Symposium

Wednesday, May 29, 2024

Keynote Session (1:00pm to 2:00pm)

Moderator: Bill Simons (State University of New York – Oneonta)

TBA - Howard Bryant

Special Session (2:00pm to 3:00pm)

Moderator: Josh Rawitch (National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum)

The Black Baseball Initiative and The Souls of the Game: Voices of Black Baseball - Leslie Heaphy (Kent State University) and Rowan Ricardo Phillips (Stony Brook University)

Concurrent Session 1: Dodgers and Giants Move West (3:15pm to 4:15pm)

Moderator: TBD

Changing Channels: Television Rights and the Dodgers' and Giants' Moves to California - David Gunzerath (Independent writer/historian)

3,000 Miles from Home: A Lifelong Affair with an Out of Market Team - Gary Mintz (President - New York Preservation Society)

Concurrent Session 2: Diamond Bios (3:15pm to 4:15pm)

Moderator: TBD

The Life and Tragic Death of Harry Agganis, "the Golden Greek"- Charles DeMotte (Independent writer/historian)

Baseball's Last Idealist: Remembering Birdie Tebbetts (1912-1999) - Lee Lowenfish (Independent writer/historian)

Concurrent Session 3: Baseball Icons in the 1920s (4:30pm to 5:30pm)

Moderator: TBA

John McGraw's Florida Land Investment Fiasco - Daniel Levitt (Independent writer/historian)

"Nothing Doing. I'm for Al Smith": Babe Ruth and the 1928 Presidential Election - Casey Puerzer (Boston College)

Concurrent Session 4: The Art of the Game on Canvas and in Verse (4:30pm to 5:30pm)

Moderator: TBD

Capturing the Game on Canvas: Norman Rockwell's Baseball Illustrations - Cathy Leogrande (Le Moyne College)

Contriving to See in Slow Emotion: Limits and Transcendence in Joseph Stanton's Baseball Poetry - Kenneth Sammond (Fairleigh Dickinson University)

Evening Session (7:00pm to 8:30pm)

Moderator: Rebecca Alpert (Temple University)

Skirting the Game - Interview with Leslie Heaphy (Kent State University)

Thursday, May 30, 2024

Concurrent Session 5: Baseball Poetry and Literature (9:15am to 10:45am)

Moderator: TBD

There Was Joy in Mudville: Debunking the Cultural Heroism of Casey at the Bat - David Krell (SABR – Chair, Elysian Fields Chapter)

Here Comes the Pizzer: The Found Poetry of Gerald Peter Remy - Eric Poulin (Simmons University School of Library and Information Science)

"St. Peter got your name in the book": August Wilson's Fences and Turkin and Thompson's The Official Encyclopedia of Baseball - Richard Black (Northwest Missouri State University)

Concurrent Session 6: All Things (sort of) Related to the Babe (9:15am to 10:45am)

Moderator: TBD

The Cartooned Bambino: Representations of Babe Ruth in Japanese and American Popular Culture - Brian Baynes (Independent writer/historian), Adam Berenbak (National Archives), and Ryan Holmberg (Independent writer/historian)

Hot Diggity Dog: The Relationship Between America's Game and America's Food - Justine Smith (Syracuse University)

Baltimore City Residents and Orioles Magic: The Results of a Recent Survey - William Blake (University of Maryland, Baltimore County) and Mileah Kromer (Goucher College)

Concurrent Session 7: Music, from the Polka to the Boss (11:00am to noon)

Moderator: TBD

The "Base Ball Polka" by J.R. Blodgett: A Story of Triumph, Tragedy, Music, and Baseball - George Boziwick (Independent writer/historian)

Bruce Springsteen's "Glory Days": From Speedball to Spitball - Dan Cichalski (SABR – Elysian Fields Chapter)

Concurrent Session 8: World Series on the ‘10s and the ‘30s (11:00am to noon)

Moderator: TBD

The Road from Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan to the 1932 World Series - Dick Mahoney (University of Alabama – Lifetime Learning Institute (OLLI))

