martin Abramowitz. The authors donated the transcripts to SABR and they are used by permission. Interviews added to the SABR Oral History Collection include:

José Bautista, by Marc Katz (May 22-24, 2006)
Harry Danning, by John Woestendiek (August 10-11, 2004)
Thelma “Tiby” Eisen, by Rebecca Alpert (December 17, 2006)
Mark Gilbert, by Kelly Landy (2005)
Joe Ginsberg, by Kelly Landy (2005)
Jesse Levis, by Howard Goldstein (November 10, 2006)
Lou Limmer, by Marc Katz (November 4, 2005)
Elliott Maddox, by Rebecca Alpert (March 7, 2005)
Ed Mayer, by Joe Eskenazi (December 30, 2005)
Mickey Rutner, by Peter Ephross (January 11-12, 2005)
Richie Scheinblum, by Marc Katz (March 26, 2005)
Larry and Norm Sherry, by Bob Ruxin (March 26, 2005)

Visit SABR.org/oralhistory to learn more.

3 new stories published at SABR Biography Project

Nick Etten, by Monty Nielsen
Chicken Hawks, by Craig Garretson
Johnny Vergez, by Dan Schoenholz

Visit SABR.org/bioproject to learn more about the SABR BioProject or to get involved.

4 new stories published at SABR Games Project

May 8, 1946: Roy Campanella belts home run in Nashua Dodgers’ Opening Day loss to Lynn Red Sox, by Meghan Fuller Hanna
September 5, 1948: Dodgers’ Preacher Roe goes the distance in dramatic 12-inning win over the Giants, by Steven C. Weiner
June 26, 2001: Pirates rally for 12-inning win over Brewers; manager Lloyd McClendon ‘steals’ first base after ejection, by John Fredland
June 30, 2025: Boston’s Wilyer Abreu hits inside-the-park home run and grand slam in same game, by Bill Nowlin

Visit SABR.org/gamesproject to learn more about the SABR Games Project or to get involved.

Cape Cod Baseball League: From College Stars to Big League Futures
Edited by Mike Richard and Bill Nowlin

Visit SABR.org to download the free e-book edition or save 50% off the paperback edition of all Digital Library books.

Here are some SABR headlines from recent weeks that we don’t want you to miss:

Please give a warm welcome to all new SABR members who joined this week! View more Members-Only resources at members.sabr.org or click here to download the Membership Handbook. Find contact information for any SABR member in the online Membership Directory.

NAME	HOMETOWN	NAME	HOMETOWN
Jihyo Bae	Suwon-si, KOR	Jeff Shipley	Albany, CA
Julianna Blackburn	Edmonton, AB	Dennis Thomas	Houston, TX
Ellen Daniels	Takoma Park, MD	Jeffrey Tripodi	Beaver Falls, PA
Jared Hoffman	St. Louis, MO	Terence Vent	Spokane Valley, WA
Jim Ingraham	Willowick, OH	Andy Vikre	DeKalb, IL
Kabir Randhawa	Danville, CA	David Whitney	Birmingham, AL
James Shannon	Alexandria, VA

Events Calendar: Find details of all upcoming SABR events.
Video Replays: This week, we heard from Jee-ho Yoo (“Covering Baseball in Korea”); Zak Payne (“Using Retrosheet Data to Calculate wOBA”); Rob Fitts (In the Japanese Ballpark); Bill Brown (The Cincinnati Reds of the 1970s); and Seth S. Tannenbaum (“Increased Access and Persistent Barriers: 1920 to 1946”). Click here to view video replays of virtual SABR events.

Upcoming Virtual Meetings

June 27: Bay Area/Sacramento Chapter joint meeting with Tim Christ, Jay Wigley, and Steve Gietschier (11:00 AM PDT)
June 27: Town Ball Committee meeting (2:00 PM CDT)
June 27: Emil Rothe Chicago Chapter meeting with Michael W. Lewis (7:00 PM CDT)
June 27: Rocky Mountain Chapter meeting with Andrew Orcutt (6:30 PM MDT)
June 28: Baltimore Babe Ruth Chapter meeting with Seth S. Tannenbaum (7:00 PM EDT)
June 29: Halsey Hall (MN) Chapter meeting with Dave Bohmer (7:00 PM CDT)
June 30: Pee Wee Reese (KY) Chapter meeting with Perry Cooper (6:30 PM EDT)
June 30: Emil Rothe Chicago Chapter meeting with Christopher Dale (7:00 PM CDT)
July 1: Baltimore Babe Ruth Chapter meeting with David Krell (7:00 PM EDT)
July 4: Women in Baseball Diamond Stories (10:00 AM EDT)

Upcoming In-Person Meetings

June 27: Frank “Slivers” Oakley grave marker dedication ceremony (Maspeth, NY)
June 27: Magnolia Chapter ballgame/meet-up (Rome, GA)
June 28: Rogers Hornsby Chapter ballgame/meet-up (Round Rock, TX)
June 28: Connecticut Smoky Joe Wood Chapter ballgame/meet-up (Hartford, CT)
July 1: Bob Broeg St. Louis Chapter fellowship meeting (St. Louis, MO)

To add your SABR event to our calendar listings, please contact Jacob Pomrenke.

