This Week in SABR: July 26, 2019

July 26, 2019/in This Week in SABR /by Jason Best

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 July 26, 2019:

SABRcast with Rob Neyer: Listen to an interview with baseball architect Janet Marie Smith

Listen to a new episode of SABRcast with Rob Neyer, a new weekly podcast hosted by award-winning author and longtime SABR member Rob Neyer — which is now available on your favorite podcast streaming services! 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.

Visit SABR.org/sabrcast to listen to Episode #17 — our guest this week is Janet Marie Smith, Senior Vice President of Planning and Development for the Los Angeles Dodgers, where since 2012 she has overseen the renovations to Dodger Stadium. She is well known in baseball for her work on Oriole Park at Camden Yards, which set the standard for a new wave of ballparks after its opening in 1992 and her oversight of renovations at Fenway Park for the Boston Red Sox from 2002-09. She worked on the transformation of Ed Smith Stadium for the Baltimore Orioles spring training home in Sarasota in 2011 and for the Atlanta Braves’ conversion of the 1996 Olympic Stadium to Turner Field. She is trained as an architect and urban planner and recently served as the Edward P. Bass Fellow at the Yale University School of Architecture. Her work outside of sports has included projects such as Battery Park City in New York and the revitalization of Baltimore’s waterfront..

Every week, SABRcast will feature insights and analysis of what’s happening in modern baseball on and off the field, plus compelling interviews with figures from around the game — and music from The Baseball Project.

To learn more, visit SABR.org/sabrcast.

Turnstyle: The SABR Journal of Baseball Arts inaugural issue released

A special 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
Edited by Joanne Hulbert and Jay Hurd
ISBN (paperback): 978-1-943816-99-6, $9.95
ISBN (e-book): 978-1-943816-98-9, $5.99
67 pages, 6″ x 9″

Turnstyle is the new journal of art and literature put together by SABR’s Baseball and the Arts Committee.

As editors Joanne Hulbert and Jay Hurd write in their introduction to this inaugural issue, in its pages “your eyes will behold the work of many SABR writers and artists who find inspiration in the romance, mythology, history, and discipline that baseball offers. We do not in any way intend to duplicate the great work of other literary baseball journals. Rather we embrace the legacy those journals have bequeathed to us; we are encouraged to continue what has been an integral part of baseball—the art and literature dedicated to the game.”

In addition to poems, short stories, and articles, the pages are adorned with some of the art from Cuban illustrator and artist Andez. Sprinkled throughout readers will be delighted to find cartoons and excerpts from 19th century newspapers and writing on baseball, including satire from Henry Guy Carleton, Hugh E. Keough, and Marcus “Brick” Pomeroy.

Contributors include: George Ade, Bill Barna, Bob Brady, Henry Guy Carleton, Edwin Epps, B. Craig Grafton, Hugh E. Keough, Tom Lagasse, R.J. Lesch, Andrea Long, Walt Mason, Marcus “Brick” Pomeroy, Matthew H. Schaedler, George R. Skornickel, and Bryan Steverson.

The cover art, “Bethpage 9pm, Summer,” was painted by Andy Brown.

SABR members, get this e-book for FREE!

E-book: Click here to download the e-book version of Turnstyle: The SABR Journal of Baseball Arts for FREE from the SABR Store. Available in PDF, Kindle/MOBI and EPUB formats.
Paperback: Get a 50% discount on the Turnstyle: The SABR Journal of Baseball Arts paperback edition from the SABR Store ($12.99 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 member Jayson Stark honored in Cooperstown with 2019 J.G. Taylor Spink Award

We are proud to congratulate longtime SABR member Jayson Stark, who was elected as the 2019 winner of the J.G. Taylor Spink Award by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Stark, who writes for The Athletic and appears regularly on MLB Network, was honored last weekend with the award which honors meritorious contributions to baseball writing during the National Baseball Hall of Fame’s induction weekend in Cooperstown, New York.

Click here to read Stark’s first-person account of his Hall of Fame weekend at The Athletic.

Stark joined SABR in 1995 and has spent more than four decades as one of the leading baseball writers in the country, first for his hometown Philadelphia Inquirer as a Phillies beat writer and columnist and then as a senior baseball writer for ESPN. He is the author of three books, Wild Pitches: Rumblings, Grumblings and Reflections on the Game I Love; Worth the Wait: Tales of the 2008 Phillies; and The Stark Truth: The Most Overrated and Underrated Players in Baseball History.