The World Series as National Civic Ritual: The Press and the 1913 World Series - Ralph Strohl (Independent writer/historian)

Lunch break: Noon to 1:30pm

Concurrent Session 9: St. Louis Baseball (1:30pm to 2:30pm)

Moderator: TBD

The Forgotten Cardinal: Wee Willie Sherdel and the Creation of a St. Louis Dynasty - John Coulson (Independent writer/historian)

The Struggle for St. Louis: The Cardinals Outlast the Browns - Jeffrey Kraus (Wagner College)

Concurrent Session 10: Governing Baseball (1:30pm to 2:30pm)

Moderator: TBD

Playing by Different Rules: Exploring Baseball's Exceptional Antitrust Status - Liz Manriquez (University of Wisconsin Law School Library) and Mike Duncan (Independent writer/historian)

Clubhouse Lawyers: Major League Baseball and the Manfred Strategy of Settlement - Michael Sokolow (Kingsborough Community College, CUNY)

Concurrent Session 11: Contemporary Issues (2:45pm to 3:45pm)

Moderator: TBD

Diamond Sutras: A Survey of Baseball and/as Buddhism - Ryan Harper (Fairfield University – Bellarmine)

The Stadiums Went Silent: A Week without Baseball, Post 9/11 - Willie Steele (Lipscomb University)

Concurrent Session 12: Pitching, Then and Now (2:45pm to 3:45pm)

Moderator: TBD

Pitch it to the Limit: A Comparison of US and Japan's Pitch Limit Guidelines and Rules - Sam Gleason (College of William & Mary)

50 Years of Tommy John Procedure: Surgical Success, or…Now, Surgical Steroids - Ernie Found (University of Iowa)

Concurrent Session 13: Psychic and Familial Connections (4:00pm to 5:00pm)

Moderator: TBD

A Psychoautobiography: Baseball and Family History - Gerardo Canul, Ph.D. (The Chicago School of Professional Psychology, Anaheim)

One Game of Catch - Ethan Bryan (Independent writer/historian)

Concurrent Session 14: Negro Leagues (4:00pm to 5:00pm)

Moderator: TBD

Rap Dixon for the Hall of Fame - Ted Knorr (Independent writer/historian)

Citizen Rosebud: Jesse Owens, the 1946 Portland Rosebuds, and the Story of the West Coast Negro Baseball Association - Justin Krebs (Syracuse University)

Town Ball Game: Cooper Park (5:30pm to 7:00pm)

Hosts: Tom Heitz and Peter Young (Leatherstocking Base Ball Club)

Today’s game of baseball can trace its origins back to a number of stick and ball games played in the American colonies. Weather permitting, local historians Tom Heitz and Peter Young will serve as hosts, instructors, and umpires in this re-creation of a vintage town ball game, circa the 1840s. All Symposium participants are invited to join in and play. Everyone will have the opportunity to play the field and take a turn swinging the bat. Remember, no gloves allowed. Dress casually and join in the fun. In the event of inclement weather, please use this free time to explore the museum.

Dinner: Hall of Fame Plaque Gallery (7:00pm to 9:00pm)

Host: Cassidy Lent (National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum)

The annual dinner, catered by Sunrise Catering, will be held immediately following the Town Ball Game. We will walk over to the Museum’s Main Street entrance to enjoy dinner together. Vegetarian options will be available. Dinner ticket required for this event.

