This Week in SABR: May 29, 2020
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 May 29, 2020:
Spring 2020 Baseball Research Journal is on its way soon
Good news! The Spring 2020 edition of the Baseball Research Journal will be mailed out to all SABR members very soon.
Those of you who receive the print edition should find your BRJ arriving in the next few weeks. For digital subscribers, the e-book edition will also be delivered to your inboxes soon.
To read more articles from the BRJ archives, our flagship publication for nearly the past half-century, click here.
To learn more about contributing to a future SABR publication, click here.
We hope you enjoy reading the Spring 2020 Baseball Research Journal!
Get a 25% discount on pre-orders of new SABR 50 at 50 book
Baseball has seen many changes in the last 50 years, and SABR’s 50th anniversary provides an opportunity to highlight the most memorable players, teams, and events from the game’s glorious past.
SABR 50 at 50: The Society for American Baseball Research’s Fifty Most Essential Contributions to the Game, edited by Bill Nowlin and now available for pre-order from the University of Nebraska Press, celebrates and highlights SABR’s wide-ranging contributions to baseball history.
SABR members can get a 25% discount off the cover price by using the discount code 6SFF when ordering at nebraskapress.unl.edu or calling 800-848-6224. (To order outside of North America, please call +44 (0)1423 526350 and use the discount code CS40UNP.)
The diversity of SABR members’ interests is reflected in this fiftieth-anniversary volume — from baseball and the arts to statistical analysis to the Deadball Era to women in baseball. SABR 50 at 50 includes the most important and influential research published by members across a multitude of topics, including the sabermetric work of Dick Cramer, Pete Palmer, and Bill James, along with Jerry Malloy on the Negro Leagues, Keith Olbermann on why the shortstop position is number 6, John Thorn and Jules Tygiel on the untold story behind Jackie Robinson’s signing with the Dodgers, and Gai Berlage on the Colorado Silver Bullets women’s team in the 1990s.
Leading up to SABR’s 50th anniversary in 2021, the organization will also produce a series of online exhibits at SABR.org to highlight baseball’s most impactful players and off-field figures, ballgames, record-breaking feats, books, films, stories, milestones, and baseball cards.
Click here to read the full announcement at SABR.org.
Join us for more Stay Home With SABR virtual events
Last month, we launched our Stay Home With SABR initiative, an eight-week effort from April 1 to May 31 to assist in limiting the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. During this time, all new membership dues SABR receives will be split with Heart to Heart International, a nonprofit organization that distributes urgently needed equipment and medication to partners around the world during this global crisis.
SABR chapters and committees are encouraged to set up virtual meetings to stay engaged with our members throughout the world at SABR.org. This week, we heard from Dr. Jorge Iber on Spanish-language broadcasters, Christian Trudeau on baseball pioneer Charlie Culver, The Wax Pack Book author Brad Balukjian, Pawtucket Red Sox broadcaster Mike Antonellis, The MVP Machine co-author Travis Sawchik, and a Ball Four panel discussion with Mitchell Nathanson and Mark Armour.
Here are some more upcoming virtual events you can “attend” online:
- May 30: Emil Rothe Chicago Chapter meeting with baseball scientist Meredith Wills (2:00 p.m. CDT)
- May 31: Emil Rothe Chicago Chapter meeting with minor-league baseball advocate Garrett Broshuis (2:00 p.m. CDT)
- May 31: Detroit Chapter open baseball forum (7:00 p.m. EDT)
- June 3: Baltimore Babe Ruth Chapter meeting (7:00 p.m. EDT)
- June 3: Luke Easter Chapter book club (7:30 p.m. EDT)
- June 6: Talkin’ Baseball: Hall of Name author D.B. Firstman (9:00 a.m. EDT)
- June 6: Pacific Northwest Chapter meeting with Inside Pitch author Rick Allen (1:00 p.m. PDT)
Find more upcoming virtual meetings and watch replays of past events on our SABR Virtual Calendar page.
