Doc Adams’ hall-worthiness is burnished in a story by Erik Ofgang which will appear in the March issue of Connecticut Magazine.  Smoky Joe Wood Chapter members Marjorie Adams and Pops O’Maxfield tell the tale.

The Media Panel for our rescheduled SABR Day Event is this Sat., Feb. 7.  It promises to be a very special event.

The panel will include David Kull, Sr. Deputy Editor at ESPN Digital Media; Bob Wirz, former chief spokesperson for Baseball Commissioners Bowie Kuhn and Peter Ueberroth; David Borges, Baseball writer for the New Haven Register;  David Heuschkel, Turley Sports Editor & former Red Sox beat writer, and WTIC Radio legend Scott Gray, who will be our Moderator.

This event will include a book sale that commences at 1:30, 30 minutes before the event begins.

WHEN AND WHERE

2 PM  (book sale 1:30)

Sat, Feb. 7

Room 808, Chapman Hall,

Middlesex Community College

100 Training Hill Rd.

Middletown, CT.  06457.

MORE…

-Wirz and Borges are Hall of Fame voters.

-Wirz was for six years the publicity and public relations director for the Kansas City Royals after years in newspaper, radio and television.

-Heuschkel covered the 2004 World Series & 3 other Fall Classics, including the 2000 Subway Series.

-Kull manages some of the nation’s best —  Jayson Stark, Buster Olney, Tim Kurkjian and Jerry Crasnick, to name a few. He has covered 10 World Series and nine All-Star Games.

-Borges finished his first season on the Red Sox beat in 2004, chronicling their first WS title in 86 years.  He cast his first HOF ballot in the recent voting that swept Pedro, Smoltz, RJ and Biggio into Cooperstown.

-Scott Gray was a fixture at WTIC AM since 1981 when he joined Bob Steele and Arnold Dean at New England’s far reaching AM powerhouse.  Gray wrote and delivered over 3,500 morning sports commentaries.  His varied experience includes the broadcasting of UConn Womens Basketball including their flip-the-script defeat of Pat Summit’s Tennessee Vols in 1995.

PASSING ALONG A REQUEST ON A PLAYER RANKING SYSTEM…..
________________________________________
From: Paul Moehringer [pmoehrin@gmail.com]
To: Steve Krevisky, et al
Subject: Requesting Help With Project

Hello all.

For the past eight years I have been working very hard on a method to rank every player in Major League History, not that dissimilar to Baseball-Reference’s ELO rater and since July these efforts have increased drastically. Only difference is mine is done in a very mathematical fashion as opposed to general opinion.

I am also taking things a step further in breaking players down by position, offense, defense and like this league team performance. Every player with at least 50 plate appearances, or 25 innings pitched in a season at the major league level going back to 1871 is accounted for. The process of doing this has nearly monopolized my time for the past six months.

But now that the data is acquired and sorted the way I want, I realize I need help in order to continue with my project, or to be more specific more computing power.

Depending on what I am looking at it can take anywhere from several hours to several days to “rank” a player. If I am simply ranking a second baseman it will take me several hours. More complicated things like pitchers and hitters can take several days.

If I only had to do this process once for each position I would not be writing this e-mail. However once a player has been ranked he must then be removed from the player pool and the process repeated for the next guy to be properly evaluated. I realized this was the case after ranking Dick Radatz as the fifth greatest relief pitcher in history. Removing the pitcher I had ranked first (Mariano Rivera) and running the program again, dropped Radatz down to 18th. Still a bit high but far more indicative of his talents then having him ahead of players such as Dan Quisenberry or Trevor Hoffman.

This is where your help is appreciated. The good news is as daunting and time consuming as this may seem, the way I have designed it doesn’t any more time or effort then pressing a button once in order to run it. The computer will do all the heavy lifting required.

If its something you may be interested in helping me with please e-mail me and I will go you more information on what you need to do.

I hope to start a blog about this on baseball prospectus in the coming weeks for those interested and credit will be given for anyone that helps with this.

Please note THIS IS NOT A PART OF GAFL. This is simply a personal request on my part seeking help with this and I will not be soliciting any more help though the league beyond this e-mail. If anyone knows someone outside of the league that might be interested in this, I will gladly get in touch with them as well.

Thank you.

