This Week in SABR: October 11, 2019

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 October 11, 2019:


2019 SABR/IWBC Arizona Fall League Experience gets under way in Scottsdale

Arizona Fall LeagueThe festivities have begun for the 2019 SABR/IWBC Arizona Fall League Experience, October 10-12, 2019, at The Saguaro hotel in Scottsdale, Arizona.

This conference is focused on women in baseball, co-hosted by the International Women’s Baseball Center, and held in conjunction with the Arizona Fall League (MLB.com/AFL), baseball’s premier player development league. In past years, attendees have been treated to sneak peeks at MLB stars like Mike Trout, Bryce Harper, Buster Posey, Stephen Strasburg, Nolan Arenado, Gerrit Cole, Gary Sanchez, Peter Alonso, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and Ronald Acuña Jr. before they hit the big leagues.

On Friday, we heard panels and presentations from Stephanie Jarvis, Interim Director of Arizona State University’s Sports Law & Business Program; Michael Haupert and Lisa Giddings of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse; Elizabeth Benn, Coordinator of Labor, Diversity, and Baseball Development at MLB’s Office of the Commissioner; Debbie Castaldo, Vice President, Corporate & Community Impact with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Executive Director of the Arizona Diamondbacks Foundation; Jennifer Blatt, founder of the Women’s Sports School and WISE Arizona who spent 20 years in the Arizona Diamondbacks front office; and Callie Maddox, Assistant Professor in the Sport Leadership and Management Program at Miami University.

On Saturday, we will hear from:

  • Bridget Binsbacher, Executive Director of the Cactus League
  • Meg Rowley, Managing Editor of FanGraphs
  • Eric Longenhagen, Lead Prospect Analyst, FanGraphs
  • William Boor, Reporter/Producer, MLB.com and MLBPipeline.com
  • Perry Barber, professional umpire, author, and Dorothy Seymour Mills Lifetime Achievement Award recipient
  • Rebecca Herman, Graduate Professor of Leadership, Purdue University Global

Please note: All speakers are subject to change depending on availability.

Click here to view the full schedule of events for the AFL Experience. All baseball fans are welcome to attend.

Visit SABR.org/AFL for registration information and complete details.


SABR Digital Library: Go-Go to Glory: The 1959 Chicago White Sox

1959 Chicago White Sox book coverSound off the sirens! Add a championship baseball book to your collection with our newest title from the SABR Digital Library:

Go-Go to Glory: The 1959 Chicago White Sox
Edited by Don Zminda
Associate editors: R.J. Lesch, Len Levin, Bill Nowlin  
 
ISBN (e-book): 978-1-9701-5910-3, $9.99 
ISBN (paperback): 978-1-9701-5911-0, $29.95
8.5″ x 11″, 320 pages

The 1959 Chicago White Sox broke a 40-year pennant drought on the city’s South Side, begun after the 1919 Black Sox Scandal. The scrappy Go-Go Sox, with pitching, fielding and timely hitting, finally overcame the New York Yankees’ dominance of the American League, only to lose to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series.

Go-Go to Glory is a tribute to the men of that Go-Go Sox team. More than a simple memoir of a memorable season, it provides an in-depth look at an entire era of baseball through the prism of one remarkable team in Chicago. Here you’ll find original biographies of every single player, coach, broadcaster and key front-office personnel who contributed to the magical 1959 season, as well as appreciations of the 1950s White Sox by fans and historians. The book features individual lifetime biographies of owner Bill Veeck, manager Al Lopez, and players, coaches and management of the 1959 White Sox.

Contributors include: David W. Anderson, Ron Anderson, Mark Armour, Anthony Basich, Ralph Berger, Robert W. Bigelow, Ray Birch, Matthew Bohn, Thomas J. Brown Jr., Warren Corbett, Scott Ferkovich, David Fleitz, John Gabcik, Peter Gordon, Mike Haase, Jack Herrmann, Paul Hofmann, Mike Huber, Bill Johnson, Maxwell Kates, Tara Krieger, Paul Ladewski, Russ Lake, Leonte Landino, Kevin Larkin, R.J. Lesch, Len Levin, Gary Livacari, Barb Mantegani, Mel Marmer, John McMurray, Justin Murphy, Todd Newville, Rob Neyer, Bill Nowlin, Emmet Nowlin, Janice A. Petterchak, Neal Poloncarz, Alexandre Pratt, Jose Ramirez, Mike Richard, C. Paul Rogers III, John Rossi, Jim Sargent, Bill Savage, Pam Schur, Richard Smiley, Curt Smith, Justin Thompson, Adam J. Ulrey, Ed Veit, Cort Vitty, Joseph Wancho, Bob Webster, Tim Wiles, Brian P. Wood, and Don Zminda.

