This Week in SABR: November 15, 2019

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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 November 15, 2019:

Chapman, Arenado win 2019 Rawlings Platinum Glove Awards, presented by SABR

Rawlings Platinum Glove Award winners

Rawlings Sporting Goods Company, Inc., announced that Colorado Rockies™ third baseman Nolan Arenado and Oakland Athletics™ third baseman Matt Chapman won the 2019 Rawlings Platinum Glove Award™ presented by the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) in their respective Leagues. The winners were unveiled on Friday, November 8 during the 2019 Rawlings Gold Glove Award® Ceremony, where the game’s top defensive stars accepted their hardware from some of the games past winners and Hall of Famers. This makes back-to-back Rawlings Platinum Glove Awards for both Arenado and Chapman.

The Rawlings Platinum Glove Award winners are determined by combining votes based on an adjusted SABR Defensive Index™ for each of the nine Rawlings Gold Glove Award winners in each League and the votes from baseball fans worldwide.

“This year, the SABR Defensive Index and fan votes were closely aligned,” said Scott Bush, Chief Executive Officer of SABR. “We are seeing fans continue to gain an appreciation for defensive metrics and they are using this information when voting.”

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

Call for papers: 2020 The National Pastime

SABR 50 logoSABR’s 50th national convention will take place on July 15-19, 2020, in Baltimore. To coincide with the convention, the summer 2020 issue of The National Pastime will focus on baseball in the Charm City and around the state of Maryland. Research articles may be historical, biographical, or analytical (stats welcome), but please avoid personal narrative.

Publications director Cecilia Tan will be taking queries and abstracts until December 10, 2019, and will make assignments no later than January 1, 2020. First drafts of articles will be due no later than March 1 and rewrites (if needed) will be due by April 15.

To query, email ctan@sabr.org with the subject line “TNP Query:” and a key word or two about your subject.

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

Fall 2019 Baseball Research Journal is on its way

Fall 2019 Baseball Research JournalGood news! The Fall 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 will be delivered on Monday, November 18. Articles will be available to read online at SABR.org/research beginning next week, as well.

To read more articles from the BRJ archives, click here.

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

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

Join us tomorrow for the 2019 SABR Minnesota 19th Century Baseball Interdisciplinary Symposium

The SABR Minnesota 19th Century Baseball Interdisciplinary Symposium will take place on Saturday, November 16, 2019, at the Minneapolis Public Library, 300 Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The day-long Saturday symposium will be devoted to 19th-century baseball as it was played and evolved in Minnesota and the greater Midwest region. The event is a joint project of the SABR Nineteenth Century Committee, SABR’s Halsey Hall Chapter, and the Hennepin County Library.

Guest speakers are expected to include John Thorn, MLB’s Official Historian; Larry Millett, longtime St. Paul Pioneer Press architecture critic and author of more than 10 books, including The Curve of the Arch and Lost Twin Cities; Stew Thornley, author of Baseball in Minnesota: A Definitive History and other books; Dan Levitt, author of Paths to Glory: How Great Baseball Teams Got That Way and other books; Mike Haupert, Professor of Economics at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse; Kristin Anderson, art and architecture professor and author of an upcoming book on the history of sports facilities in the Twin Cities; Frank White, author of They Played for the Love of the Game: Untold Stories of Black Baseball in Minnesota; Brian Madigan, SABR member and associate librarian for Hennepin County Libraries; and more.

For more information, contact event organizers at sabrMN19c@gmail.com.

Early registration now open for the 2020 SABR Analytics Conference in Phoenix

Early registration is now open for the ninth annual SABR Analytics Conference on March 13-15, 2020, at the Renaissance Phoenix Downtown in Arizona, where we’ll bring together the top minds in the baseball analytics community to discuss, debate and share insightful ways to analyze and examine the great game of baseball. Register today to join us!

The Analytics Conference schedule consists 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.