Regards,

Paul Moehringer
=============

I regret to say that due to 3 to 5″ of wintry mix expected tomorrow the Media Panel Event has been moved to Feb. 7.

With bad memories lurking of the SABR Regional and infamous Halloween Storm of 2012, our utmost concern today is not to jeopardize anyone’s safety on the roads.  “Better to err on the side of safety”, as our friend Stan Dziurgot says.

THE GOOD NEWS is that 6 of the 8 Panelists have already confirmed that they can participate on Feb. 7.

My apologies for any inconvenience caused to anyone.

See you on the 7th.

-Karl

The Smoky Joe Wood (CT) Chapter of S.A.B.R. will present a very special event on Jan. 24.  The day will feature a Media Panel with top Baseball journalists from print, digital and broadcast media.  A $1 used baseball book sale and a charitable raffle for the Bo Kolinsky Scholarship will also be held.

Panelists include David Kull, Senior Deputy Editor at ESPN Digital Media; Bob Wirz/Chief Spokesperson for Baseball Commissioners Kuhn & Ueberroth; JW Stewart, Sports Anchor at NBC Connecticut; David Heuschkel, former Red Sox beat writer for The Courant; & WTIC Radio legend Scott Gray, who will be our Moderator.

More panelists may be added.

Here are the when and where:

Saturday, January 24
2 to 5 pm (Book sale starts early at 1:30 pm)
Room 808
Chapman Hall
Middlesex Community College
100 Training Hill Rd.
Middletown, Ct., 06457

For more information please contact Karl Cicitto at kcicitto@cox.net

Radio legend Scott Gray recently retired after 31 years on-air on WTIC 1080 Radio.

The much accomplished Mr. Gray came into the business of sports reporting long before the advent of Twitter & Facebook, not to mention the internet itself.  This makes him the perfect person to lead a Media Panel Discussion about how baseball coverage has evolved, and how the Panelists’ personal baseball-journalism journeys were made.

I hope you can join us at this gathering, our chapter’s SABR DAY event.

Sat., Jan. 24, 2015

2:00 pm to 5:00 pm.

Founders Hall, Middlesex Community College,

100 Training Hill Rd.,

Middletown, CT 06457

We have panelist invitations out to a high profile baseball blogger, a leading newspaperman and a top magazine columnist.

Hope to see you on Jan. 24.

To read Jeff Otterbein’s story about Scott Gray’s career and retirement, click here:

http://www.courant.com/sports/hc-scott-gray-to-retire-from-wtic-0927-20140926-story.html

To read Owen Canfield’s story about Scott click here:

http://www.registercitizen.com/opinion/20140927/owen-canfield-scott-gray-calls-it-a-career

Here is an update on the program for the November 29 Southern New England SABR

chapter meeting in Greenville, R.I.

Oil Can Boyd will come at 1 p.m. To accommodate that arrival time, we will break

for lunch at 12:15. That will give us from 11 to 12:15 for some presentations

and the mock Hall of Fame election (that will be the leadoff event, to give Mike

Darowski time to count the votes).

After Oil Can leaves, we will resume the program of presentations, trivia quiz,

and baseball book raffle. If you have time, please stay after we conclude to put

chairs, tables, and books away.

Here are the presentations scheduled. (They won’t necessarily be in this order):

Steve Krevisky, Hank Greenberg’s MVP season in Houston

Dixie Tourangeau, Why the Red Sox were so putrid in 2014.

Ty Waterman, SABR board of directors; request re simulation league.

Kerry Keene, Where Ichiro ranks among the greatest hitters.

Rick Harris, Newport baseball team.

Mark Kanter, The physics of hitting and pitching.

Richard Fabbri, Pitching in the 2014 World Series.

Bill Nowlin, Tom Yawkey.

We have a few media guides courtesy of the Red Sox. Not too many, so if you want

one, take it early.

Once again, if you plan to attend, send me an RSVP (lenlevin5@hotmail.com). We

need an accurate count for the food people.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Len Levin

This event will be from 11 am to 4 pm at St. Philip’s Parish Center, 622 Putnam Pike, Greenville, RI 02828

For questions and head count, please contact Len Levin at LenLevin5@hotmail.com………

I will be bringing these to the Chapter breakfast today, Nov. 22, in Hamden.  Available for a donation of $1 per book.