SABR members, get this e-book for FREE!

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.

To find more books from the SABR Digital Library, visit SABR.org/ebooks.


Listen to highlights from the SABR Black Sox Scandal Centennial Symposium in Chicago

The SABR Black Sox Scandal Centennial Symposium was held on September 27-29, 2019, in Chicago. The SABR Black Sox Scandal Research Committee hosted this once-in-a-century event to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the 1919 World Series.

The event — which was attended by nearly 200 baseball fans — was 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 gathered 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, followed.

Click on a link below to listen to audio highlights from each session:

Click here to view more photos and highlights at SABR.org.


Submit nominations for the 2020 Dorothy Seymour Mills Lifetime Achievement Award

Dorothy Seymour MillsNominations are now open for the 2020 Dorothy Seymour Mills Lifetime Achievement Award — “The Dorothy” — named in honor of Dorothy Seymour Mills and her lifetime of contributions to promoting women’s baseball.

To submit a nomination for The Dorothy in 2020, please submit a letter of nomination (self or external); supporting letters; list of accomplishments with supporting documentation (including articles written by/about the candidate; book reviews for books written; links to organizations/tournaments/others that the candidate participated in or helped organize); awards received; or other achievements by October 28, 2019, to Dr. Leslie Heaphy by e-mail at lheaphy@kent.edu or by mail at Dr. Leslie Heaphy, KSU at Stark, 6000 Frank Ave., North Canton, OH 44720.

To learn more about the legendary baseball historian Dorothy Seymour Mills, click here.

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


Call for papers: 2020 SABR Frederick Ivor-Campbell 19th Century Base Ball Conference

All SABR members are invited and encouraged to submit a Research Presentation Proposal Abstract on any topic of 19th-century baseball for the 2020 Frederick Ivor-Campbell 19th Century Base Ball Conference at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. The 12th annual Ivor-Campbell Conference is scheduled for April 24-25, 2020.

The deadline for proposal Abstracts is October 31, 2019. Your abstract must be between 200-400 words for a 20- to 25-minute presentation. Please include name, title, and contact information and send your proposal as a Microsoft Word or PDF attachment to Peter Mancuso at peterplus4@earthlink.net.

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


Save the date! Join us for the 2020 SABR Analytics Conference

SABR is pleased to announce that the ninth annual SABR Analytics Conference will be held Friday, March 13 to Sunday, March 15, 2020 at the Renaissance Phoenix Downtown in Phoenix, Arizona.

The Renaissance Phoenix Downtown is at 100 N. 1st St., Phoenix, AZ 85004. Conference registration and hotel information for the 2020 conference will be available beginning in October 2019 at SABR.org/analytics.

The SABR Analytics Conference brings together industry insiders from the baseball community, data innovators, thought leaders, members of the media and college students who will participate in the popular Diamond Dollars Case Competition.

Visit SABR.org/analytics to learn more.


Join us in November for Oscar Charleston book signing event at Changing Hands in Phoenix

Oscar Charleston book coverSwing by … introducing Oscar Charleston: Baseball’s Greatest Forgotten Player:

7:00 p.m., Thursday, November 14, 2019
Changing Hands Bookstore
300 W. Camelback Rd.
Phoenix, AZ 85013

Please join us! As we approach the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Negro National League, come hear Nick Piecoro, Diamondbacks beat writer for the Arizona Republic, discuss the legacy of the Negro Leagues and its best all-around player, Oscar Charleston, with SABR member Jeremy Beer, author of the new biography, Oscar Charleston: The Life and Legend of Baseball’s Greatest Forgotten Player.

The event is free and open to all baseball fans.

Attendees are asked to consider making a tax-deductible donation in support of SABR and our Negro Leagues Grave Marker Project, which funds headstones for Negro Leagues players buried in unmarked graves.

Those who make a donation of $150 or more are invited to attend a free private dinner at Southern Rail, located next door to Changing Hands, immediately afterward with Piecoro, Beer, SABR CEO Scott Bush, and members of the SABR staff. Click here to make a donation online.

If you plan on attending this event, please RSVP to brose@sabr.org by Friday, November 8.


SABRcast with Rob Neyer: Listen to an interview with TV host Ben Mankiewicz

Ben MankiewiczListen 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!

Visit SABR.org/sabrcast to listen to Episode #28 — our guest this week is Ben Mankiewicz, a television, radio, and YouTube personality. Since 2003, he has been a host of Turner Classic Movies, where he’s introduced thousands of movies on the air. He is also a film and television critic, having co-hosted the nationally syndicated “At the Movies.” He also regularly contributes to TYT Network’s main show, “The Young Turks.” In 2014, he and Rob Neyer came together to discuss the 30th anniversary of the beloved baseball film The Natural.