Stark is the 10th SABR member to win the Spink Award, joining Bob Elliott (2012), Bill Madden (2010), Tracy Ringolsby (2005), Leonard Koppett (1992), Jerome Holtzman (1989), Jack Lang (1986), Allen Lewis (1981), Bob Broeg (1979) and Fred Lieb (1972).

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

Related links:

SABR 49: Listen to highlights from MLB Umpires Panel with Gerry Davis and Mike Port

At SABR 49 on June 29 in San Diego, we were fortunate to hear stories about life behind the mask as an umpire in Major League Baseball with our MLB Umpires Panel.

The panel included Gerry Davis — who was behind the plate calling balls and strikes for the Padres-Cardinals game we attended at Petco Park the night before — in his 35th season as an umpire in Major League Baseball. He served as the crew chief during the World Series in 2009, 2012, and 2017, as well as the 2012 All-Star Game in Kansas City. He has also been selected to umpire during the 1989, 1997, and 2002 All-Star Games, and the World Series in 1996, 1999, and 2004, and ten League Championship Series beginning in 1990. He has worked 143 career postseason games, the most all-time among major-league umpires. It also included Mike Port, Major League Baseball’s Vice President of Umpiring from 2005 to 2011, and moderator Fred Rodgers, General Manager for West Vest Inc.

Click here to listen to highlights at SABR.org.

SABR 49: Listen to highlights from the Early California Baseball History Panel

At SABR 49 on June 29 in San Diego, our Early Calfornia Baseball History Panel discussed the introduction of the game to the Golden State, the prowess of California’s independent minor leagues, and winter league integration decades before Jackie Robinson’s debut.

The panel included Carlos Bauer, a former chair of the SABR Minor Leagues Committee whose specialities include early California baseball; Angus Macfarlane, a San Francisco-based “baseball treasure hunter” who focuses on the pre-history of the game in the Bay Area; and moderator Bill Swank, the “Baseball Santa” and an award-winning author of the Baseball in San Diego series and other books.

Click here to listen to highlights at SABR.org.

Related link: Visit SABR.org/convention for more stories, photos, and highlights from SABR 49 in San Diego

Register now for the 2019 SABR Minnesota 19th Century Baseball Interdisciplinary Symposium

The SABR Minnesota 19th Century Baseball Interdisciplinary Symposium will take place on Saturday, November 16, 2019, at the Minneapolis Public Library, 300 Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

The day-long Saturday symposium will be devoted to 19th-century baseball as it was played and evolved in Minnesota and the greater Midwest region. The event is a joint project of the SABR Nineteenth Century Committee, SABR’s Halsey Hall Chapter, and the Hennepin County Library.

Register: Click here to register online for the symposium. You may also download the registration form and mail a check made out to “SABR” to Peter Mancuso, 6970 Ely Road, New Hope, PA 18938. The deadline to register is November 8, 2019.
Cost: $40 per person. Fee includes continental breakfast, buffet lunch, and afternoon beverages and snacks.
Schedule: Click here to download the full schedule and registration details (PDF)

Guest speakers are expected to include John Thorn, MLB’s Official Historian; Larry Millett, longtime St. Paul Pioneer Press architecture critic and author of more than 10 books, including The Curve of the Arch and Lost Twin Cities; Stew Thornley, author of Baseball in Minnesota: A Definitive History and other books; Dan Levitt, author of Paths to Glory: How Great Baseball Teams Got That Way and other books; Mike Haupert, Professor of Economics at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse; Kristin Anderson, art and architecture professor and author of an upcoming book on the history of sports facilities in the Twin Cities; and more.

For more information, contact event organizers at sabrMN19c@gmail.com.

Download your free e-book edition of The National Pastime: Pacific Ghosts

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.

The SABR 49 convention took place last week in San Diego, and we have dedicated the theme of The National Pastime to baseball on the Pacific Coast. All SABR members receive a free e-book copy of The National Pastime as part of their membership benefits, while attendees of the national convention also received a souvenir print edition in their goody bags.