Donate today to the SABR Sustainability Campaign fund
A big thank you to all SABR members who have donated to our Sustainability Campaign! These resources are being used to deliver rich baseball content, valuable research resources, and ensure that we are able to deliver a top-notch membership experience — just to name a few. Help us reach our goal of $100,000 today:
Click here to donate to the SABR Sustainability Campaign fund
So many members have stepped up and made contributions during these challenging times. To date, SABR members have donated about $83,000 to the Sustainability Campaign and we truly cannot thank you enough. To view a list of donors, Friends of SABR, through the end of April, click here.
We understand these are tough times for many of us and not everyone is in a position to donate at this time. SABR is a community and everyone can pitch in to support our organization in their own way, and when they are comfortable doing so. For those who have donated, we appreciate your support, and for those who will donate at some point, we thank you in advance.
Visit SABR.org/donate/sustain to learn more.
SABR Digital Library: Braves Win! The 1995 World Champion Atlanta Braves
Add a championship baseball book to your collection from the SABR Digital Library:
Braves Win! Braves Win! Braves Win! The 1995 World Champion Atlanta Braves
Edited by Tom Hufford and Bill Nowlin
Associate editors: Len Levin and Carl Riechers
Foreword by John Schuerholz
ISBN (e-book) 978-1-9701-5922-6, $9.99
ISBN (paperback): 978-1-9701-5923-3, $34.95
8.5″ x 11″, 484 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 Braves Win! for FREE from the SABR Store. Available in PDF, Kindle/MOBI and EPUB formats.
- Paperback: Get a 50% discount on the Braves Win! paperback edition from the SABR Store ($17.95 includes shipping/tax; delivery via Kindle Direct Publishing can take up to 4-6 weeks.)
SABR members can download all Digital Library e-books for free or get 50% off the paperback edition. Find more titles at 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.
Call for papers: 2020 SABR/IWBC Women in Baseball Conference
SABR and the International Women’s Baseball Center have announced a call for papers for the second annual SABR/IWBC Women in Baseball Conference, scheduled for September 11-13, 2020, at Rockford University in Rockford, Illinois.
This year’s conference theme is celebrating African American women in baseball. All topics related to women’s baseball and the 100th anniversary of the Negro Leagues are welcome for individual oral and poster presentations.
Please submit abstracts of approximately 200 words, along with contact information and a short biography, by July 15, 2020, to Leslie Heaphy at Lheaphy@kent.edu.
Click here to read the full announcement at SABR.org.
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.
On Monday, March 16, ASU announced that all in-person classes would transition to online instruction for the rest of the spring semester. Please contact a member of the SABR staff by email or phone with any questions.
SABR Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference rescheduled for 2021
Due to the global COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, SABR’s Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference has been rescheduled for June 10-13, 2021, at the Sheraton Birmingham Hotel in Birmingham, Alabama.
Anyone who has already registered for the Malloy Conference is encouraged to contact Deb Jayne at the SABR office to discuss options regarding their conference registration fees, including converting it into a donation toward SABR’s Sustainability Campaign fund.
The Negro Leagues Committee is one of SABR’s original committees, formed in 1971. It has continued to preserve and highlight the contributions of African-American players in baseball history. Visit SABR.org/malloy to learn more.
SABRcast Live with Rob Neyer: Listen to a Ball Four 50th anniversary panel discussion with Mark Armour, Mitchell Nathanson
As part of our Stay Home With SABR intiative, SABRcast with Rob Neyer was recorded via online livestream each Monday night for the past eight weeks. Each episode featured nationally known guests plus an interactive Q&A in which all baseball fans could participate. Next week’s show will return to its regular format.
Episode #61 on Monday, May 25 featured a panel discussion focusing on the 50th anniversary of Jim Bouton’s Ball Four, the explosive first-person diary of the 1969 season by the Seattle Pilots knuckleball pitcher, which was honored by the New York Public Library as one of the greatest books published in the 20th century. Our guests were authors Mitchell Nathanson and Mark Armour. Nathanson is the author of Bouton: The Life of a Baseball Original, taking advantage of Bouton’s personal papers, some 37,000 items, which were recently archived at the Library of Congress. Armour is the president of SABR’s Board of Directors and the founder and longtime director of SABR’s Baseball Biography Project.
