Getting ready to pour one out for my Shohei.

Missing the Furry convention by 2 weeks.

Missing the Furry convention by 2 weeks.

Keep us posted?

I was gonna make the (6hr) drive, if my oral presentation abstract had been accepted. But I didn't make the cut.

Pittsburgh is The City of Bridges - 446 of 'em, more than any other city.

good people, too

So Jeff wrote a nice re-cap last year, but it didn't get posted to the site. None of us suspected anything, because primates in the past may have volunteered to do things, that didn't actually get done. Jeff keeps his word, he's a GD American Hero.

I put Jeff's wrap-up into Google Docs and put a link to it up top.

Jeff is a GD American Hero.

Mike, LA:

Feel free to (or have the author) email me the write-up from SABR 48. I've got keys now, and I'll make sure it gets on the site immediately.

And please encourage GD American Hero Jeff to join us. We need some new blood.

I should be there Friday evening in time for the Pirates game. I have a one-day ticket for Saturday's events.

On the subject of when "real Primates" get to town for the convention, I'll arrive in da Burgh on Thursday.

This Thursday, June 14.

Of course, it's a city I lived in for 15 years (I was on the local committee in 1995, the last time we met in Pittsburgh), so I have lots of reasons to arrive early.

Last time, the BTF contingent had a Slack group so we could always track each other down. We should do that again this year.

So what is the smart money betting on for SABR 49? I guess Boston would be due but for purely selfish reasons I would say Atlanta. I guess Dallas is due as well though Boston would probably draw the most out of any viable candidates.

Atlanta was just a few years ago (2009-2010 thereabouts). Boston was 2002 I think so even that sounds like a quick return.

So what is the smart money betting on for SABR 49? I guess Boston would be due but for purely selfish reasons I would say Atlanta. I guess Dallas is due as well though Boston would probably draw the most out of any viable candidates.

25 MLB metros (NYC, Chicago, LA have two teams, obviously. Bay Area has SF & Oakland. And Baltimore & DC are so close that at the SABR convention in DC we went to a game at Camden Yards).

The five with the longest stretch of not hosting (or never hosting) a SABR convention are: Detroit, San Diego, KC, Dallas, and Tampa Bay.

SABR went to Florida in 2016 (Miami) so I don't see them coming back any time soon. Similarly, SABR was in Texas in 2014 (Houston), and that's a big quick of a return to that state. That leaves Detroit, KC, and San Diego. I can't imagine it'll be in Detroit, because it's fairly close to this year's convention in Pittsburgh. Two in a row that close together is unlikely.

So that leaves San Diego (last hosted: 1993) and Kansas City (last hosted: 1996). I'd reckon San Diego has the edge for two reasons. First, 1993 was pre-Petco, so SABR has never gone to the current Padres stadium. Second, SABR likes going to the west coast every so often - and it's due. SABR was last there in 2011 in Long Beach (LA area). So next year will be eight years since. Long Beach was five years after Seattle (2006). Seattle was eight years after the Bay Area (San Mateo, 1998). That was five years after San Diego (1993). That was eight years after Oakland (1985). It's usually an eight-year gap, and it's been eight years as of next year.

So San Diego is the most likely place, followed by KC.

I mean, they could go to a non-MLB city. It's happened in the past, but it's rare. Last time: Louisville, 1997.

Outside chances, well the next batch of MLB metros with the longest time without hosting a SABR convention are: Bay Area (1998), Phoenix (1999), Milwaukee (2001), Boston (2002), and Denver (2003). Milwaukee is the least likely of that bunch, as SABR went to Chicago in 2015. Too close. Bay Area? If they're going to California, SABR is far more likely to go to San Diego next year. Denver? No pressing reason to do so, and by 2019 it'll only be 16 years since the last stop.

Phoenix is a legit dark horse. It'll have been 21 years since the last one, and from memory - I think SABR's offices are now located down there. I guess Boston has a chance because so much of SABR's membership lives in the northeast, but it's like Jose said - it's probably too quick a turnaround time.

Ranking sites by likelihood:
1. San Diego
2. Kansas City
3. Phoenix
4. non-MLB city
5. Boston

I'd put a big gap between 3 & 4. And a smaller gap between 2 & 3.

Oh, technically SABR hasn't had a convention in Baltimore since 1982 - but again, the 2009 convention in Washington DC featured a game in Camden Yards. (SABR had to book the hotel well in advance to get a nice location by the National Mall area in DC - and that meant picking the date before MLB's schedule came out. When it came out, it turned out that the Nats would be out of town - hence the road trip to Baltimore). Upshot: neither Baltimore nor Washington DC are likely to host another convention for a while.

There have been several cities that hosted a second convention within a 15 to 20 year period. The only two cities not to hose a convention are Detroit and Tampa and I don't think anyone is in a hurry to go to Detroit and Florida in June is generally not popular and has generally not been a big draw for SABR. Besides those two cities the cities that have not hosted it longer than Boston are Baltimore (but you've got DC hosting it previously), KC, Oakland/SF, Dallas, Miami, Milwaukee, Phoenix, and San Diego. West coast is problematic in that they tend not to draw well. Dallas and Milwaukee while not being top tiered cities in terms of attendance are probably solidly in the second tier for attendance. KC is probably in the third tier.