Eugene Edward Johnson (Gene), 77, of Vernon, Connecticut passed away at home peacefully on November 10, 2014 surrounded by his family. Born in Hartford, Connecticut to Raymond and Julia Muller Johnson, Gene lived in Manchester before moving to Vernon in 1963. Gene is survived by his beloved wife of more than 60 years, Helen Goss Johnson, his children Mary-Ellyn Johnson Baily and Jeff Baily; Jenifer Johnson Luby and Stephen Luby; Michael Johnson and Diane Carlson Johnson; Helen Johnson Rimsa and Thomas Rimsa; and Jeff Johnson and Nicole Wulterin Johnson; fourteen grandchildren and a large extended family. Gene was predeceased by his son, Raymond Eugene Johnson, in 1993. He is also survived by his loving sisters Valerie McCollough and Janet Kelley. Gene had three passions – his family, playing the piano, and baseball. Blessed with an easy-going outlook, he was able to relax and celebrate the lives of his children and grandchildren. If his children were involved, he never missed a game or a performance. In 1955, Gene was signed by the New York Giants professional baseball team. After eight years in the minor leagues, he retired from professional baseball to raise his family with his wife Helen. A proud baseball father, two of his sons, Mike and Jeff, were signed by professional baseball teams, the Texas Rangers and the Atlanta Braves. A classical pianist, Gene’s piano playing brought joy to many and occasional surprise to some, especially his baseball players. The Hartford Twilight League was hallowed in his household and Gene spent May through August coaching and cajoling players on to many championships. In addition to his three sons and three daughters, Gene was father and brother to hundreds of young men who believed in him enough to pick up their bats and gloves to play ball as the sun set. Two tee-shirts that he has worn for he last few years sum up Gene – one says, “Gramps, you da man!” and “Baseball is Life!” Calling hours will be Thursday, November 13 and Friday, November 14 between 4:00 and 8:00 p.m. at the John F. Tierney Funeral Home, 219 West Center Street, Manchester, CT. Donations can be made to the charity of your choice . For online condolences please visit www.tierneyfuneralhome.com.

Published in The Hartford Courant on Nov. 12, 2014

Johnny Taylor, greatest pitcher to hail from Connecticut, taught his daughters Maureen & Lynette many lessons.  Lynette read them at the Oct. 25 meeting at Quinnipiac.  Here is Lynette’s loving & prosaic tribute to her Dad..

“A Daughter Remembers Johnny “Schoolboy” Taylor

Johnny Taylor was a complex man who lived by simple principles…

-Love God

-Love your family

-Respect and honor the elderly

-ALWAYS tell the truth

-Be loyal to a fault

-Treasure your friends

-Earn an honest living, and live on less than you make

-Practice “pulling in your belt” during the lean times

-Always expect the best from others and challenge them to do even better

-Be courageous enough to challenge injustice

-Buy American to keep our country strong

-Learn a second language, even if just to greet someone

-Appreciate the contributions of other cultures

-Look out into space and wonder

-Let your kids see you reading and take them to the library weekly

-Listen to the birds and learn their language

-Nurture animals and even attempt CPR on a pet hamster

-The human touch is healing

-Discipline your children because you love them

-Walking is good for the mind, body and spirit

-Learn basic piano chords & serenade others with songs like “You’re Nobody ‘Til Somebody Loves You”.

-Be on time!

-Advocate for and support the underdog

-Don’t forget to PLAY…golf, bowling, fishing…

-Be a faithful steward while on planet Earth

-Teach your children to push a hand mower, use pruning shears and a snow shovel

-Allow your children to paint their own room

-No matter how hard you party the night before, NEVER miss a day’s work and give your best

-Wash off the day’s dirt and dust before hugging and kissing your loved ones

-Be a gentleman

-Give your children endearing yet zany nicknames

-Always go first class or don’t go at all

-Take long, leisurely drives in the country…just because…and let serendipity lead the way

(even more memorable with a staticky baseball game on the car radio.)

-Chug hot peppers to ward off stomach trouble, and master one signature dish (eggs Diablo)

-Be nostalgic, romantic and pragmatic

-Marry the prettiest and smartest girl you can find and put/keep her on a pedestal

-Marry for life

-Engage in mind-expanding debate

-Understand and appreciate your grandchildren and give them nicknames too!

In appreciation for his life,

Lynette Taylor Grande”

© Lynette Taylor Grande 2014