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The National Pastime is the annual review of baseball historical research and regional topics published by the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR). Each year the publication focuses on the history of baseball in a different region or city, following the annual SABR convention from one major league territory to another. Recent issues have included Philadelphia, Southern California, and Minnesota. Upcoming in 2014: Houston. 2015: Chicago

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The flagship publication of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), the Baseball Research Journal is an interdisciplinary peer-reviewed publication presenting the best in SABR member research on baseball. History, biography, economics, physics, psychology, game theory, sociology and culture, records, and many other disciplines are represented to expand our knowledge of baseball as it is, was, and could be played.

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The flagship publication of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), the Baseball Research Journal is an interdisciplinary peer-reviewed publication presenting the best in SABR member research on baseball. History, biography, economics, physics, psychology, game theory, sociology and culture, records, and many other disciplines are represented to expand our knowledge of baseball as it is, was, and could be played.

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Volume 49, issue 2, of SABR's Baseball Research Journal, runs the gamut of research, from the nineteenth century to events that took place in 2020. The article that anchors this issue of the journal, appearing last, is Richard Hershberger’s account of the “First Baseball War,” in which the nineteenth-century clash between leagues contributed to the creation of the reserve system that suppressed free agency until the late twentieth, while Mary Hums and her team document MLB’s decision to change the name of the “disabled list” to “injured list,” including the advocacy and rationale behind the change, and an analysis of fan reactions to it.As always, we have some articles that delve into stats to enhance our understanding of the game. Among them, Theo Tobel gives us a breakdown of brushback pitches: do they really intimidate batters and provide an advantage to the pitcher? Randy Robbins noticed a statistical quirk in the record of Warren Spahn and it prompted an examination of one of the game’s pitching greats. Will Melville and Brinley Zabriskie undertake the task of trying to determine how much benefit, if any, the 2017 Astros derived from their cheating efforts, while Irwin Nahinsky analyzes the effects of luck and skill on team success. Ron Backer looks at Lou Gehrig in a new light—klieg lights, in fact—in his article on Gehrig’s Hollywood career, which like his life and playing career was cut short by ALS. Charlie Pavitt delves into the fact that a player’s ethnicity can be a predictor for what position he plays in MLB. Howard M. Wasserman examines Jewish players through the lens of their performances on Yom Kippur, while Alan Cohen examines one of the great hitters of all time, Josh Gibson. Because of racial segregation, Gibson never had the opportunity to play in the major leagues, but because many Negro League teams did play games in major league ballparks, we can look at those performances to prove how prodigious he truly was. An image of Josh Gibson graces the cover of this issue, in a piece of original art by Gary Cieradkowski, the creator of the Infinite Baseball Card Set.

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The National Pastime is the annual review of baseball historical research and regional topics published by the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR). Each year the publication focuses on the history of baseball in a different region or city, following the annual SABR convention from one major league territory to another.

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From Albert Spalding, who settled in San Diego in the latter part of his life, to late Hall of Famers Ted Williams and Tony Gwynn, San Diego has been called home by some giants of baseball lore. But San Diego was also the minor league home of Johnny Ritchey, who broke the "color barrier" in the Pacific Coast League, and Bill "Chick" Starr, the former player turned owner who signed him. In 1909 San Diego was the site of a game between the "Japanese Base Ball Association"—an aspiring pro team of Japanese-born players—against the local California Winter League champions, while during a few months of 1946 a Negro League team known as the San Diego Tigers played there, all before expansion brought the National League to the West Coast. Of course, the PCL Padres were superseded by the NL Padres, who play there today. The NL Padres remain the only team in MLB without a no-hitter, but the PCL Padres had one, at least by 1938 rules. The Padres have had their heroes (Garvey and Gossage, Hoffman and Templeton) and their goats, as well as The Chicken, whom The New York Times called "perhaps the most influential sports mascot in history." All of their stories and more from San Diego and environs are included in this issue of The National Pastime, to coincide with the national SABR convention taking place there in 2019.

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The National Pastime offers baseball history available nowhere else. Each fall this publication from the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) explores baseball history with fresh and often surprising views of past players, teams, and events. Drawn from the research efforts of more than 6,700 SABR members, The National Pastime establishes an accurate, lively, and entertaining historical record of baseball. A Note from the Editor, Mark Alvarez: This year we have the longest piece we've ever published in The National Pastime, Dick Thompson's cover story on Wes Farrell, which you'll find sturdily anchoring the issue, just before Dan Zamudio's pair of closing verses. You can also savor the first long poem we've ever run, B.H. Fairchild's "Body and Soul," which you'll find when you turn this page. These two unique offerings sandwich an especially chewy issue. Don't miss George Thompson's historic discovery of a baseball reference in the New York press of 1823; our three grouped pieces relevant to the hundredth anniversary of the American League; or Jim Smith's pictorial appreciation of Hall-of-Fame Chicago sportswriter Ed Munzel. You'll find other offerings that incorporate medieval art, the American Civil War, a president, a player who just doesn't want to talk about it, dignity and incivility, a pitching professor, and a Battalion of Death. And there's more: on ballparks, on tours, on forgotten players and their forgotten feats. On what-ifs and how-comes. Looking down the bench, a pretty strong lineup for today's game.