Research Committee Reports: Check out 2026 Committee Annual Reports here

Sign up for SABR research committee announcements at SABR.org/research/committees.

Chapter Reports: Check out 2026 Chapter Annual Reports here
Chartered Community Reports: Check out 2026 Chartered Community Annual Reports here

Sign up for SABR chapter announcements at SABR.org/chapters.

Click here to learn more about SABR chartered communities.

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

Jake Kauderer: Statues of Baltimore Black Sox players coming to waterfront development (Baltimore Sun)
Ryan Whirty: Jerry Malloy Conference zeroes in on the Memphis Red Sox (Negro Leagues Up Close)
Sarah Langs: Schwarbombs and a walk-off we hadn’t seen in 20 years (MLB.com)
Patrick Dubuque: Max Scherzer in the Twilight Kingdom (Baseball Prospectus)
Cory Smith: Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame inducts class of 2026: ‘It’s such a great life that no one would ever believe it’ (Stratford Beacon Herald)
Kevin Glew: ‘Captain Canada’ Stubby Clapp continues to inspire with induction speech (Cooperstowners in Canada)
Mark Simon: Even If You Hit The Ball vs Jacob Misiorowski, You’re Probably Not Doing Much (Sports Info Solutions)
Jayson Stark: Why the Phillies’ Kyle Schwarber might be the best free-agent slugger ever (The Athletic)
Roger Cormier: Is “New Dad Strength” Real? (Baseball Prospectus)
Jay Jaffe: Kyle Tucker Needs a Reset (FanGraphs)
Tyler Kepner: How Cardinals closer Riley O’Brien is following his grandfather’s MLB lineage and advice (The Athletic)
Rob Mains: A Heim Line Check-In (Baseball Prospectus)
David Laurila: Glen Perkins Tackles a Challenging Career Quiz (FanGraphs)
Daniel R. Epstein: How to Hit a 473-Foot Home Run: A Tutorial (Baseball Prospectus)
Derrick Goold: Cardinals’ unexpected success gives next-generation leaders ‘glimpse’ into possible future (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
Kiri Oler: Never Use an ABS Challenge in This One Weird Count (FanGraphs)
Hannah Keyser: Why is baseball having a gay meltdown? (CNN.com)
Justin Klugh: The Buster Posey Guide to Media Relations (Baseball Prospectus)
Ryan Divish: Why Mariners’ Andrés Muñoz is throwing faster and having more success (Seattle Times)
Alex Coffey: Roy Halladay spent his final days enjoying life as a high school coach (Philadelphia Inquirer)
Matt Monagan: In a David vs. Goliath matchup, Miami turned to greatest trick play ever executed (MLB.com)
LeBron Antonio Hill: A Juneteenth salute to the legacy of a Negro League player in Sacramento (Sacramento Bee)
Davy Andrews: What’s Going on With Wan Steven Kwan? (FanGraphs)
Ben Railton: Savannah Bananas are building on one of baseball’s oldest traditions, barnstorming (Philadelphia Inquirer)
Jimmy Parker: Jeff Fields: A Collection That Puts The Backstop Front & Center (Beauty of a Game)
Sam Gazdziak: Bob Horner (1957-2026) (RIP Baseball)
Christopher Chavis: September 23, 2008: When the Markets Trembled and the Knuckleball Didn’t (Baseball and Us)
Tyler Piester: Inside the day Arizona State beat a Major League Baseball team (Cronkite News)
Mark Rosenman: A Discussion of the 1986 Mets Pitching Staff Through the Lens of Modern Analytics (Kiner’s Korner)
Jeff Cohen/Len Aberman: Interview with Adam Henig on Ron LeFlore (Baseball and BBQ)
David Driver: From Charlottesville to the Majors: History of Hornets, Tom Sox making it to The Show (Augusta Free Press)
Mark Langill: Tommy Lasorda: Baseball’s Global Ambassador and the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 1993 Friendship Tour of Japan (SABR Asian Baseball)
Rob Fitts: Carp Tales: Mike Dupree (SABR Asian Baseball)

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. To find past editions of TWIS, click here.

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Originally published: June 26, 2026. Last Updated: June 26, 2026.

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