This Week in SABR: September 13, 2013

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Welcome to “This Week in SABR!” Here’s what we’ve been up to as of September 13, 2013:

Register now for 2013 SABR Arizona Fall League Conference

The fifth annual SABR Arizona Fall League Conference will be held October 31-November 2, 2013. The conference will feature four AFL games at three different ballparks. Guests will see all six AFL teams, showcasing every major league team’s top prospects. The final game on Saturday night is the Fall Stars Game at Surprise Stadium.

All baseball fans are welcome to attend, so join us next month for the SABR Arizona Fall League Conference!

Hotel: The host hotel is the Holiday Inn Express & Suites in Old Town Scottsdale (3131 N. Scottsdale Rd., Scottsdale, AZ 85251) and the SABR group rate is $104/night plus tax. Call (480) 675-7605 to book your room and be sure to mention the “SABR AFL Conference.” The hotel’s website is www.hiescottsdalehotel.com. Reservations must be booked by October 4, 2013.

There is a free airport shuttle which also is available from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. for rides anywhere within a three-mile radius of the hotel.

Schedule: After taking in a game on Thursday afternoon, guests will also be treated to dinner at Don and Charlie’s, home to one of the great sports memorabilia collections you will ever see. Friday’s schedule includes two AFL games and a pregame ballpark dinner at Talking Stick at Salt River, along with a special guest speaker to go along with your meal.

On Saturday morning, attendees will join members of SABR’s Flame Delhi (Arizona) Chapter for their regional fall meeting. Saturday night is always a highlight of the conference as the top prospects from every organization participate in the AFL Fall Stars game. All of this, including transportation, is included in one low registration price.

Registration: Your registration fee of $165 (before October 4; $175 afterward) includes all game tickets; an AFL Media Guide; dinner at Don and Charlie’s; ballpark dinner at Talking Stick at Salt River; and transportation to and from all events. Hotel registration includes breakfast and complementary happy hour each day. Register for the 2013 SABR AFL Conference by clicking here. Questions: Please Contact Rodney Johnson at sabrrodney@aol.com.

The Arizona Fall League (mlbfallball.com) is baseball’s premier player development league. In the first four years of the conference, attendees were treated to sneak peeks at Mike Trout, Bryce Harper, Buster Posey, Stephen Strasburg, Nolan Arenado, Gerrit Cole and Billy Hamilton before they hit the big leagues.

A detailed schedule and more information can be found at SABR.org/AFL.

Retroactive All-Star Game Project: Vote for the 1916 All-Stars

Every baseball fan knows the first All-Star Game was played in Chicago in 1933. But calls for a midseason All-Star contest go back years earlier. For example, check out this article by F.C. Lane from “Baseball Magazine” in the offseason of 1915-16.

We can’t go back in time to change history and replay those lost potential All-Star Games on the field. But with a good game simulator and the recent availability of midseason stats going back to 1916, we can arrive at a good idea of who probably would have played in those All-Star Games and how they might have turned out.

That’s what we’re doing with the Retroactive All-Star Game Project.

We’ll use the statistics available at Baseball-Reference.com for the first halves of the 1916 through 1932 seasons, and determine midseason All-Stars for those years. Then using Out of the Park 14, the games will be played.

And as they did in 1933, the fans — meaning you — will get to vote for the All-Star Game starters, including starting pitchers, which is how they did it back then. (Bonus: no designated hitters.)

Starting right now, you can vote for the 1916 All-Star starters and pitchers here:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ASG1916

Voting will be open until 3:00 a.m. EDT on September 27, 2013. At that time, we will count up the votes, put together the rosters, and sim the game.

Then the box score and the game account will be posted, written in 1916-style, on Seamheads.com the following week. While you’re waiting for that to appear, you’ll be able to vote on the 1917 All-Stars (TBA soon.) We’ll rinse and repeat, every two weeks, until we’ve played all the All-Star Games through 1932.

Sound interesting? If you’ve read this far, you must be. So click on this link:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ASG1916

… and vote today, and be on the lookout in early October for the first Retroactive All-Star Game story on Seamheads.com.

— Chuck Hildebrandt

Elmer Flick statue dedication ceremony Sept. 25 in Bedford, Ohio

On September 25, a bronze statue of Hall of Fame outfielder Elmer Flick will be unveiled in his hometown of Bedford, Ohio.

The Flick statue was created by noted local artist Ron Dewey and will be permanently displayed in the Bedford town square. In a 13-year major league career shortened by illness, Flick, the American League batting champ in 1905, compiled offensive numbers well above most of his Deadball Era peers, an achievement recognized by his induction to Cooperstown in 1963. Flick died in Bedford in 1971, two days short of his 95th birthday.

The Flick statue will be located within an infield made of light brown pavers. The Elmer Flick Recognition Committee is offering for sale pavers that can be personalized or inscribed in the memory of a loved one for $100 and $50.

For more information on ordering a paver or regarding the Flick statue dedication ceremony, contact SABR Deadball Era Committee member Jim Wagner at jim.wags@sbcglobal.net or the Flick Recognition Committee via http://www.elmerflick.com.

