This Week in SABR: November 9, 2012

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Here’s what we’ve been up to as of November 9, 2012:

SABR Diamond Report: November 2012

Editor’s note: The Diamond Report is a series of monthly messages, written by SABR President Vince Gennaro and Executive Director Marc Appleman, to keep SABR members better informed about the Society’s direction and progress. The Diamond Report archives are collected at SABR.org/diamondreport. Here is the Diamond Report for November 2012, written by Marc Appleman:

I’m always delighted when baseball people value the opinions of SABR members. I am happy to report that starting this week, SABR members will have the opportunity to play a key role in selecting the winners of the GIBBYs — the annual awards presented by MLB.com.

Click here for the voting instructions at members.sabr.org and to cast your vote.

The GIBBYs categories include: Starting Pitcher, Rookie, Closer, Setup Man, Comeback Player, Manager, Postseason MVP, Top Play, Moment, Oddity, Walk-off, Fan Moment, Postseason Moment and Defensive Player of the Year.

The nominees in the Defensive Player of the Year category were selected by SABR.

SABR members will have the opportunity to play a key role in selecting the winners of the GIBBYs. The votes from SABR members will be equal to each of the other four categories.

  • SABR members (20%)
  • MLB.com fans (20%)
  • Front office personnel (20%)
  • Retired players (20%)
  • Media (20%)

The winners will be announced at a reception at the annual Baseball Winter Meetings, which will be held December 3-6, 2012, in Nashville, Tennessee.

This is just one example of how SABR is partnering with Major League Baseball Advanced Media. There is also a permanent link to SABR.org on the popular home page of MLB.com. SABR members continue to contribute content to the Baseball Memory Lab. Content from the SABR BioProject and annual publications will continue to be integrated throughout MLB.com. SABR members have also received discounts to MLB.TV and the MLB.com Shop.

SABR produced six panels at the MLBAM booth during the 2012 All-Star FanFest in Kansas City. These panels featured SABR members and highlighted SABR’s ability to put together both topical and historical panels in a way that truly showed off our organization. (Watch them all by clicking here.) MLBAM is also currently working on digitizing SABR’s expansive Oral History Collection. Getting SABR’s outstanding research out in front of the larger baseball community is in keeping with SABR’s mission — to encourage the preservation of baseball research and to help disseminate education and historical information about this great game.

We are also talking with MLBAM about collaborating on a number of other projects during the offseason. I certainly hope that SABR members take the opportunity to make their voice heard by voting for the GIBBYs.

— Marc Appleman

Fall 2012 Baseball Research Journal articles are now online

Reports are flying in that the new Baseball Research Journal is showing up in members’ mailboxes. If you haven’t received yours, it should be arriving in the next two weeks. Meanwhile, you can get started reading the Fall 2012 edition of the BRJ online at:

http://sabr.org/research/fall-2012-baseball-research-journal

That link also offers you a way to download the PDF version of the magazine to read on your computer or e-reader device, as well as a chance to purchase additional copies of the BRJ for any baseball-loving family members or friends at the SABR Bookstore.

Here’s a note from BRJ editor Cecilia Tan about the new issue:

This issue of the BRJ, as usual, mixes together pieces that look back, look forward, and I daresay sometimes even look sideways at the game. New perspectives are always welcome. Without them we live in a world of lore, not fact. Herm Krabbenhoft’s investigation into every RBI recorded (or mis-recorded, as the case may be) by Lou Gehrig in his entire big-league career is now complete and in these pages. Trent McCotter examines a Cal Ripken streak that is lesser-trumpeted and lesser-known than the consecutive games streak — the record for consecutive innings played.

The minor leagues are represented, too, in Brock Helander’s overview of Organized Baseball in Altoona, Pennsylvania, while Sam Zygner focuses on a single historic night in the Florida State League. Mets fans, congratulations on enjoying your first franchise no-hitter this past season. Someday, someone will undoubtedly reference that event in SABR’s publications. For now, here are two articles that might interest you: Scott Schleifstein’s piece regarding two epic pitching duels between Tom Seaver and journeyman hurler Dave Roberts, and Chuck Rosciam’s exhaustive dissection of Mike Piazza’s home-run numbers.

And there’s more, of course. By the time you read this, the baseball season will be over. I hope the Baseball Research Journal makes a good wintertime companion. Before you know it, spring, and a whole new chapter in baseball history, will be upon us.

In addition to all of the BRJ articles you will find in the print edition, and profiles of the 2012 Henry Chadwick Award winners, we’re also proud to once again present special supplemental material, available exclusively at SABR.org, related to Herm Krabbenhoft’s ongoing research of Hank Greenberg’s RBI totals.