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.
4 new SABR biographies published
Four new biographies were posted this week as part of the SABR Baseball Biography Project, which brings us to a total of 5,208 published biographies. Here are the new bios published this week:
- Charlie Buffinton, by Bill Lamb
- Dick Drott, by David Krell
- Chuck Rainey, by Bill Nowlin
- Jack Ryder, by Stephen V. Rice
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.
7 new stories published by the SABR Games Project
Seven new game stories were posted this week as part of the SABR Games Project. Here are the new game stories:
- June 15, 1952: Giants blow 11-run lead, lose to Cardinals, by John Burbridge
- June 15, 1952: Giants defeat Cardinals in seven innings after loss in opener, by John Burbridge
- September 22, 1953: Satchel Paige, Don Larsen lead St. Louis Browns to their final win, by Kurt Blumenau
- September 29, 1957: End of an era as Giants play final home game in New York, by Stephen V. Rice
- July 10, 1972: Hoyt Wilhelm appears in 1,070th and final game, by Kurt Blumenau
- August 1, 2009: Andrew McCutchen becomes first Pirates rookie to blast three home runs in a game, by Gordon Gattie
- August 21, 2019: Lucas Giolito strikes out 12 in complete-game shutout, by Laura H. Peebles
New Games Project stories can be found at SABR.org/gamesproject/recent. Find all published Games Project articles 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.
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 4:00-5:00 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. 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.
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:
- SABR 50 convention in Baltimore rescheduled for 2021
- Leslie Heaphy, F.X. Flinn re-elected; Daniel Levitt elected as SABR Director
- Check out highlights and clips from the 2020 SABR Analytics Conference
- SABR Games Project reaches milestone with 2,000 stories
- The SABR Bookshelf: Spring 2020
- Baccellieri, Staples, VanDeMortel win 2020 McFarland-SABR Baseball Research Awards
- Charles DeMotte, Jeremy Beer win 2020 SABR Larry Ritter Book Award
- SABR Digital Library: Whales, Terriers, and Terrapins: The Federal League 1914-15
- Brioso, Newman, Phillips win 2020 SABR Baseball Research Awards
- SABR Ivor-Campbell 19th Century Base Ball Conference rescheduled for 2021
- Submit your creative writing for SABR’s Turnstyle baseball arts journal
- Get a gift for baseball fan in your life with the new SABR Store @ CafePress
- All e-books in SABR Digital Library available for free to members
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 | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mark Anderson | Chicago Heights, IL | Thomas Lochner | Willamsville, NY | ||
Kevin Askeland | Yuba City, CA | Frank Mercogliano | Rio Rancho, NM | ||
Jeremy Darnell | Greenville, SC | Donald Roney | Prairieville, LA | ||
Matt Dunman | Durango, CO | J Scott Rose | San Antonio, TX | ||
Regan Durham | Union, SC | David Rosen | Pompano Beach, FL | ||
Daniel Eck | Champaign, IL | Jacob Seley | Edwardsville, IL | ||
Matthew Glover | Broomfield, CO | Eric Snyder | Lisbon, WI | ||
Christoper Hallenbeck | Niskayuna, NY | Dick Stanford | Birmingham, AL | ||
Josh Kaiser | Bladon, ENG | Shawn Summers | Traverse City, MI | ||
Andy Kunz | Sanford, FL | Clinton Yates | Los Angeles, CA |
Research Committee news
Here are the new research committee updates this week:
- Negro Leagues: June 2020 newsletter
Find all SABR research committee newsletters at SABR.org/research.
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)
- Halsey Hall Chapter: June 2020 newsletter (Minneapolis, MN)
Visit SABR.org/chapters for more information on SABR regional chapters.
