September 27, 2024 – Society for American Baseball Research (2024)

Welcome to “This Week in SABR” on Friday, September 27, 2024.
Click here to view this newsletter on the web.

Watch highlights from SABR/IWBC Women in Baseball Conference
Barbara Gregorich honored with Dorothy Seymour Mills Lifetime Achievement Award
Submit your presentation abstract for 2025 SABR Analytics Conference
Subscribe to the Fall 2024 print edition of the Baseball Research Journal
Member Benefit Spotlight: The Rucker Archive

Watch highlights from 2024 SABR/IWBC Women in Baseball Conference

The sixth annual SABR/IWBC Women in Baseball Conference was held virtually on September 20-22. This year’s conference — co-sponsored by SABR and the International Women’s Baseball Center and hosted by Rockford University — was a virtual Zoom event.

The conference was highlighted by a keynote presentation from author and photographer Jean Fruth; the My Baseball Story Panel with Kara Blackstone, Jillian Geib, Bethany Morlan, Allison Levin, and Kat Williams; the Uganda Baseball Panel with Anna Kimbrell, Meggie Meidlinger, and Kat Williams; the Umpires Panel with Greta Langhenry, Tiesh Diaz, and Perry Barber; research presentations, pylon unveiling, and the presentation of the Dorothy Seymour Mills Lifetime Achievement Award to Barbara Gregorich.

• Videos: Click here to watch highlights from the 2024 SABR/IWBC Women in Baseball Conference
• Program: Download the 2024 conference program (PDF)

Visit SABR.org/women-in-baseball-conference for more coverage.

Barbara Gregorich honored with Dorothy Seymour Mills Lifetime Achievement Award

Author and historian Barbara Gregorich was honored on Saturday, September 21 with the 2024 Dorothy Seymour Mills Lifetime Achievement Award during the SABR/IWBC Women in Baseball Conference.

SABR’s Women in Baseball Committee established the 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.

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

Submit your presentation abstract for 2025 SABR Analytics Conference

SABR is excited to announce the call for presentations for the SABR Analytics Conference, which will be held on March 14-16, 2025, in Phoenix, Arizona. Registration for the conference will open in early October. The SABR Analytics Conference brings together the leading minds in baseball analytics to discuss and debate topics relevant to the quantitative analysis of the game of baseball, including aspects of innovation and technology.

Abstracts of proposed research presentations should be no more than 500 words in length, and must include the abstract’s title, review of previous work on the subject, a summary of the research methodology and preliminary and/or final results, and the expected contribution to the field of baseball analytics offered by this work. Please send all abstracts to this e-mail address: analytics-presentations@sabr.org. Please clearly indicate whether you are submitting for the general track or for the student track of presentations.

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

Subscribe to the Fall 2024 print edition of the Baseball Research Journal

Beginning in 2024, all SABR members exclusively receive theBaseball Research Journal electronically twice a year. The Fall 2024 issue will be sent out in early November. However, if you are interested in a paperback copy of BRJ for your personal library, we have rolled out a subscription option at a significantly discounted rate: $7 per issue for members, compared to $19.95 at retail.

• To subscribe and receive a printed edition of BRJ, visit SABR.org/subscribe
  (If you have any questions about your subscription, please email brjsubscribe@sabr.org.)

Click here for a short video on how to subscribe to printed copies of BRJ.

Member Benefit Spotlight: The Rucker Archive

As a SABR member, you have vast resources and benefits at your disposal. With so much information at your fingertips, we realize it can be overwhelming to absorb it all! To highlight key benefits, read on for a SABR Member Benefit Spotlight, an email series that identifies and explains some of the most valuable features of your membership. We hope this allows you to take full advantage of all SABR has to offer. This week, we highlight the SABR-Rucker Archive, an extensive digitized and searchable collection of rare baseball images available exclusively at SABR.org/rucker-archive.

Click here for a short video on how to search the SABR-Rucker Archive, and how you can get involved.

Call for papers: 2025 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 2025 Frederick Ivor-Campbell 19th Century Base Ball Conference at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. The 16th annual Ivor-Campbell Conference is scheduled for April 25-26, 2025. The deadline for proposal Abstracts is October 31, 2024.

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

Submit new project proposals to SABR Editorial Board by November 1

SABR’s Editorial Board welcomes new project proposals from members to be considered for publication through the Digital Library, SABR.org, or any other multimedia formats. We strongly encourage new proposals that involve collaboration between SABR research committees and/or chapters, and web-based projects with an eye toward enhanced multimedia presentation.

• Click here to submit a SABR project proposal
  Next deadline: November 1, 2024 (for publication in early 2026 or 2027)

SABR seeks to publish 2-4 web-based multimedia projects and 6-8 books per year. Book projects should be of a scope that can fit in a single volume, typically between 100,000 and 200,000 total words.