Click here to read more articles from the Fall 2012 Baseball Research Journal 

Wrapping up the 2012 SABR AFL Conference

SABR members were treated to a scout’s preview of the Rising Stars Game, then got to see Major League Baseball’s top prospects with their own eyes on the final day of the 2012 SABR Arizona Fall League Conference on Saturday, November 3.

Billy Hamilton, the speedy Cincinnati Reds minor leaguer who set an all-time single-season professional baseball record with 155 stolen bases, was the highlight of Saturday’s Rising Stars Game at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick. He stole two bases in the first inning, made a stellar running catch in deep center field, and raced to third base on a drag-bunt single in the fifth, scoring two runs and living up to his hype as the fastest player in baseball.

“He could play center field in the major leagues tomorrow. He has tremendous closing speed, the fastest player I’ve seen,” Bernie Pleskoff said at the SABR Flame Delhi Chapter meeting on Saturday morning. Pleskoff is a former scout with the Astros and Mariners who now writes for MLB.com and Rotowire.

Flame Delhi Chapter president Rodney Johnson also spoke about some memorable plays in his experience as an official scorer with the Arizona Diamondbacks, including the end of Darwin Barney’s streak of consecutive errorless games — just three outs shy of the major league record — in September 2012.

Johnson also talked about the chapter’s namesake, Flame Delhi, the first Arizona native to make the major leagues who pitched one game for the Chicago White Sox one hundred years ago. (Read Delhi’s SABR biography here.)

“That’s what SABR is all about,” said Johnson, who is also organizer of the SABR AFL Conference. “Everyone loves Ted Williams. Who else but us loves Flame Delhi?”

The AFL Conference consisted of four games in three games, including the Rising Stars Game. After taking in a game on Thursday afternoon at Hohokam Park in Mesa, guests were treated to dinner at Don and Charlie’s, home to one of the great sports memorabilia collections you will ever see.

Friday’s schedule included two AFL games and a pregame ballpark dinner at Scottsdale Stadium along with a special guest speaker, former All-Star third baseman Matt Williams.

For more coverage of the 2012 SABR AFL Conference, visit SABR.org/AFL. Hope to see you next year!

Related links:

Watch video of SABR’s gift of appreciation to Bob Costas

In case you missed it, last week SABR President Vince Gennaro and Executive Director Marc Appleman presented longtime baseball broadcaster and author Bob Costas with a gift in appreciation of his dedicated service to the national pastime during Arizona State University’s 29th annual Cronkite Award Luncheon.

In the link below, watch a video of the presentation, along with Costas speaking about the gift and telling stories about his first game at Yankee Stadium: 

http://sabr.org/latest/sabr-honors-baseball-broadcaster-bob-costas-asu-cronkite-luncheon

Costas, an award-winning announcer and host for MLB Network and NBC Sports, was in town to receive the prestigious 2012 Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism from ASU’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

The gift from SABR was a plaque commemorating the first baseball game Costas ever attended, on September 26, 1959, at Yankee Stadium in New York. Costas’ beloved Yankees lost to the Baltimore Orioles that day, 7-2. Included on the plaque are a late-1950s photo of Tony Kubek and Casey Stengel, a reprinted box score from the New York Times, and a quote from author Roger Kahn: “You may glory in a team triumphant, but you fall in love with a team in defeat.”

Rocky Mountain Chapter welcomes Hemond, Wills, Keri tonight

Tonight’s the big night! The Rocky Mountain Chapter is holding its 15th annual banquet at the Denver Athletic Club, 1324 Glenarm Place in Denver, Colorado.

Our Keynote Speaker this year is Roland Hemond, award-winning MLB executive, recipient of the Buck O’Neil Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Baseball Hall of Fame and a fellow SABR member! (We hear he was awesome to listen to at SABR 42.)

The Featured Speaker will be Maury Wills, 1962 NL MVP and breaker of Ty Cobb’s long-standing stolen base record.

Jonah Keri, author of The Extra 2% and editor of Baseball Between the Numbers, will serve as the evening’s master of ceremonies.

For more information, visit rmsabr.org/rmsabr-banquet/.

Save the date: SABR Day is January 26, 2013

In case you missed it, the fourth annual SABR Day will be held January 26, 2013. We’re starting to compile details now on 2013 SABR Day chapter meetings around the country. We’ll post them as soon as we get them at SABR.org/sabrday. Chapter leaders, please send your SABR Day plans to Jacob Pomrenke at jpomrenke@sabr.org.

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.

Check back soon at SABR.org/sabrday for more information on a SABR Day meeting close to you.

7 new biographies published by the SABR BioProject

Seven new biographies were posted as part of the SABR Baseball Biography Project, which brings us to a total of 2,112 published biographies.

Here are the new bios:

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

You can find the SABR BioProject at its new home page: SABR.org/BioProject.

