On Saturday, January 29, a total of 156 SABR members and friends gathered in Arlington, Virginia for an all-day event headlining Nationals Park architect Marshall Purnell and New York Times best-selling author Jane Leavy.
Purnell, partner of the firm Devrouax + Purnell, brought early drawings of the ballpark project and discussed some of the events that changed that design into what was unveiled in 2008. He was entertaining in his views of the political process as well as the give-and-take required to complete a $611 million project.
Leavy discussed her new book, The The Last Boy, Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood, along with SABR member and physicist Alan Nathan. They showed the results of their research into the famous Mickey Mantle home run hit out of Griffith Stadium in 1953 off Chuck Stobbs. Leavy, a member of our chapter, conducted many interviews, including talking the man who found the ball as a youngster in his neighborhood. Nathan used a scientific approach to determine how far that ball actually travelled.
No less entertaining were the four local SABR members who made presentations.
- David Vincent, chapter Board member and long-time MC of our events, presented the interesting complexities of major league umpire travel.
- David Smith, founder of Retrosheet (Unusual data requests from the baseball media in 2010; and
- Mark Pankin, a member of the Retrosheet team, discussed Regional Postseason Series 1905-42;
- Professor Rex Bishop made a compelling case for Dummy Hoy being admitted to the Hall of Fame. Hoy set rookie records without benefit of a fielder’s glove or the benefit of hearing the fans cheering. Rex’s family is from the Hoy’s hometown of Houcktown, OH;
- 60 – Nationals
- 50 – Orioles
- 12 – Yankees
- 11 – Phillies
- 10 – Red Sox
- Also receiving multiple endorsements were the Tigers, Pirates, Giants, Indians, Dodgers, Cubs, Mets and Cardinals. A single hand each was counted for the Braves, Rays, Twins, White Sox, Reds and Padres.
A delicious buffet luncheon was served and many acquaintances were renewed and friendships established.
(Photo credit: David Vincent)