This Week in SABR: May 10, 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 May 10, 2019:


SABR 49: Early-bird registration extended until May 20; single-day rates now available

Good news! The early-bird deadline for the SABR 49 convention has been extended until Monday, May 20. Click here to register for SABR 49 and join us in San Diego.

The 49th annual SABR convention will take place on June 26-30, 2019, at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego. Click here for complete information on the SABR 49 All-Inclusive Package, Early-Bird Registration, Single-Day Registration, and optional sessions.

Single-day registration for SABR 49 can be purchased online by clicking here or on-site during convention registration hours. The single-day rate is:

  • Thursday, June 27: $179 for SABR members, $209 non-members
  • Friday, June 28: $179 for SABR members, $209 non-members
  • Saturday, June 29: $179 for SABR members, $209 non-members

The single-day registration includes admission to all convention panels, research presentations, and committee meetings at the Manchester Grand Hyatt. It can be purchased on-site via cash, check, or credit card (sorry, no American Express accepted.) Please note: Admission to the SABR 49 Awards Luncheon, the Friends of SABR Breakfast, and the Padres game are not included.

  • Registration: Click here for complete information on the SABR 49 All-Inclusive Package, Early-Bird Registration, Single-Day Registration, and optional sessions. Or click here to register for SABR 49! We’re again offering a special All-Inclusive Package for the annual SABR convention. For the $369 all-inclusive rate, SABR members can get:
    — Full registration to SABR 49 in San Diego (early-bird: $289; regular rate: $319)
    — 1 ticket in the Upper Infield Reserved (1B) section to the Padres vs. Cardinals game on Friday, June 28 at Petco Park ($24 value)
    — 1 ticket to the Awards Luncheon on Friday, June 28 ($70 value)
    — 1 exclusive SABR 49 convention logo lapel pin
    — 2 complimentary Continental breakfasts on Thursday and Friday mornings*
    *The Continental breakfast benefit is only available when you register for the All-Inclusive Package.
    Non-members can pay $399 for the All-Inclusive Package; the deadline to register is Monday, May 20, 2019. Single-day registration is also available online or on-site for the days of Thursday, June 27 to Saturday, June 29. Click here for more information.
  • Hotel: The special SABR group rate at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego of $224/night (single rate) or $254/night (double rate) is only available to registered convention attendees. After you register for the SABR 49 convention, you will receive an e-mail confirmation with details on how to book your hotel room at the SABR group rate. If you do not receive your confirmation email after registering, please contact Deb Jayne at djayne@sabr.org. There are a limited number of rooms in our group block, so be sure to register for SABR 49 early!
  • Awards Luncheon: SABR will host a special Awards Luncheon on Friday, June 28 at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego. The Awards Luncheon, which includes a meal, will feature the announcement of SABR’s annual awards — including the Bob Davids Award, our highest honor. One ticket to the Awards Luncheon is included in the all-inclusive package or guest tickets are available for $70 when you register for SABR 49.
  • Special film screening of Moe Berg documentary: We are pleased to host a special screening of the new documentary film, Moe Berg: The Spy Behind Home Plate, on Thursday, June 27 during SABR 49 in San Diego with filmmaker Aviva Kempner. The event will be open to all SABR convention attendees. In this first ever feature-length documentary about the enigmatic Berg, Kempner focuses her camera on a little-known Jewish hero. learn more about the film or to view a trailer, visit spybehindhomeplate.org.
  • Schedule: Click here to view the full daily schedule at SABR 49.
  • Speakers: Click here to learn more about our featured speakers and panelists at SABR 49.
  • Research presentations: Click here to view the research presentations to be delivered at SABR 49.
  • Poster presentations: Click here to view the full list of poster presentations on display at SABR 49.
  • Committee meetings: Click here to view the research committee meeting schedule at SABR 49.
  • Vendors Room: Click here to learn more about our vendors at SABR 49.

Visit SABR.org/convention to learn more or to register for the SABR 49 convention.


SABR 49 schedule now posted online

We hope you’ll join us for SABR 49 next month at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in downtown San Diego. Our annual convention is chock-full of interesting panels, presentations, and research committee meetings.

Click here to view the SABR 49 daily schedule

For more information on SABR 49, or to register, visit SABR.org/convention.


SABR 49: Announcing new speakers and panelists

We’re excited to announce more of our featured speakers and panelists for SABR 49, which will be held June 26-30, 2019, at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego.

All baseball fans are welcome to attend SABR 49. Early registration is available until May 20; click here to register.