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The flagship publication of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), the Baseball Research Journal is an interdisciplinary peer-reviewed publication presenting the best in SABR member research on baseball. History, biography, economics, physics, psychology, game theory, sociology and culture, records, and many other disciplines are represented to expand our knowledge of baseball as it is, was, and could be played.

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In this issue, we remember the enormous contribution of Jim Bouton, pictured on the cover in a portrait by artist Gary Cieradkowski. Throughout baseball’s hidebound history, rebels and mavericks have emerged to challenge the status quo in the sport and the wider society, none more so than Bouton. His book Ball Four ultimately changed baseball, the sports media, and American literature. During his playing days, Bouton spoke out against the Vietnam War, South African apartheid, the exploitation of players by greedy owners, and the casual racism of the teams and his fellow players. When his baseball career ended, he continued to use his celebrity as a platform against social injustice. Fifty years after Ball Four’s publication and now two years after Bouton’s death, Robert Elias and Peter Dreier look back at the legacy. ALSO IN THIS ISSUE: “When the Fans Didn’t Go Wild” by J. Furman Daniel, III & Elliott Fullmer While the circumstances of the 2020 MLB season were far from ideal, it did present a unique research opportunity. Home-field advantage has long been observed in all major team sports, including baseball. Over the past several decades, researchers have sought to explain this persistent phenomenon. While multiple explanations have been advanced, the most common centers on the effect of attending crowds. Cheering (or booing) fans, the argument goes, affect the performance of players or umpires, leading to advantages for the home team. Because the 2020 MLB season was played without crowds, we are able to test the impact of fans on game outcomes through this unique natural experiment. “Impact of the Varying Sac-Fly Rules on Batting Champs, 1931–2019” by Herm Krabbenhoft The back-and-forth character of the sacrifice fly rule (i.e., at-bat or no at-bat) over the course of the twentieth century has resulted in some interesting “What if?” situations. For instance, one of baseball’s oldest (and at-one-time highly revered) batting metrics is batting average, with the player with the highest batting average being regarded as the batting champion of his league. But which players would have won baseball’s batting crowns if the rule had been consistent? What if the current sacrifice fly rule had been in effect for the 1931–53 period? Who would have won the batting titles, then? “‘Country’ Base Ball in the Boom of 1866,” by Robert Tholkes As baseball spread throughout the United States after the Civil War, not every newspaper was supportive of the notion. “Violent exercise,” reported the Cleveland Plain Dealer, would lead to “the production of fevers and bowel diseases.” The Raleigh Daily Sentinel disapproved of Southerners spending time on amusements, noting that “Intellect, energy, frugality and hard labor will raise the South, and nothing else can.” And as incidents of Sunday ballplaying proliferated, stiff opposition was raised by the Sabbatarians and other religious groups, like the State Street Congregational Church of Brooklyn’s Missionary Society. The Society’s diatribe warned that the game had turned from “a reasonable exercise into a moral contagion…insidiously diffusing and infusing itself into the minds and brains of thousands upon thousands of our young American people, from thirty years of age downward to little children…exhibiting a reckless abandon and mad ecstasy.” Additional articles reexamine Hank Aaron’s home run record, the career of Al Kaline, and the uncanny walk-off prowess of Ryan Zimmerman. One study looks at whether the perception that PED use prolonged MLB careers is correct. The “fourth out rule” and the earliest use of uniform numbers in the minor leagues are also investigated, among 18 articles in all.

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Since its inception, The National Pastime has featured excellent research and essays about baseball history. This year, though, we asked our contributors to point their lenses not toward the past, but toward the future. In 2020, SABR conducted a survey that invited respondents to answer questions about baseball twenty years in the future, framed by the following understanding: “[T]hat just as baseball, and its history, is a reflection on culture and society in the past and present, it could also be an input, context, and/or predictor for predicting plausible futures of the United States and other countries.” The goal became to predict what the world might be like in 2040, and how that will be reflected in the game we love. There are so many factors affecting our collective future, ranging from climate change to advances in technology, from medical breakthroughs to the ways baseball will adapt itself to changing tastes, from rules innovations to new forms of media consumption and fan interaction. This issue includes incisive essays on the future of the baseball uniforms, the Hall of Fame, fan experiences and the media, the future of baseball cards, climate change and baseball, as well as more speculative imaginings, in the form of press releases from the future and even thought-provoking futuristic flash fiction. The All-Star lineup includes Hugo Award-winning science fiction author Harry Turtledove, technology thought leader Cathy Hackl on baseball in the metaverse, MLB Network’s favorite chemist and climate scientist Dr. Lawrence Rocks, Sidewise Award winner (and son of major league catcher Del Wilber) Rick Wilber, and many more. NFTs, virtual reality, machine learning, materials science—every cutting edge technology will have its effect on baseball as we know it, and just as baseball itself was integral to the development of previous broadcast media from radio to streaming video, the sport will continue to be the proving ground for new uses of technology yet to come.