I'm a lapsed member, but I attended part of the southern NE Regional on Saturday. I had no idea that Rich Gedman was the hitting coach at Pawtucket. David Kaiser was there touting his recent book. Ditto Upton Bell. Not sure what his baseball connection is other than he was a sports talking head in Boston at some point. His dad was former NFL Commissioner Bert Bell. He talked about how it was great in the past that you could go up and talk to the players. Um, yeah. Bell's dad Bert was a rich playboy who got talked into buying an NFL team when Bert was in Saratoga with his fellow railbird Art Rooney. He had connections.

I may buy the Kaiser book at some point. It's another player ranking book, but he talked mainly about how Bill Martin was able to improve his team's defenses.

Did Gedman speak at the Regional? When my mother ran the local senior center they would do a monthly "men's breakfast" and often get a former player or writer in to speak. Gedman was her favorite. Very funny and extremely nice to everyone.

Geddy did. I was leaving at that point, but he was talking hitting philosophy. I have seen him speak at some rubber chicken dinner near Hartford once and he was good.

Even at 50, I was one of the youngsters there.

Sadly, I learned that one of the local members Rich Favano died of a heart attack earlier that week at 61. He would come up all the way from Norwalk, CT. A quiet man, so I didn't know him well, but he seemed like a nice man.

I've been saying San Diego for the last several years, for the very same reasons that Day outlines. It's my (uninformed) understanding that the SD locals actively oppose hosting, but even that shouldn't stand in the way. The same thing was said about Chicago.

In addition to the lists above, I'd add Seattle. We've heard backchannel talk that we may be another backpocket location like (but possibly behind) Phoenix. The national office may be reluctant to do too much in their hometown, since the Analytics thing is a fixture there. However, Seattle's previous time was 2006, whereas the Jose Jimenez no-hitter was in 1999.

I'm amazed that we have never gone to Detroit. It's beyond overdue. OTOH, eschewing Tampa is eminently proper -- bad weather, horrible stadium, no community interest in the game of baseball.

Having been to Detroit, it's a shvthole. It may be a shvt hole that is trying to improve itself (in part by demolishing itself) but it's still a shvthole.

If you want to get the youngsters and by youngsters I mean anyone under 50 at this point for SABR they should probably team up with breweries and distilleries for some part of their festivities. Another field trip besides the ballpark, beyond talking about the beer someone could do a SABR presentation about baseball's connection with beer and or alcohol and such.

Open it to the public so you get some younger folks informed about what's going on. Could even sell some merchandise.

I'm no American Hero, but I did enjoy last year's convention, and am looking forward to next week in the 'Burgh! Thanks for putting up the Google Docs link, LA!

Welcome Jeff.

I planning on going to the Andy Warhol Museum on the afternoon of the 20th, before Dimino takes us to the Dancing Gnome Brewery later that afternoon.

Has anyone visited the Warhol? If so any opinions/tips and an idea of how long to allocate to visit?

Post 25:

I have been to the Warhol twice. Really fascinating stuff. Not that big but so you could finish in an hour but I would suggest 90 minutes to allow for lingering over what really interests you. Don't know your mindset but if you uncomfortable with provocative images you need to be ready.

The last time I went they had Warhol's nude Marilyns on display but I learned those are gone. Sad!

Thanks DFG - and now that I know about the Marilyns, I think I'll be ever so slightly disappointed.

Whenever I read your handle I think of this goose image, which is a magnet on my fridge. You may have to scroll down a little but you'll spot it.

I'm landing Wednesday afternoon at 4pm. Anybody else getting in around the same time? What's the best way to get from the airport to the hotel? Looks like there's an express bus that goes downtown.

I'm getting in Thursday night, around midnight.

For anyone driving in, there's a parking garage at Ft. Duquesne & 6th that charges a lot less than the hotel lot does.

I'm arriving by train on Thursday morning, just early enough to have breakfast and then get to the first announcements. Hope to see a bunch of you guys there.

Post #14:

It wouldn't surprise me if SABR 50 or 51 was held in Cooperstown, to capitalize upon the anniversary of the 1971 founding there.

Bumping this up for the first day of the SABR convention.

If you want to argue that Tampa should go on the list in 1998 tied with the Bay Area, that's fine. There are 26 big league cities, Chicago, NY, LA and Bay Area double up with 2 teams. If you want to argue that DC/Baltimore is one area, I won't fight you.
SABR is looking at San Diego next year, but right now the price structure is making it iffy.

Since the SABR convention is done, I’d like to put in a plug for the BBTF softball game, which is August 11th in Central Park. Always a good time, and the athleticism (excepting maybe Blastin and JE) is mothers-basement level.