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This Week in SABR: September 4, 2020

This Week in SABR: September 4, 2020

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 7 for Labor Day. Here’s what we’ve been up to as of September 4, 2020:


One week left to register for 2020 SABR/IWBC Women in Baseball Conference

2020 SABR/IWBC Women in Baseball ConferenceRegistration is still open for the second annual SABR/IWBC Women in Baseball Conference on September 11-13, 2020. All baseball fans are welcome to attend!

This year’s conference — co-sponsored by SABR and the International Women’s Baseball Center, and hosted by Rockford University — will be a virtual event centered around the theme “Celebrating African American Women in Baseball.” Presentations and panels will take place on Zoom.

In addition to learning about topics such as the Dolly Vardens, Maud Nelson, Tillie Ford, the Hagerstown Mollys, and much more, there will also be a celebration of the Negro Leagues Centennial on Saturday night, with a special design unveiling for an outdoor pylon. The celebration will be followed by an announcement of the 2020 Dorothy Seymour Mills Lifetime Achievement Award winner.

Our featured speaker on Friday night will be Lauren Meyer, Emmy Award-nominated director of The Other Boys of Summer.

We’ll also have a Player Panel on Saturday morning with MLB’s Elizabeth Benn, Rachel Folden of the Chicago Cubs, Team Canada’s Marika Lyszczyk, Bianca Smith from Carroll University, and Madison Femia.

  • Register now: Click here to register for this event at SABR.org. The All-Inclusive Package is $50, and includes access to all presentations and panels, Negro Leagues Centennial Celebration on Saturday night, 2 raffle tickets, and a commemorative program booklet. Regular registration is $25 for all baseball fans.
  • Schedule: Click here to view the complete schedule, along with presenter bios and abstracts.
  • Raffle: Purchase a raffle ticket ($5 each) when you register for a chance to win baseball memorabilia prizes, including autographed baseballs, caps, and books from IWBC authors, SPoRT Makeup kits, Rockford Peaches apparel, and the grand prize — a personal phone call from AAGPBL legend and IWBC founder Maybelle Blair!

If you have any questions, please contact Leslie Heaphy at lheaphy@kent.edu.

Visit SABR.org/women-in-baseball-conference to learn more.


Announcing finalists for 2020 Dorothy Seymour Mills Lifetime Achievement Award

2020 Dorothy Seymour Mills Lifetime Achievement Award finalistsWe are pleased to announce the finalists for the 2020 Dorothy Seymour Mills Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by SABR’s Women in Baseball Committee. Each of these finalists has made important contributions promoting the participation of women in baseball, on the field and off.

The winner of the 2020 award will be announced during the SABR/IWBC Women in Baseball Conference on Saturday, September 12, 2020, following the Negro Leagues Centennial Celebration at 5:00 p.m. EDT. All baseball fans are welcome to register for the three-day virtual Zoom conference.

Here are the finalists for the 2020 award:

  • Amanda Clement, first professional female baseball umpire
  • Effa Manley, Newark Eagles owner and executive elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006
  • Justine Siegal, Baseball For All founder and first female coach for a major-league team
  • Claire Smith, pioneering sports writer and J.G. Taylor Spink Award recipient
  • Janet Marie Smith, innovative ballpark designer who has helped build or renovate Camden Yards, Fenway Park, and Dodger Stadium
  • Toni Stone, one of only three women to play in the Negro Leagues

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


Coming soon: SABR 50 at 50 online series to launch next week

SABR 50 at 50Leading up to the 50th anniversary of SABR’s original meeting at the National Baseball Hall of Fame, we invite all baseball fans to celebrate the game we all love with the SABR 50 at 50 Project, a monthly series recognizing figures that have had a significant impact on the sport since 1971.

Our first feature, which launches next week at SABR.org, is on the 50 baseball players who have had the most impact on the game in the past 50 years.

Over the coming months, we’ll take a look at significant off-field figures, ballgames, record-breaking feats, books, films, stories, milestones, and trading cards whose stories make up the fabric of the sport.

This project is in conjunction with our new anthology book, SABR 50 at 50: The Society for American Baseball Research’s Fifty Most Essential Contributions to the Game, edited by Bill Nowlin and published by the University of Nebraska Press, which celebrates SABR’s wide-ranging contributions through the pages of our publications.


SABR accepting applications for Community Engagement Manager position

SABR logoWe’re now seeking applications for a new full-time position based at the SABR office, located in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University in downtown Phoenix.

The Community Engagement Manager will lead SABR’s membership service efforts, including new member on-boarding, chapter communications, chapter events support, and membership transactions. As our Community Engagement Manager you will be responsible for membership retention and upholding chapter standards which will ensure the success of our baseball community as well as drive SABR’s future growth and support the organization’s vision.

Please send resume and cover letter to CEO Scott Bush at sbush@sabr.org. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until the position is filled.

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


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 Dan Joseph, author of The Last Ride of the Iron Horse.