  • Josh Stein, San Diego Padres Assistant General Manager
  • Bill Center, San Diego Union-Tribune sports columnist
  • Rob Neyer, award-winning author and host of the SABRcast weekly baseball podcast
  • Carlos Bauer, baseball historian who specializes in early California baseball and the minor leagues
  • Angus Macfarlane, San Francisco-based “baseball treasure hunter” who focuses on baseball’s pre-history in the Bay Area
  • Bill Swank, author of numerous books and articles on San Diego baseball history

They will join our featured speakers at SABR 49, which include NL Cy Young Award winner and Padres Hall of Famer Randy Jones, fan favorite and 1984 World Series hero Kurt Bevacqua, former Padres president Ballard Smith, MLB umpires Gerry Davis and Greg Gibson, MLB Official Historian John Thorn, MLB Vice President of Baseball Development Del Matthews, Padres broadcasters Bob Chandler, Mark Sweeney, and Carlos Hernández, Los Angeles Dodgers VP and ballpark architect Janet Marie Smith, Baseball For All founder Justine Siegal, professional umpire Perry Barber, authors Ron Rapoport and Jean Ardell, filmmaker Jewel Greenberg, Henry Chadwick Award winners Sean Forman and David W. Smith, and The Baseball Encyclopedia editor David S. Neft.

Click here to learn more about our featured speakers and panelists.


SABR 49: Hotel room block almost sold out

Our SABR 49 room block at the Manchester Grand Hyatt is almost sold out! If you have trouble booking your room online, please contact Deb Jayne at djayne@sabr.org to be placed on a waiting list in case any rooms become available.

The special SABR group rate of $224/night (single rate) or $254/night (double rate) is only available to registered convention attendees for the nights of Wednesday, June 26 through Saturday, June 29. After you register for SABR 49, you will receive an email with instructions on how to book your room at the convention hotel.

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.

Visit SABR.org/convention to learn more or to register for SABR 49.


SABR 49: Open House at the San Diego Central Library

Attendees at this summer’s SABR 49 convention will have a special opportunity to visit the San Diego Central Library and tour the Sullivan Family Baseball Research Center, home of the SABR Collection.

On Thursday, June 27, members of the local SABR Ted Williams Chapter will be on hand to meet, greet, and guide visitors around the BRC and its featured highlights. The BRC opened in 2001 with an initial collection of books and microfilm donated by SABR’s Ted Williams Chapter. In the years since, it has grown to more than 3,000 publications, books, and journals, and 300 microfilm reels, all available to the public.

Following the Open House, head over to the Library Auditorium for a special film screening of Aviva Kempner’s Moe Berg: The Spy Behind Home Plate from 7:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m.  on Thursday, June 27. All SABR 49 convention attendees are welcome.

To learn more about SABR 49, or to register for the convention, visit SABR.org/convention.


SABR 49: Research committee meetings to include Black Sox Scandal panel, award-winning authors

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 49 convention in San Diego will also have a variety of interesting guest speakers.

The Black Sox Scandal Research Committee will host a special 100th anniversary “Eight Myths Out” panel discussion with authors Bruce Allardice, Rick Huhn, Bill Felber, and Jacob Pomrenke. Other guest speakers are expected to include award-winning authors and historians Rob Fitts (Baseball Cards), Roberta J. Newman (Business of Baseball), Herm Krabbenhoft (Baseball Records), Norman Macht (Deadball Era), and more to be announced soon. Convention attendees won’t lack for fun stories and insight from our guest speakers at SABR 49.

Click here to view the full schedule of research committee meetings at SABR 49 in San Diego

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.


Help select articles for SABR’s 50th anniversary collection

SABR’s 50th annual convention will be held in the summer of 2020. One project in the works to commemorate SABR’s first half-century is a compilation of 50 written pieces that showcase some of the best research produced by our members.

We welcome your suggestions for any stories to include. These might come, for instance, from the Baseball Research Journal or The National Pastime, from committee newsletters, from books published by SABR, from web postings, or from presentations at the annual convention.

SABR’s Board of Directors appointed a sub-committee of Mark Armour, Leslie Heaphy, Bill Nowlin, and John Thorn to help oversee this project. We would like to request your help. Over the past few months, we have ourselves scoured SABR publications and come up with a list. We then solicited each of the research committee chairs to ask among their members and send in “nominations” for items they recommend. There was a considerable overlap between the two lists — which speaks well to the choices made.

We would like to engage all SABR members to nominate your favorites in hopes that a few more gems will be nominated that perhaps the first two rounds did not turn up. Please be judicious in your nomination, only recommending pieces that you think are truly standout pieces, among the very best that SABR has published over the past 50 years.

Please feel free to send your nomination to any of the four committee members above. We look forward to hearing from you.


SABR Publication Patrons help donate nearly 50 books in first week

Join your fellow SABR members in the spirit of giving by becoming a SABR Publications Patron! Our campaign launched with tremendous success as SABR members have already contributed almost $10,000 — including the resources to donate nearly 50 books — in just the first week. 

Help us achieve our goal of donating 250 books to libraries, schools, or nonprofit organizations, and raising $50,000 before this campaign ends on June 21. Your donation will be matched dollar-for-dollar through the generosity of SABR Director Bill Nowlin. 

