This Week in SABR: November 11, 2011

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Here’s what we’ve been up to as of November 11, 2011:

Announcing the inaugural SABR Analytics Conference

SABR has a long and storied history with baseball statistical analysis, evidenced by the link between our name and sabermetrics. While SABR is a multi-faceted organization involved in virtually every aspect of baseball, we have taken a major step to re-connect with our beginnings by producing and hosting the inaugural:

SABR Analytics Conference, presented by Bloomberg Sports
When: March 15-17, 2012
Where: Hilton Phoenix East/Mesa, 1011 West Holmes Avenue, Mesa, AZ 85210

Never before have as many of the top minds of the baseball analytic community come under one roof to discuss, debate and share learnings of insightful ways to analyze and examine the great game of baseball. Some of the topics we are planning to cover include: how technology is changing baseball; Managers Panel on how analytics has changed the game; GM Panel on how analytics shape decisions; measuring player performance; technology and in-game strategy, and much more.

The SABR Analytics Conference will begin on Thursday, March 15 and conclude on Saturday, March 17 at the Hilton Phoenix East/Mesa in Arizona. The schedule will consist of a combination of Guest Speakers, Panels and Research Presentations — plus the inaugural SABR Case Competition, in which graduate students will analyze and present a real baseball operations decision, and be judged by MLB front office executives.

Featured speakers are expected to include Tom Ricketts, chairman of the Chicago Cubs, and Mark Shapiro, president of the Cleveland Indians. More speakers will be announced soon. In addition to Bloomberg Sports, we’re also partnering with Baseball Prospectus, Baseball-Reference.com, FanGraphs and The Hardball Times to bring you this cutting-edge Cactus League spring training event.

The early registration rate ($250 for SABR members and students; $350 for non-members) is available until December 31, 2011. SABR has secured a special hotel rate of $139/night at the Hilton, which includes complimentary wireless high-speed Internet, parking and breakfast buffet for two.

To register for the SABR Analytics Conference, visit SABR.org/analytics.

To sign up for the Case Competition, visit SABR.org/analytics/case or contact SABR President Vince Gennaro.

Wrapping up the SABR Arizona Fall League Conference

The end of the World Series didn’t signal the end of the baseball season to the 30 attendees at the third annual SABR Arizona Fall League Conference on November 3-5, 2011. We were already looking ahead to 2012 and beyond, when the prized prospects on the fields at Hohokam Stadium in Mesa, Salt River Fields at Talking Stick and four other ballparks in the Phoenix area will likely begin their major league careers.

The 2011 SABR Arizona Fall League Conference was highlighted by four Arizona Fall League games in three days. Conference attendees visited three parks, Mesa’s Hohokam Park (spring training home of the Chicago Cubs); Surprise Stadium (Rangers, Royals); and the newest jewel of the Cactus League, Salt River Fields at Talking Stick (Diamondbacks, Rockies).

Check out stories and photos from the AFL Conference below:

Hope you’ll join us next year for the 2012 AFL Conference. Visit SABR.org/AFL for more information.

SABR internship deadline is Tuesday

There’s just a few days left to submit an application for a SABR internship, so please pass the word around if you know any students who might be interested in taking advantage of this educational opportunity.

SABR is seeking an intern with journalism and multimedia skills for the spring of 2012. The ideal candidate will produce and edit content to be displayed on our website at SABR.org, working with our Web Content Editor/Producer and other staff members. This internship will include responsibilities across a variety of disciplines.

This internship is an unpaid educational opportunity, covering 15-20 hours per week (flexible schedule), at the SABR office in Phoenix, Arizona. The internship will be for a fixed period of time and is designed to provide the intern with skills and training that may be applicable to working in a nonprofit research environment or in other research-based organizations. No housing assistance will be provided. Internships may count toward college credit. Please send a resume, cover letter and 4-6 samples of published articles in PDF form by 12 p.m. MST Tuesday, November 15 to jpomrenke@sabr.org.