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

Call for volunteers: Weiss Baseball Player Questionnaires

SABR seeks volunteers to help adding Baseball-Reference IDs to the Bill Weiss Baseball Player Questionnaires, a collection of self-completed surveys of professional baseball players from 1945-2005, which will soon be made available at SABR.org. Matching the players to Baseball-Reference IDs will make it easier for everyone to find their favorite player. No experience or time commitment is needed, just a love for baseball, data, and history. You can jump right into volunteering at https://tinyurl.com/WeissPage or contact Jason Sigler for an informational video and more instructions.

Since we began this project in October 2023, more than 100,000 questionnaires have already been transcribed. These questionnaires will give baseball researchers tremendous first-hand knowledge from the pens of 18-year-old minor leaguers.

Find new updates to the SABR Research Collection below, including the Baseball Biography Project, Games Project, and Oral History Collection.

New Oral History interview: Ken Singleton

• Ken Singleton, former Baltimore Orioles All-Star and New York Yankees broadcaster
  Recorded September 18, 2024, by John McMurray
  

Visit SABR.org/oralhistory to find more interviews from the SABR Oral History Collection.

2 new stories published at SABR BioProject

• Rob Dibble, by David Bilmes
• Lew Moren, by Edward Damer

Visit SABR.org/bioproject to learn more about the SABR Biography Project or to get involved.

7 new stories published at SABR Games Project

• September 27, 1905: Boston’s Big Bill Dinneen no-hits the White Sox, by Bill Nowlin
• June 28, 1920: Dave Bancroft racks up 6-hit game as Giants rout former Phillies teammates, by Tim Hagerty
• September 29, 1949: Former Cardinal Murry Dickson knocks St. Louis out of first place, by John Fredland
• June 29, 1969: Fergie Jenkins outduels Bob Gibson on Billy Williams Day as Cubs star ties NL consecutive-games mark, by Victoria Monte with Gregory H. Wolf
• September 28, 1971: Small crowd sees final win for a Washington team for 33 years, by Kurt Blumenau
• September 28, 1979: Orioles’ Jim Palmer slops his way to final win of decade, by Kurt Blumenau
• September 28, 2007: Jimmy Rollins’s bat, Cole Hamels’ arm lift Phillies into first place, by Steve Ginader

Visit SABR.org/gamesproject to learn more about the SABR Games Project or to get involved.

Sandy Koufax
Edited by Marc Z. Aaron, Bill Nowlin, and Glen Sparks

Visit SABR.org to download the free e-book edition or save 50% off the paperback edition of all Digital Library books.

Here are some SABR headlines from recent weeks that we don’t want you to miss:

• Check out highlights, photos, and recordings from the SABR 52 convention in Minneapolis
• Browse the new, searchable SABR MLB Team Employee Database
• D. Bruce Brown selected as 2024 Bob Davids Award winner
• Save the date! SABR 53 will be in Dallas/Fort Worth in 2025
• SABR special committee: 1949-50 Negro American League, independent Black teams are major-league caliber
• Check out highlights from the 2024 Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference
• Call for papers: Turnstyle: The SABR Journal of Baseball Arts
• Learn more about recipients of SABR Local Grants in 2024
• Find complete collection of SABR-Rucker Archive baseball images online
• Historical Black Newspapers Collection added to SABR Research Resources
• Get a gift for baseball fan in your life with the SABR Store @ CafePress

Please give a warm welcome to all new SABR members who joined this week! View more Members-Only resources at members.sabr.org or click here to download the Membership Handbook. Find contact information for any SABR member in the online Membership Directory.

• Events Calendar: Find details of all upcoming SABR events.
• Video Replays: This week, we heard from author Steve Dittmore (Jim Gilliam: The Forgotten Dodger); Vince Guerrieri (“Ten-Cent Beer Night”); Clem Hamilton (“Roster Management in the first Negro National League”); the Southern Michigan Chapter’s 25th anniversary panel on Tiger Stadium’s final game; and the Emil Rothe Chicago Chapter’s 1984 Cubs 40th anniversary celebration. Click here to view video replays of virtual SABR events.

Upcoming Virtual Meetings

• September 28: Quebec Chapter meeting with Patrick Carpentier and Christian Trudeau (1:00 p.m. EDT)
• September 29: Baltimore Babe Ruth (MD) Chapter meeting with Ben Ernst (7:00 p.m. EDT)
• September 30: Clyde Sukeforth (NH/ME) Chapter meeting with Vince Guerrieri (7:00 p.m. EDT)
• October 2: Baltimore Babe Ruth (MD) Chapter meeting with Lee Kluck (7:00 p.m. EDT)
• October 5: Mathewson-Plank (Central PA) Chapter book club meeting (10:00 a.m. EDT)

Upcoming In-Person Meetings

• September 28: 2024 Rygelski Baseball Research Conference (St. Louis, MO)
• September 28: Clyde Sukeforth Chapter meeting (New London, NH)
• October 2: Bob Broeg St. Louis Chapter fellowship meeting (St. Louis, MO)
• October 5: Connecticut Smoky Joe Wood Chapter breakfast (Middletown, CT)

To add your SABR event to our calendar listings, please contact Jacob Pomrenke.

