This Week in SABR: October 16, 2020

October 16, 2020/in This Week in SABR /by Jacob Pomrenke

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 October 16, 2020:

SABR unveils 50th Anniversary logo for 2021

As 2020 draws to a close, SABR is excited to look ahead and celebrate a major milestone: the organization’s 50th anniversary in 2021.

SABR’s 50th Anniversary logo, created by SABR member and renowned sports designer Todd Radom, proudly commemorates the organization’s Golden Anniversary year, which will include celebrating events and programming including on SABR Day and Golden Ticket winner announcement (January 30); the SABR 50 convention (June 16-20 in Baltimore); and the SABR 50 at 50 Project monthly web series.

“I’m so excited to lend a hand in helping SABR commemorate this milestone year. The logo is celebratory and rooted in baseball tradition, punctuated with a touch of bright gold — a reverent nod to SABR’s golden anniversary,” Radom said. “I’m proud to be a SABR member as we embark upon this landmark occasion, honoring the past and looking forward to a bright future together.”

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

Deborah Jayne to leave SABR staff in November

After serving for nearly a decade as SABR’s award-winning events and membership director, Deborah Jayne will be leaving her role on the SABR staff at the end of November.

Jayne’s leadership in overseeing the logistics planning and management of SABR’s national events — including the Annual Convention, Analytics Conference, and Arizona Fall League Experience — since 2011 has led to record-setting attendance and revenue increases for the organization. Jayne has also held concurrent responsibilities as SABR’s membership director, managing the online member database and helping current and new members navigate their membership experience.

“Deb has been the friendly voice and smiling face greeting our members and has been integral to SABR’s membership experience,” SABR CEO Scott Bush said. “Her enthusiasm for baseball and SABR as an organization will be missed even more than her sizable contributions to SABR’s growth.”

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

Join SABR’s Golden Lineup to help us celebrate our 50th Anniversary!

Members like you are helping us turn our shared vision into a reality. As 2020 draws to a close, we hope you will renew and, if your means allow, even increase your support for SABR’s mission.

You can join SABR’s Golden Lineup by making a gift of at least $100 by December 31, 2020. We will use your best gift of $100, $250, $500, or $1,000 to bring more young people into the beautiful world of baseball; to publish groundbreaking books and articles; and to promote research, preservation, and scholarship.

Click here to make a contribution and join SABR’s Golden Lineup

All donors joining the Golden Lineup with a $100 gift or more will receive a copy of From Rube to Robinson, our anthology of research celebrating the centennial anniversary of the Negro Leagues.

Donors supporting SABR with a gift of $500 or more will also receive a miniature Rawlings Gold Glove Award replica and be entered to win the SABR Golden Ticket.

The winner of the SABR Golden Ticket will receive:

Lifetime membership to SABR
All expenses paid to a SABR conference of their choice
Attend the 2021 Rawlings Gold Glove Award Banquet in New York City

Visit SABR.org/donate/2020 to learn more.

SABR 50 at 50: Record-Setting Events

As part of the SABR 50 at 50 project to commemorate the organization’s fiftieth anniversary, the SABR Baseball Records Committee offers 50 notable record-setting events for the past 50 years.

When SABR was founded in 1971, baseball’s major leagues had been around for 100 years and many of its statistical achievements seemed unassailable. Looking back, it is therefore remarkable how many legendary records were broken in the past half-century, marks held by Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Ty Cobb, and George Sisler, among many others. These are the 50 we find to be the most interesting. (To be eligible, we considered only major-league records.)

Visit SABR.org/50at50/records to view the list and read the short description for each of the records. Click on the title above the image to read stories from the SABR BioProject, Games Project, or Baseball-Reference box scores for each game.

— Mark Armour

In Memoriam: Joe Morgan and Whitey Ford

The baseball world continues to mourn with the deaths of two more Hall of Fame legends this week.

At 5-feet-7 and 140 pounds, Joe Morgan did not seem a likely prospect for professional baseball. Who could have guessed that he would go on to become a two-time Most Valuable Player in the National League, a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, and almost universal recognition as one of the greatest second basemen in the history of major-league baseball? Morgan, who died at the age of 77 on October 11, developed into an All-Star second baseman in Houston, then moved on to Cincinnati in a blockbuster eight-player trade before the 1972 season. He led the Reds to a National League pennant in his first season there and became the unlikely engine of the Big Red Machine, a dynasty that won back-to-back World Series championships in 1975 and ’76. As his longtime teammate Johnny Bench said, “Joe Morgan was quite simply the best baseball player I played against or saw.”

