This Week in SABR: September 3, 2021

September 3, 2021/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. Please note: The SABR office will be closed on Monday, September 6 for the Labor Day holiday. Here’s what we’ve been up to as of September 3, 2021:

One week left to sign up for 2021 SABR/IWBC Women in Baseball Conference

There’s still time left to sign up for the third annual SABR/IWBC Women in Baseball Conference, hosted by SABR and the International Women’s Baseball Center, which will be held virtually on September 10-12, 2021.

Click here to register online for the SABR/IWBC Women in Baseball Conference

The conference will be highlighted by keynote speaker Dana Bookman, founder and CEO of Canadian Girls Baseball and the founding Vice President of American Girls Baseball; a presentation about an upcoming documentary film, Her Game is Hardball, with director/producer Mark Durand and writer/producer Selena Roberts; a virtual awards ceremony and pylon unveiling; panel discussions on international umpires, with Lisa Turbitt, Sophiyah Liu, Eva Moo, and Perry Barber; researching women’s baseball with Cecilia Tan and Kate Haines; and personal stories, with Laura Hirai and Suzie Hunter; and more insightful research presentations.

Attendees can also participate in the SABR/IWBC Women in Baseball Raffle. Prizes include a Rockford Peaches jigsaw puzzle; Phil Niekro signed baseball; Bob Feller signed baseball; Colorado Silver Bullets baseball cards; AAGPBL bobblehead; and more.

This year’s conference theme is “Breaking Barriers: Women in Baseball Around the World.”

Register: Click here to register online. The conference is open to all baseball fans.
Cost: Virtual attendance is $50 per person, and includes access to all panels and presentations, pylon unveiling, a digital program, and 1 raffle ticket. Additional raffle tickets are $5 apiece.
Schedule: Click here for complete details on panels and presentations.
Contact: For questions, please contact Leslie Heaphy or Kat Williams.

For more details, visit SABR.org/women-in-baseball-conference.

SABR Research Collection celebrates new Baseball Hall of Fame inductees in 2021

On Wednesday, September 8, the Baseball Hall of Fame welcomes four new members: Derek Jeter, Ted Simmons, Larry Walker, and Marvin Miller. SABR celebrates Cooperstown’s Class of 2021 by highlighting Research Collection articles featuring the new inductees.

SABR’s BioProject provides comprehensive biographies of Jeter, Simmons, Walker, and Miller. Author Alan Cohen follows Jeter from a childhood encounter with another Hall-bound Yankee through nearly two decades of stellar play in the Bronx. Gregory Wolf explores Simmons’s spectacular offensive output, resulting in late-blooming Hall of Fame recognition. Cohen chronicles Walker’s path to becoming only the second Canadian-born player selected for Cooperstown. Bill Johnson’s new biography of Miller remembers a groundbreaking career of labor leadership.

SABR’s Games Project offers career-spanning stories for the three players in the Class of 2021, including nine new articles. Coverage of Jeter begins with a snow-delayed Opening Day in 1996, continues through his iconic “Jeter Flip” and “Mr. November” games of 2001’s postseason, late-career highlights like his 3,000th hit and final game at Yankee Stadium, and visits eastern Pennsylvania to catch him on a 2013 minor-league rehab assignment.

Simmons appears in a 1969 minor-league game as a “designated pinch hitter” — a test program foreshadowing baseball’s future. Subsequent articles evoke big-batting days with the St. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers, along with a stellar performance when those teams played in the 1982 World Series. Recast as a reserve during the twilight of his career, Simmons leads the Atlanta Braves’ “Bomb Squad,” boosting morale and contributing clutch pinch-hits.

Walker’s journey begins a long way from fame, as an undrafted teenager on a roster drawn from three different big-league farm systems, and that’s where the Games Project finds him in Utica in 1985. Later articles catch him on the upswing as a Montreal Expo, with his first career two-homer game and a clutch hit against a Canadian countryman; show him bashing baseballs around Coors Field with the Colorado Rockies; and conclude his career with the St. Louis Cardinals in his only World Series appearance.

Find all published SABR biographies for Baseball Hall of Fame inductees by clicking here.

SABR Member Benefit Spotlight: Joining Groups

As a SABR member, you have vast resources and benefits at your disposal. With so much information at your fingertips, we realize it can be overwhelming to absorb it all! The SABR Member Benefit Spotlight series identifies and explains some of the most valuable features of your membership. We hope this allows you to take full advantage of all SABR has to offer.

This month’s issue shows you how to join additional chapters, research committees, and chartered community groups. While your primary chapter may be the one closest to you geographically, all members are eligible to join any SABR group that interests you!

Click here to watch a short video on how to join additional SABR chapters, committees, and chartered communities.

