SABR Meeting

[Matt Johnson]

Who among us are SABR members? Is anybody going to the fall meeting on October 29th?

 

I just moved back to Minnesota last month. I'm interested in joining, but haven't done so yet. I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts on it. 

 

I'm definitely interested in hearing Dick Stigman speak at the meeting.

 

Keep in touch with @TwinsAlmanac on Twitter.

[ashbury]

I'm a longtime SABR member, but sadly am no longer local to the Halsey Hall Chapter. I count several of the members as lifelong friends, as we cross paths periodically at the national convention.

 

I do plan to go to the Boston chapter meeting the first weekend in November, if you'd like to meet up.

[Matt Johnson]

 

I'm a longtime SABR member, but sadly am no longer local to the Halsey Hall Chapter. I count several of the members as lifelong friends, as we cross paths periodically at the national convention.

 

I do plan to go to the Boston chapter meeting the first weekend in November, if you'd like to meet up.

 

I've never been to Boston, but I did live about two miles from the end of I-90 for about eight years. I-90, as you may know, begins (right?) at the Ted Williams Tunnel and ends at Edgar Martinez Drive and Dave Niehaus Way.

 

Anyway, what are the benefits of being a SABR member? Looks like they get together quarterly. But other than that...?

[biggentleben]

So here's my question. Being in the middle of SoDak, where would I end up as a member? I've attempted to grasp that in a quick glance on the SABR website a time or two, but never was completely sure of the answer, and I've never joined due to that.

[Matt Johnson]

 

So here's my question. Being in the middle of SoDak, where would I end up as a member? I've attempted to grasp that in a quick glance on the SABR website a time or two, but never was completely sure of the answer, and I've never joined due to that.

 

From the Halsey Hall Chapter's Twitter account: "The Halsey Hall Chapter of The Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) is based in the Twin Cities of Minnesota and serves the entire Upper Midwest."

[biggentleben]

 

From the Halsey Hall Chapter's Twitter account: "The Halsey Hall Chapter of The Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) is based in the Twin Cities of Minnesota and serves the entire Upper Midwest."

 

As much as I love the game, I make it to the cities 2-3 times a year for family things. Unless the SABR meetings coincided with Thanksgiving or family weddings, I'd probably not get to attend a meeting...

[ashbury]

Anyway, what are the benefits of being a SABR member? Looks like they get together quarterly. But other than that...?

I kind of missed this part of your post the first time. There is the national organization, which is a prerequisite to joining the local chapter.

 

You get a couple of print publications each year, journals called The National Pastime and The Baseball Research Journal. Lately, there has been a rapid growth in the number of digital publications coming out, bringing the yearly number of items to read to half a dozen or more.

 

Membership allows you to join the SABR-L listserv, which provides a daily digest of emails that usually contain a research element. It's not meant to be a sounding board like Twins Daily is, but even if you don't have research activities yourself, most days there is some nugget of interest, I find.

 

You might find that the research bug bites you, after interacting with the organization for a while. One relatively easy way to dip a toe into those waters is to take part in the SABR biography project, which has a goal to have an online bio for every major league player - obviously some of the older players are very difficult to track down, but many recent players do not yet have a bio and would not be too hard to put one together.

 

Over the course of years, I find the personal interactions of greatest satisfaction. Several hundred members attend the annual convention each summer, usually in a major league city, which allows for a shared experience at a ballgame. It's three days of hard-core baseball history and other research, plus trivia contests and guest panels and other features. The 2017 convention will be in New York City. Not everyone has the freedom to travel to these events, I realize.

 

If (as you are) you're near a city that has a SABR chapter, then that is an opportunity to interact more frequently than once a year with fellow baseball nuts. The Halsey Hall Chapter in Minnesota has two meetings per year, but there are other activities like a monthly book club gathering and an occasional hot-stove breakfast on Saturdays. You've probably already investigated the chapter, but for reference here's the most recent newsletter at the chapter's website. For others such as Ben who wonder about other locations, you can take a look at the national organization's list of chapters here. (I don't think a critical mass of members in the Dakotas has ever been achieved - setting up a chapter basically boils down to a few members deciding to make it happen, which of course is somewhat of a chicken and egg scenario.)

 

In additional to a geographical orientation of chapters, there are also research committees organized along fields of interest, such as 19th Century, Ballparks, Baseball Card History, Statistical Analysis, Latino Baseball, Science, Women In Baseball, and about 20 others. These generally conduct their business via email and the most active ones have their own publications and even annual meetings.

[Matt Johnson]

 

I kind of missed this part of your post the first time. There is the national organization, which is a prerequisite to joining the local chapter.

 

You get a couple of print publications each year, journals called The National Pastime and The Baseball Research Journal. Lately, there has been a rapid growth in the number of digital publications coming out, bringing the yearly number of items to read to half a dozen or more.

 

Membership allows you to join the SABR-L listserv, which provides a daily digest of emails that usually contain a research element. It's not meant to be a sounding board like Twins Daily is, but even if you don't have research activities yourself, most days there is some nugget of interest, I find.

 

You might find that the research bug bites you, after interacting with the organization for a while. One relatively easy way to dip a toe into those waters is to take part in the SABR biography project, which has a goal to have an online bio for every major league player - obviously some of the older players are very difficult to track down, but many recent players do not yet have a bio and would not be too hard to put one together.

 

Over the course of years, I find the personal interactions of greatest satisfaction. Several hundred members attend the annual convention each summer, usually in a major league city, which allows for a shared experience at a ballgame. It's three days of hard-core baseball history and other research, plus trivia contests and guest panels and other features. The 2017 convention will be in New York City. Not everyone has the freedom to travel to these events, I realize.