Friday, May 31, 2024

Concurrent Session 15: Peacekeeping Baseball (9:15am to 10:45am)

Moderator: TBD

The International Field of Dreams: Baseball's Impact on the Pre-War American and Japanese Relationship - Spencer Krivo (College of William & Mary), Bailey Nicholson (College of William & Mary), and Ari Pearlstein (College of William & Mary)

Lefty O'Doul's 1949 Goodwill Tour of Japan - Jon Leonoudakis (Independent writer/historian)

Yūshoku Jinshu No Yakyū: The Baseball Brotherhood of the Nikkei & Negro Leagues - Bill Staples, Jr. (Nisei Baseball Research Project (NBRP))

Concurrent Session 16: Race and Diversity (9:15am to 10:45am)

Moderator: TBD

A Tale of Two (Red Sox) Cities: Boston and Memphis - Karl Lindholm (Middlebury College)

For the Love of the Game: Creating a Co-Cultural Clubhouse in a Diversifying Baseball Landscape - Amanda Taylor (Independent writer/historian)

Race, Image, Homeruns, and Towers of Power: The Cultural Impact of the 1971 All-Star Game - Richard Puerzer (Hofstra University)

Concurrent Session 17: Playing by the Numbers (11:00am to noon)

Moderator: TBD

How Ejections Impact Subsequent Umpire Performance: Lessons for Expert Judgement Amid Emotional Events - Jordan Nielson, Ph.D. (Purdue University, Daniels School of Business) and Jim Dworkin, Ph.D. (Purdue University, Daniels School of Business)

Regression to the Mean Batting Performance Behavior and its Relationship to Victories - Thomas Brady, Ph.D. (Purdue University Northwest)

Concurrent Session 18: Other Sportballs (11:00am to noon)

Moderator: TBD

George Carlin Meets Sandy Hadden: From the Diamond to the Gridiron - Paul Hensler (Independent writer/historian)

Lunch break: noon to 1:30pm

Concurrent Session 19: Legacies: Frick and Cambria (1:30pm to 2:30pm)

Moderator: TBD

Ford Frick's Unintended Legacies - Dave Bohmer (DePauw University)

Ahead of the Curve?: Joe Cambria and the Pre-Integration of Major League Baseball - Dr. Paul Scimonelli (The Catholic University of America)

Concurrent Session 20: Women in Baseball: On the Field and in Entertainment (1:30pm to 2:30pm)

Moderator: TBD

Women in Play: The 24-Hours for Africa Game at Tucson Electric Park in 2003 - Cathy Kreyche (Independent writer/historian)

Gender, Sexuality, Race, and Baseball: Examining Amazon's A League of Their Own (2022) - Jeremy Todd Shinder (Syracuse University)

Session 21: Jewish Baseball: From the IBL to Gaza(2:45pm to 3:45pm)

Moderator: TBD

Israel's Professional League - Kfir Shoham (Syracuse University)

Jewish Baseball 2023: From the WBC to Gaza - Bill Simons (State University of New York – Oneonta)

Session 22: Fighting Segregation (2:45pm to 3:45pm)

Moderator: TBD

Everything, Including the Ball, was White: Segregation and the Death of the Southern Association - Mark McGee (Lipscomb University)

America's Greatest Generation in baseball; the story of a few good men - Jim Smiley (CooperstownExpert.com)

Session 23: Black Baseball (4:00pm to 5:00pm)

Moderator: TBD

The Bingo is Stranded on Base: The Case for Showcasing the Negro Leagues on the Big Screen - Alvin Anthony, Jr. (Independent writer/historian)

Thriving During the Depression: The Shared History of Black Baseball and Jazz in Kansas City During the 1930s - Francis Harte (Independent writer/historian)

Session 24: Baseball in the Military (4:00pm to 5:00pm)

Moderator: TBD

The Importance of Baseball to the U.S. Marine Corps in the Interwar Period - Kater Miller (National Museum of the Marine Corps)

Boot Camps for the National Pastime: Jim "Zipper" Zapp and Gene Baker Play Baseball for the U.S. Navy During World War II - Bob Cullen (Independent writer/historian)

Concluding Session (5:15pm to 5:30pm)

Moderator: Bill Simons (State University of New York – Oneonta)

Public Notice

The Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball and American Culture is a unique forum, sponsored by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and the State University of New York – Oneonta, which provides academics and researchers with a platform to present and discuss a variety of topics concerning the game of baseball and how it relates to our culture and society. All opinions delivered during the program belong to the presenter, and do not represent the policies or practices of either host institution.