Click a link below to download the e-book edition or purchase a paperback edition of the 2019 convention journal, The National Pastime: Pacific Ghosts.

Kindle/MOBI: To download the MOBI/Kindle version of The National Pastime: Pacific Ghosts, click here (8.4 MB)
EPUB: To download the EPUB file — for use on iBooks, iPads, Nook or Sony Reader — of The National Pastime: Pacific Ghosts, click here (3.8 MB)
PDF: To download a PDF version of The National Pastime: Pacific Ghosts, click here (2.2 MB)
Paperback: To purchase a copy of the print edition from Amazon.com, click here

Please note: All articles from The National Pastime: Pacific Ghosts will be available to read online at SABR.org soon.

Save the date! SABR 50 will be in Baltimore in 2020

Save the date! SABR will be returning to Baltimore for our 50th national convention on July 15-19, 2020, at the Hyatt Regency Inner Harbor hotel in downtown Baltimore, Maryland. Registration information and our special hotel room block will be available at SABR.org/convention in early 2020.

The Hyatt Regency hotel sits on the waterfront at the majestic Inner Harbor and is conveniently located within walking distance from Camden Yards, home of the Baltimore Orioles. Our host hotel is also close to many area museums, historic landmarks, and other attractions like the National Aquarium.

For more information on the SABR convention, visit SABR.org/convention.

Students, apply now for the 2019 SABR Women in Baseball Scholarship

SABR’s Women in Baseball Committee will award one $500 scholarship to a high school senior in its inaugural Women in Baseball Essay Contest in 2019.

Students must write an essay of 1,500 words or less addressing the following question: “Choose one person or event in women’s baseball history that you believe has made a significant impact on the game and explain the importance.”

Click here to download the 2019 SABR Women in Baseball Scholarship application and style guidelines (PDF)

All applications must be e-mailed or postmarked by August 16, 2019, and sent to Dr. Leslie Heaphy at Lheaphy@kent.edu.

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

Register now for the SABR Black Sox Scandal Centennial Symposium in Chicago

Register now to join us for the SABR Black Sox Scandal Centennial Symposium on September 27-29, 2019, in Chicago. The SABR Black Sox Scandal Research Committee will host this once-in-a-century event to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the 1919 World Series.

Register: Click here to register for the SABR Black Sox Scandal Centennial Symposium

The event — which is open to all baseball fans — will be highlighted by a research symposium on Saturday, September 28 at the Chicago History Museum. The museum is home to an extensive collection of Black Sox artifacts and documents, and we’ll gather in the beautiful Morse Genius Chicago Room event space to discuss the continued relevance of the 1919 World Series and its aftermath. A book signing with SABR authors, including our own Scandal on the South Side: The 1919 Chicago White Sox, will follow. More details on panels and presentations will be announced soon.

Our special All-Inclusive Package ($45 for SABR members, $60 for non-members) includes admission to the Black Sox Scandal symposium at the Chicago History Museum; a ticket to the Chicago White Sox game on Friday, September 27; and a guided walking tour of downtown Chicago baseball history sites.

Following the symposium, from 8:00-10:00 p.m. on Saturday evening, we will also gather for a reception at the historic Nisei Lounge near Wrigley Field. The reception is included in your symposium registration.

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

Related link: Click here to download the Black Sox Scandal and Deadball Era special-edition newsletters on the 100th anniversary of the Black Sox Scandal (PDF)

2 new SABR biographies published

Two new biographies were posted this week as part of the SABR Baseball Biography Project, which brings us to a total of 4,944 published biographies. Here are the new bios published this week:

Sammy Byrd, by Stephen V. Rice
Travis Hafner, by Hayden Goethe (first-time author)

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

Search for any SABR biography: You can now visit sabr.org/bioproj_search to search for any player — or manager, executive, scout, spouse, broadcaster, or umpire — who appears in the SABR BioProject. You can also browse all of these BioProject categories and a lot more, including 300-game winners, Hall of Famers, 1960s All-Stars, or Negro Leaguers, at our Browse page: sabr.org/bioproj/browse.

SABR’s The Baseball Index announces midseason 2019 updates

SABR’s The Baseball Index is pleased to announce its midseason 2019 update, which features more than 2,600 new entries to aid in baseball research. That brings the total to 258,735 citations of articles, books, essays and other materials that can serve as the basis for your research into baseball history.