 

If (as you are) you're near a city that has a SABR chapter, then that is an opportunity to interact more frequently than once a year with fellow baseball nuts. The Halsey Hall Chapter in Minnesota has two meetings per year, but there are other activities like a monthly book club gathering and an occasional hot-stove breakfast on Saturdays. You've probably already investigated the chapter, but for reference here's the most recent newsletter at the chapter's website. For others such as Ben who wonder about other locations, you can take a look at the national organization's list of chapters here. (I don't think a critical mass of members in the Dakotas has ever been achieved - setting up a chapter basically boils down to a few members deciding to make it happen, which of course is somewhat of a chicken and egg scenario.)

 

In additional to a geographical orientation of chapters, there are also research committees organized along fields of interest, such as 19th Century, Ballparks, Baseball Card History, Statistical Analysis, Latino Baseball, Science, Women In Baseball, and about 20 others. These generally conduct their business via email and the most active ones have their own publications and even annual meetings.

 

Wow, thanks for the very thorough rundown. I really appreciate it.

Think I'll sign myself up.

To clarify, you don't pay dues to both SABR nationally and to a local chapter, right? Looks like you just pay your $65 to SABR through your local chapter... does that make sense and am I right?

[stewthornley]

Yes, it's easier to get more out of a SABR membership in the Halsey Hall Chapter if you're in the Twin Cities area.  We've have meetings in St. Cloud, LaCrosse, and Mason City, but most meetings have been in Minneapolis-St. Paul.  Is a membership worth it if you can't get to most of the events? Ashburyjohn has done a good job outlining what SABR offers, from publications to the website, to on-line forums, all of which have been valuable to me.  SABR got me to move from being a research consumer (reading about baseball and its history) to a research producer, and the resources SABR has for that are huge.  SABR also has a lot of committees.  Any member can join a committee, contribute, or just read what's happening within the committee and the committee newsletter.  If anyone wants to talk more, please contact me at stew@stewthornley.net and we can swap phone numbers.

 

For those who are in the Twin Cities, we have tons of activities.  If you live in Minnesota or nearby (northern Iowa, western Wisconsin, Dakotas), you automatically become a member of the Halsey Hall Chapter when you join SABR - no additional membership fee.  You'll get a monthly notice when the next newsletter is out, and it will have information on activities, such as our October 29 meeting with Dick Stigman as the featured guest.  Any SABR member from anywhere can join our chapter, too, at no extra charges.

 

I like to brag about the Halsey Hall Chapter and think it is active as any in SABR.  Bi-monthly breakfasts, book clubs, research events (such as Hans van Slooten of bb-r making a presentation), outings to Northwoods League and townball games, sometimes just getting together at a watering hole to watch the playoffs or the Caribbean Series.  These are all great events, and my favorite part, regardless of the event, is just the opportunity to see other members and talk baseball.

 

We're looking forward to seeing Matt at the chapter meeting on the 29th and hope others can make it, too.  Meanwhile, let me know if you'd like to talk more about SABR.

 

Thanks.

 

Stew

[ashbury]

To clarify, you don't pay dues to both SABR nationally and to a local chapter, right? Looks like you just pay your $65 to SABR through your local chapter... does that make sense and am I right?

Stew added a lot of good insights. In case it's still unclear, the membership dues go to the National organization. Go to sabr.org and click Join - or save a couple of steps and use this direct link:

https://sabr.site-ym.com/general/pick_username.asp

[Sarah]

I am a member of SABR and am doing one of the research presentations at the local fall meeting next weekend. From what I've seen there are many options to get involved remotely since you live in South Dakota - there are a lot of research opportunities you can do from anywhere like the games project, where you select a single game and write a comprehensive summary of it. If you're up for a trip the national conventions are fun too (next year it is in New York City, I think they are going to a Mets game and Citi Field is a great ballpark if you haven't been there). You can do as much or as little as you like (or have time for), it's mostly just people who love baseball.  

[biggentleben]

 

I am a member of SABR and am doing one of the research presentations at the local fall meeting next weekend. From what I've seen there are many options to get involved remotely since you live in South Dakota - there are a lot of research opportunities you can do from anywhere like the games project, where you select a single game and write a comprehensive summary of it. If you're up for a trip the national conventions are fun too (next year it is in New York City, I think they are going to a Mets game and Citi Field is a great ballpark if you haven't been there). You can do as much or as little as you like (or have time for), it's mostly just people who love baseball.

 

I did end up joining. I've got some opportunities that could end up making it more of a fun thing to be a part of rather than a thing I am allowed to be active in, but we'll see!

[ashbury]

I'm definitely interested in hearing Dick Stigman speak at the meeting.

Bad news just came in. Stigman recently had hip surgery, and his recovery is going slower than expected, so he won't be at the chapter meeting on Oct. 29.

 

The organizers are looking into confirming a replacement speaker. Frank Quilici is a strong possibility. There will be an announcement when it's firmed up.

[stewthornley]

We have a different guest speaker for this Saturday since Dick Stigman can't make it.  It will be Frank Quilici.  He will be on at 1 p.m.

 

Here is the lineup of research presentations:

 

9:15-9:45, Rich Arpi – Baseball at the Minnesota State Prison at Stillwater: The First 50 Years of the Stars, Grays, and Sisal Sox,1915-1964
10:00-10:30, Sarah Johnson – Baseball in France and Its Ties to Minnesota
10:45-11:15, Michael Fallon – How the Dodgers (Inadvertently) Saved Baseball in 1977
11:30-12:00, Peter Gorton – John Donaldson: Restoring the Legacy of Segregated Baseball’s Greatest Left-Handed Pitcher

 

More details (location, times, price) are at our website at:

 

http://www.halseyhall.org/pubs/october2016.html

 

Stew