Take a private tour of early baseball graves on October 18 at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn

His death at 21 shocked the baseball world. He never signed a contract. He is not a member of the baseball Hall of Fame.

But in the early 1860s, Jim Creighton revolutionized the game of baseball. He threw the first fastball, making the pitcher a weapon and transforming the game itself from a hitting contest into today’s sublime battle for control of the strike zone. His baseball-themed grave monument was from its earliest days — and still is — a place of pilgrimage for ballplayers and lovers of the game.

Today, Jim needs us. Over the years, the marble pedestal and “lemon peel” baseball that once crowned Creighton’s grave have disappeared. Green-Wood Cemetery has established a fund to recarve this missing piece and restore the monument to its original state. To date, enough money has been raised that we are optimistic that with a little help from SABR’s Casey Stengel Chapter in New York City and friends, we can reach our goal of completing the work – and inviting donors back for the unveiling — in 2014.

On October 18, 2013, exactly a century and a year after Jim Creighton’s death, Green-Wood will offer a unique tour for SABR members and their friends.

Green-Wood historian Jeff Richman and author Tom Gilbert will lead a tour of the graves of Creighton, Henry Chadwick, James Whyte Davis, Charles Ebbets and other early baseball heroes. They will give graveside talks on topics such as the “Mystery of Jim Creighton’s Demise,” “Baseball’s Baffling Paternity Case,” and “What Happened at Charles Ebbets’s Funeral That May Have Doomed the Brooklyn Dodgers.”

Guests will also be treated to a rare look inside Green-Wood’s archives, including a letter on early Dodgers stationery signed by Charles Ebbets, and a note signed by President Theodore Roosevelt, who dubbed Henry Chadwick “The Father of Baseball,” as well as other signatures of early baseball greats.

The tour is limited to 60 participants (warning: this event is expected to sell out quickly).

Through September 23, ticket sales will be limited to SABR members only. After that date, any remaining tickets will be available for purchase by the general public.

Guests will ride in comfort in Green-Wood’s trolley. The tour will take place at 5:00 p.m. on Friday, October 18, 2013. Along with a bit of baseball time travel, guests will enjoy stunning fall foliage, breathtaking views of the Manhattan skyline, and the sunset over New York Harbor. Afterward, please join us for — what else? — beer and hot dogs (the inventor of the hot dog is at Green-Wood!) in the cemetery’s Historic Chapel.

Tickets to the tour are $125, of which all but $25 is tax-deductible. Additional contributions are gratefully accepted.

To reserve your place on the tour and to donate to the Jim Creighton Monument Restoration Fund, click here.

Print edition of expanded The National Pastime is now available for purchase

The National Pastime, SABR’s annual convention journal, is now larger than ever — and while all SABR members can download the expanded e-edition for free in PDF, EPUB (iPad/Nook) or Kindle formats, you can now also purchase it in paperback form for $19.95 by clicking on the link below:

http://www.createspace.com/4413177

The expanded edition, which at 252 pages is more than twice the size of the souvenir print edition offered to SABR 43 attendees in Philadelphia, tells a comprehensive story of baseball in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley — the site of the 2013 SABR convention. SABR’s Connie Mack Chapter received well over 50 submissions in response to the call for papers, in addition to suggestions for reprints. The full electronic edition is over 160,000 words reflecting the strength and scope of the articles received.

In addition to the e-edition and print edition, you can also read articles from the full TNP online by clicking on the link below:

http://sabr.org/research/2013-national-pastime

Starting this year, the print edition of the TNP — which does not include the extra articles in the expanded e-edition — is being offered as a souvenir to SABR members attending the annual convention as part of our expanded Publications program led by editor Cecilia Tan. By publishing larger versions of the TNP online and in e-book format, more SABR members will have a chance to have their work published and SABR members will have the opportunity to read more top-level articles every summer.

Since 2009, The National Pastime has served as SABR’s convention-focused publication. Published annually, this research journal provides in-depth articles focused on the respective geographic region where the national convention is taking place in a given year.

For more coverage of SABR 43, visit SABR.org/convention.

Apply for a Fall 2013 internship with SABR

The Society for American Baseball Research is seeking Fall 2013 interns to work in our office in Phoenix, Arizona.

An internship with SABR will involve responsibilities across a variety of disciplines, possibly including:

  • Working on-site at a local SABR conference, such as the SABR Arizona Fall League Conference
  • Working with our Membership Director or Director of Operations on organizational duties, membership renewal drives, customer service
  • Working with our Web Editor to help publish and/or produce content for our website at SABR.org

Interested candidates should be able to demonstrate basic office-related computer skills. HTML knowledge is a plus.

A working knowledge of baseball — and an awareness of the game’s general history and basic statistics — is required.

The 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 and cover letter in PDF form to mappleman@sabr.org or jpomrenke@sabr.org by 5:00 p.m. MST Friday, September 13, 2013. That’s tonight!

