It's time again for our annual elections for seats on the chapter Board of Directors. This will be our third annual election and this year we're voting for the offices of President and Secretary. Below are the requirements of each office from our Chapter Bylaws.

President - The President chairs the Board of Directors and consults with Board members about meetings, agenda items, and reports from officers and committee chairs ahead of meetings. The President oversees all Chapter functions, including website administration.

Secretary - The Secretary takes the minutes of the Board meetings and provides copies to the Board members and to any Chapter member upon request. The Secretary maintains an archive of Chapter activities, in coordination with the website administrator. The Secretary submits an annual report to SABR Headquarters by the designated date.

For those who wish to run for office, or nominate someone for office, please send an email to either Evelyn Begley or Kevin Carter by clicking on our names. Also, please prepare a written description of your qualifications and anything SABR or chapter-wise you feel approriate. Please keep this under 100 words. Nominations, including self-nominstions, end on April 9th, 2026. [Evelyn Begley, Kevin Carter]

Candidates thus far:

President: I nominate myself, Evelyn Begley, for chapter president and my qualifications include all of the below: The President chairs the Board of Directors and consults with Board members about meetings, agenda items, and reports from officers and committee chairs ahead of meetings. The President oversees all Chapter functions, including website administration..

Secretary: Kevin Carter is running for re-elction for the office of Secretary.

Our National SABR Day online meeting was on Wednesday, January 7th! The main event featured a book discussion with longtime New York Mets PR director Jay Horwitz about his book, Mr. Met: How a Sports-Mad Kid from Jersey Became Like Family to Generations of Big Leaguers. The meeting was moderated by chapter Vice President Marc Gold.

Anyone who knows Jay Horwitz knows he loves stories and has a wealth of them to share. Horowitz has witnessed and quietly shaped some of the most memorable moments in team history, becoming a trusted friend and mentor to generations of players, from Darryl Strawberry to Jacob deGrom. In this fascinating memoir, Horowitz tells the unlikely story of a childhood dream come true, offering an unparalleled insider's perspective on four dynamic and unpredictable decades of Mets baseball. Featuring reflections and anecdotes only Horowitz can tell, on subjects ranging from clubhouse hijinks to the chaotic New York media scene to navigating moments of greatness and defeat, Mr. Met is a remarkable behind-the-scenes ride that fans will not want to miss. - Culled and edited from Amazon

We thank Jay and Marc again for their presentation. For those who missed it or want to watch again, please click on the play button below. [Evelyn Begley, Kevin Carter]

Our latest book discussion was on December 2nd with Jeffrey Orens who discussed his book, Selling Baseball, with Evelyn Begley as moderator. Earlier this year, Jeffrey Orens' vast research was published about the relationships between baseball athletes and commercial interests, specifically Albert Spalding and George Wright, beginning in the 19th century. Both superstars represented a post-Civil War unifying spirit and the promise of prosperity.

Spalding, whose pitching skills were honed in the rural heartland, and Wright, from the NYC area, promoted the excitement of the game to eager fans with leisure-time. As the game evolved into a business, the sporting goods industry emerged, led by these two superstars-turned-businessmen, into the 20th century.

"In his fine book, Selling Baseball, Jeffrey Orens offers a uniquely sliced view: how Al Spalding and
George Wright, superstars on the ball field, came to dominate its merchandising, building empires
that extended to tennis, golf, and, yes, roller polo. Highly recommended, even to those who may know a thing or two about sports." — John Thorn, official historian of Major League Baseball.

"In Selling Baseball, Jeffrey Orens provides his readers with a new perspective of the sport and the sports equipment industry through the long-overlooked relationship between Albert Goodwill Spalding and George Wright. The more than fifty-year friendship of these two on-the-field stars, Baseball Hall of Fame inductees, and sports equipment pioneers, transcended competition and launched baseball and other athletics to the status that we take for granted today. Thought provoking, instructive, and enjoyable—a must read." — Peter Mancuso, co-chair, Nineteenth Century Research Committee, SABR

We thank Jeffrey again for his presentation. For those who missed it or want to watch again, please click on the play button below.. [Evelyn Begley, Kevin Carter]

On Tuesday, November 11th we met with Tom Wolf who discussed his book, Baseball in the Roaring Twenties. Focusing on the Cardinals and Yankees and their dramatic seven-game battle in the 1926 World Series. The forthcoming book tells the story of key players such as Babe Ruth and Rogers Hornsby, the Negro Leagues season, and how baseball and the inextricably linked aspects of American life—Prohibition, the Jazz Age, and the rise of sports gambling—converged that year.

