Bob McConnell Biography

Peter Morris has written a wonderful biography for SABR founding member and prominent minor league researcher Bob McConnell for the SABR BioProject. I encourage all members of the Minor League Committee to read it. It would be great if Peter or others would write similar sketches for other noteworthy SABR members.

Minor League Baseball in Hanover, Pennsylvania

John Coulson has recently published a book entitled Hanover Raiders: Minor League Baseball in Hanover, Pennsylvania, which chronicles its history from 1866 to 1930. Unfortunately, it isn't listed for sale on Amazon.com, so I'm sure how copies can be purchased from the author.

Here are a few articles related to Hanover Raiders:

Hanover's Professional Team Remembered in Book

Library to Host Local Author

SABR Minor League Encyclopedia Update

The next update for the SABR Minor League Encyclopedia will be on October 1. Among the additions will be statistics and data for the 2008 season.

I will do my best to have the committee newsletter published this weekend. I know I've promised it since July, but I've been very busy the past two months. Thank you for your patience.

Feature on Sulphur Dell Website

Minor League Committee member Skip Nipper and his website on Nashville's historic Sulphur Dell ballpark are featured in a recent article written by fellow SABR member and Nashville sports historian Bill Traughber. It relates how the memories of Skip's father, Virgil Nipper, inspired Skip to create the website and collect the memories of other Nashville fans as well, and post photos and memorabilia of the Nashville Vols.

The article may be found on the Nashville Sounds official site here.

Minor League Baseball Teams with Baseball in Wartime to Honor Veterans

ST. PETERSBURG, FL -- Minor League Baseball is partnering with the Baseball in Wartime organization this Memorial Day to remember all war veterans, especially those Minor League players who served in World War II.

On Monday, May 26, there will be a public address announcement at ballparks throughout the country that will honor all veterans and highlight the 4,000 Minor League Baseball players who served duringWorld War II, including the 113 who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country, losing their lives in military training and combat.

"We are extremely pleased to be able to partner with the Baseball in Wartime project," said Minor League Baseball Senior Vice President, Business Operations John Cook. "We hope these efforts will increase awareness of the program, but more importantly, we want to pay tribute
to all veterans who served and specifically those who made the ultimate sacrifice during World War II.

"Doing so in conjunction with the Memorial Day holiday in our ballparks is a natural tie-in and will be the first piece of what we hope to be an ongoing partnership between Minor League Baseball and Baseball in Wartime."

"Working with Minor League Baseball is the ultimate step in honoring these veteran athletes," stated Baseball in Wartime Founder and Editor Gary Bedingfield. "There is no doubt that Minor League Baseball played its part when the country needed it most, but this has largely been forgotten over the 60-plus years since the end of World War II. I hope this moment of remembrance will be the beginning of a permanent tribute to military veterans of Minor League Baseball."

Baseball in Wartime's main goal is to preserve the memories of professional baseball players who put down their bats and gloves and served their nation in World War II. The organization has a monthly newsletter and an extensive website (www.baseballinwartime.com) that now contains in excess of 650 biographies.

Gary Bedingfield
Baseball in Wartime (Founder and Editor)
www.baseballinwartime.com
garybed@gmail.com

Rex Hamann's Tombstone Efforts Recognized

The OnMilwaukee.com online magazine features a complimentary article on Minor League Committee member Rex Hamann and his efforts to purchase and erect tombstones for former American Association players without one. Rex has done excellent scholarly work on the minor league American Association and its teams over the years through his website and blog as well as his research journal, the American Association Almanac. (For more on his efforts to mark the graves of Dan Marion and Dan Lally, read Rex's blog entry posted here.)

(Thank you to Ron Henry for the article link.)

What Class A Baseball Means

SABR member Joe Naiman recently wrote an article that briefly explains the minor league classification system. (He also mentions the late Vern Luse, longtime Minor League Committee member.)

PCL Historical Society Reunion

I found this article while searching Google for newspaper articles on minor league baseball history and wanted to pass it along. It';s about the PCL Historical Society Reunion held on May 9 in Long Beach, CA. SABR president and Society founder Dick Beverage was mentioned as well as SABR member Bill Soto-Castellanos, former San Francisco Seals batboy and author of 16th & Bryant: My Life & Education with the San Francisco Seals.

Art Schott, Committee Member, in the News

SABR and Minor League Committee member Arthur Schott was the subject of an article in the New Orleans Time-Picayune earlier this month. Congraulations, Art!

Arkansas State League and Arkansas-Missouri League

The Northwest Arkansas Times recently published a story on Jerry Hogan, who is researching the history of the Arkansas State League and the Arkansas-Missouri League. He will give a presentation about his research on May 3, 2008 at 1:00 p.m. at the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History in Fayetteville, AR. There will also be a exhibit there on the history of minor league baseball in northwest Arkansas that runs through July 26.

Minor League Bookshelf: Cradle of the Game: Baseball and Ballparks in North Carolina

This looks like an interesting book about one of the historical hotbeds of minor league baseball, North Carolina. From the publisher:

Baseball in North Carolina today and its glorious history are richly detailed in Cradle of the Game: Baseball and Ballparks in North Carolina, by Mark Cryan. The comprehensive 400-page volume exploring minor-league and leading college ballparks – large and small – will entertain readers interested in Tar Heel state baseball history, and serve as a guide to visitors of today’s ballparks.

Book author Mark Cryan has many years of North Carolina baseball experience, starting out in the business by working for legendary minor league executive Miles Wolff. Highlights of the book include interviews with Wolff who talks about his involvement in making the ultimate baseball movie - Bull Durham, and with legendary manager Jack McKeon reflecting on life in the game.

Wolff wrote the forward for Cradle of the Game where he commented, “Mark Cryan’s book will give the reader a great picture of baseball in the Tar Heel state.”

“I’m thrilled to be able to share my love for baseball in this great state with the readers of this book,” said author Mark Cryan. “There’s no place in the entire country that has such a depth of history, significance to the game, and such great stories and people. That’s what makes baseball in North Carolina so special.”

Cryan was instrumental in setting up the summer collegiate Coastal Plain League and is a former General Manager of the Burlington (NC) Indians. He currently works as Athletic Director for the Burlington Recreation & Parks Department, and serves as an adjunct professor at Elon University.

As Wolff noted in his forward, baseball has been woven into the fabric of North Carolina for well over a century. This smartly illustrated book offered by August Publications can serve as a travel guide, but offers far more by bringing to life the unique qualities of baseball in North Carolina.

Cradle of the Game is a 6 x 9 paperback, 400 pages, and costs $18.95. It is available through August Publications' website or call 877-343-5207. It is also available through Amazon.com.