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

  • September 4: John Donaldson Statue Dedication Ceremony (4:00 p.m. CDT)
  • September 5: Talkin’ Baseball: Jim Meisner (9:00 a.m. EDT)
  • September 5: Pee Wee Reese (Louisville) Chapter meeting with Joe Niese (11:00 a.m. EDT)
  • September 8: Casey Stengel NYC Chapter meeting with D.B. Firstman (7:00 p.m. EDT)
  • September 8: IBWAA: Up Next: Prospects, Draft, Minors, Collegiate, and Amateur Baseball with Jim Callis (9:00 p.m. EDT)
  • September 11-13: SABR/IWBC Women in Baseball Conference
  • September 13: Detroit Chapter open baseball forum (7:00 p.m. EDT)
  • September 14: Bud Metheny (VA) Chapter book club meeting with Jeremy Beer (7:30 p.m. EDT)
  • September 14: Halsey Hall (MN) Chapter Research Committee meeting (7:00 p.m. CDT)
  • September 16: Baltimore Babe Ruth Chapter meeting with Jerry Amernic (12:00 p.m. EDT)
  • September 16: Rocky Mountain Chapter meeting with Todd Zolecki (12:00 p.m. MDT)
  • September 16: IBWAA: The Press Box: The Craft of Creating Baseball Content (9:00 p.m. EDT)
  • September 17: Kansas University: Negro Leagues 100th anniversary panel with Adrian Burgos Jr., Ray Doswell, Leslie Heaphy, and James Brunson (7:00 p.m. CDT)
  • September 19: Mathewson-Plank (PA) Chapter meeting (1:00 p.m. EDT)

Find more upcoming virtual meetings and watch replays of past events on our SABR Events Calendar page.


In Memoriam: Tom Seaver

Tom Seaver (NATIONAL BASEBALL HALL OF FAME LIBRARYFew players were ever more connected to a baseball franchise than “Tom Terrific” with the New York Mets.

Certainly, no member of the team was as intricately associated with their meteoric rise from cellar dwellers to world champions in 1969, as Maxwell Kates wrote in his SABR biography of Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver, who died at the age of 75 on Monday, August 31 due to complications from Lewy body dementia and COVID-19.

With his signature drop-and-drive delivery that produced 311 wins, 3,640 strikeouts, and three Cy Young Awards over a 20-year career with the Mets, Cincinnati Reds, Chicago White Sox, and Boston Red Sox, Seaver delivered so many memorable moments that it’s hard to choose his most meaningful performance: his near-perfect game against the first-place Cubs in 1969, his 10-inning masterpiece to win Game Four of the World Series against the heavily favored Orioles, his record-setting 19 strikeouts against the Padres in 1970, his no-hitter with the Reds in 1978, his long-awaited return to the Mets in 1983, his complete game at age 40 for his 300th career win at Yankee Stadium in 1985. They’re all as lovingly remembered as the stain of dirt on his right knee as he delivered his blazing fastball.

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

Related links:


Nineteenth Century Committee to launch virtual Speaker Series in October

Charles "Old Hoss" Radbourn (NATIONAL BASEBALL HALL OF FAME LIBRARY)SABR’s Ninteenth Century Committee is excited to announce a monthly series of virtual research presentations via Zoom. All SABR members are invited to attend.

The 19cBB Speakers Series will initially consist of research presentations previously presented at the Frederick Ivor-Campbell 19th Century Base Ball Conference (“The Fred”) and will be re-presented each second Tuesday of the month from October 2020 through May 2021. The starting time for each session will be 8:00 p.m. ET and they will run for one hour.

Here is the upcoming schedule of speakers:

  • October 13: Jon Popovich, “Boots, Saddles & Baseballs: Major Benteen at the Little Big Horn”
  • November 10: Joanne Hulbert, “I Never Thought I’d Miss ‘Tricky Nick’: 19th-Century Nicknames”
  • December 8: Bill Humber, “A Thoroughly Modern Ballplayer: The Imaginative, Illicit and Improbable Life of Bob Addy”
  • January 12, 2021: Tom Shieber: “Around the World with A.G. Spalding: The Mystery of an 1888-89 Tourist’s Diary”
  • February 9: Don Jensen, “Baseball Fans Must Eat: The Life & Times of Harry Stevens, Hot Dog King”
  • March 9: Jerry Casway, “Before Greenberg there was (Lipman) Pike”
  • April 13: TBA
  • May 11: TBA

Click here to sign up for Nineteenth Century Committee email announcements to receive the Zoom meeting details. Virtual space is limited to approximately 100 attendees.


Friends of SABR: August 2020

Here is a list of SABR supporters for the month of August 2020. Want to become a Friend of SABR? Click here to make a recurring monthly contribution or click here to learn more about our Giving Circles to make a one-time contribution.