Call for papers: 2014 NINE Spring Training Conference

The 21st annual NINE Spring Training Conference invites original, unpublished papers that study all aspects of baseball, with particular emphasis on history and social policy implications. Abstracts only, not to exceed 300 words, should be submitted by December 3, 2013, to tstrecker@bsu.edu.

Authors will be notified as quickly as possible whether their papers have been accepted. Authors are required to register for the conference and present their work in person.

The 21st annual NINE Spring Training Conference on the Historical and Sociological Impact of Baseball will be held Wednesday, March 12-Saturday, March 15, 2014, at the Fiesta Resort Conference Center, 2100 South Priest Drive, Tempe, Arizona.

The keynote speaker is George Gmelch, professor of anthropology at the University of San Francisco and Union College, and the author of a dozen books, including In the Ballpark, Inside Pitch: Life in Professional Baseball, and Baseball without Borders.

The 2014 SABR Seymour Medal will also be presented at the NINE Conference.

Conference registration forms are available online on the NINE website at http://nine.iweb.bsu.edu/registration.htm.

Sign up now for 2014 baseball tour of Cuba

The 12th annual Cubaball Tour, organized and operated by SABR member Kit Krieger, is scheduled for January 17-25, 2014. The 9-day and 8-night program will feature 5 or 6 National Series games in various ballparks in western Cuba with the locales awaiting the publication of the Cuban schedule. In addition to attending games, tour participants will visit a baseball academy, visit the baseball monuments in Havana’s Cristobal Colon cemetery and La Tropical Stadium, home of the Cuban Winter League teams from 1930-1946.

Cubaballistas saw Yasiel Puig in Cienfuegos, Kendry Morales with the Industriales and Alexei Ramierez with Pinar del Rio. They meet with players past and present, highlighted by a memorable visit with 102-year old Connie Marrero.

The tour package includes:

  • 8 nights accommodation at historic 4- to 5-star hotels in Havana and 3- to 4-star hotels in outlying cities, with daily breakfast, as determined by the baseball schedule
  • The final itinerary will be set upon release of the 2013/14 Cuban National Series baseball schedule
  • Best seats for all National Series games
  • All activities, speakers, meetings and admissions as specified in the itinerary
  • Expert Cuban and English-speaking tour guide
  • Deluxe air-conditioned motor coach
  • Airport transfers as available

The registration window is a short one and the tour is limited to 25 people.

Visit www.prime-travel.com, call (604) 880-4512 or send an e-mail at ejkrieger@shaw.ca for more information or special travel requirements needed. More than 100 SABR members have enjoyed the Cubaball experience since 2001 and rank it among the most memorable baseball and travel experiences of their lives.

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 2,549 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 SABR.org/BioProject.

Bios on more than just ballplayers: The ambitious goal of the SABR Baseball Biography Project is to publish a full-life biography of every major league player in history. But SABR members write about a lot more than just ballplayers. In addition, we have pages for Ballparks, Broadcasters, Executives, Managers, Scouts, Spouses, Umpires and a lot more on the BioProject website. You can browse all of these categories at http://sabr.org/bioproj/browse. So if you’ve ever thought, “Hey, that person (or ballpark) should get the full BioProject treatment” — write the story and we’ll publish it!

Check out the Baseball Ballparks Project: The SABR Baseball Biography Project has been accepting/publishing “biographies” of Ballparks for a few years, and we have 39 of them on our website at http://sabr.org/bioproj/parks. However, this thing just got real. Ballparks are now its very own PROJECT — the Baseball Ballparks Project, our first official spin-off. The project leader is Scott Ferkovich, who is now in charge of recruiting ballparks articles and publicizing them. Learn more by clicking here.

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.

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: http://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 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.

Name Hometown     Name Hometown
Michael Bragg Glen Jean, AL     Shawn Ledingham Los Angeles, CA
Bill Brewster Naperville, IL     Charles Mackey Phoenix, AZ
Matthew Callan Maspeth, NY     Jeff Mitchel Fort Worth, TX
John Dittrich Tempe, IL     Makoto Ozawa Scarsdale, NY
Mark Donald Toronto, ON     Mark Randall Trumann, AR
Dino Fire Jenison, MI     Daniel Smith Victoria, IL
Gordon Greene Brewster, NY     Matthew Stone New York, NY
Ken Kaiser Scotch Plains, NJ        

 

Research committee newsletters

Here are the new SABR research committee newsletters published this week:

  • Deadball Era: September 2013
  • Oral History: We’d like to extend a warm welcome to John Ringle of Columbus, Ohio, and Justin Murphy of Rochester, New York, who were unanimously approved by the Board of Directors last week as the new co-chairs of the Oral History Research Committee. To learn more, visit SABR.org/research/oral-history-research-committee. 

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

Chapter meeting news

Here are the new 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.

This Week in SABR is compiled by Jacob Pomrenke, and sent out to all SABR members on Fridays. 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 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.

Are you following us on Twitter or Facebook? Get SABR updates every day at @SABR or by searching “SABR” on Facebook.

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: September 13, 2013. Last Updated: April 3, 2020.

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