SABR 38 Day Three: A Film, Some Authors, and Tornado Damage Back Home
This morning, SABR members were treated to a special screening of a new documentary. “Base Ball Discovered” is a production of MLB, and goes into the origins of the game. As they were filming in England, the producers unearthed a new document that helps push back the origins of baseball to an astoundingly early date — at least 1755.
The documentary was extremely well done, and fascinating — even touching. The early cultural connections between Great Britain and the United States are laid bare, and it’s easy to see how much in common we have to this day, even though our respective sports, cricket and baseball, diverged long ago.
While it’s long been considered a myth that Abner Doubleday invented baseball in 1839, the producers acknowledge that while believing that Doubleday is the father of the game is akin to a belief in Santa Claus — untrue, certainly, but an important cultural myth nonetheless.
The best aspect of the movie, beyond it’s wonderfully informative nature, is its accessibility. While a lot of the early history of the game can often be dry and somewhat “arcane,” as one SABR member noted, this is a very engaging, entertaining documentary.
As the credits rolled, the audience applauded loudly for three or four minutes. SABR is a pretty picky crowd, and can be notoriously traditionalist in their views, but the crowd loved this film.
I won’t spoil the conclusions and details of the documentary by giving away too much, but I can highly recommend viewing it. It’s apparently going to be available on MLB.com and iTunes.
After the screening, the producers and SABR contributors to the film sat down for a panel discussion on the origins of the game. It’s also going to be available on MLB.com, as it was taped.
Interestingly, Cincinnati Reds pitcher Bill Bray was in attendance at the screening. Why? He’s a descendant of William Bray, the man whose 1755 diary plays a central role in the documentary.
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I just ran into prolific baseball author Norman Macht in the lobby, and he jokingly asked why I was using a laptop instead of a typewriter. Little did he know, I do in fact own a typewriter and use it often. I told him that I bought an old Remington Quiet Riter a few years ago, and regularly use it to correspond with friends.
While the instantaneous nature of email communication is a wonderful tool, I still like the care it takes to sit down and type out a letter. I think it means a lot more to get a letter in the mail than an email. We had a nice little discussion about old typewriters, and I told him I buy my ribbons from Ribbons Unlimited. Maybe I can get a free ribbon for that plug…
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Speaking of running into authors, it’s hard to avoid doing that here at the SABR convention. Not that you’d want to try avoiding them, anyway. They’re some of the most interesting people here.
I had dinner last night with University of Nebraska Press published authors Dan Levitt — the author of Paths to Glory and Ed Barrow — and Mark Armour, who is writing an upcoming biography of Joe Cronin.
I spoke with Armour at last year’s convention in St. Louis, when I mentioned to the Corvallis, Ore. based author that I enjoyed the Oregon State fans at the previous two College World Series in Omaha.
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Last night marked just the seventh different MLB park I’ve been to — a number I’m working on increasing — when I attended the Reds vs. Indians matchup at Progressive Field (formerly Jacobs Field).
Rain delayed the beginning of the game by an hour, and would prove to influence the rest of my evening.
Just before the national anthem started playing, I got a phone call. Back home in Nebraska, an apparent tornado had hit my dad’s farm — the place I grew up — and had wreaked destruction. There was a tree through the roof, windows were shattered, the grain bins were flattened, the hay shed was destroyed, barns were missing roofs, every tree on the place was down, and there was a total loss of the corn and soybeans. Even the grass in the back pasture was uprooted, according to my brother.
It’s hard to get a phone call like that when you’re a thousand miles from home, and can’t rush back to help.
I’ll be home late Monday night, and won’t be able to get out there until Tuesday. I’m still trying to find out just where we stand, and what I can do to help. My remaining time in Cleveland is going to feel like a year, and not because of any supposed shortcomings of the city, the usual reason people claim to dislike Cleveland. In fact, I like the town, other than the difficulty I had in finding an open place to get a beer the other night.
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Coming up this afternoon are some very interesting presentations:
- “How Valuable is Strike One?” by David W. Smith
- “Measuring the Effect of ‘Fog’ on Clutch Hitting” by Dick Cramer and Pete Palmer
- “Does ‘Game Score’ Still Work in Today’s High-Offense Game?” by Jeff Angus
- “Run Production in a Game-by-Game Context” by Matt Souders
First, though, there’s going to be what looks like a very interesting panel discussion with Cleveland Indians’ GM Mark Shapiro, and the one and only Mike Veeck, owner of the St. Paul Saints and a member of the most influential ownership family in baseball history.