TBI, which can be accessed at BaseballIndex.org, is an ongoing SABR project to catalog the entirety of baseball literature, from the earliest references to the present day. The index is designed to help baseball researchers find materials that advance their work.

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

More volunteers are always needed to help add new entries. Contact Andy McCue at amccue@sabr.org if you are interested in volunteering. To use The Baseball Index or to learn more, visit BaseballIndex.org.

Seamheads.com updates Negro Leagues Database with 1931 stats

SABR member Gary Ashwill is happy to announce the latest update to the award-winning Seamheads Negro Leagues Database, one of the largest updates made so far. It includes:

1) The 1931 Negro National League (plus inter-regional games between NNL and eastern independent teams). This was the last year of the original NNL; its death knell sounded when the Kansas City Monarchs decided they would drop out of the league.

2) Greatly expanded coverage of eastern independent clubs in 1922, thanks to the hard work of Scott Simkus. The new teams include the Original Bacharach Giants, a Dick Lundy-led outfit split off from the Connor/Wilkins Bacharach Giants (which had moved to New York), as well as the unheralded Richmond Giants, managed by Bill Pettus.

3) Two postseason black-white exhibition series: Hornsby’s Major League Stars vs. NNL All Stars in 1936, and the famous Bob Feller-Satchel Paige series of 1946.

4) Complete audits and overhauls of the 1935 and 1936 seasons, adding new games and statistical categories, as well as 1935 games between the Kansas City Monarchs and the national semipro champion Bismarck, North Dakota, club, a racially integrated team that starred Satchel Paige, Hilton Smith, and Quincy Trouppe, as well as the legendary white slugger Moose Johnson.

Many thanks to Larry Lester and Wayne Stivers for their help with this update. Up next: the 1940 Mexican League, 1932 Negro Southern League, and the remaining NNL seasons (1926, 1927, 1929, and 1930).

To view the award-winning Seamheads Negro Leagues Database, visit Seamheads.com/NegroLgs/index.php.

**Listen to 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, will air this season at a new time. Listen in from 8:00-9:00 p.m. ET on Saturdays on MLB Network Radio.

This week’s guests are author Will Leitch and Jake Kaplan of The Athletic.

You can also listen to archives of recent episodes on-demand on the SiriusXM Internet Radio App. Click here to learn more.

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.

Seeking book designers for SABR Publications Program

Are you a SABR member with book design experience? As our Publications Program grows, so does our need for folks who can handle book layout and ebook creation duties. QuarkXPress or InDesign preferred.

If you’d like more information or to throw your hat into the ring, please email your resume and book design samples to Cecilia Tan at PubDir@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: 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 (SABR.org/directory).

Name	Hometown	Name	Hometown
Al Bernardo	Moorhead, MN	James Fisher	Richmond, VA
Matthew Brummer	Roberts, WI	DJ Friedman	Stamford, CT
Alexander Campbell	Halifax, NS	Jacob Hansen	Strongsville, OH
Beth Collins	Overland Park, KS	Mario Lemier	Temecula, CA
Richard Cox	Sun City, AZ	Wes Lowry	Lakeland, FL
John Deardurff	Carmel, IN	Alan McDougall	Glasgow, SCO
Daniel Dorff	Minneapolis, MN	Nick Morris	Brooks, GA
Timothy Elmore	Alexandria, VA	Matthew Prigge	Milwaukee, WI
Bryan Erwin	St. Louis, MO	Dick Waterman	Oxford, MS

Research Committee news

Here are the new research committee updates this week:

Minor Leagues: The SABR Guide to Minor League Statistics, first published in 1994 and most recently updated in 2007, is now available as a free PDF download for all SABR members on our Research Resources page. An invaluable guidebook that covers minor-league seasons from 1887 to 2006, the guide includes specific date and page numbers to help researchers locate with precision where that year’s minor-league statistics can be found, primarily in the annual guidebooks published by The Sporting News, Baseball America, Spalding, Reach, Sporting Life, and others. Click here to learn more about the Minor Leagues Committee.