Thomas Wolf is the author of The Called Shot: Babe Ruth, the Chicago Cubs, and the Unforgettable Major League Baseball Season of 1932 (Nebraska, 2020), finalist for the Seymour Medal from the Society for American Baseball Research, and coauthor, with Patricia Bryan, of Midnight Assassin: A Murder in America's Heartland.

We thank Tom again for his presentation. For those who missed it or want to watch again, please click on the play button below. [Kevin Carter]

On Wednesday, October 29th chapter member Mark Stein joined us to discuss his new book, A League of His Own: A.G. Spalding and the Business of Baseball. Mark Stein has been an accomplished writer and editor for more than 40 years, as a reporter at the Los Angeles Times, an editor at The New York Times and Bloomberg News in London, and started a website for Conde Nast Publications.

A League of His Own: A.G. Spalding and the Business of Baseball is a biography of the remarkable Albert Goodwill Spalding—the 19th century pitcher, team owner, visionary and businessman who co-founded the National League (which turns 150 next year), shaped professional baseball, made a fortune by dominating the sporting goods industry and preserved his wealth by selling his failing bicycle business to credulous investors. Parts of Spalding's story have been well told by Peter Levine, Mark Lamster and others, but A League of HIs Own tells his complete life story, including details not previously written about. Lyons Press is scheduled to publish the book on January 6, 2006.

"Mark Stein is a gifted storyteller and this tale of A.G. Spalding, in addition to being a most entertaining read taking us to wonderful games, strikes at the root of the sport and teaches us much about what is right and what is wrong with it today. All baseball fans should read this book." --Mark Kurlansky, New York Times bestselling author of Hank Greenberg: The Hero Who Didn't Want to Be One and The Eastern Stars: How Baseball Changed the Dominican Town of San Pedro de Macorís.

We thank Mark again for his presentation. For those who missed it or want to watch again, please click on the play button below. [Kevin Carter]

On April 22nd, 2025, our guest,John Nogowski gave a virtual book talk presentation on his latest book, Diamond Duels: Baseball's Greatest Matchups.

In Diamond Duels: Baseball’s Greatest Matchups, we take a magnifying glass to some of the game’s most entertaining and historic battles between hitters and pitchers, played out over breezy spring evenings, hot summer afternoons, and chilly fall evenings as the long, rumbling baseball season finally winds down. Then we look closer.

As a sport with such a rich and diverse history, baseball offers us a long and fascinating recounting of so many of those dramatic matchups — if you know where to look. There are many untold stories inside the box scores...

For those who missed this wonderful presentation, or just wants to re-watch it, please click on the play button below. [Kevin Carter]

Our SABR Casey Stengel Chapter NYC in-person meeting was on Saturday, March 29, 2025 at Scandinavia House, 58 Park Ave. between 37th and 38th Streets — a short walk from Grand Central Terminal.

The Pulse of New York Baseball: Present and Past, with panelists Laura Albanese, Billy Altman and Anthony McCarron, was the first presentation. We heard your many 'Bring Them Back' requests, so the dynamic trio wowed us again on the Scandinavia House stage. Their all-new 2025 presentation elicited rave reviews.

“Mets Stories I Only Tell My Friends” and Other First-Hand Baseball Stories with Art Shamsky, Matthew Silverman, and moderator Marty Appel gave the second presentation. Art Shamsky is riding high with his new book! Shamsky, a passionate baseball man, was joined by equally passionate co- author Matt Silverman and Marty Appel, all well known to New Yorkers and beyond. Their lively conversation brought forth secrets and insights and was an hour like no other!

Both presentations were followed by a Q & A. Participant bios are in the meeting link below.

Lastly, Eric Weiss, baseball trivia master, tested everyone's baseball knowledge. [Evelyn Begley, Kevin Carter]

Our annual virtual chapter meeting, honoring SABR DAY 2025, was on Saturday, February 22nd!

Keynote speaker, Kevin Baker, discussed his award-winning book The New York Game - Baseball and the Rise of a New City.

• A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK • Sports Illustrated #1 Book of 2024 • A hugely entertaining history of baseball and New York City, bursting with larger-than-life figures and fascinating stories from the game’s beginnings to the end of World War II.
• “You’re going to beg for extra innings. Without missing a scandal or a sensation, with an eye on how assimilation transforms the picture, Kevin Baker has written a buoyant, double coming-of-age story.”—Stacy Schiff, Pulitzer Prize-winning author
• “No one knows New York City better than Kevin Baker, so it's only natural that he would breathe such spectacular life into the stories of the National Pastime in the Capital of Baseball. A remarkable, complicated doubleheader of a book.”— Ken Burns, filmmaker

For those who missed this wonderful presentation, or just wants to re-watch it, please click on the play button below. [Evelyn Begley, Kevin Carter]