SABR Virtual Events Calendar
Here are the upcoming virtual events on the SABR calendar:
- May 30: Emil Rothe Chicago Chapter meeting with baseball scientist Meredith Wills (2:00 p.m. CDT)
- May 31: Emil Rothe Chicago Chapter meeting with minor-league baseball advocate Garrett Broshuis (2:00 p.m. CDT)
- May 31: Detroit Chapter open baseball forum (7:00 p.m. EDT)
- June 3: Baltimore Babe Ruth Chapter meeting (7:00 p.m. EDT)
- June 3: Luke Easter Chapter book club (7:30 p.m. EDT)
- June 6: Talkin’ Baseball: Hall of Name author D.B. Firstman (9:00 a.m. EDT)
- June 6: Pacific Northwest Chapter meeting with Inside Pitch author Rick Allen (1:00 p.m. PDT)
Find more virtual meetings on our SABR Virtual Events Calendar page.
Around the Web
Here are some recent articles published by and about SABR members:
- George Washington University: How COVID-19 shook the Cactus League (GWU.edu)
- Craig Edwards: Examining the economics of MLB’s latest proposal to the players (FanGraphs)
- Eric Nusbaum: Fans asked to remove hats, owners hold out theirs (Baseball Prospectus)
- Jayson Stark: Memo to baseball — don’t drive off this cliff (The Athletic)
- Jim Margalus: The weird ways we can’t watch baseball (Sox Machine)
- Michael Baumann: Is MLB’s plan to return safe? Health experts break down the proposal (The Ringer)
- Jay Jaffe: Reflections on the 10th anniversary of Roy Halladay’s perfect game (FanGraphs)
- Mark Simon: The 10th anniversary of Roy Halladay’s perfect game (ACTA Sports)
- Jon Tayler: Half a world away and right at home: Sciambi, Perez on broadcasting the KBO (FanGraphs)
- Steven Goldman: From Cap Anson to Mookie Betts in seven stories (Baseball Prospectus)
- Rachael McDaniel: From castoff to hero: Chubby Dean and the Blues (FanGraphs)
- Andrew Baggarly: Generations of pitchers failed to suppress Pete Rose; one succeeded (The Athletic)
- Lee Lowenfish: The celebration of Stan Musial’s 3,000th hit (Saturday Evening Post)
- Anne R. Keene: From blimps to baseball, MLB’s World War II veterans still alive today (Lewistown Sentinel)
- Gary Cieradkowski: Jimmy Lyston and the 1921 Baltimore Orioles (Studio Gary C)
- Michael Augustine: Searching for pitch tunneling benefits (Baseball Prospectus)
- Sarah R. Ingber/Davy Andrews/Roger Cormier: Too far from town: Daytona Tortugas (Baseball Prospectus)
- David Laurila: Rangers prospect Cole Uvila Is a Driveline-developed spin monster (FanGraphs)
- Al Yellon: What if the Cubs had been placed in the NL West in the 1969 expansion? (Bleed Cubbie Blue)
- Alex Painter: Luke Easter: A legend of Halberstamian proportions (Home Plate Don’t Move)
- Bruce Jenkins: How ‘Golden Greats: The I-5 Series’ came to pass (San Francisco Chronicle)
- Brian Kollars: Huron’s Paul Doyle lived a memorable baseball life (Sandusky Register)
- David A. Scott: The 1920 Indians and the Philadelphia blues (Medium.com)
- Derek Bain: Retro computer baseball game review: Earl Weaver Baseball II (Baseball Analytics)
- Arthur Zillante: Set Building – Recent Master Sets (SABR Baseball Cards Blog)
- Jason Schwartz: Rethinking the Hobby’s most iconic cards (SABR Baseball Cards Blog)
- Randy S. Robbins: Was National Chicle on the Ball or Off the Mark With its 1935 Diamond Stars Jimmie Foxx? (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.
Have trouble reading this e-mail? Click here to view this week’s newsletter on the web.
Are you receiving our e-mails? “This Week in SABR” goes out by e-mail to all members on Friday afternoons. If they’re not showing up, try adding “sabr.notes@sabr.org” to your contact list to ensure they show up in your inbox (and not the spam folder.)
Follow us: |
Contact us: |
More info: |
Originally published: May 29, 2020. Last Updated: June 29, 2020.