• Baseball Cards: The SABR Baseball Cards Research Committee is looking to fill new vice-chair positions for Membership, Outreach, Social Media, and Events. Click here for more information.
• Oral History: The Oral History Committee is seeking a newsletter editor. If you are interested in helping out, please contact committee chair John McMurray to learn more.

Sign up for SABR research committee announcements at SABR.org/research/committees.

• Halsey Hall Chapter: October 2024 newsletter (Minneapolis, MN)

Sign up for SABR chapter announcements at SABR.org/chapters.

Click here to learn more about SABR chartered communities.

Here are some recent articles published by and about SABR members:

• John Thorn: Baseball pioneers: Bob Davids (Our Game)
• Daniel Moore: Last days of the A’s: Saying goodbye to a team, and a lifestyle, in Oakland (San Francisco Standard)
• Tim Keown: Oakland A’s fans say painful farewell ahead of move to Las Vegas (ESPN.com)
• Max Darrow: Oakland A’s Moneyball era stands out among fans’ favorite memories (CBS News)
• Dan Brekke: When the A’s Left Philadelphia, Hardly Anyone Came to Say Goodbye (KQED.org)
• Melissa Lockard: The Oakland A’s are leaving. What I’ll carry with me after 4 decades as a fan. (The Athletic)
• Stephanie Apstein: Oakland Coliseum’s Restricted Section Is a Gold Mine of Gorgeous Views, Old Junk and Rich Stories (Sports Illustrated)
• LaMond Pope: ‘The whole thing is too bad’: 1962 Mets pitcher Jay Hook feels the White Sox’s pain (Chicago Tribune)
• Lindsey Adler: How the White Sox Became Baseball’s Worst Team Ever (Wall Street Journal)
• Mark Simon: Shohei Ohtani And How MLB Players Slide Into Bases (Sports Info Solutions)
• Evan Grant: As John Blake steps back, spotlight shines on Texas Rangers PR man’s one-of-a-kind efforts (Dallas Morning News)
• Jeff Miller: How Dallas Sports Fans Became Collateral Damage in the Streaming Wars (Texas Monthly)
• Tyler Kepner: For the Orioles, a hard-earned playoff berth provides an opportunity for a ‘fresh start’ (The Athletic)
• Sean Sullivan: A Framework For Evaluating Pitching Change Decision Making in Major League Baseball (URAM Analytics)
• Sam Blum/Ken Rosenthal: ‘One of one’: How Billy Bean’s death left a massive void in MLB’s LGBTQ+ inclusion efforts (The Athletic)
• Jay Jaffe: Setting Up a Wild (Card) Final Week (FanGraphs)
• Russell A. Carleton: Embracing the Dark Side (Baseball Prospectus)
• Grant Brisbee: The San Francisco Giants (still) need a superstar hitter (The Athletic)
• J.J. Cooper: Teams Cutting MLB Scouts Are Losing Their Hidden Edge (Baseball America)
• Davy Andrews: Why the Royals Were Cursed (FanGraphs)
• Mario Delgado Genzor: Backspin: The Gift & The Curse (Baseball Prospectus)
• David Laurila: Jonathan Cannon Has Been a Promising Arm in a Dispiriting White Sox Season (FanGraphs)
• Steven Goldman: Cleveland’s Way Out in the Outfield (Baseball Prospectus)
• Benjamin Hochman: Cardinals great Curt Flood, honored by new St. Louis mural, should be in Hall of Fame (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
• Steve Henson: Dick Moss, who helped bring free agency to MLB players, dies at 93 (Los Angeles Times)
• Jon Caroulis: Los Hermanos Alou (BallNine)
• Rob Mains: Yandy Díaz Chases History for the Rays, Alone (Baseball Prospectus)
• Amanda Lane Cumming: The Rise and Sink of the USS Mariner (NW Baseball History)
• Michael Clair: How Baseball5 is bringing the game and hope to Syrian refugees (MLB.com)
• Eddie Griffin: How Did the 1919 Black Sox Throw the World Series? (WTTW.com)
• Jerry DiPaola: Legendary pitcher, oldest living Pirate Bobby Shantz turns 99 (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)
• Gary Mintz: New York Giants Preservation Society interview with Peter Gordon (YouTube)
• Jeff Cohen/Len Aberman: Baseball and BBQ interview with Josh Schaub (Baseball and BBQ)
• Evan Katz/Bruce McClure: Baseball’s Last Frontier podcast focuses on Pecos League season (Baseball By The Sea)
• Mike Bates/Bill Parker: Joe Jackson, who almost always wore shoes, with Dan Wallach (This Week in Baseball History)

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. To find past editions of TWIS, click here.

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Originally published: September 27, 2024. Last Updated: September 27, 2024.