SABR members

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Posted By: Bill Stone

I have spent the morning researching the history of the Frankfort Lawmakers of the Blue Grass League 1908-1912. In between my correspondence with various local baseball historians and curators I would flip back to Network 54 and to REA to check the status of my bids and it made me wonder how many forum members were also members of the Society For American Baseball Research ( SABR) and does your research cross over into your collecting interests? I find the T210 Series 6 cards especially interesting because of my research interests in the Blue Grass League.

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Posted By: Rich Klein

SABR is a great organization to belong to, and more collectors and fans should join

Rich

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Posted By: Rob Dewolf

I'm a member, although to be honest, belonging to SABR doesn't really overlap to my collecting, and vica versa.

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Posted By: Mike

I was a member 12 years ago or so. I enjoyed it very much. The local group was excellent. Very very bright members. I thought I was knowledgable and informed, until I met these people. Man they blew me out of the water. I left though, because they were a pretty tight knit group, and all friends, and weren't very interested in anyone who was new. I felt invisible. Only a few of the members even spoke to me. And trust me, I am far from shy. I did a presentation, and only a couple of the members really cared that I was even there. It was the Halsey Hall group in the Twin Cities. Like I say, nice folks, incredibly smart and knowledgable, but not very interested in new members. But I did enjoy my time there. For anyone who is into stats, man these people are for you.

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Posted By: Ryan Christoff

I've been a member since 1986 and my research frequently crosses over. It used to cross over a whole lot more, though, prior to January 1st of this year when SABR discontinued access to ProQuest, an incredibly helpful database for research of early newspapers.

-Ryan

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Posted By: Max Weder

I've been in SABR since the mid 1980s. I host a local Vancouver SABR meeting/BBQ each summer, and I always encourage anyone interested to attend--SABR member or not. Anyone who will be in Vancouver in August, please let me know--it will be a Saturady coinciding with a game at Nat Bailey that night.


Max

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Posted By: barrysloate

I've been a member since 1984 but I confess I only read an occasional article and have only been to one convention. I like the idea of supporting them even if I am by no means active.

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Posted By: paulstratton

I was a member in the early 90's, but it wasn't for me. I do enjoy their publications and research a great deal though.

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Posted By: S Gross

I joined late 1970's, when it only had a few hundred members, just before the big jump in numbers.

Back then (in the good ol' days ....) when you din't receive a publication, you would call John Thorn on his home phone, and ask what's up. He would tell you Mark Rucker was sending the publication out this week. Then you would call Mark and get his mother on the line, and she said he was in the garage. She would go get him, and he'd say he had just sorted and mailed off your copy this afternoon. You'd get it in a day.

Had a few good interactions, and went to a few conventions. The one guy I remember the best (now deceased) was Vern Luce (Luse?). This fellow literally had every NON-major pre-1900 league player stats. He got them from library newspaper files, and complied them on 3x5 index cards. I met him once, and in the back of his wood paneled station wagon, were shoe boxes and shoe boxes of these stat cards. An unreal personally historical research project. He was also the one who said that SABR was going to grow too fast for it's then make-up, and he was ultimately right. Things in the mid-80s got unorganized and I one year never renewed, and have never gone back (you can never go home).

In the late 90's I saw Thorn at a Winter Meeting hawking a book of his. I asked him whatever happen to SABR and Vern's work, he looked at me like I asked him about his dead childhood puppy.

Gotta' go, a spot just open up for me at shuffleboard ......

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Posted By: jay behrens

I've been a member since 1984 when I first found Bill James' Baseball Abstract. This year will be my last year. The organization is no longer fun. There used to be a time when you could have fun, make up silly stats to measure inconsequential things and it was all good. Now, if you do anything like that, you are laughed out of the room. Everything has to be done "academically correct" or the stats have to significant and meaningful. There's no fun allowed anymore, so I am moving on.

I've been renewing my membership for the great books, but the ones that really interest me are few and far between. It'll just be cheaper for me to buy the ones I want at a bookstore.

Jay

I love pinatas. You get to beat the crap of something and get rewarded with candy.

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Posted By: Jeff O

I've been a member since the early to mid 1990s and have always enjoyed it - mostly via the publications and the SABR-L list. I've been to a few local meetings, though thats not really my thing.

That being said, I volunteered at and attended the convention last year in Seattle and had a great time. The first evening of the convention I was working the registration table and John Thorn came up to get his stuff. I told him how much I enjoyed his writing and he smiled, thanked me and shook my hand. He actually seemed genuinely pleased, almost embarrased, by the compliment, which is rare today with well-known authors in my experience.

Also at that convention I spent a very enjoyable hour or so having coffee with Max Weder at a local sidewalk cafe. The weather was beautiful, and so were the ladies that walked by. It was the one-on-one time like that with fellow enthusiasts that made the whole thing a lot of fun.

Jeff

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

I let my membership lapse last year as I didn't feel it was worth it to me to stay in....No more Proquest...They couldn't get the AL Stars book out in time and I could have bought it cheaper off of Amazon than my membership fees cost. I am not a stathead, but more interested in the history of the game and I feel the publications are too stat oriented for my tastes. Also there is no local chapter close to me and there are less than 20 guys statewide who are in SABR. With my narrow scope of interest it is very difficult to find the information I need....and I tried desperately while I was in...many people just never got back to me on my questions...and not one single person ever answered my questions from the classifieds I posted on the SABR website.

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Posted By: jims

Mike, Sorry to hear about your bad experience with the Halsey Hall group of SABR in the twin cities. My experience has been the exact opposite with this group. I joined about five years ago and have found it immensely enjoyable and profitable both from a personal and a knowledge point of view. Hot stove breakfast meetings every other month where the discussion jumps all over the place. There are several collectors in the group with whom I exchange info. I also participate in a bi-monthly book club. All in all. a very good place to share and learn.

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Posted By: Shawn Chambers

Hey Bill,

I have only just begun delving into the Bluegrass League in the last few weeks. Been trolling the newspapers here in Lexington for box scores and just pulled the batting stats for the league for 1910.

I would love to know about the scope and main interest of your project. I know Frank Wakefield (who I blame, cause he sold me my first T210 Series 6..ha ha)is also interested in the league. Best in your research,

Shawn

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Posted By: Max Weder

That was you at the coffee shop Jeff? Wow.

PS Sorry about your Thunderbirds

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Posted By: Bill Stone

Shawn --send me an email at ston4100@bellsouth.net and I will be happy to share my research goals on the Blue Grass League. Bill