SABR BioProject: May 2023 newsletter
High and Inside
The Newsletter of the BioProject Committee
Society for American Baseball Research (SABR)
May 2023
Editor: Andrea Long
- From the Co-Directors
- SABR 51
- The BioProject on Social Media
- Update on BioProject Submissions
- From the Editor
- Project Team
From Co-Directors, Rory Costello and Gregory H. Wolf, and head of the fact-checking team, Alan Cohen
Renewing the call for qualified vetters and editors . . .
There have been some productive additions to the review corps, but we could still use more qualified people to help with the first stage of review (vetting) and the final stage (copy editing).
Experienced BioProject authors may find vetting a good way to make use of their knowledge.
Having a broader and deeper team will keep stories moving through the pipeline at a good pace and help keep the BioProject submission window open for longer with fewer closures.
. . . and a friendly note to authors . . .
Many of the submissions we receive arrive in good shape. That’s not always the case, though – some of them need more work than is desirable.
Please review your drafts carefully; be your own first editor before submitting. If you think you’re finished, step back from the story for a day or so and come back to it with fresh eyes.
Vetters can and do reject submissions if the writing is deemed not to meet SABR’s standards. By policy, not all submissions will be accepted. An assignment is not a promise that your article will be published. It is the author’s responsibility to work with reviewers to make any necessary changes to the submission and make the article suitable for publication.
Also, we have revised workflow categories in the BioProject signboard on Trello to include a new stage: In Development. Reasons for moving a story to this list include:
- Lengthy delay in turnaround – authors: please respond quickly to input from vetters, fact-checkers, and copy editors. Failure to respond quickly bogs workflow down and hampers the flow of new submissions.
- A determination that more work is needed. Rejected submissions may go In Development or the rejection may be outright.
This judgment call may take place at any stage of review. It will usually be made in agreement with authors.
Stories that have been moved to this category will not be counted toward the cap (normally 25) on active submissions in workflow. This will free valuable submission slots or contribute to quicker reopening of the submission window.
Stories may also be moved to another category – “Stalled” – depending on the circumstances.
. . . along with reviewers
We are not imposing any hard deadlines. This remains a volunteer effort. But if you accept an assignment, either as author or reviewer, please avoid prolonging the process out of courtesy for your colleagues.
An additional note on sourcing
We’ve noticed some stories drawing on sources that in turn draw on previously published articles. To the extent possible, please try to find the details of the primary source rather than citing the secondary source alone.
SABR 51
Deadline for All-Inclusive Registration ends June 5
The 51st annual convention will be in Chicago, July 5-9. SABR 51 is shaping up to be our best gathering yet, but time is running out for all-inclusive registration and discounts. You can learn more and register at SABR.org/convention.
The BioProject on Social Media
Cheers to Paul Proia!
Paul contributes to the BioProject as author, vetter, and fact-checker. In January, he added another way to help out. Those of you who read the BioProject page on Facebook will have noticed that Paul has been posting frequently about subjects of interest, stimulating discussion and readership. Thank you, Paul, for helping make our Facebook page vibrant and active!
Speaking of Facebook, we’re over 3,800 members strong with various people posting informative notes on bios. On Twitter, Gregory H. Wolf tweets on behalf of the BioProject to almost 21,000 followers, and we are generating about 2.5 million impressions monthly. Twitter is by far our best advertising!
Update on BioProject Submissions
The BioProject recently hit a milestone with our 6,000th biography! Since the June 2022 newsletter, we’ve posted 221 new bios online, including 13 by first-time authors.
From the Editor
Greetings, BioProject friends! Will you humor me and allow me to write a very personal piece that doesn’t fit the usual “From the Editor” format? The reason I ask is because I have had an extraordinary and quite possibly once-in-a-lifetime experience: I went to the World Series.
Let me be more specific: I saw my beloved Philadelphia Phillies play in the World Series in Philadelphia.
Let me be even more specific: I saw Game 4, in which my beloved Phillies were crushed 5-0 in the first combined no-hitter in postseason history. It was also only the second no-hitter in World Series history, Don Larsen’s 1956 perfect game being the first.
So I’ll get that out of the way now. Yes, it was a disappointing game. Yes, I would have loved to see a win (like I’d seen the night before in a sports bar – more on that later). And, in the end, the Phils lost the series to Houston four games to two. But the point is, I was there. I saw it. I was at the World Series!
It was my first time in Philadelphia, my first major league game in over 20 years, and my first time seeing the Phillies play in person since I saw them at Atlanta’s old Fulton County Stadium in 1984. You’ve probably figured out that I don’t travel much, so this was a big deal in every possible way.
Philadelphia was on fire for the Phils! We saw banners everywhere, had World Series-themed cocktails at the hotel bar, and resisted the special baked goods at the Reading Terminal Market. This town was infused with the energy and giddy excitement that comes from having the home team vying for a championship.
One of the great joys of walking around Philadelphia was doing so in my Phillies garb. Because, naturally, everyone else was wearing their Phillies garb too. In Charlotte, my hometown and where I still live, wearing a Phillies shirt usually doesn’t elicit much of a response. I’m a stranger in a strange land when it comes to baseball. In Philadelphia, I was with my people, and a place I’d never stepped foot in before instantly felt like my home away from home.
Game 4 was scheduled for Tuesday, November 1, but a rainout on Monday pushed everything out a day. With flights and hotel rooms already booked, we headed to Philly Tuesday morning and spent the day as tourists. Because we wouldn’t see our game until Wednesday, we had a decision to make about where to watch Game 3 that night. Would you believe me if I told you we wound up in a sports bar in Chinatown? Reader, we wound up in a sports bar in Chinatown, and it was as much fun as anything I’ve ever done. Inside the bar, with the Phils mowing down the Astros, the atmosphere was electric and the camaraderie was something I’ll never forget.
SEPTA was our chariot to Citizens Bank Park. My companion (not a huge baseball fan but a seasoned traveler who made sure I didn’t wind up in Philadelphia, Mississippi) was my dear friend Jon who good-naturedly put up with my insistence that we be there when the gates opened. I can’t remember the last time I jogged, but I was practically in a run to the gate. I couldn’t stand still in line, and when, upon entering, I was given a rally towel (which I had framed), I jumped up and down like a kid. By the time we were in the team store line, tears were pooling in my eyes because I simply could not believe I was there.
I’m wearing a Bo Díaz replica jersey; Jon, a newly minted baseball and Phillies fan, is wearing a cap he bought in the team store.
I wish I could write a stirring and emotional description of the game, but the overriding emotion would be despair (see above). It probably goes without saying that I won’t be telling the tale for the SABR Games Project (although if you’re an Astros fan, you may want to do just that). But, again, I was there. I was with my people. I was in a sold-out stadium listening to 43,000 fans lose their minds. I saw future Hall of Famers and Phillies – Bryce Harper, J.T. Realmuto, and Aaron Nola – whose stories will surely be told in the Biography Project when the time comes.
If you’ve stayed with me, thank you for indulging me. I will leave you with this: if you ever get a chance to see your team in the World Series, especially if they’re the home team, do it. Find a way, if you can. I cannot think of another experience that even remotely resembles it, and it will stay with me for the rest of my life.
Let’s keep in touch.
—Andrea
Project Team
- Rory Costello (Co-Director, Chief Editor)
- Gregory H. Wolf (Co-Director)
- Len Levin (Senior Editor)
- Alan Cohen (Chief Fact Checker)
- Bill Nowlin (Team Projects & Assignments)