Bios on more than just ballplayers: Many of us have researched a ballplayer’s life outside of baseball and found their spouses’ lives to be equally compelling. Their stories deserve to be told, too. So in addition to Broadcasters, Executives, Managers, Scouts, etc., we’ve now added a new Spouses category to the BioProject website. You can browse all of these categories, and more, at http://sabr.org/bioproj/browse. So if you’ve ever thought, “Hey, that ballplayer’s wife should get the full BioProject treatment herself” — write the story and we’ll publish it!

Get involved! If you’d like to help contribute to the SABR BioProject, visit our BioProject Resources page or read the FAQs section to get started. We’re also looking to expand the BioProject to include all “encyclopedic” articles on baseball-related subjects from past SABR publications or committee newsletters. If you come across an article you think should be included in the SABR “baseball repository” at the BioProject, send a copy or link to markarmour04@gmail.com or jpomrenke@sabr.org.

Almost time to renew your SABR membership

As you probably know by now, we switched to the “rolling calendar” membership system last year. Anyone who joined SABR before then — which is most of you — should renew your SABR membership before December 31 as you’ve done in the past. Thanks again for all your support.

You can renew your membership for 1 year or 3 years online at the SABR Store; by phone at (602) 343-6450; or by mailing this downloadable PDF form and your payment to the SABR office at 4455 E. Camelback Road, Ste. D-140, Phoenix, AZ 85018.

Dues are the same as they have been in recent years: for this, you get three high-quality research publications (two issues of the Baseball Research Journal and one issue of The National Pastime); deep discounts to all publications in the SABR Digital Library; access to research resources such as Paper of Record (with complete archives of The Sporting News); discounts to SABR conferences such as the national convention (Philadelphia 2013), the SABR Analytics Conference, the Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference, and the Arizona Fall League Conference; access to a growing network of SABR baseball community, including our 27 research committees and 60+ regional chapters.

We believe SABR has something for everyone, from the active researcher to someone passionate about baseball. We hope you’ll invite your friends, colleagues and family members to join at http://store.sabr.org.

Registration open for 2013 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 second annual

SABR Analytics Conference
presented by Major League Baseball and Bloomberg Sports
March 7-9, 2013
Phoenix, Arizona

Once again, we’re bringing together the top minds of the baseball analytic community under one roof to discuss, debate and share insightful ways to analyze and examine the great game of baseball.

The schedule will consist 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.

Conference registration is available now at the SABR Store. Click here to register. The conference is open to all baseball fans.

The 2013 SABR Analytics Conference will be held Thursday, March 7 through Saturday, March 9, 2013, in the Phoenix, Arizona area. The World Baseball Classic will also be in Phoenix that weekend, with first-round games scheduled at Chase Field and Salt River Fields at Talking Stick, and we plan to talk more about global baseball issues at the second annual Analytics Conference.

Featured speakers for the 2013 conference are expected to include Stan Kasten, President/CEO of the Los Angeles Dodgers; Derrick Hall, President/CEO of the Arizona Diamondbacks; Brian Kenny, MLB Network host; and many others. More speakers will be announced soon!

Some of the topics we are planning to cover include:

  • General Managers Panel on how analytics shapes front-office decisions
  • Measuring Player Performance
  • New innovations in baseball analytics
  • Player Agents — their view of analytics
  • Advances in medical information and its impact on decisions
  • New applications of PITCHf/x data
  • The use of analytics in scouting
  • Player panel — the impact of data and information on performance
  • The International Game — the next hot spot for talent development

Sportvision is also pleased to announce that it is collaborating with SABR to integrate its fifth PITCHf/x Summit into the 2013 SABR Analytics Conference. Integrating these two popular gatherings of influential baseball analysts and thought leaders will further enhance this event as the premier baseball analytics conference. Sportvision will manage a series of presentations specifically related to f/x data much like the PITCHf/x Summit. The presentations will be integrated with other SABR Analytics talks throughout the course of the event.

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.

The inaugural SABR Analytics Conference in 2012 was an enormous success. For complete coverage of the 2012 SABR Analytics Conference, visit SABR.org/analytics/2012.

Students, apply for a Yoseloff Scholarship to attend 2013 SABR Analytics Conference

With generous funding from The Anthony A. Yoseloff Foundation, Inc., SABR will award up to four scholarships to college students who wish to attend the 2013 SABR Analytics Conference in Phoenix, Arizona, on March 7-9, 2013. This scholarship will pay for registration, transportation and lodging up to a total value of $1,250.

The objective of this scholarship fund is to encourage student engagement with baseball analytics, and to engender an active interest in baseball research and SABR. The Yoseloff scholarship is to assist young researchers who want to attend SABR’s Analytics Conference and to introduce them to fellow SABR members and professionals within the baseball community. Through this fund, SABR hopes to inspire future baseball research, expose students to high-quality research and build the research capability of interested students.

For details on the scholarship requirements or to download an application form, click here. 