REVISITED — Chapter administrator David Lippman has authored an exhaustively detailed publication titled List of New York's Baseball Sites which he generously shares here with us. Click on the link below to load in a new window:

Please note this is a very large file and will take a minute or so to load on most broadband connections. [K. Carter]

 

Our most recent chapter Zoom presentation was on November 14th. Eric Gray joined us to discuss his two baseball books, Backyards to Ballparks and Bases to Bleachers. His books are a collection of folks' personal stories that, in one way or another, touch upon baseball. The stories are more often of a human interest nature than play-of-the-game. There are stories from around the world, and all levels of play from Little League to softball Leagues to Major leagues. The stories make people laugh, tear up, and remember their own experiences.

His presentation consisted of describing how the idea for the books came about, how he collected stories and ultimately how he put the books together. And of course, some stories. There was a Q & A after the presentation and others shared stories as well.

Please click on the play button to watch this fun presentation. [Kevin Carter]

Our chapter's most recent Zoom event was on Tuesday, April 2, 2024.

Our guest speakers were Bill Nowlin and David Fischer who wrote the book Red Sox vs. Yankees: Hometown Experts Analyze, Debate, and Illuminate Baseball's Ultimate Rivalry. Chapter member Bruce Slutsky moderated the event.

Topics discussed issues included: The sale of Babe Ruth to the Yankees in 1918; The Bucky Dent Game in 1978; The 2003 American League Championship Series when Aaron Boone hit a walk-off home run in the seventh game; and The 2004 American League Championship Series.

For those who missed it or would like to re-watch, click on the play button below. [K. Carter]

Our 2024 in-person annual meeting was on Saturday, March 23. Casey Stengel Chapter members were treated to another exciting program at Scandinavia House - 58 Park Avenue (between 37th and 38th Streets) - a short walk from Grand Central.

A Guest Presentation was given by Kevin Baker - The New York Game: Baseball and the Rise of a New City and there was a splendid Panel Discussion on The Pulse of New York Baseball: Present and Past with Anthony McCarron (The Mets: A 50th Anniversary Celebration - with Andy Martino), Billy Altman, and Laura Albanese. Additionally, Jay Goldberg gave a Presentation on The Memory of America: Stories from a New York Baseball Clubhouse. The full Official Program is available by clicking here to load an Adobe Acrobat .pdf. [Evelyn Begley, Ernestine Miller]

SABR DAY 2024 was February 3rd! Held annually on the Saturday a week before the Super Bowl, it is a chance for all baseball fans to come together on the same day regardless of where they live. Our chapter along with dozens of other regional chapters held meetings. Our chapter's SABR Day 2024 meeting was an online event held via Zoom from 10am to 12noon.

Our keynote speaker was Joe Posnanski, author of The Baseball 100 and Why We Love Baseball: A History in 50 Moments among many other books. Wikipedia writes, "Joe Posnanski (/pəzˈnænski/; nicknamed "Poz" and "Joe Po"; born January 8, 1967) is an American sports journalist. A former senior columnist for Sports Illustrated (where he wrote a blog called "Curiously Long Posts") and columnist for The Kansas City Star, he currently writes for his personal blog JoeBlogs." The New York Times writes, "Joe Posnanski is baseball's greatest modern day story teller, and his passion and expertise leap through every page of this book on why Baseball became America’s national pastime."

Our Chapter thanks Joe for an excellent SABR Day visit! The video of Mr. Posnanski's presentation is now available by clicking on the play button below.

Our last chapter Zoom book discussion was on August 23. Marty Appel joined us to discuss his new book, Pinstripes by the Tale. Thank you to Marty, it was one of our best Zooms to date. If anyone missed it, or would like to re-watch the presentation, you can do so by visiting here:

[K. Carter]

Marty Appel has been a Yankees fan since 1955, began working for the team in 1968, and has now spent more than half a century in and around the organization. His 25th book, published May 2 (Triumph) recalls the backstage stories he was witness to, with humor and humanity. "I used to love books with lots of short tales, lots of photos, lots of white space. So that's what I did." There are over 125 stories covering the greats and the forgotten. [E. Miller]

 

Yogi Berra’s incredible life story --It Ain’t Over-- will be released in theaters in the tri-state area starting May 12 and rolls out to other markets in subsequent weeks. The full-length documentary chronicles the Yankee legend’s remarkable life which included enlisting in the US Navy for WW II and returning home to win 10 World Series championships with the Yankees. Plus his extraordinary career as a celebrity spokesman.

The film is produced by Natalie Metzger, p.g.a., Matt Miller, p.g.a., Peter Sobiloff, and Mike Sobiloff with Vanishing Angle and Off Media, and executive produced by Lindsay Berra. It made its world premiere at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival in the Spotlight Documentary section.

