Arkansas Baseball Encyclopedia Blog

The Robinson-Kell SABR chapter will participate in National SABR Day with a meeting on Saturday, January 25, 2014, from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Central Arkansas Library in Little Rock, Arkansas. We will be in the East meeting room on the first floor. The library is a five-story building located at South Rock and President Clinton Avenue.

There is no charge to attend and finger-food snacks, soft drinks and water will be provided.

The featured speaker will be Mr. J.B. Hogan who will speak about his book Angels in the Ozarks: Professional Baseball in Fayetteville and the Arkansas State/Arkansas-Missouri League 1934-1940. Mr. Hogan will begin his presentation at 1:00 p.m. Copies of his book will be available for purchase.

Mr. Hogan grew up in Fayetteville, Arkansas. He received his Ph. D. in English from Arizona State in 1979 and currently serves as President of the Washington County Historical Society and Chairman of the Fayetteville Historic District Commission. In addition to Angels in the Ozarks, he has published a book of fiction, The Apostate, and over 250 stories and poems.

Other scheduled presentations include:

• Fred Worth will present Kelley, Robinson, and Zinn – Three Great Minor League Careers

• Caleb Hardwick will present The Rise of Professional Baseball in Arkansas, which will cover the development and progression of early professional baseball in Arkansas up to the point that allowed the introduction of the Little Rock Travelers in 1901.

• Madison McEntire will present They Picked a Bad Time to Lose It: Pitchers Who Lost More World Series Games than Regular Season Games in a Season.

We have time for another presentation or two. If you are interested, please send me the title and approximate length. There will be a PC and projector available for use.

As usual, we will have a trivia contest, a few door prizes, and lots of baseball chatter as we look forward to the 2014 season starting soon.

If you are planning to attend the meeting, please let me know so that I can make adequate arrangements for snacks and drinks.

Thanks,

Madison McEntire
Robinson-Kell Chapter Chairman

---

It was good day for Arkansas baseball all around on Saturday, with wins by Travelers, Naturals and Razorbacks.

Major League

---

• Travis Wood won his second game of the year.

• A.J. Burnett won his second game of the year.

• Craig Gentry made this fantastic catch.

Minor League

---

Arkansas 9, Springfield 3

College Baseball

---

Arkansas Razorbacks 2, Georgia, 1

Today in Arkansas Baseball History

---

Encyclopedia Updates

---

2008 was a fantastic year of baseball for Arkansas. The state received two new professional baseball teams: the Northwest Arkansas Naturals and the now defunct Texarkana Gunslingers. In addition, the Arkansas Travelers won the Texas League Championship, and Benton, AR native Cliff Lee was the hands-down winner of the American League Cy Young Award.

Four years later, 2012 is looking to be an equally impressive. In Little Rock, a new St. Louis Cardinals-oriented exhibit has opened at the Clinton Center, and in July, the team's 2011 World Series Trophy will make an appearance at the museum. Later this month, the much anticipated Hot Springs Baseball Trail (of which I had a small part in creating) will open. The trail will take visitors to various baseball-related locations from the city's spring training days.

There are other reasons Arkansans can look forward to the upcoming baseball season too. The Arkansas Razorbacks are ranked among the nation's top D1 teams and Bryant, AR native Travis Wood will be competing for a spot of the Chicago Cub's pitching staff. Plus, Hayden Simpson, Zack Cox, Ashur Tolliver, Drew Smyley, Nick Schmidt and other prospects with Arkansas connections will be looking to make the big leagues as well in 2012.

Happy Baseball New Year,
-Caleb

As I do research of various Arkansas baseball figures, I never cease to be amazed at the little but interesting tidbits I find. For instance, for the past week, I've been looking into the lives of the men of the Accidental Base Ball Club. Here are a few examples of what I mean:

• Albert Wassell was the father of Dr. Corydon Wassell, who became famous for his work as a medical missionary and his heroics during World War II. In 1944, the film The Story of Dr. Wassell was released and starred Gary Cooper, who is best known in the baseball world for potraying Lou Gehrig in the film The Pride of the Yankees.
• Horace Allis was sentence to 5 years in prison for embezzlement, and after his release ventured to Alaska to find gold.
• Chester Jennings was raised by his uncle, Dr. Roscoe G. Jennings, one of the co-founders of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
• Fred Syberg's life came to a tragic end. While in Acambaro, Mexico, Syberg, under the influence of alcohol, got into a dispute with a man who in return threatened to shoot him. Syberg, looking for a means of self-defense, attempted to borrow a pistol from a friend. However, the two men soon began arguing over the pistol and a fist fight resulted. Later, a furious Syberg returned with a pistol in hand and shot his friend, who in turn shot Syberg. Both men died.
• Frank Hufsmith was a successful and influential railroad superintendent as well as the mayor of Palestine,TX for a time. Hufsmith, TX was named in his honor.
• Wood Tucker . . . well, I guess I just thought Wood Tucker was a cool name.

-Caleb

Happy SABR Day nationwide. Also marking this day is the official launching of the Arkansas Baseball Encyclopedia, currently with 700+ pages. If you're interested in helping expand the encyclopedia, contact Caleb at KB at BaseballYakker.com.

Here are a few interesting pages already up:

Frances Dunlap
Charlie "Tokahama" Grant Conspiracy
Eighth Game of the 1985 World Series, 1985?
Tom Baird
Bobby Winkles
Arkansas Baseball Timeline
C and C Hotel Stars?
Jackie Robinson's All-Stars Exhibitions

Plus, many, many others with more to come.

-Admin

I'm excited to announce that the Arkansas Baseball Encyclopedia will be launched on SABR Day, January 28th, 2012.

-Admin