Co-Chairs: Willie Steele, Lipscomb University, Nashville David Pegram, Paradise Valley Community College, Phoenix


Advisory Board: Lisa Doris Alexander, Jason Cannon, Allison Levin, Mitchell Nathanson, Roberta Newman, Anna Newton, Kat Williams
The NINE Spring Training Conference is a one-of-a-kind event: four days of dynamic, scholarly presentations on the subject of baseball, held in Tempe, Arizona, in the midst of Cactus League Spring Training. This is an interdisciplinary program, covering history, law, sociology, literature, media, architecture, and more.
Attendees have an opportunity to conduct “field research” (aka, a spring training game), and the conference culminates with a Saturday evening banquet, which includes the presentation of the SABR Seymour Medal.
Former featured speakers include Charles Alexander, Marty Appel, Mark Armour, Eliot Asinof, Darryl Brock, Robert W. Creamer, Larry Dierker, Rob Edelman, Nancy Faust, Rob Fitts, Jean Fruth, Arnold Hano, Roland Hemond, Leonard Koppett, Chris Lamb, Dan Levitt, Lee Lowenfish, Peter Morris, Eric Nusbaum, Anika Orrock, Jerald Podair, Ron Rapoport, Curt Smith, Janet Marie Smith, John Thorn, and Steve Treder.