SABR's 2023 CHICAGO CONFERENCE DATES ARE A REAL HEAD-SCRATCHER
SABR's 2023 CHICAGO CONFERENCE DATES ARE A REAL HEAD-SCRATCHER
Pregame Pepper
Did you know…
Shohei Ohtani is the first man to be called for pitch clock violations as both a batter and pitcher in the same game . . .
With co-aces Max Fried and Kyle Wright idled by injury, the Braves turned to rookies Dylan Dodd and Bryce Elder for consecutive starts against the Cardinals — and got 11 innings of one-run ball, resulting in a series sweep in St. Louis . . .
Esteury Perez, rookie centerfielder of the Oakland Athletics, stole 85 bases at three different levels of the minor leagues last season . . .
Remember the name Trayce Thompson: after hitting 13 homers in limited action last year, he hit three in a game during the Dodgers’ opening weekend . . .
Mets rookie Kodai Senga wears a glove with a picture of a white ghost holding a pitchfork . . .
Cleveland southpaw Tim Herrin, working in relief against Seattle, was the first pitcher to fan all four hitters he faced in his big-league debut since 1893 . . .
Although Seattle’s starting rotation stayed off the Injured List for the entire 2022 season, that streak came to a crashing halt when veteran southpaw Robbie Ray went on the shelf after this year’s second game . . .
Cardinals rookie Jordan Walker, an Atlanta native who grew up idolizing Chipper Jones, hit his first big-league homer against the Braves Wednesday . . .
Jim Edmonds, now a Cardinals broadcaster, never made an error playing first base . . .
Speaking of broadcasters, 89-year-old Milwaukee mikeman Bob Uecker keeps in shape by swimming several miles per day.
Leading Off
SABR Needs To Pick Better Convention Dates
By Dan Schlossberg
The good news is that SABR — the Society for American Baseball Research — will have its 51st annual conference in Chicago.
The bad news is that the dates couldn’t be much worse.
The conference starts July 5, overlapping family vacation plans for many members, and ends July 9, two days after All-Star weekend begins in Seattle.
As the author of a brand-new book this year, Baseball’s Memorable Misses, and scheduled books in each of the next two years, I would have loved to sit, sell, and chat in the Vendors Room, as I did during the 2022 convention in Baltimore.
Unfortunately, that’s not going to happen.
In fact, I worry that quite a few prospective attendees — especially those of us in the media who realize that Chicago is not exactly close to Seattle — will have the same reaction.
While I realize that the Chicago conference could draw more than 500 members, that’s less than 10 per cent of the SABR membership.
The host hotel — the Palmer House — is great. It’s a centrally-located downtown property right on The Loop and right underneath the elevated Red Line train that links both Wrigley Field and Comiskey Park (officially Guaranteed Rate Park since MLB doesn’t like too many parks named after club owners).
The list of convention speakers is also good, with Mike Veeck (Bill’s son) at the top of the list, closely followed by White Sox broadcaster Jason Benetti.
The event includes seminars, panel discussions, research presentations, a difficult baseball trivia contest, trips to major-league games, an awards banquet, and face time with players, managers, executives, scouts, writers, historians, analysts, book publishers and editors.
Attendees receive a lapel pin, a ballgame ticket, and tickets to both the welcome reception and awards luncheon. They also get a souvenir print edition of The National Pastime, SABR’s annual convention publication, while all members get the e.book edition of the same periodical later in the summer.
More speakers are expected to be added.
This year’s group trip to the ballpark is a Cardinals-White Sox game on Friday, July 7.
The Palmer House Hilton, where SABR has held its convention before, is a home run of a venue. It is walking distance from Lake Michigan, the Chicago River, “the Miracle Mile,” and DuSable Lake Shore Drive, home of Grant Park, Millennium Park, the Art Institute, the Museum of Science & Industry, and a lot more.
An all-inclusive registration package costs $339 but the Palmer House costs an additional $224 per night. For further information, see www.sabr.org or call 602-496-1460.
Former AP sportswriter Dan Schlossberg of Fair Lawn, NJ has been a SABR member since 1981. He has attended conventions in Albany, Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Milwaukee, New York, Phoenix, St. Louis, Toronto, and Washington. Now on a book tour, he can be reached via emailing ballauthor@gmail.com.
Timeless Trivia
First time Venezuela native Ronald Acuna, Jr. spoke English in a post-game TV interview:
“I was a Marlins fan growing up and watched him play in Marlins Park. But that was definitely one of the most incredible ones I’ve seen.”
— Yankee pitcher Nelson Cortes on Giancarlo Stanton’s 485-foot home run
The Yankee Stadium blast was actually Stanton’s second-longest homer of the Statcast era.
Know Your Editors
HERE’S THE PITCH is published daily except Sundays and holidays. Brian Harl [bchrom831@gmail.com] handles Monday and Tuesday editions, Elizabeth Muratore [nymfan97@gmail.com] does Wednesday and Thursday, and Dan Schlossberg [ballauthor@gmail.com] edits the weekend editions on Friday and Saturday. Readers are encouraged to contribute comments, articles, and letters to the editor. HTP reserves the right to edit for brevity, clarity, and good taste.