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

Regional Chapter news

Here are the new regional chapter updates this week:

Bob Broeg St. Louis Chapter: July 22 meeting recap (St. Louis, MO)
Connecticut Smoky Joe Wood Chapter: Summer 2019 newsletter (Hartford, CT)
Halsey Hall Chapter: August 2019 newsletter (Minneapolis, MN)
Rice-Russell Nashville Chapter: July 20 meeting recap (Nashville, TN)
Sweet Lou Johnson Lexington Chapter: July 2019 newsletter (Lexington, KY)

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

SABR Events Calendar

Here is a list of upcoming events on the SABR calendar:

July 27: Oscar Charleston Chapter meeting (Indianapolis, IN)
July 27: Halsey Hall Chapter ballgame/meet-up (Clinton, IA)
July 27: Pee Wee Reese Chapter meeting/ballgame (Louisville, KY)
July 27: Rogers Hornsby Chapter monthly lunch (Austin, TX)
July 27: Carolina Chapter meeting (Carrboro, NC)
July 29: David Raglin: “Trends in Baseball, 1995 to 2019” (Arlington, VA)
July 31: Hank Gowdy Chapter: Columbus Clippers ballgame/meet-up (Columbus, OH)
July 31: Juan Marichal Chapter monthly meeting (Santo Domingo, DOM)
August 3: Robinson-Kell Chapter meeting/ballgame (Little Rock, AR)
August 3: Emil Rothe Chicago Chapter ballgame/meet-up (Rosemont, IL)
August 3: Sam Zygner/Barbra Cabrera: “Baseball Under the Palms” book signing (Coral Gables, FL)
August 3: Talkin’ Baseball: David Bledsoe (Columbia, MD)
August 4: Magnolia Chapter ballgame/meet-up (Augusta, GA)
August 5: Bresnahan-Mud Hens Chapter book club meeting (Toledo, OH)
August 7: Buck O’Neil/North Florida Chapter monthly meeting (Tallahassee, FL)
August 7: Bob Broeg St. Louis Chapter baseball fellowship meeting (St. Louis, MO)
August 7: Baltimore Babe Ruth Chapter: “Peeps at the Peeb” monthly meeting (Baltimore, MD)
August 8-10: 2019 Detroit Stars Centennial Conference (Detroit, MI)
August 9: Dusty Baker-Sacramento Chapter ballgame/meeting (Sacramento, CA)
August 10: Halsey Hall Chapter book club meeting (Roseville, MN)
August 10: Rocky Mountain Chapter: Softball Extravaganza and Picnic (Denver, CO)
August 10-11: 2019 SaberSeminar (Boston, MA)

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:

Emma Baccellieri: Baseball’s modern-day protests take root in principle, not results (Sports Illustrated)
Craig Edwards: The curious case of the Rays’ eighth inning (FanGraphs)
Tyler Kepner: The home for the Hall of Fame, nestled in the past (New York Times)
Kevin Armstrong: North of Cooperstown, a Hall of Fame that fits Canada just fine (New York Times)
David Laurila: Players’ view: What it’s like to be traded (FanGraphs)
Rob Mains: The great pinch-hitting resurgence of 2019 (Baseball Prospectus)
Richard Hershberger: On stealing first base (Ordinary Times)
Peter L’Oiseau: Creating aging curves for Statcast metrics (The Hardball Times)
Ben Lindbergh: One weird trick to beat MLB batters (The Ringer)
Tony Wolfe: The most important rookie hitter in the pennant chase (FanGraphs)
Noah Trister: Mike Montgomery traded, but place in Cubs history secure (Associated Press)
Jen Mac Ramos: Bringing tracking data to women’s baseball (Baseball Prospectus)
Sydney Bergman: Women’s Baseball World Cup highlights (Baseball Prospectus)
Stephanie Springer: Why aren’t there more women athletic trainers? (Baseball Prospectus)
Frank Jackson: Tinkled pink in Portland (The Hardball Times)
Alvin Reid: It’s time for Cardinals to honor pioneer Tom Alston (St. Louis American)
Ginny Searle: Toni Stone and bringing women back to professional baseball (Baseball Prospectus)
Miriam Zuo: The irrationalities of baseball fandom (The Hardball Times)
Bill Deane: Memories of Hall of Fame Induction Day (WordPress)
Jason Schwartz: The #Apollo50 All-Time Team (SABR Baseball Cards Blog)

Read these articles and more at SABR.org/latest.

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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