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. 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.


Become a Friend of SABR by joining our On-Deck Circle with monthly giving

SABR’s mission is to foster the study, discussion, and understanding of all aspects of baseball. In order to fulfill this mission, we rely not only on member dues but also gifts from our generous supporters. You can become a Friend of SABR by giving as little as $10 per month. When you do so, you will be inducted into a community of passionate baseball fans dedicated to supporting SABR’s work.

Get in the SABR On-Deck Circle, and help SABR become the essential community for the world of baseball. Your support will build capacity around all things SABR, including publications, website content, podcast development, and community growth.

A monthly gift is deducted from your bank account or charged to a credit card until you tell us to stop. No more email, mail, or phone reminders.

Visit SABR.org/donate or contact Ben Rose at brose@sabr.org to learn more.


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.

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; Frank White, author of They Played for the Love of the Game: Untold Stories of Black Baseball in MinnesotaBrian Madigan, SABR member and associate librarian for Hennepin County Libraries; and more.

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


2 new SABR biographies published

Bob HopeTwo new biographies were posted this week as part of the SABR Baseball Biography Project, which brings us to a total of 5,010 published biographies. Here are the new bios published this week:

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


3 new stories published by the SABR Games Project

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

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.

Read all stories from Crosley Field book online at the SABR Games Project

Crosley Field book coverIn Cincinnati’s Crosley Field: A Gem in the Queen City, edited by Gregory H. Wolf and published by SABR in 2018, we told the stories of more than 85 historic and monumental games played at the Reds’ diamond jewel on the West End of Cincinnati at the corner of Findlay Street and Western Avenue. The Reds called Crosley Field home from 1912 to 1970, encompassing the Black Sox World Series, the first night game in MLB history, Johnny Vander Meer, and the early Big Red Machine era.

All of the stories from our Crosley Field book can now be read online at the SABR Games Project. Here are some highlights:

To read more articles from the Crosley Field book at the SABR Games Project, click here.

To download your free e-book edition or get 50% off the paperback, click here.


Seamheads.com updates Negro Leagues Database with 1929 stats

Andy CooperWe’re pleased to pass along this update from SABR member Gary Ashwill at Seamheads.com on October 8:

This week we’ve added the 1929 Negro National League to the database, where it joins the 1929 American Negro League (the east coast league) for a complete view of the black majors in that year. This update also includes the 1923 Harrisburg Giants and 19241925 Homestead Grays, both courtesy of Scott Simkus, along with new games for several other seasons, notably a 1932 series between the Pittsburgh Crawfords and a team of major league all-stars.

The 1929 Kansas City Monarchs managed to wrest the NNL pennant from the St. Louis Stars, with player-manager Bullet Rogan leading the way. In 1928 Rogan had been both the Monarchs’ best pitcher and best hitter; in 1929 he stepped down as a pitcher, but continued in center field as the team’s top everyday player, hitting .359/.449/.571. The 22-year-old Chet Brewer (15-2, 1.93) replaced Rogan as the ace of an incredibly good pitching staff, which also included William Bell (14-4, 3.29) and the southpaws Andy Cooper (15-4, 3.52) and Alfred “Army” Cooper (11-3, 3.08). The Monarchs won 66 and lost only 17 for a .788 winning percentage, better than any other pennant winner in the 1920s.

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

Related links:


Listen to archives 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 taking a hiatus during the MLB postseason, but it will be back after the World Series from 8:00-9:00 p.m. ET on Saturdays on MLB Network Radio.

You can 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:

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
Benjamin Alter N. Caldwell Twp., NJ     Curt Nelson Kansas City, MO
Ed Baranoski Vienna, VA     Don Nelson La Grange Park, IL
Tom Bradley Columbia, MD     John Pregler Dubuque, IA
Joseph Buell Vacaville, CA     Joseph Ratta Framingham, MA
Kai Curtis Seattle, WA     Jay Samuel Mesa, AZ
Andrew Forbes Peterborough, ON     Jay Seslowe Raymond, CA
Rob Hale Bristow, VA     Grant Smith Pittsburgh, PA
Craig Henneberger Glen Head, NY     Lucas Szentgyorgyi Los Angeles, CA
Michelle Kralick Hillsdale, NJ     Jonathan Weston Glendale, AZ
Brett Legner Chicago, IL     John Wood Sacramento, CA

Research Committee news

Here are the new research committee updates this week:

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


Regional Chapter news

There are no new regional chapter updates this week.

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:

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. 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: October 11, 2019. Last Updated: April 3, 2020.