Issue #725
(Credits: SABR logo designed by Todd Radom; Photo in top right, and both in bottom row credit to SABR.)
I recently attended the 54th Convention for SABR, the Society for American Baseball Research. I’ve been a member of SABR for many years, off and on since the 1990s, and this was my sixth consecutive annual convention (2019, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026, since we didn’t have one in 2020 or 2021).
There are many links to highlights from SABR 54 from SABR’s main convention webpage. They are also several SABR convention photo galleries as well.
As I’ve done for some previous conventions, this is a write-up about my experience at the event, including notes from some sessions I attended, a few pics, etc. Of course this is just one person’s experience, a small slice of the overall event—and it is shorter and less detailed than my prior recaps given my busy schedule in producing The Baseball Buffet everyday. But I hope you enjoy the below write-up… which includes information at the end about SABR 55 next year!
My SABR 54 Experience
Over 500 SABR members and other baseball fans gathered at the Hilton Cleveland Downtown hotel in Cleveland, Ohio from July 29 - August 1.
No single article can capture all of the presentations and other components of the convention. But below are my notes from some of the sessions I attended.
Welcome Reception. This year's Wednesday evening welcome reception, again sponsored by Baseball-Reference.com, included several SABR award presentations and a buffet dinner. The special guest speaker was Bob Kendrick of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in a “fireside chat” moderated by Cleveland baseball historian Stephanie Liscio. Kendrick is always a pleasure to listen to because of his enthusiasm for, and encyclopedic knowledge of, the historical Negro leagues.
Welcome Remarks. Chris Antonetti, President of Baseball Operations for the Cleveland Guardians, welcomed attendees to SABR 54, and then gave a few brief remarks about this tenure with the Guardians. He then spent most of the session taking open questions from the audience, which spanned a wide range of subjects, from issues specific to the Guardians team and its challenges as a small market, to questions on aspects of the current CBA negotiations, plus some from students about his work and role, and aspects of being a leader in the business of sports.
Research sessions. There are many more research sessions (including some hosted by SABR committees during this meetings) than anyone can attend each year. Like most large conferences, you have to pick and choose from several in each time slot. I personally attended and enjoyed these research sessions:
The 1904 Cleveland Blues-Pittsburg Pirates Post-Season Series, by Richard J. Puerzer
Who Was That Guy? Identification of Unknown Minor Leaguers in Baseball-Reference, by Terry Bohn
Best and Worst Benches, by Chris Jaffe
The Mediocrity of the “Man Who Made Mediocrity Famous:” An Examination of Bob Uecker’s Playing Career, by Matthew Prigge
The Legendary Life of Luscious “Luke” Easter, by Ryan Brecker
MLB Playoff Projection Systems: How good are they (and can they be better)?, by Vinay Kumar
Scouting the Scouts: Do 20-80 Grades Predict Major League Success?, by Mike Reed
Born for the Big Leagues, by Jacob Garbett and Richard Cuicchi
Words Above Replacement: A Computational Evaluation of Player Portrayals in Baseball Writing, by Lindsay Dial
Satchel Paige in Cleveland, by Mark Armour
Ethics on the Diamond: Understanding MLB’s Steroid Era Through Organizational Culture and Moral Reasoning, by Victoria Lovinggood
Frank Robinson: The Historical and Tumultuous Cleveland Experience, by John Burbridge Jr.
Stress Ultrasound of the Ulnar Collateral Ligament of the Elbow: Can We Predict Who Will Need Tommy John Surgery?, by Levon Nazarian
Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes: How the BBWAA Votes for the Hall of Fame, by Neal Traven
Drafting the Game: The Creation of the 1857 Rules of Baseball, by Tom Shieber
Past Speed-Up Attempts in Major League Baseball, by Stew Thornley
Charles Nagy, Sandy Alomar Jr., Carlos Baerga, Kenny Lofton, Mike Hargrove
(Photo credit: SABR 54 photo gallery)
1990s Cleveland Indians Panel. We had a great panel featuring Cleveland baseball greats Sandy Alomar Jr., Carlos Baerga, Mike Hargrove, Kenny Lofton, and Charles Nagy, moderated by sports writer Paul Hoynes, 2026 BBWAA Career Excellence Award recipient. This featured plenty of interesting stories and anecdotes from all five former players, including each responding to a request for a story about teammate Albert Belle. They took many questions from the audience, which included numerous Indians/Guardians fans in attendance.
Tom Hamilton (left) being interviewed by John McMurray.
(Photo credit: SABR 54 photo gallery)
A Conversation with Tom Hamilton. We had a special session in the form of a SABR Oral History interview with Cleveland Guardians broadcaster and Ford C. Frick Award recipient Tom Hamilton, moderated by John McMurray. Tom shared great anecdotes about his career, from his early days and getting his break with the Indians, and the many highlights as a broadcaster for the team from the 1990s to today.