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The flagship publication of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), the Baseball Research Journal is an interdisciplinary peer-reviewed publication presenting the best in SABR member research on baseball. History, biography, economics, physics, psychology, game theory, sociology and culture, records, and many other disciplines are represented to expand our knowledge of baseball as it is, was, and could be played.

Read more less

The National Pastime is the annual review of baseball historical research and regional topics published by the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR). Each year the publication focuses on the history of baseball in a different region or city, following the annual SABR convention from one major league territory to another.

Read more less

The flagship publication of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), the Baseball Research Journal is an interdisciplinary peer-reviewed publication presenting the best in SABR member research on baseball. History, biography, economics, physics, psychology, game theory, sociology and culture, records, and many other disciplines are represented to expand our knowledge of baseball as it is, was, and could be played.

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Of all the New York Yankees championship teams, the 1947 club seemed the least likely. Bridging the gap between the dynasties of Joe McCarthy and Casey Stengel, the team, managed by Bucky Harris, was coming off three non-pennant-winning seasons and given little chance to unseat the defending American League champion Boston Red Sox. And yet, led by Joe DiMaggio, this un-Yankees-like squad of rookies, retreads, and a few solid veterans easily won the pennant over the Detroit Tigers and the heavily favored Red Sox, along the way compiling an American League–record nineteen-game winning streak. They then went on to defeat the Brooklyn Dodgers in a dramatic seven-game World Series that was the first to be televised and the first to feature an African American player. Bridging Two Dynasties commemorates this historic club—the players, on the field and off, and the events surrounding their remarkable season. Along with player biographies, including those of future Hall of Famers DiMaggio, Bucky Harris, Yogi Berra, and Phil Rizzuto, the book features a seasonal timeline and covers pertinent topics such as the winning streak, the Yankees’ involvement in Leo Durocher’s suspension, and the thrilling World Series.

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The National Pastime is the annual review of baseball historical research and regional topics published by the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR). Each year the publication focuses on the history of baseball in a different region or city, following the annual SABR convention from one major league territory to another.The 2018 volume focuses on Pittsburgh, home to some truly significant episodes in baseball history, being not only the home to the great Negro Leagues teams the Homestead Grays and Pittsburgh Crawfords, but to a major league team who came by their name honestly--no pun intended--for what others called the "piratical" practice of poaching players. The articles in the volume are arranged chronologically, starting from the opening of Forbes Field in 1909 and carrying through to a story of the annual fan gathering each October at the section of Forbes Field wall that still stands today. Fane re-live the magic of Game Seven of the 1960 Wold Series on the very spot where Bill Mazeroski's home run flew over the wall. The articles feature not only the hall-of-fame players Honus Wagner, Josh Gibson, Roberto Clemente, and Willie Stargell, but some lesser remembered figures like Guy Bush, Roy Face, Sam Bankhead, and Carlos Bernier. The tales of Honus Wagner running for sheriff, Moses YellowHorse learning bad habits from Rabbit Maranville, and Pirates player Mudcat Grant's quest to sing the National Anthem are told alongside articles detailing Pittsburgh-related baseball litigation, Pirates appearances in the movies, and amateur baseball contests that produced several major leaguers.

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The 1975 Cincinnati Reds, also known as the “Big Red Machine,” are not just one of the most memorable teams in baseball history—they are unforgettable. While the Reds dominated the National League from 1972 to 1976, it was the ’75 team that surpassed them all, winning 108 games and beating the Boston Red Sox in a thrilling 7-game World Series. Led by Hall of Fame manager Sparky Anderson, the team’s roster included other legends such as Johnny Bench, Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, Tony Pérez, Ken Griffey Sr., and Dave Concepción. The 1975 Reds were notably disciplined and clean-cut, which distinguished them from the increasingly individualistic players of the day. The Great Eight commemorates the people and events surrounding this outstanding baseball team with essays on team management and key aspects and highlights of the season, including Pete Rose’s famous position change. This volume gives Reds fans complete biographies of all the team’s players, relives the enthralling 1975 season, and celebrates a team that is consistently ranked as one of the best teams in baseball history.

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For the Baltimore Orioles, the glory days stretched to decades. Through the 1960s and 1970s, the team arguably had the best players, the best manager, the best Minor League teams, the best scouts and front office—and, unarguably, the best record in the American League. But the best of all, and one of baseball’s greatest teams ever, was the Orioles team of 1970. Pitching, Defense, and Three-Run Homers documents that paradoxically unforgettable yet often overlooked World Champion team. Led by the bats of Frank Robinson and Boog Powell and a trio of 20-win pitchers, the Orioles won 108 regular season games and dropped just 1 postseason game on their way to winning the World Series against the Reds. The club featured three future Hall of Fame players (Frank Robinson, Brooks Robinson, and Jim Palmer), a Hall of Fame manager (Earl Weaver), and several other star players in the prime of their careers. Featuring biographical articles on Weaver, his coaches, the broadcasters, and the players of the 1970 season, this book tells what happened in and out of the game. It details highlights and timelines, the memorable games, spectacular plays, and the team’s working philosophy, “the Oriole Way”—and in sum recreates the magic of one of the greatest seasons in baseball history.

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