No compilation of baseball’s all-time top left-handed pitchers is complete without Whitey Ford, who died at the age of 91 on October 8. His 236 wins made him the winningest pitcher in the storied history of the New York Yankees. He incurred only 106 defeats, giving him a lifetime winning percentage of .690, the highest for major-league pitchers with more than 200 victories after 1900. Ford’s best year may have been the fabled 1961 season, when he went 25-4 and won the Cy Young Award. Mickey Mantle said about his old running buddy, “Line up all the pitchers in the world in front of me, and give me first choice, and I’d pick Whitey.” Casey Stengel expressed similar sentiments: “If you had one game to win and your life depended on it, you’d want [Ford] to pitch it.”

Related links:

Download your free copy of Turnstyle: The SABR Journal of Baseball Arts, Volume 2

A new publication produced by SABR’s Baseball and the Arts Committee vividly brings to life the art and literature of the game we all love:

Turnstyle: The SABR Journal of Baseball Arts, Volume 2 (2020)
Edited by Joanne Hulbert and Jay Hurd
ISBN (e-book): 978-1-9701-5944-8, $5.99
ISBN (paperback): 978-1-9701-5945-5, $9.95
6″ x 9″, 117 pages

Click here for the full description of this journal at SABR.org.

SABR members, get this e-book for FREE!

E-book: Click here to download the e-book version of Turnstyle, Volume 2 for FREE from the SABR Store. Available in PDF, Kindle/MOBI and EPUB formats.
Paperback: Get a 50% discount on the Turnstyle, Volume 2 paperback edition from the SABR Store ($12.95 includes shipping/tax; delivery via Kindle Direct Publishing can take up to 4-6 weeks.)

Click here to download or purchase a copy of Turnstyle, Volume 1 (2019).

Join us for more Stay Home With SABR virtual events

SABR chapters and committees are encouraged to set up virtual meetings to stay engaged with our members throughout the world at SABR.org, as part of our Stay Home With SABR initiative to assist in limiting the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

This week, we heard from Boston Red Sox great Luis Tiant on the 45th anniversary of his 1975 World Series gem; The League of Outsider Baseball author Gary Cieradkowski; Babe Ruth: A Superstar’s Legacy author Jerry Amernic; and Jonathan Popovich as part of the SABR Nineteenth Century Committee’s monthly Speaker Series.

Here are some more upcoming virtual events you can attend online; check the Events Calendar for complete details:

October 17: NW Ohio Chapter book club meeting with David Fleitz (9:00 a.m. EDT)
October 17: Cool Papa Bell Chapter (Miss.) meeting with Bill Nowlin (12:00 p.m. CDT)
October 17: Rogers Hornsby Chapter (Texas) meeting with Bill Brown (1:00 p.m. CDT)
October 19: Central Florida Chapter meeting with Victor Rojas (7:00 p.m. EDT)
October 19: Larry Dierker Chapter (Texas) meeting with Bill Nowlin (7:00 p.m. CDT)
October 21: Baltimore Babe Ruth Chapter meeting with Adam Korengold (12:00 p.m. EDT)
October 21: Rocky Mountain Chapter meeting (12:30 p.m. MDT)
October 21: Roush-Lopez Gulf Coast (Florida) Chapter meeting with Dan Hirsch (7:00 p.m. EDT)
October 22: Magnolia (Ga.) Chapter meeting with Brian Morrow (7:30 p.m. EDT)
October 24: Schott-Pelican (La.) Chapter meeting (10:00 a.m. CDT)
October 24: Ken Keltner Badger State (Wis.) Chapter meeting with Bill Nowlin and Bill Pearch (1:00 p.m. CDT)
October 25: Detroit Chapter book club meeting (7:00 p.m. EDT)
October 26: SABR Board of Directors conference call (8:00 p.m. EDT)

Find more upcoming virtual meetings on our SABR Events Calendar page.

Click here to view replays of any SABR virtual event in 2020.

SABR Digital Library: Baseball’s Biggest Blowout Games

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

Baseball’s Biggest Blowout Games
Edited by Bill Nowlin
Associate editors: Len Levin and Carl Riechers
ISBN (paperback): 978-1-9701-5943-1, $24.95
ISBN (ebook): 978-1-9701-5942-4, $9.99
8.5″ x 11″, 396 pages

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

SABR members, get this e-book for FREE!