Programming will begin on the afternoon of Friday, March 13 and will run through Sunday afternoon on March 15. A large block of rooms for SABR Analytics Conference attendees is available on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights. Click here for highlights of the high-quality content from the 2019 conference.

SABR has a long and storied history with baseball statistical analysis, evidenced by the link between our name and sabermetrics. SABR’s long history in this area of baseball research, coupled with our mission of advancing the understanding and knowledge of baseball, makes us the perfect choice to coordinate and host this ground-breaking event.

For more information on the 2020 SABR Analytics Conference, or to register, visit SABR.org/analytics.

Two weeks left to submit research presentation abstracts for 2020 SABR Analytics Conference

SABR and Baseball Info Solutions are excited to announce the call for presentations for the ninth annual SABR Analytics Conference.

Abstracts of proposed research presentations should be no more than 500 words in length, and must include the abstract’s title, review of previous work on the subject, a summary of the research methodology and anticipated results, and the expected contribution to the field of baseball analytics offered by this work. Submissions are open to the general public, with student presenters considered in a separate track.

Please send all abstracts to this e-mail address: analytics@baseballinfosolutions.com. The submission deadline for 2020 SABR Analytics Conference presentation abstracts is 11:59 p.m. MST, Wednesday, November 27, 2019. Note: If your presentation abstract is selected as a semi-finalist, you will be required to register for the conference in order to be eligible for a presentation slot.

Click here for complete details and criteria at SABR.org.

2020 SABR Jerry Malloy Conference in Birmingham to celebrate 100 years of the Negro Leagues

One hundred years ago, the Negro National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs (NNL) was established as a viable option for professional Black athletes barred from the all-White major leagues to showcase their talents. In 2020, SABR’s Negro Leagues Research Committee will celebrate their pleasure, passion, and purpose-driven path to athletic glory and honor with a centennial celebration at the SABR Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference, which will be held on June 11-13, 2020, in Birmingham, Alabama.

NNL founder Rube Foster’s mantra of “We Are The Ship … All Else The Sea” spoke to their exclusion from Major League Baseball. Their struggles became our successes as Black baseball exploded in popularity and became an integral part of baseball Americana. This is your opportunity to honor the triumphs and accomplishments of men and women who paved the way to integrate our national game.

Check back at SABR.org/malloy soon for registration and hotel information for the 2020 Malloy Conference. We hope to see you in Birmingham!

— Larry Lester

Save the date! Join us for SABR Day on January 25, 2020

SABR Day 2020The 11th annual SABR Day will be held Saturday, January 25, 2020. We’re starting to compile details now on 2020 SABR Day chapter meetings around the country. We’ll post them as soon as we get them at SABR.org/sabrday.  

Regional SABR meetings are open to all baseball fans and are usually free to attend, so bring a friend! Guest speakers often include current and former baseball players, managers, umpires, executives, scouts, writers and authors.

Chapter leaders, please be sure to send any details on your SABR meeting to Jacob Pomrenke at jpomrenke@sabr.org so we can update our SABR Day map.

Visit SABR.org/sabrday to learn more.

It’s time to renew your membership for 2020

For those of you whose SABR memberships expire by December 31 — you can check your current membership status here — it’s time for you to renew!

From the Baseball Research Journal and the SABR Digital Library to “This Week in SABR” and our extensive list of research resources — and, of course, all the memorable conferences, chapter meetings, and events — we hope you enjoyed the many benefits of SABR membership this past year.

We hope you please continue your support by renewing your SABR membership today.

  • Pay online: Click here to renew your SABR membership for 2020!
  • Renew by mail: To pay by check or money order, mail this downloadable PDF form and your payment to the office at SABR, Cronkite School at ASU, 555 N. Central Ave. #416, Phoenix, AZ 85004.
  • Pay by phone: To process your credit-card payment over the phone, please call the SABR office at (602) 496-1460 during regular business hours. (We accept Visa, Mastercard, or Discover Card.)

Thank you for your support of SABR as we continue to strive to make SABR membership a great experience and a great value!