Get a sneak preview by clicking the trailer link below.

[E. Miller]

We had a chapter Zoom book-discussion event on April 13.. Justin McKinney joined us to present his book, Baseball's Union Association: The Short, Strange Life of an Early Major League. Justin is a baseball researcher and archivist living in Canada. He has written articles on 19th century and early 20th century baseball for the SABR Research Journal, and the SABR Biography Project.

Thanks very much to Dan, and to everyone who joined us. If anyone who missed it, or would like to re-watch the presentation, you can do so by visiting here:

[K. Carter]

We had a chapter Zoom book-discussion event on March 13. Dan Taylor joined us to present his upcoming book, Baseball at the Abyss: The Scandals of 1926, Babe Ruth, and the Unlikely Savior Who Rescued a Tarnished Game. Dan is a sports historian, author, and a former award-winning television sportscaster who is currently the television broadcaster for the Fresno Grizzlies. He has written five books and is a contributor to SABR's Biography Project.

Thanks very much to Dan, and to everyone who joined us. If anyone who missed it, or would like to re-watch the presentation, you can do so by visiting here:

[K. Carter]

Chapter members and friends: Our virtual NYC SABR Day was on Wednesday, February 22. Authors Lee Lowenfish and Barry Sparks presented their fascinating topics, followed by a Q&A for each presentation. Also, back by popular demand, Eric Weiss delivered some New York baseball-focused trivia to close things out..

Lee Lowenfish's upcoming book Baseball's Endangered Species: Inside the Craft of Scouting by Those Who Lived It (2023) explores one of baseball's vital jobs: Scouting. Lowenfish highlighted the player development rivalry between Branch Rickey's St. Louis Cardinals and the Yankees dynasties under Ed Barrow, Paul Krichell, and George Weiss. Krichell was responsible for discovering Lou Gehrig, first at Rutgers 100 years ago, and later, scouting him at Columbia University, signing him shortly thereafter. Scouts were indispensable to the powerful Yankees dynasty.

Lee's biography Branch Rickey: Baseball's Ferocious Gentleman won SABR's prestigious Seymour Medal in 2008. His previous books include The Imperfect Diamond: A History of Baseball's Labor Wars now in its third edition, and Tom Seaver, The Art of Pitching with Lee Lowenfish. For more on his articles, teaching, writing, interviews, events, and blog, see leelowenfish.com. Lowenfish was one of the panelists on SABR's 2021 Summer of SABR Baseball Labor Relations Panel (YouTube Link Here), he also discussed his books and research at Lee Lowenfish Interviewed and "Book Talk Guest" - Branch Rickey.

Barry Sparks discussed some of the players he researched for The Search for the Next Mickey Mantle: From Tom Tresh to Bryce Harper (2022). Among the 16 players in the book, two had stints with the New York Mets: Clint Hurdle (1983, 1985, 1987) and Gregg Jefferies (1987–1991) and ten were on the New York Yankees: Tom Tresh (1961–1969), Joe Pepitone (1962–1969), Roger Repoz (1964–1966), Bobby Murcer (1965–1966, 1969–1974), Steve Whitaker (1966–1968), Bill Robinson (1967–1969), Tony Solaita (1968), Ron Blomberg (1969, 1971–1976), Jay Buhner (1987–1988), and Ruben Rivera (1995–1996).

Barry focused on former NY Mets Hurdle and Jefferies, plus several NY Yankees, including Pepitone and Murcer. Sparks has had more than 700 of his articles published in over 70 national and regional publications. He also wrote Frank "Home Run" Baker: World Series Hero and Hall of Famer (Baker played for the Yanks from 1916-22). For articles, see seamheads.com and podcasts at American Sports History and BlogTalkRadio. [E. Begley]

The entire virtual meeting is now available by visiting the SABR Virtual YouTube link below. We apologize for the early audio issues but it seems to resolve itself pretty early on.

As always, if anyone has any questions, comments or suggestions please send an email to questions-comments@sabrnyc.org and we'll point your inquiry in the right direction. [K. Carter]

Back on December 6, 2022, Mark Armour (joined by Dan Levitt) gave a presentation on their recent book Intentional Balk. Mark Armour is a long-time SABR member, the creator of the SABR BioProject and the Baseball Cards Committee, and the author or co-author of several books and dozens of articles on baseball.

Thanks very much to Mark and Dan, and to everyone who joined us. If anyone who missed it, or would like to re-watch the presentation, you can do so by visiting here:

Update: Congratulations to Mark Armour and Dan Levitt for winning the 2023 SABR Seymour Medal for Intentional Balk! [K. Carter]