Happy 100th birthday, Buck O’Neil

John “Buck” O’Neil, the beloved baseball ambassador and former Negro Leagues batting champion, would have turned 100 years old on Sunday. O’Neil — who was born November 13, 1911, in Carrabelle, Florida, a small fishing town on the Gulf Coast southwest of Tallahassee — was a great friend to SABR over the years and he supported the groundbreaking research done by members of the Negro Leagues Research Committee.

Last year, SABR’s Tallahassee/North Florida Chapter was renamed to honor O’Neil. Through the assistance of the Negro Leagues Committee, the chapter was able to contact the heirs of O’Neil’s estate and received formal approval for the name change on April 8, 2010.

To celebrate O’Neil’s centennial birthday, we searched through our Oral History Collection for a clip of Buck as we remember him best: talking baseball and sharing stories of the Negro Leagues. In 1996, O’Neil was a guest speaker during the 26th annual SABR convention in Kansas City and we’re posting his speech in its entirety here:

https://sabr.box.net/shared/809h468tnj2y1nfdy5qx

O’Neil’s 25-minute speech on June 7, 1996, covered a wide range of topics, such as barnstorming with Bob Feller, the career of Jackie Robinson, encountering segregation in the Negro Leagues, meeting U.S. presidents, and the state of the game in the ’90s.

For more SABR convention history, visit http://sabr.org/content/sabr-convention-history.

Minnie Minoso and baseball’s “Golden Era”

Last week, the Baseball Hall of Fame released the 10 names on the Veterans Committee’s “Golden Era” ballot, which will be considered at next month’s MLB Winter Meetings. While Cubs third baseman Ron Santo has garnered much attention and is considered one of the leading candidates for election, a strong case was made in the national media for another Windy City icon, White Sox All-Star outfielder Minnie Minoso — a case that SABR member Rob Neyer dissected over at Baseball Nation this week.

On Thursday, November 17, the Chicago White Sox will host the Minnie Minoso Hall of Fame Forum at 1 p.m. at U.S. Cellular Field’s Conference and Learning Center. SABR members Adrian Burgos Jr., Vince Gennaro, Ben Jedlovec, Rich Lindberg and Don Zminda will join former major leaguers Billy Pierce, Tony Perez, Jim Landis, Jim Rivera and the man of the hour, Minnie Minoso, to discuss Minoso’s career from a variety of perspectives. To learn more, visit: http://sabr.org/node/3567.

Two more Deadball Era Series monuments dedicated

A doubleheader monument unveiling and dedication was held on October 8, 2011, at Wayland Academy’s Kris Boucher Field in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin.

David Stalker, a member of SABR’s Deadball Era Research Committee, led the charge to dedicate monuments for former Wayland students and major league players Pink Hawley and Addie Joss, who became the 12th and 13th players honored in The Deadball Era Memorial Series. Joss is the first player with two memorials.

To learn more and view photos of the monuments, visit http://sabr.org/latest/hawley-joss-monuments-dedicated-deadball-series.

New at the BioProject: John Pardon

Six new biographies were posted this week as part of the SABR Baseball Biography Project, bringing us to a total of 1,698 published biographies. We’d like to call your attention to the new entry on the late John Pardon, one of SABR’s 16 founding members, our organization’s first vice-president and a minor league researcher extraordinaire. To quote from Tom Zocco’s wonderful BioProject essay:

To say John was involved is to understate. In addition to serving SABR as an officer and director, he was chair of the Minor League Committee and worked on the Ballparks, Biographical Research, Business of Baseball, Latin American, and Nineteenth Century committees. Beyond committee work John attended over 30 national conventions and 50 regional meetings, largely in the New York City area and Cooperstown, but also Toronto, Albany, Philadelphia, Washington, DC, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Chicago, Reading, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Virginia, Delaware, and North Carolina. If he was in Cooperstown during Induction Weekend at the Hall of Fame, he’d operate a recruiting booth for SABR. In 1998 he received SABR’s highest honor, the Bob Davids Award.