— Scott Carter

Call for papers: 2022 SABR Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference

In 2022, SABR’s Negro Leagues Research Committee will host the SABR Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference, which will be held on June 2-4, 2022, in Birmingham, Alabama. In addition to two days of research presentations and player/author panels, attendees will also enjoy special presentations about local black baseball and a baseball game with the Birmingham Barons.

This interdisciplinary conference welcomes proposals for oral and poster presentations from all research fields. Previous presenters have included college faculty, public school teachers, graduate students, and independent scholars. Presentations may focus on any topic related to the Negro League centennial, black baseball in Birmingham, or other related topics, especially the Negro Southern League. Some possibilities include: Rube Foster; the 1920 season; the formation of the NSL, the formation of the NNL, the original eight teams, and so much more.

Please email your proposal as a Word attachment to Dr. Leslie Heaphy at Lheaphy@kent.edu before March 1, 2022.

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

SABR Digital Library: When the Monarchs Reigned: Kansas City’s 1942 Negro League Champions

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

When the Monarchs Reigned: Kansas City’s 1942 Negro League Champions
Edited by Frederick C. Bush and Bill Nowlin
Associate editors: Carl Riechers and Len Levin
ISBN (ebook): 978-1-9701-5952-3, $9.99
ISBN (paperback): 978-1-9701-5953-0, $29.95
8.5″ x 11″, 268 pages

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

SABR members, get this e-book for FREE!

E-book: Click here to download the e-book version of When the Monarchs Reigned for FREE from the SABR Store. Available in PDF, Kindle/MOBI and EPUB formats.
Paperback: Get a 50% discount on the When the Monarchs Reigned 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.

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.

Can’t-Miss Event: SABR’s Ken Keltner Badger State Chapter will hold a virtual meeting at 7:00 p.m. CDT on Thursday, September 9. All SABR members are invited to attend. We’ll hear from Tim Dillard, Milwaukee Brewers broadcaster and former major-league pitcher for parts of four seasons. He was in the Brewers’ minor league system for 16 years; he is a character, witty, and the most “lefty” right handed pitcher of all time. Click here to register in advance for this meeting.
Video Replays: This week, we heard from Mathewson-Plank Chapter meeting in Central Pennsylvania. Click here to view more video replays of virtual SABR events.

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

September 4: Talkin’ Baseball: Steve Steinberg (9:00 a.m. EDT)
September 9: Ken Keltner (WI) Chapter meeting with Tim Dillard (7:00 p.m. CDT)
September 10: SABR/IWBC Women in Baseball Conference (4:00 p.m. EDT)
September 11: SABR/IWBC Women in Baseball Conference (11:30 a.m. EDT)
September 12: SABR/IWBC Women in Baseball Conference (1:00 p.m. EDT)

In addition, the following events will be held in person:

September 4: SABR Night with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (Moosic, PA)
September 11: Chicago-Milwaukee chapter ballgame and meet-up (Beloit, WI)

Find more upcoming SABR meetings on our Events Calendar page.

SABRcast with Rob Neyer: Listen to an interview with artist Josée Tellier

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 #126 on Monday, August 30 featured Josée Tellier, a Montreal-based artist known for her portraits and re-imagined baseball card illustrations. She recently won a competition to benefit the Josh Gibson Foundation with an original design of the Negro Leagues great. In 2019, she began a series of illustrations of Montreal Expos legends, including Andre Dawson, Gary Carter, and Rusty Staub. She has collaborated with costume designer Dominique Lemieux to develop a collection for the Séptimo Dia touring arena show by Cirque du Soleil. She has also illustrated a series of popular children’s novels, Le journal d’Aurélie Laflamme.

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

Subscribe to SABRcast on your favorite podcast networks, including Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, or Stitcher, and listen to each episode as soon as it’s released on Mondays. To learn more, visit SABR.org/sabrcast.

1 new biography posted at SABR BioProject

One new biography was posted this week as part of the SABR Baseball Biography Project. Here is the new bio published this week:

Marvin Miller, by Bill Johnson

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.

SABR Century: New York Giants’ 1921 pennant push highlights new Games Project series in August

On August 24, 1921, the Pittsburgh Pirates arrived at the Polo Grounds in first place in the National League, with a 7½-game lead over the New York Giants. But John McGraw’s Giants swept a doubleheader that afternoon and followed up by beating the Pirates on each of the next three days for a five-game series sweep, turning the NL pennant race around. By September 9, the Giants had sole possession of first; their surge of 20 wins in 24 games between August 24 and September 17 sewed up the pennant.

The SABR Baseball Games Project, in support of SABR’s Century Committee’s celebration of the centennial of the 1921 baseball season, commemorates the 100th anniversary of the Giants’ pivotal sweep with new articles by SABR member John Burbridge Jr. on their 10-2 win in the first game of the series and 3-1 win in the fifth game.