E-book: Click here to download the e-book version of Baseball’s Biggest Blowout Games for FREE from the SABR Store. Available in PDF, Kindle/MOBI and EPUB formats.
Paperback: Get a 50% discount on the Baseball’s Biggest Blowout Games paperback edition from the SABR Store ($17.95 includes shipping/tax; delivery via Kindle Direct Publishing can take up to 4-6 weeks.)

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.

SABR members can download all of our Digital Library e-books for free or get 50% off the paperback edition. Find all past titles at SABR.org/ebooks.

SABR office continuing to work remotely

The SABR office, housed at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication in Phoenix, Arizona, has been closed indefinitely due to the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) situation. Staff members will work remotely until it is advisable to resume normal operations on-site.

Please contact a member of the SABR staff by email or phone with any questions.

SABRcast with Rob Neyer: Listen to an interview with the Baseball Project’s Scott McCaughey

Baseball fans, tune in this season to SABRcast with Rob Neyer, a weekly podcast hosted by award-winning author and longtime SABR member Rob Neyer.

Episode #81 on Monday, October 12 featured Scott McCaughey, an accomplished musician who has been touring and recording with the likes of R.E.M., The Minus 5, Young Fresh Fellows, and many other bands for four decades. He is also the lead singer and guitarist for The Baseball Project, a rock ‘n’ roll super-group that has produced three albums with stories on baseball fandom and history, and once even played a raucous show during a SABR convention.

Visit SABR.org/sabrcast to listen to the full episode.

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. To learn more, visit SABR.org/sabrcast.

10 new SABR biographies published

Ten new biographies were posted this week as part of the SABR Baseball Biography Project. Here are the new bios published this week:

Joe Astroth, by Robert Cole (first-time author)
Dick Blaisdell, by Paul Proia
Craig Counsell, by Hunter Seidler (first-time author)
Whitey Glazner, by Darren Gibson
Ed Jurak, by Bill Nowlin
Wild Bill Luhrsen, by Darren Gibson
Barney McFadden, by Malcolm Allen
Connie McGeehan, by Malcolm Allen
C.I. Taylor, by Bill Johnson
Jim Walkup, by Gregory H. Wolf

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

Find any SABR biography: You can visit sabr.org/bioproject to search for any player — or manager, executive, scout, spouse, broadcaster, or umpire — who appears in the SABR BioProject. In addition, we have pages for Ballparks, Broadcasters, Executives, Games, Managers, Scouts, Spouses, Umpires, Writers, people who were Famous Outside Baseball, and a lot more.
Sign up to view Trello submission pipeline: Chief Editor Rory Costello has made the BioProject submission pipeline visible to project contributors using the signboard app Trello. If you would like to see the pipeline — to know where your story stands in the review process or how many articles we have in the system — e-mail Rory for an invitation to become an observer.

14 new stories published by the SABR Games Project

Fourteen new game stories were posted this week as part of the SABR Games Project, including articles from our recent SABR Digital Library book on the 1946 Newark Eagles. Here are the new game stories:

May 5, 1946: Leon Day throws Opening Day no-hitter for Newark Eagles, by Frederick C. Bush
August 15, 1946: Newark Eagles quartet sparks East to victory in Negro Leagues all-star game, by Frederick C. Bush and Mark S. Sternman
August 11, 1946: Leon Day pitches 15 innings, hits game-winning homer for Newark Eagles, by Bob LeMoine
August 18, 1946: Artie Wilson turns in a star performance in Negro Leagues East-West Classic, by Frederick C. Bush and Mark S. Sternman
September 17-29, 1946: Newark Eagles get the best of Kansas City Monarchs in Negro League World Series, by Rich Puerzer
July 11, 1954: Giants’ Don Mueller hits for the cycle, while Willie Mays just misses, by Mike Huber
July 14, 1956: Boston’s Mel Parnell makes last stand, tosses no-hitter at Fenway Park, by Christopher D. Clavis (first-time author)
September 3, 1960: Baseball bids farewell to Allentown — for 47 years, by Kurt Blumenau
June 8, 1964: Orioles go down on the farm in Aberdeen, by Kurt Blumenau
June 16, 1964: Ken Boyer breaks out of slump and hits for a natural cycle, by Mike Huber
June 19, 1979: John Fulgham pitches complete game in Cardinals debut, by Tom Schott
June 18, 1994: Terry Steinbach’s 4 RBIs power A’s over Rangers, by Peter Seidel
October 10, 1999: Red Sox score postseason record 23 runs to smash Cleveland in ALDS Game 4, by Bill Nowlin
July 20, 2004: Albert Pujols’s epic 3-homer day leads Cardinals’ stunning rally, by Tim Odzer

New Games Project stories can be found 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.
Social media: Follow the SABR Games Project on Twitter or Facebook to keep up with new stories and updates.