NAME   name
John Bowman   Peter Mancuso
D. Bruce Brown   Geoff Mills
John Burbridge III   Bill Nowlin
Ken Carrano   Joe O’Connell
Peter Coolbaugh   Gregg Pericich
Jim Cox   Michael Rosenwasser
Richard Cramer   Charles Roussel
Mary Darling   Bob Russon
Mike Dickerman   Robert Sawyer
Steven Elsberry   Douglas Schoppert
Diane Firstman   Jeff Self
F. X. Flinn   Thomas Stone
Adam Foldes   Wesley Story
Fred Grandchamp   Joseph Thompson
Leslie Heaphy   John Thorn
Rockwell Hoffman   Neal Traven
Gary Hoffman   Joseph Wancho
David Hughes   Steve West
Phil Kolodkin   Jeffrey Wood
Thomas Lee   Don Zminda

Visit SABR.org/donate to learn more.


Read articles from The National Pastime: A Bird’s Eye View of Baltimore

2020 The National Pastime: A Bird's Eye View of BaltimoreThank you to all the donors and sustainability benefactors who made the publication of The National Pastime: A Bird’s-Eye View of Baltimore possible.

You can read all of the articles from this journal online now at SABR.org or download the e-book edition for free!

The National Pastime serves 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.


SABR Ted Williams Chapter: 2020 Opening Day Viewpoints

SABR San Diego Chapter: 2020 Opening Day ViewpointsSABR’s San Diego Ted Williams Chapter invites you to check out their Opening Day Viewpoints report, which captures nine members’ viewpoints surrounding the Padres’ 2020 Opening Day — their thoughts, insights, and humor on a unique period in MLB and Padres history.

Click here to download the PDF file:

https://sabr.box.com/v/2020-SDSABR-Opening-Day

The report was compiled by Tom Larwin and Andy Strasberg, and includes contributions from Bob Chandler, Greg Funk, Bob Hicks, Norman Macht, Frank Myers, J. Scott Shaffer, and Tom Willman.


SABR Digital Library: Pride of Smoketown: The 1935 Pittsburgh Crawfords

Pride of Smoketown: The 1935 Pittsburgh CrawfordsAdd a new baseball book to your collection from the SABR Digital Library:

Pride of Smoketown: The 1935 Pittsburgh Crawfords
Edited by Frederick C. Bush and Bill Nowlin
Associate editors Len Levin and Carl Riechers
ISBN (paperback): 978-1-970159-25-7, $34.95
ISBN (e-book): 978-1-970159-24-0, $9.99
8.5” x 11”, 349 pages

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

SABR members, get this e-book for FREE!

SABR members can download all Digital Library e-books for free or save 50% off the paperback editions. To find all titles, visit SABR.org/ebooks.

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 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 actress Ellen Adair

SABRcast #75: Ellen ADairBaseball 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 #75 on Monday, August 31 featured Ellen Adair, an accomplished actress, author, diehard baseball fan, and co-host of the Take Me In to the Ballgame podcast. She has appeared on hit TV shows like The Sinner, Homeland, and Billions, and in numerous off-Broadway and regional theater productions. She graduated from Boston University with degrees in English and theater, and while her baseball allegiance starts with the Philadelphia Phillies, she can provide a complex flow chart to explain the webs of her fandom. We’re also joined this week by C.J. Nitkowski, former major-league pitcher and TV broadcaster for the Texas Rangers.

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.


6 new SABR biographies published

Frank "Fay" Young at the Chicago Defender office, 1942. Photo by Jack Delano, courtesy of the International Center of Photography. (USED BY PERMISSION)Six new biographies were posted this week as part of the SABR Baseball Biography Project. Here are the new bios published this week:

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


15 new stories published by the SABR Games Project

Aaron Barrett (THE TOPPS COMPANY)Fifteen new game stories were posted this week as part of the SABR Games Project— including a few from our new First Games Back project. Here are the new game stories:

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

Baseball SABR Style on SiriusXM with Vince GennaroBehind 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.


Survey: American fans’ perception of the Korea Baseball Organization

SABR member Jon Nachtigal, Min Jung Kim, and Min Hyun Kim, students at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, would like to know your perspectives on the Korea Baseball Organization.

Your responses to this survey are completely anonymous and will help us better understand the interest of U.S. baseball fans in the KBO. The survey should take less than five minutes.

We greatly appreciate your input.


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.

Name Hometown     Name Hometown
Justin Adams Joplin, MO     Jake Parkhill Hamilton, ON
Giovanni Balistreri Somerset, NJ     D.J. Pisano Morgantown, WV
Harry Barker-Fost San Rafael, CA     Nick Priest San Diego, CA
Scott Carter Gilbert, AZ     Steven Rissotto Pacifica, CA
Brad Fox Fairview, PA     John Alexander Robertson Little Elm, TX
James Johnson Conyers, GA     James Walker El Paso, TX
Pedro Millan Alameda, CA     Keith Yowell Flemington, NJ

Research Committee news

Here are the new research committee updates this week:

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


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

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 meetings are scheduled on our Events Calendar:

  • September 4: John Donaldson Statue Dedication Ceremony (Glasgow, MO)
  • September 12: Halsey Hall Chapter Hot Stove Saturday Morning (St. Paul, MN)

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:

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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Originally published: September 4, 2020. Last Updated: September 4, 2020.