Follow the Games Project and Century Committee throughout 2021 for coverage of the 1921 season. The Games Project has recently published 21 new articles on historically significant games from August 1921.

Highlights of August 1921 include the first major-league game broadcast on commercial radio, an extra-inning thriller in New York, cycles by George Sisler and Dave Robertson, iron-man pitching by Dixie Davis and Mule Watson, and a milestone home run at Braves Field.

— John Fredland

6 new stories published at the SABR Games Project

Six new game stories were posted this week as part of the SABR Games Project. Here are the new game stories:

May 2, 1909: Pirates’ Honus Wagner steals his way around the bases, by Tom Nardacci
September 10, 1918: Players decide not to strike during World Series as Cubs shut out Red Sox in Game 5, by Bill Nowlin
September 27, 1921: Local hero Hod Ford is lone bright spot in Braves’ loss, by Kurt Blumenau
May 13, 1980: With possible strike looming, Boston’s Fred Lynn hits for the cycle, by Mike Huber
June 25, 2008: Tim Wakefield outduels Randy Johnson in battle of starters over age 40, by Todd Wormuth
July 10, 2010: Reds rookie Travis Wood is perfect through eight innings, but Phillies win in 11th, by Madison McEntire

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 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 at a new time for the regular season. Listen to new episodes at 8:00-9:00 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: SABR.org/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
John Barrett	Hooksett, NH	Justin Klugh	Baltimore, MD
Michael De Soto	Arlington, VA	Dean Krause	Lebanon, OH
Alan Drooz	San Diego, CA	Dan Seppings	Ashford, ENG
Kevin Flynn	San Leandro, CA	Maxine Stansell	Seattle, WA
John Hunter	Philadelphia, PA	Charles Walling	Fayetteville, AR

Research Committee news

Here are the new research committee updates this week:

Negro Leagues: September 2021 newsletter

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

Regional Chapter news

Here are the new regional chapter and chartered community updates this week:

Ken Keltner Badger State Chapter: September 2021 newsletter (Milwaukee, WI)

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

Around the Web

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

Tyler Kepner: A Lineup of Color Made History, Even if It Felt ‘Routine’ (New York Times)
Louis Moore: The 1971 Pittsburgh Pirates’ “Black Nine” Won For Black America (First and Pen)
Clinton Yates: Williamsport, Pennsylvania: Home to history and hardball (The Undefeated)
Joe Williams: Discovered: Images of George Stovey (Our Game)
Rob Enslin: More Than a Game: Syracuse Students and Sports Analytics (Syracuse.edu)
Erica Scalise: Will Rockford Build A Women’s Baseball Museum? (WILL Radio)
Jay Jaffe: Ten Position Players Who Have Most Helped Their Hall of Fame Cases in 2021 (FanGraphs)
Grant Brisbee: The Giants and Dodgers are both on pace to win more than 100 games. Here’s how rare that is (The Athletic)
Emma Baccellieri: How to Snap a 19-Game Losing Streak (Sports Illustrated)
Anthony Castrovince: Todd Blyleven’s life changed after Las Vegas shooting (MLB.com)
Alex Speier: Taking a closer look at the Red Sox COVID-19 outbreak (Boston Globe)
Stephen J. Nesbitt: ‘It’s deflating’: Thumbs Down Guy on Mets’ thumbs down to fans (The Athletic)
Hannah Keyser: Javier Báez, embattled Mets walk in with an apology, walk off with a vengeance (Yahoo! Sports)
Mandy Bell/Sarah Langs: Is Zimmer who the Indians have waited for? (MLB.com)
Matt Monagan: The substitute teacher who throws 100 mph (MLB.com)
Rob Arthur: Spin-Enhancing Substances Leave A Telltale Drag Signature (Baseball Prospectus)
David Laurila: Martín Pérez on The Art of the Changeup (FanGraphs)
Eno Sarris: Why should anyone care about Stuff+? (The Athletic)
Lindsey Adler: The ingredients of Yankees’ Joey Gallo: Ted Williams’ teachings, a ‘Moneyball’ mentality and deep self-awareness (The Athletic)
Ryan Fagan: ‘He’s the GOAT’: Braves coach Ron Washington uses fungo bat to teach defense, life (Sporting News)
J.J. Cooper: It’s Time For MLB To Handle Minor League Player Housing (Baseball America)
Russell A. Carleton: Better Minor League Pay Is a Good Investment (Baseball Prospectus)
Willie Steele: Living the Dream: A Baseball Game in Iowa (Alberta Dugout Stories)
Sean Lahman: Rochester Red Wings greatest team ever: The 1971 club were champs (Rochester Democrat and Chronicle)
Jeff Cohen: Baseball and BBQ: Andrea Williams Interview on Effa Manley (Baseball and BBQ)
Jason Schwartz: Unfolding chaos at National Chicle, Part One (SABR Baseball Cards Blog)

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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