Join the Friends of SABR and support baseball research

As we wrap up 2019, we want to thank you for your continuing support of SABR. Thanks to your dedication and generosity, SABR is stronger today than ever, with a vast array of capabilities.

We also want to invite you to join the Friends of SABR, a circle of members who are committed to using their financial support to improve our baseball community and our efforts to increase the understanding of the game we love. None of these accomplishments would have been possible without your generosity — which is why we hope you will continue and even increase your support today!

We have been busy in the last year at SABR HQ and will continue to pour our energy into notable projects in 2020. Members like you are helping us turn our shared vision into a reality.

You can join the Friends of SABR by making a gift of at least $100 at SABR.org/donate. We will use your best gift of $100, $250, $500, or $1,000 to bring more young people into the world of baseball; to publish groundbreaking books and articles; and to promote research, preservation, and scholarship. In addition, SABR HQ will also donate 10% of all member gifts back to the chapters each donor is affiliated with.

Baseball makes the world better! Thank you so much for believing that and for joining us in this endeavor.

— Scott Bush, SABR CEO

SABR Digital Library: The Babe

The Babe book coverTime to call your shot and add our newest SABR Digital Library baseball book to your collection:

The Babe
Edited by Bill Nowlin and Glen Sparks
Associate editors: Carl Reichers and Len Levin
Introduction by Jane Leavy   
ISBN (e-book): 978-1-9701-5917-2, $9.99 
ISBN (paperback): 978-1-9701-5916-5, $29.95
8.5″ x 11″, 312 pages

Click here to read the full description of this book at SABR.org.

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.

SABRcast with Rob Neyer: Listen to an interview with MLB executive and SABR Director Tyrone Brooks

Tyrone BrooksListen 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 streaming services!

Visit SABR.org/sabrcast to listen to Episode #33 — our guest this week is Tyrone Brooks, Senior Director of MLB’s Front Office & Field Staff Diversity Pipeline Program, which was established to identify, develop and grow the pool of qualified minority and female candidates for on-field and baseball operations positions throughout the industry. He was appointed to the SABR Board of Directors in 2019.

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. 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.

1 new SABR biography published

Rich NyeOne new biography was posted this week as part of the SABR Baseball Biography Project, which brings us to a total of 5,026 published biographies. Here is the new bio published this week:

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

Read all bios from 1995 Cleveland Indians book online at the SABR BioProject

1995 Cleveland IndiansIn 1995 Cleveland Indians: The Sleeping Giant Awakes, published by SABR in 2019 and edited by Joseph Wancho, we told the story of a beloved Cleveland team that shattered a four-decade postseason drought by winning the American League pennant.

They had an All-Star seemingly at every position, including Jim Thome, Eddie Murray, Manny Ramirez, Kenny Lofton, Orel Hershiser, and Sandy Alomar Jr. The biographies of all the players, coaches, and broadcasters will evoke that glorious era once again for Tribe fans. The volume is also sprinkled with personal perspectives, as well as game stores from key matchups during the 1995 season, information about Jacobs Field, and other writing of interest on the historic season.

You can now read every biography from 1995 Cleveland Indians online at the SABR BioProject.

Click here to download your free e-book or get 50% off the paperback edition at SABR.org.

Visit SABR.org/ebooks to find all titles from the SABR Digital Library.

2 new stories published by the SABR Games Project

Ernie BanksTwo 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 stories from Met-rospectives book online: In Met-rospectives: A Collection of the Greatest Games in New York Mets History, edited by Brian Wright and Bill Nowlin and published in 2018, we offered Mets fans a chance to soak in some Amazin’ memories with dozens of game stories on the most memorable moments in franchise history. From Tom Terrific and the Miracle Mets to the triumphant 1986 World Series champions and beyond, all of the game summaries from our Met-rospectives book can now be read online at the SABR Games Project. Click here to download your free e-book or get 50% off the paperback edition at SABR.org.