Please note: Participants in the Diamond Dollars Case Competition are not eligible for the Yoseloff scholarship.

Students must be currently enrolled in a high school, college undergraduate or graduate program, and be between 18 and 29 years of age at the time of the conference.

Donate to SABR and support the future of baseball research

This has probably been SABR’s most active year since our founding in 1971. We held our first Analytics Conference in March and are busily planning for the next one in March of 2013. Our deal with Major League Baseball Advanced Media provides a far-reaching outlet for our research. SABR 42 in Minneapolis was a tremendous success, and we are looking forward to SABR 43 in Philadelphia. On top of that we published three research journals, the Emerald Guide, and several e-books, continued to build our digital content, and held conferences covering the Negro Leagues, the Arizona Fall League, and 19th Century Baseball.

In the coming year we plan to do all of the above, plus publish a major book on the history of baseball broadcasting, continue to expand the BioProject, and create more team biography books. All of this is made possible by our strong professional staff in Phoenix and our all-star team of volunteer members around the world.

Of course, accomplishing all of this requires funding beyond the annual dues we all pay. The dues allow SABR to survive; it is donations from people like you that help us thrive. Since 2004 we have asked for, and have been fortunate to receive, additional funding from members who believe in what SABR does and can afford to give something extra. Also since 2004, we continue to say thank you to our donors by offering them small gifts to show the appreciation felt by all of our members who care about what we do in support of the greatest game on earth.

SABR is a 501(c)3 organization, which means your donation is tax deductible in the U.S. to the fullest extent of the law.

THE DONOR PROGRAM*

  • $25-$99: receive a “Donor” convention badge ribbon entitling early entry into the SABR Convention Awards Banquet
  • $100-$249: receive the above benefit plus a ticket to the SABR Convention Donor Breakfast that features a “State of SABR” presentation by our executive leadership
  • $250-$499: receive all of the above benefits plus the new SABR Lapel Pin
  • $500-$1,499: receive all of the above benefits plus a SABR MVP Polo Shirt
  • $1,500-$2,499: receive all of the above benefits plus a junior suite upgrade at the SABR Convention hotel
  • $2,500 and up: receive all of the above plus an executive level room upgrade at the SABR Convention hotel.

*convention-related premiums assume payment of registration fees and attendance

Please join me in supporting SABR and send your donation to the address above, or by visiting SABR.org and pressing the convenient DONATE button. By doing so you help SABR fulfill its mission and increase the impact of our baseball analysis and historical study.

— Paul Hirsch

In Memoriam

Todd J. Reigle, 56, a longtime SABR member from Des Peres, Missouri, whose baseball artwork was featured on the cover of The National Pastime #16 in 1996, died on Wednesday, October 31, 2012, due to complications from cancer.

Originally from Trenton, Illinois, Todd graduated from Wesclin High School and McKendree College in 1978 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. He was a graphic designer and illustrator working on campaigns for Anheuser-Busch, among others. He also created fine art, most particularly art of old-time baseball. He was commissioned by Upper Deck to do a series of baseball cards entitled “All Time Heroes of Baseball,” and his work “Frisch, Medwick & Landis – ’34 Series” is featured in the permanent collection of the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. His most recent work and passion was abstract wood sculpture which has been exhibited and sold in many galleries.

He is survived by his wife, Bonnie Murray; son Cameron Ketrow; mother Carol Reigle; siblings Timothy Reigle, Carolyn Turner (Mike) and Clare Sedlacek; and many nieces and nephews.

Contributions in his memory may be made to the Humane Society of Missouri. A celebration of his life will be scheduled later this year.

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 New Member 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.

Here is a list of new members:

Name Hometown     Name Hometown
Chuck Boyer Sun Lakes, AZ     Jeff Jackson Monroe, MI
Conor Brooks Dorchester, MA     Paul Janides Lake Worth, FL
Ken Colburn Concord Twp, OH     Jim Margalus Albany, NY
Craig Connell Lockport, NY     Roger Parmelee Carlisle, PA
Vern Easley Bow, NH     Robert Welch Chestnut Hill, MA
Brian Eisenstein Cambridge, MA     Josh Whetzel Rochester, NY
Holden French Pomona, NY     Bill White Clifton, VA
Josh Goldberg New York, NY     Walter Yost Carmichael, CA
Ray Istorico Sarasota, FL     Jan Yuvan Shorewood, IL

 

Research committee newsletters

Here are the SABR research committee newsletters published this week:

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

Chapter meeting recaps

Here are the chapter meeting recaps published 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.

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

Find exclusive Members’ Only resources and information here: http://members.sabr.org

Did you know you can renew your membership at any time? 1- and 3-year SABR memberships are available by clicking “Renew” at http://members.sabr.org. Please also consider a donation to SABR to support baseball research at SABR.org/donate.

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Originally published: November 9, 2012. Last Updated: April 3, 2020.

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