Cleveland Guardians Baseball Analytics Panel. We had a special panel featuring Cleveland Guardians front-office executives Sky Andrecheck, Kyle Burris, and Keith Woolner, moderated by Zack Meisel of The Athletic. They discussed how they each got into baseball analytics, how they approach the work with the Guardians, and answered many questions from the audience.
60th Anniversary of the MLB Players Association Panel. We had a special panel exploring the past 60 years since the MLB Players Association was established in 1966. This featured Ezra Frankel, Director of Baseball Economics for the MLBPA; historians Mark Armour, Mike Haupert, and Dan Levitt; and moderator Katie Krall.
Screening of the film Major League
(Photo credit: Tom Stone)
Major League film screening and Q&A. We were treated to a Q&A session with Academy Award-winning writer and director David S. Ward, who wrote and directed the great 1989 baseball movie, Major League. The Q&A was moderated by Jonathan Knight, author of The Making of Major League: A Juuuust a Bit Inside Look at the Classic Baseball Comedy. Several hundred convention attendees then all watched the classic baseball film together. Even though almost everyone had seen the movie before—some of us many times over—it was great fun to see it again in such a large group of serious baseball fans. And in particular, I found it valuable to watch the film again right after learning so many interesting bits from Ward, which included:
Wesley Snipes was an impressive overall athlete, but was the only one of the main actors who lacked any real background with baseball. Nonetheless, he quickly was able to hit pop ups in the batting cage as needed for the story. Ward noted it really isn't an easy thing to purposely hit under the ball to generate pop-ups.
Former major league catcher Steve Yeager was the catcher who doubled for Tom Berenger for the more difficult catcher throws, like the snap throw to first base in one scene.
Dennis Haysbert, who played Pedro Cerrano, did have good batting power, and actually hit one out of the stadium.
Ward wanted the final play of the movie to be something never seen before, so rather than a big home run, he came up with the called-shot-turned-bunt with the speedy runner scoring from second while the ball was still in play.
Not all of Uecker's ad libs stayed in the film, as some were too R-rated even for this film.
An alternate ending was shot where the Rachel Phelps owner character actually liked the team and her awfulness was all a strategy to get them to rally together in the end. That ending didn't test well, so Ward went with her remaining as the antagonist to the end.
Ward and his team sent MLB a version of the script that lacked any swearing to help get approval for using the real team names, etc.
The view from my seat at Progressive Field!
Diamondbacks vs. Guardians. Hundreds of SABR 54 attendees descended on Progressive Field for the Friday, August 1st matchup between the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks and the hometown Cleveland Guardians. We first had a private ballpark buffet so we could continue conversations from throughout the week convention so far, and then we found our seats. The Guardians scored a run in the first inning, but that was all they would get off rookie ARI SP Mitch Bratt (5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 2 K) who was making his fifth major league start. Meanwhile, CLE SP Tanner Bibee pitched seven shutout innings before giving up a walk and a single in the eighth and reaching 100 pitches. Unfortunately for all the local fans, reliever Erik Sabrowski didn't have is best stuff and gave up a walk and two singles, and then Matt Festa came in and gave up a single also, suddenly giving the D-Backs a 4-1 lead. Arizona relievers Kevin Ginkel and Brandyn Garcia pitched scoreless innings to close it out, with Garcia earning his 3rd save.
One part of the SABR 54 trivia finale. Some parts are done Jeopardy style, this part is done like Family Feud.
Trivia contests. A favorite aspect of the annual SABR convention are the various trivia contests that are held each year. This is a humbling affair, as SABR events are full of many people aren’t just baseball fans, but serious baseball researchers, writers, etc. My first time participating several years ago I came in about the middle of the pack in the main individual event. I’m happy to report that I’ve improved since then, and this year had my best result yet, coming in 14th out of about 70 initial participants. The team I was part of also didn’t qualify for either of the team semifinal events—but we came close and were the highest scoring amongst those who didn’t qualify. Maybe next year!
SABR 55 in 2027
There are many links to highlights from SABR 54 from SABR’s main convention webpage. They are also several SABR convention photo galleries as well.
It was announced that next year's SABR 55 convention will be held August 4-7, 2027, in Birmingham, Alabama.
This is admittedly a divergence from tradition, where the convention is typically held in a major league city so we can go to an MLB ballgame. However, due to the uncertainty around the current CBA negotiations between the owners and the players, we are only hoping to have major league baseball next year. There will be minor league baseball, so Alabama gives attendees both the chance to see a minor league game, and importantly an opportunity to see Rickwood Field, the oldest still existing professional stadium in the country.
As always, I encourage baseball fans of all ages and interests to support SABR in any way they can, including your local chapter and its events, and of course the national convention each summer. I hope to see you there in the future!