Baseball in the Peach State
The National Pastime: Baseball in the Peach State, edited by Ken Fenster and Wynn Montgomery, was produced in conjunction with SABR's 40th annual convention hosted by the Magnolia Chapter in Atlanta in August 2010. The journal contains some fine research articles by local SABR members (as well as some by non-local SABR members). A sampling of those articles include (click on the titles to read the articles....):
> "The Georgia Peach: Stumped by the Storyteller" by William R. Cobb. Winner of the 2011 McFarland-SABR Baseball Research Award, this article takes dead aim at the veracity of Al Stump's depiction of Cobb, and casts serious doubts on the authenticity of much of the Cobb memorabilia produced by Stump after Cobb's death.
> "The 1954 Dixie Series" by Ken Fenster. A summary of the Atlanta Crackers' march to the 1954 Southern Association championship and its dramatic victory over the Houston Buffaloes in the Dixie Series.
> "The Empire State League: South Georgia Baseball in 1913" by the late Bill Ross. A wonderful account of small-town baseball in South Georgia in the early years of the 20th century. Bill also contributed a second article "Spring Training in Georgia: The Yannigans are Coming!"
> "Ty Cobb as Seen Through the Eyes of a Batboy" by Jimmy Lanier, as told to Mil Fisher. Jimmy Lanier describes a gentler side of Cobb with personal recollections of a man who became almost like a second father to him.
> "Memphis Bill in Newnan" by Scott McClellan. A native Atlantan, 16 year-old Bill Terry caught on as a pitcher for the team in Newnan, GA is 1915, throwing a no-hitter against Anniston several years before making the big-time as a first baseman for John McGraw's New York Giants.
> "Red Moore: He Could Pick It!" by former SABR President and Magnolia chapter member Jim Riley. Red Moore, another native Atlantan, played first base for the Atlanta Black Crackers in 1938, the year they shared the championship of the Negro American League. He was also part of the "million dollar infield," along with Ray Dandridge, Willie Wells, Dick Seay, and Leon Ruffin, for the 1937 Newark Eagles.
> Terry Sloope wrote up the results of the Magnolia Chapter members' selections of an All-Time Atlanta Braves Team and an All-Time Georgia Born Team in 2010 for inclusion in Baseball in the Peach State. These articles are expanded summaries of the lists included in that publication.
All of these articles - and many more - can be found in Baseball in the Peach State