Donate today and join the list of Publications Patrons below:

     
Perry Barber   Dave Paulson
Jeremy Beer   Laura Peebles
Ken Carrano   Mel Poplock
Richard Cuicchi   Tom Rogers
Ted Curtis   William Rogers
Sean Forman   James Rook
Steven Greenes   Ben Rose
Jeff Hauer   Jon and Wendy Rose
Emily Hawks   Steve Sisto
Leslie Heaphy   Alec Stais
Anne Keene   Rick Swift
Bill Lamb   Marlene Vogelsang
Steve Murphy   Chris Williams
David Newman   Jack Zerby
Bill Nowlin    

 


Subscribe to SABRcast with Rob Neyer on your favorite podcast networks

Listen to a new episode of SABRcast with Rob Neyer, a new weekly podcast hosted by award-winning author and longtime SABR member Rob Neyer — which is now available on your favorite podcast networks! Subscribe to SABRcast on your favorite podcast networks, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Play, and listen to each episode as soon as it’s released on Mondays.

Visit SABR.org/sabrcast to listen to Episode #6, which features an interview with ESPN announcer Jon “Boog” Sciambi on how the analytics revolution in baseball is changing the role of play-by-play announcers. Sciambi is the play-by-play voice for MLB on ESPN Radio since 2010. He also contributes to ESPN Radio’s World Series coverage as an on-site studio host and calls college basketball games for the network.

Every week, SABRcast will feature insights and analysis of what’s happening in modern baseball on and off the field, plus compelling interviews with figures from around the game — and music from The Baseball Project.

To learn more, visit SABR.org/sabrcast.


SABR Little League Home Runs Database updated through 2018

The SABR Little League Home Runs Database is an effort to compile a definitive list of one of baseball’s most entertaining and memorable plays.

Chuck Hildebrandt, chair emeritus of SABR’s Baseball and the Media Committee, began unearthing and reporting on these plays for his award-winning presentation at the SABR 45 convention in 2015.

Click here to access the SABR Little League Home Runs database

Through the end of the 2018 season, he has confirmed a total of 383 Little League Home Runs throughout MLB history, including additional historical incidents discovered from the 1921, 1923, 1924, 1931, 1937, 1939, and 1940 seasons.

In addition to these confirmed occurrences, there are two other potential Little League Home Run plays that still need to be confirmed: July 30, 1921 (Dickey Kerr; Chicago White Sox vs. Philadelphia A’s); and August 27, 1944 (George (Pinky) Woods; Boston Red Sox vs. Philadelphia A’s.) If you want to help look up details for these plays, click here for more details.

To learn more about these Little League Home Runs, visit SABR.org/little-league-home-runs.


SABR Digital Library: Wrigley Field: The Friendly Confines at Clark and Addison

Take a stroll through Wrigleyville with a copy of our newest book from the SABR Digital Library:

Wrigley Field: The Friendly Confines at Clark and Addison
Edited by Gregory H. Wolf
Associate Editors: Len Levin, Bill Nowlin, and Carl Riechers
 
ISBN (paperback: 978-1-9701-5901-1, $21.95
ISBN (e-book): 978-1-9701-5901-1, $9.99
350 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!

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

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.


Read all articles from Spring 2019 Baseball Research Journal online at SABR.org

The Spring 2019 edition of the Baseball Research Journal has been mailed out to all SABR members.

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 Wednesday, April 10. 

To learn more about contributing to a future SABR publication, click here.

We hope you enjoy reading the Spring 2019 Baseball Research Journal!


4 new SABR biographies published

Michael BurkeFour new biographies were posted this week as part of the SABR Baseball Biography Project, which brings us to a total of 4,855 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 SABR.org/gamesproject/recent. Find all published Games Project articles 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.
  • Read all game stories from our new Colorado Rockies book at the SABR Games Project: In Major League Baseball A Mile High: The First Quarter Century of the Colorado Rockies, published by SABR in 2018 and edited by Bill Nowlin and Paul T. Parker, we told the story of the first 25 years of the major-league baseball team in Denver. All game stories that appeared in the Colorado Rockies book can now be read online at the SABR Games Project. All of the biographies in Major League Baseball A Mile High are also available to be read online at the SABR BioProject. Click here to download a free e-book edition or get 50% off the paperback edition of Major League Baseball A Mile High.

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, will air in May at a new time. Listen in from 8:00-9:00 p.m. ET on Saturday, May 11 on MLB Network Radio.

This week’s guests are SABR member Jay Jaffe of FanGraphs and Matthew Trueblood of Baseball Prospectus.

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.


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
Jake Alba Beverly Hills, CA     Natalie Montanez Madrid, ESP
Bill Byrd Richmond, VA     Steve Randolph Colorado Springs, CO
Cedric Denizart Le Blanc Mesnil, FRA     Adam Sanders Trenton, OH
Jason Ellersick Brick, NJ     Selwyn Schwartz Hoffman Estates, IL
Bill Franzen Chanhassen, MN     Richard Strader Colorado Springs, CO
Thomas Grubbs Norfolk, VA     James Voelker Dallas, TX
Benjamin Johansen Evergreen, CO     Griff Williams Sun City West, AZ
Mitchell Manoff Syosset, NY     Teresa Williamson Memphis, TN

 


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:

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.

Have trouble reading this e-mail? Click here to view this week’s newsletter on the web.

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Originally published: May 10, 2019. Last Updated: April 3, 2020.