Hello and welcome to Issue 068 of Clearing The Bases, an email newsletter in conjunction with the My Baseball History podcast hosted by Dan Wallach, which is part of The Shoeless Podcast Network.
If you’ve been a subscriber for a while, you know that the Society for American Baseball Research hosted their annual convention from July 29 through August 2 in Cleveland. It was incredibly convenient for me, since the convention was held in the city in which I live, meaning I had to travel a very limited amount this year, and was able to sleep in my own bed every night. It also allowed me to host a handful of friends at my house, which was very fun. I especially loved being able to watch them browse through my collections, and seeing which pieces got their attention.
The oral presentations at the convention were really interesting, as always, and the poster presentations were the strongest they’ve been in a few years, in my opinion. A few that stuck out to me were those of Adam Darowski and Von Spalding, whose poster was about their combined research on the global members of the 400 Win Club for pitchers, 17-year-old rising senior at Livingston High School Jonah Weiss’ poster on Larry Doby’s path from New Jersey to Cleveland and Cooperstown, Phil Rosenzweig’s poster on the photography of Louis Van Oeyen at Cleveland’s historic League Park which appeared in the T202 baseball card set, and Jason Schwartz’ poster on the different print groups of the T206 baseball card set.
Jason is the co-chair of the SABR Baseball Card Research Committee, and hosts the Baseball Card “Pack Rip” night at the convention each year. It’s always one of my favorite parts of the convention, and is such a great way to get to know the attendees. I went to the Guardians game, and was able to show some friends the plaques and statues at the incredibly well-done Heritage Park at Progressive Field. Visiting the Shoeless Joe Jackson plaque on the lower level is something I do almost every time I’m at a Guardians game, but whenever I’m with someone who is at the stadium for the first time, I make it a point to bring them to the Ray Chapman plaque, and tell them that story, as well. If you aren’t super familiar with Ray Chapman’s story, or with the story of his memorial plaque that’s on display at Progressive Field, stay tuned this season.
For the second consecutive year at the SABR convention, I had a vendor’s table, selling all sorts of baseball-related things, from used books and vintage media guides, to vinyl records and vintage baseball-related postcards, autographed and game-used cards, and some really unique Black Sox-related pieces. While I sold a lot of things, I also bought some great things from the book publishers who had tables – namely University of Nebraska Press, and MacFarland & Company, Inc. I’m extremely excited to get reading, and to learn some new stuff that I can incorporate into the content I produce, whether it be the podcast, the newsletter, or some social media graphics.
Gary Sarnoff had an incredible display with tons of old media guides, programs, and vintage publications. When we both realized how much we wanted from each other’s tables, we worked out a nice deal that I think we were both extremely happy with. I was also thrilled to strike a deal with Jamie Selko, who bought some books from my table. After we got to talking about our personal collections, he let me know he had the Baltimore Orioles book from the Putnam series that I’ve been after for a few years, so he sent it to me in a trade once he got back home after the convention. That was the last book I needed to complete the series (each of them with the dust jacket), which is something I’m far too excited about. It was a pleasure to be positioned immediately next to Gary Cieradkowski all week, whose table was by far the most beautifully decorated. If you don’t already have a copy of Gary’s new book, you should BUY IT HERE.
For those of you who couldn’t attend the convention to buy them in person, I made a new batch of t-shirts for the podcast, and those are available for sale directly through me, if you’re interested. I have unisex Gildan 5000 shirts in sizes Small through 2XL, and women’s V-neck Gildans, also in sizes Small through 2XL. Shirts are $20 each, and $8 flat rate shipping, no matter how many you buy. I’ve also been asked enough times over the years now “Do you sell autographed pictures of you and your mom??” so I figured it was time to make some of those, too. I’ve got 8x10 glossy photos that we will both sign for you, if that’s something you’re into. $25 each plus shipping for those. Shoot me an email at ShoelessPodcast@gmail.com if you want to support the show, and help us pay for the miscellaneous costs associated with keeping it going, like hosting the website, paying for the distribution service to get the episodes posted on all of the different podcast platforms all over the world, the prizes for the giveaways we do every episode, and even paying for the Canva subscription so I can make my On This Day in Baseball History graphics every single day.
Of course, there’s also the cost of traveling to my guests so I can interview them in person, assuring that each conversation goes smoothly and that the audio quality remains at the high level you have come to expect from My Baseball History after all these years. I have already completed two interviews for next season, and both of them turned out great, so I’m excited to share them with you. I also have three other interviews lined up with dates scheduled to conduct them, and tentative agreements for two other interviews for Season 6, which starts Wednesday, October 14. Of those five yet-to-be-recorded interviews, four of them are ones where my subject lives in another state. That’s fine – you know I love a good road trip – but making it work with my work schedule is always a challenge I have to figure out.
It was great to be able to catch up with old friends, to connect with local friends, and to meet so many new people, as is always the case at a SABR convention. A local friend, Scott Schulman, made a video for his YouTube channel talking about his experience at the convention, which you can watch if you CLICK HERE. Scott is an illustrator from Akron, Ohio, who left the advertising world after 25 years to focus on baseball and sports art. I met him at his table at the Strongsville vintage card show last year, and then reconnected at the Strongsville show again this year, so it was great to see him at SABR all week. I would also be remiss not to mention Scott Kent and his annual domination of the trivia contests, or hanging out with Victoria Lovingwood, who spent lots of time at my vendor table with me and my mom, who was by my side all week, too.
Congratulations to everyone who made the convention this year such a success, but especially to Cleveland’s new Jack Graney Chapter President, Vince Guerrieri, and to friend of the show, Jacob Pomrenke, whose tireless work behind the scenes allows the convention to run smoothly each year, and also allows you to revisit past presentations from the comfort of your home by recording the audio and posting those recordings on SABR’s WEBSITE.
As you can tell, it’s been a busy month, and with the new season just six weeks away now, things are about to start really ramping up again. If you have suggestions for people you would like to see me try to get for Season 6, let me know. Or if you have a connection to someone you can hook me up with, that would be cool, too. I only have one or two open slots available, but I’m always down to be introduced to new people for future seasons, or simply to meet them if you just think we should be friends. Please either comment on this post or shoot me an email if you think you can help, or if there’s a specific topic you’d really like to see me tackle in an episode this year.
Don’t forget, it’s a huge help when you Rate and Review the podcast on whatever platform you choose to listen. 5-Star ratings help our podcast get shown on more people’s suggested podcast pages, which means more people will hear our show. It just takes a couple seconds of your time, but it really helps us a lot. And of course, liking us on social media, interacting with our posts, and sharing things with your friends is great, too. Feel free to forward this email to anyone in your life who loves baseball, and hopefully they’ll enjoy the podcast and learn a thing or two. But no matter how you choose to support us, even if it’s just by listening, we appreciate you being here.
Until next time, I’m Dan Wallach, and this is My Baseball History.
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It was great to see you in Cleveland, and especially to meet your mother! Looking forward to the next season