Read the new BioProject essay on John Pardon, written by Tom Zocco, who joined SABR a month after its founding in September 1971: http://bioproj.sabr.org/bioproj.cfm?a=v&v=l&bid=2632&pid=19639. To learn more about the 16 founding members of SABR, visit http://sabr.org/about/founders.

Here are the other new bios published this week:

All new biographies can be found here: http://bioproj.sabr.org/bioproj.cfm?a=n&m=61

Writing a biography for the BioProject is an easy way to get involved as a SABR member. Find out how by visiting our BioProject Resources page or reading the FAQs section.

In Memoriam

  • Glen R. Kershner, 63, of Centerville, Ohio, died on November 5. After graduating from the University of Cincinnati, Glen was an Executive Vice President of Universal 1 Credit Union, where he spent his entire 44-year professional career. He was an American Cancer Society volunteer, a member of the Dayton Agonis Club and a trustee of Fairmont Presbyterian Church. He was also a past weekly presenter on Channel 2’s “Team of the Week”, a Dayton Gems hockey organist and a community blood and tissue donor. He was an avid Reds, Bearcats, and Browns fan. Glen is survived by his wife of 39 years, Sharon (Tate) Kershner; his children and grandchildren. A funeral service was held November 10 at Fairmont Presbyterian Church, with burial in David’s Cemetery. Gifts in Glen’s name may be made to “Glen Kershner Memorial Scholarship Fund” at Universal 1 Credit Union, One River Park Drive, Dayton, OH 45409. Condolences may be sent to the family at www.routsong.com.
  • Robert A. “Bob” Vostry, 74, of Chandler, Arizona, died on November 4 after fighting brain cancer for more than a year. The current vice-president of SABR’s Flame Delhi Chapter, Bob graduated from Stetson University and enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1961, serving three tours in Vietnam. He joined the California National Guard in 1978 and attained the rank of Sergeant Major until his retirement in 1997. Bob earned numerous military awards, including the Legion of Merit, Purple Heart, three Presidential Unit Citations and Army and Navy Commendation Medals. He was also a minor league baseball player from 1958-61 in the A’s and White Sox organizations and from 1997 until his death was a scout for the Expos and then the Marlins. He resided in California most of his life, moving to the Phoenix area in 2000. Vostry is survived by his wife, Yvonne; one daughter, Vonnie (and Mike) Casalegno of Long Beach, CA; one son, Robert, Jr. (and Kasey) Vostry of Elk Grove, CA; and four young grandsons. An online guest book can be signed at http://obits.dignitymemorial.com/dignity-memorial/obituary.aspx?n=Robert-Vostry&lc=4044&pid=154523296&mid=4877345. Donations in Bob’s name can be made to the Military Order of the Purple Heart Service Foundation, Inc. (MOPHSFI), PO Box 49, Annandale, VA 22003.
  • James E. Sullivan, 82, of Barre, Massachusetts, died on October 13 after a long illness. He published a poem each week in his local newspaper, the Barre Gazette, for more than 30 years. He leaves a son, John; a daughter, Julia; nieces and nephews; grand-nieces and grand-nephews.

We send our condolences to their families and friends.

All “In Memoriam” notices are posted in the SABR Bulletin group here: http://sabrnation.sabr.org/groups2/discussion/list/groupid/1960. Please send notices to Jacob Pomrenke at jpomrenke@sabr.org.

Chapter meeting recaps

SABR Day is coming up: Just a reminder that the third annual SABR Day is scheduled for January 28, 2012. We’re compiling details now on SABR Day chapter meetings around the country. We’ll post them as soon as we get them at SABR.org/sabrday.

If you would like to include your chapter meeting recap in “This Week in SABR”, please send a writeup to Jacob Pomrenke at jpomrenke@sabr.org.

Upcoming SABR events:

Visit SABR.org/latest for details on all upcoming SABR events.

In other recent SABR news:

All previous editions of This Week in SABR can be found here: http://sabr.org/content/this-week-in-sabr-archives.

Find more information about SABR at the Members’ Info page here: http://sabr.org/about/members-info.

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

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: November 11, 2011. Last Updated: April 3, 2020.

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