Listen to recent episodes 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 at a new time. Listen to new episodes at 5:00-6:00 p.m. ET on Saturdays on MLB Network Radio.

You can also listen to archives of recent episodes on-demand on the SiriusXM Internet Radio app.

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

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.

Name	Hometown	Name	Hometown
James Attwood	Tempe, AZ	James Pollock	La Jolla, CA
Dana Berry	Granville, OH	Brian Ross	Dexter, MI
John Fischer	Hopkinton, MA	Denny Schanz	St. Louis, MO
Owen Fletcher	Hyannis, MA	Dan Schultz	Golden Valley, MN
Lew Leathersich	Beverly, MA	David Thomas	Kernersville, NC
Andrew Mitchell	Washington, DC	Tyler Vuxta	Charlotte, NC
Bob Muldoon	Boston, MA	David West	W. Hollywood, CA
Daniel Pepe	Armonk, NY	Rich Zawacki	Rancho Mission Viejo, CA

Research Committee news

Here are the new research committee updates this week:

Deadball Era: October 2020 newsletter

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

Regional Chapter news

Here are the new regional chapter updates this week:

Boston Chapter: Read a new “Dispatches From the Mudville Bureau,” by Joanne Hulbert (Boston, MA)

Visit SABR.org/chapters for more information on SABR regional chapters.

SABR Events Calendar

Scroll up to the top of this newsletter to learn more about the upcoming virtual events on the SABR calendar. In addition, the following in-person events are coming up; please check the Events Calendar for more details:

October 20: Bob Davids Chapter Maryland Hot Stove Dinner (Silver Spring, MD)

We strongly recommend that all SABR chapters follow CDC public health guidelines and your local/state government regulations when scheduling any in-person meetings and events.

Find details on all upcoming meetings on our SABR Events Calendar page.

Around the Web

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

Chris Lamb: Octavius Catto fought for black voting rights and was killed for it (Washington Post)
Shakeia Taylor: Cumberland Posey, Negro Leagues legend (MLB.com)
Holly Van Leuven: For a Black Man, the Negro Leagues Could Be a Trial of Resilience. Imagine Being a Woman (Sports Illustrated)
Mark Simon: 2020 Fielding Bible Awards preview (ACTA Sports)
Rustin Dodd/Brittany Ghiroli: ‘You can’t teach being cool’: Dusty Baker and the art of managing (The Athletic)
Hannah Keyser: The who, why and how of MLB’s decision to allow fans at the NLCS and World Series (Yahoo! Sports)
Emma Baccellieri: What Does the Kershaw Playoff Narrative Mean? (Sports Illustrated)
Meg Rowley: On Feeling Embarrassed at Work (FanGraphs)
James Wagner: Randy Arozarena, the Rays’ Cuban Star, Was Honed in Mexico (New York Times)
Jayson Stark: Weird and Wild, Astros-Rays ALCS Game 5 (The Athletic)
Jay Jaffe: October Trends: How the 2020 Postseason Stacks Up (FanGraphs)
Ryan Fagan: ‘It has been absolutely insane’: Trading card industry has boomed during pandemic (Sporting News)
Rob Mains: Six Things To Know About the Potential Sale of the Red Sox (Baseball Prospectus)
Claire Smith: Joe Morgan loved baseball but also challenged its outdated practices (The Undefeated)
Andrew Baggarly: Giants coach Alyssa Nakken reflects on her historic season (The Athletic)
Roger Cormier: You Know You’re Right: The Myths of Babe Ruth (Baseball Prospectus)
Corey Brock: ‘Tommy’s gang’: The homegrown Dodgers who formed the best team in the minors (The Athletic)
Andrew Battifarano: Monsters of the Minors: Frank Shellenback dominated PCL (MiLB.com)

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.

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