Hall of Stats

Today, the SABR 19th Century Committee newsletter went out to all committee members via email. It confirmed something I’ve known for a few months but didn’t really believe until I saw it in front of me. In April, I’ll be speaking on a panel at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.

The Frederick Ivor-Cambell 19th Century Base Ball Conference (known as “The Fred”) is held annually at the Hall of Fame. The two-day event features research presentations, panels, interviews, and more. This year, I have been asked to be on a panel to discuss the SABR Overlooked 19th Century Base Ball Legends project that I chair. I’ll be joined on the panel by my good friend Joe Williams (previously the project’s chair) and Mike Haupert. The panel will be moderated by John Thorn, the official historian of Major League Baseball.

I’m excited and honored and nervous and just about every other emotion you can think of. It’s always interesting to see how an audience will react to a guy who stumbled into baseball research after finding some interesting statistics attached to some (relatively) unknown names. The numbers led me to Deacon White, Bill Dahlen, Jack Glasscock, and others. Their statistical records drew me in and I learned as much as I could about them. Because of this, I’m not your traditional 19th century baseball researcher. Hopefully that means I can bring a unique perspective to this panel. I’ll try my best.