For baseball information and great stories, SABR conventions are the place to be

The staff at the Minneapolis Hyatt Regency are well-experienced in hosting conventions. Thus we must assume those folks were extra-cautious in marking what type of content was taking place inside the conference rooms on Wednesday.

That would be due to a distinct contrast between the subject matter to be featured at the two gatherings that were visible on Wednesday morning.

First on the trip from the parking ramp were several sign-in desks for the North American Refugee Health Conference. This has the sound of a noble cause, although a discussion on such matters could confuse anyone wandering in from the other group that was milling about the hotel lobby.

That would be the early arrivals among the 600 or so expected to attend the annual convention for the Society for American Baseball Research. This organization was founded in 1971 as an outlet for people with an interest in deeper statistics, historic players and other intrigue from the Grand Old Game.

Bill James came out in 1977 with the Baseball Abstract, his first publication offering a new analysis of what’s important for winning ball games, causing a SABR growth spurt. The Halsey Hall Chapter was formed here in 1984 and now is the largest in the country.

Minneapolis has become a favored location for the annual convention, largely due to the cooperation the group receives from the Twins.

They are providing question-and-answer sessions with baseball CEO Derek Falvey, with Tony Oliva and Rod Carew, and a pitching panel of Jim Kaat, Bert Blyleven, Glen Perkins and LaTroy Hawkins on Thursday.

Stew Thornley, an official scorekeeper for the Twins and author of historical books on Minnesota sports teams, is a devoted SABR member. And he wanted to again make it clear the organization has interests far beyond breaking down stats.

“That’s still the image SABR has with some, that we’re all stat nerds, but it’s an organization of thousands of people with interests in various areas,” Thornley said. “History of teams, of eras, Black leagues, women in baseball, ballparks that are gone, that still stand.”

You can check out the SABR website for the results of this research. For the most part, the biographies — whether it’s Henry Aaron or Joe Charboneau or a player from the 1800s — are impeccably researched, with details of their lives beyond baseball.

SABR has a staff to sign off on story ideas. There is considerable pride in fact-checking, whether in-house or from volunteers.

There were a handful of us in a sitting area of the lobby. Alan Cohen was a smallish fellow and wearing a cap of the New York Giants (went to California in 1958). Alan comes from Connecticut and kept moving back and forth in the lobby as if he had lost something.

“Don’t worry about Alan,” Thornley said. “He’s a fact-checker. He checks everything twice. No mistakes with Alan.”

There was a conversation with Maxwell Kates from Toronto. He doesn’t follow the current game energetically; it’s the past that intrigues him.

“My main interest, I’d say, has been baseball mixed with the popular culture from 1960 to ‘80,” Kates said. “The unrest everywhere with the Vietnam War, the unrest between the players and owners, the wild happenings. Disco Demolition Night in Chicago in 1979; the riot, the forfeit by the White Sox.”

I also mentioned the forfeit by the Indians on 10-cent beer night in Cleveland (June 4, 1974).

“Yes, and there was a third forfeit because of fans’ behavior in the ‘70s,” Cates said. “The last game of the 1971 season and last for Senators in Washington. The Senators were leading the Yankees 7-5 with one out in the top of the ninth, and the fans started storming the field and tearing it up. The umpires declared a 9-0 forfeit for the Yankees. Do you remember that one?”

No, I did not, but with a need to respond, asked:

“Did you know our good friend Stew Thornley over here, in his rowdy youth, climbed the left field foul pole at Met Stadium — also in the ‘70s? June 26, 1977, before the largest Twins’ regular-season crowd at the Met. Twins 19, White Sox 12.”

Mr. Kates was not aware of this.

“Silver anniversary coming up in three years,” Thornley said. “Only time I’ve ever been in jail.”

Stew quit drinking in ‘84 and, a year later, was one of the founders of the Halsey Hall Chapter of SABR — a fine tradeoff.