SABR 50 in Baltimore

From 17 to 21 August, 2022, the population of downtown Baltimore, MD, ballooned, as it was descended upon by several hundred scholars and researchers into our national pastime -- baseball historians, statheads, scientists, publishers, journalists, bloggers, geeks, and just plain "baseball nuts." The occasion was the was the annual convention of the Society for American Baseball Research., and I was delighted to be among the assemblage. The convention program was a cornucopia of research presentations and panels of all stripes, covering subjects as diverse as players and teams of the past and near-present, women in baseball, the major and minor leagues, scandals and cheating, the shattering of the color barrier, the demise of the reserve clause, baseball statistics, ballparks, and even baseball cards. There were so many tantalizing talks on offer that it was impossible for a single individual to take them all in. It was a tremendous learning experience, as well as an opportunity to meet and chat with some of the luminaries of baseball scholarship and authorship. Also present were representatives of major publishing houses, exhibiting selections of their baseball-themed books. I had the pleasure of sitting at the McFarland table, signing and selling copies of my recent book, Candy Cummings: The Life and Career of the Inventor of the Curveball. On the 19th, many of us strolled over to Oriole Park at beautiful Camden Yards to watch the Orioles take on the Boston Red Sox. The final score (Baltimore 15, Red Sox 10) was disappointing to Red Sox fans such as myself, but it was a very enjoyable warm summer's eve at the ballpark nonetheless.