2023 CONFERENCE PROGRAM

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 1     

4:30 pm Registration opens

5:30-7:00 pm Reception, Encantada Patio

7:15-7:30 pm Welcome Emcee Steve Gietschier

7:30-9:00 pm THE CY SEYMOUR LEAD-OFF SESSION: An Evening with Maybelle Blair, hosted by Kat Williams, Marshall University

Maybelle Blair is a former professional baseball player, Founding Director of the International Women’s Baseball Center, and renowned public speaker. In 1948, she pitched for the Peoria Red Wings in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) and is now one of the most vocal supporters of women in baseball.  As a result of her efforts, she has been featured on CBS Sunday Morning, and honored at Fenway Park in Boston, Wrigley Field in Chicago, and Angel Stadium in Anaheim.

THURSDAY, MARCH 2

8:00-8:15 am             Coffee

8:15-8:30 am             Opening: Steve Gietschier

8:30-10:10 am           THE BAKE MCBRIDE SESSION, Chair:   Autumn Marshall

David Krell “Villainy, thy Name is Casey: Debunking the Cultural Heroism of Baseball’s Most Famous Fictional Slugger”

Mitchell Nathanson “The Art and Anger of Roger Kahn”

Rob Sheinkopf “The Eddie Scissons Syndrome: Life Still Imitating Art Imitating Life, 30+ Years Later”

Roberta J. Newman ”Koshien Dreams: Yuuji Terajima’s Ace of the Diamond and the Reinforcement of Cultural Values in Baseball Manga”

10:10-10:20 am          Coffee Break

10:20 am-12:00 pm   THE MARGE VILLA SESSION,  Chair: Rob Sheinkopf

Fabio Montella “Playing with the Boys: The Arthur Murray Girls Baseball team vs The Patchogue Athletics”

Dustin Terry “The MLB Draft League”

Evan Thompson “Evaluating Relievers of the Modern Game”

Kevin A. Johnson & Jennifer J. Asenas “Baseball and the First Amendment: Contemporary Issues”

12:00-2:00 pm Lunch on your own

2:00-3:20 pm THE DURWOOD MERRILL SESSION, Chair: Cathy Kreyche

Robert Tholkes “Origins of the American Baseball Umpire”

Jonah Soos “MLB Umpires: The Study of Imperfection”

Caitlyn Pritchard “The Robopocalypse: The Effects of Technological Advancements in Baseball on Umpires”

3:20-3:30 pm Break

3:30-4:50 pm THE KEN DUGAN SESSION, Chair: Lisa Alexander

Leighton J. Reynolds “The Perfect Storm in the Brain”

Preston Klaus “The Impact of Name, Image, and Likeness in the Dynamic College Baseball Landscape”

Autumn Marshall “Fuel Up to Play Nine: Sports Nutrition in Collegiate Baseball”

Dinner – On Your Own

7:00-8:30 pm  THE JEAN HASTINGS ARDELL SESSION, Chair:  David M. Pegram

This evening we will honor the life and work of Jean Hastings Ardell, former Chair of the NINE Spring Training Conference. Jean was one of the twenty “original” participants of the NINE Spring Training Conference, in 1994.  She authored Breaking Into Baseball: Women and the National Pastime and co-authored Making My Pitch: A Woman’s Baseball Odyssey, with Ila Jane Borders. Jean passed on October 7, 2022. We will reminisce and share our stories and memories, with final words presented by Charlie Vascellaro.  

FRIDAY, MARCH 3

8:00-8:30 am Coffee

8:30-10:10 am THE MIKE EASLER SESSION,  Chair: David Krell

Richard Black “The 12th vs. the 25th: Baseball, Race, and Empire in John Sayles’ A Moment in the Sun”

Daniel Anderson “‘What Could You Say to a Guy Who Hated Himself Like That?’: Ring Lardner and Anti-Modernist Narrative”

Cathy Kreyche “Marty Devlin: Reaching Third Base in the 1950s with the Dodgers”

Erik Sherman “Daybreak at Chavez Ravine: Fernandomania and the Remaking of the Los Angeles Dodgers”

10:10-10:20 am Break

10:20 am-12:00 pm THE TURK WENDELL SESSION, Chair: Dave Bohmer

Mark Wilson & Ben Catlin “Red vs. Blue States: Minor League Baseball Attendance Post-COVID Restrictions”

Dan Levitt “The Coming of the Farm System and the Manipulation of Player Control Rights”

Justin Turner “‘Camden Yards of the minor leagues’: Harbor Park and Norfolk’s Downtown Revival”

Ron Rapoport “Jackie Robinson Would Have Hated Jackie Robinson Day”

1:10 pm Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Los Angeles Angels at Tempe Diablo Stadium

Dinner on your own

SATURDAY, MARCH 4 

8:00-8:30 am Coffee

8:30-10:10 am THE RAY DANDRIDGE SESSION, Chair:  Justin Turner

Leslie Heaphy “Black Female Baseball Owners”

Joe Marren “Success Without Recognition: Negro Leagues Winter Meetings, 1945-50”

Jim Overmyer “Vic Harris, the Greatest Negro Leagues Manager (and, What Makes a Great Manager, Anyway?)

Claudia Caplan Wolff “A Black Man in a White World: The Duality of Jackie Robinson”

10:10-10:20 am Break

10:20 am -12:00 pm THE HELENE HATHAWAY BRITTON SESSION, Chair: Robert Tholkes  

Dave Bohmer “Ford Frick’s Unintended Legacies”

Mark McGee “Crafting Baseball Legends: The Managerial Skills of Harry Craft”

Rodney Paul “Major League Baseball Manager Retention and Firing: Role of Race and Former Player Status”

Jay Thomas “Gene Locklear: Portrait of the Artist as a Young Ballplayer”

12:00-2:00 pm   Lunch on your own

Optional: Authors and Researchers Lunch, Hosted by Jason Cannon

Join us at noon on the hotel patio for a Dutch-treat lunch conversation with other conference participants about in-progress projects. This will be a time to discuss your research and gain insight from other scholars in the field of baseball studies. Reservations will be available at the conference registration table.

2:00-3:40 pm THE CHUCK CONNORS SESSION, Chair: Mitchell Nathanson

Robert V. Bellamy & James R. Walker “Baseball on Television: From Mass to Mess”

Kat Williams & Lisa Doris Alexander “Discussion of A League of Their Own Television Series”

Robert M. Gorman “A Horse Is a Horse, Of Course, Of Course—Unless He Plays Baseball: The Role of Animals in Baseball Films and Television Episodes”

Mark Armour “The Perfect Game”

6:00 pm THE BILL KIRWIN SESSION

6:00-6:30 pm: Cash Bar, Encantada Patio

6:30-8:00 pm   Banquet, Society for American Baseball Research’s Seymour Medal Award Presentation: Dan Levitt & Mark Armour, Intentional Balk: Baseball’s Thin Line Between Innovation and Cheating

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