Listen to a new episode of Behind the Numbers: Baseball SABR Style on SiriusXM on Saturdays

Behind the Numbers: Baseball SABR Style on SiriusXM, a radio show hosted by former SABR Board President Vince Gennaro, is back for the Hot Stove offseason at a new time! Listen to a new episode at 4:00-5:00 p.m. ET on Saturdays on MLB Network Radio.

This week’s guests are Dan Szymborski 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.

Listen to a new episode of the SABR Media Committee’s “Baseball Buffet” podcast

SABR’s Baseball and the Media Committee welcomes you to The Baseball Buffet, our monthly roundtable podcast focusing on recent baseball events, the media’s coverage of the national pastime, and more.

  • Buffet #33 (November 2019): This month, we buffet-eating lip smackers and glass clinkers lead off with our reflections on the 2019 World Series. Then we move on to our very special guest, Gary Pressy, recently-retired Chicago Cubs organist. We will talk with him about his 33-year career entertaining fans at Wrigley Field. Next each of us will provide their take on the ten Modern Era Ballot candidates for induction into the Hall of Fame. We finish, as always, with our delectable last bites. Listen closely for the obscure “Player” reference. (26:48)

Our buffet of baseball commentators-slash-diners includes: Andie Giafaglione, award-winning baseball photographer and former depth-of-fielder for the Chicago Cubs; Thom Henninger, Editor at Baseball Digest and author of Tony Oliva: The Life and Times of a Minnesota Twins Legend; Chuck Hildebrandt, two-time Doug Pappas Award winner and chair of SABR’s Baseball and the Media Research Committee; Stuart Shea, author of Wrigley Field: The Long Life and Contentious Times of the Friendly Confines and Calling the Game: Baseball Broadcasting from 1920 to the Present. Your host is Jim Walker, author of Crack of the Bat: A History of Baseball on the Radio.

Click here to listen to past episodes or learn how to subscribe on your favorite podcast apps.

Call for SABR award nominations

  • Seymour Medal, due 12/31/2019: The Dr. Harold and Dorothy Seymour Medal honors the best book of baseball history or biography published during the preceding calendar year. The award is presented during the Seymour Medal Banquet at the NINE Spring Training Conference every March. If you have a book to nominate with a 2019 publication date, contact Andy Andres at andyandres@gmail.com by December 31, 2019.
  • Larry Ritter Award, due 12/31/2019: Each year, SABR’s Deadball Era Committee presents the Larry Ritter Book Award to recognize the best new book primarily set in the Deadball Era that was published during the previous calendar year. The award is presented during the committee’s meeting at the annual SABR convention. If you have a book to nominate with a 2019 publication date, contact Doug Skipper at theskippers1@hotmail.com by December 31, 2019.
  • Ron Gabriel Award, due 12/31/2019: The Ron Gabriel Award annually honors the author(s) of the best research, published or unpublished, on the subject of the Brooklyn Dodgers completed during the preceding calendar year. To submit a nomination for the 2020 awards, please send a copy of your work to Gary Sarnoff at runtowin89@hotmail.com by December 31, 2019.
  • SABR Baseball Research Award, due 1/31/2020: 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 2020 awards, please contact Bill Felber at bfelber@att.net.
  • McFarland-SABR Baseball Research Award, due 2/15/2020: 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 2020 awards, please contact Len Levin at lenlevin5@hotmail.com.

Please note: Only ONE entry per nomination will be considered (do not submit multiple nominations for the same award). For more information on SABR Awards, 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: 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
Ronald Cox Miami, FL     Peter Staley Delray Beach, FL
Samuel Feliz Farmingdale, NY     Mark Stewart Salisbury, CT
Jim Hamernik Lemont, IL     Thomas Valenti Red Bank, NJ
William Parlee Vernon, CT     Kevin Winterhalt Boulder, CO
Helen Riley Lewes, DE     Gary Wolcott Annandale, VA
Blade Smith Glen Burnie, MD        

 

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.

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: November 15, 2019. Last Updated: April 3, 2020.

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