Wednesday, August 4

Turner Field Ballpark Tour – time TBD

Tour cost is $6 per person. This is the only day we will host group tours of Turner Field. Limited availability

Thursday, August 5

1:00 p.m. Ballparks of the Southern Association I

An impressive lineup of panelists will offer a series of presentations on the history, evolution, and demise/preservation of various Southern Association ballparks. These include Russwood Field in Memphis; Rickwood Field in Birmingham, and Pelican Field in New Orleans.

2:30-7:30 p.m. Visit to Ty Cobb Museum and Gravesite, Royston, GA

(pending sufficient pre-registration)
Event fee is $19 and includes round-trip bus transportation and museum admission.  The museum is located approximately a 75-minute drive from metro Atlanta. The mission of the Ty Cobb Museum is to foster education and understanding to the broadest possible audience of Tyrus Raymond Cobb. The museum fosters education and understanding of baseball and Ty Cobb by providing art and memorabilia, film, video, books, and historical archives. The museum also houses the Franklin County Sports Hall of Fame. Charter inductees are Cobb, 1943 A.L. MVP Spud Chandler, Pro Bowl lineman Tony Jones, and All-American quarterback Dee Dowis

Ty Cobb is buried in Rose Hill Cemetery in Royston, GA.

8:00 p.m. Signs of the Time (2009)

Screening of the documentary Signs of the Time including discussion and commentary with producer Ray Manard. This one-hour documentary discusses the origination of umpire hand signals, with significant emphasis on the careers of Dummy Hoy and Bill Klem.

Friday, August 6

9:00 a.m. Presentation by National Archives & Records Administration, Morrow, GA

10:00 a.m. 1990s Braves .Worst to First. Era Panel

Moderated by former Braves play-by-play man Pete Van Wieren. Potential guests include Bobby Cox, Mark Lemke, Ron Gant, and Tom Glavine.

1:00 p.m. Ballparks of the Southern Association II

Includes presentations on the history, evolution, and demise/preservation of Sulphur Dell in Nashville, Engel Field in Chattanooga, and Ponce de Leon Park in Atlanta.

7:35 p.m. Braves vs. Giants, Turner Field

Round-trip bus to Turner Field is $15. The stadium is approximately two miles from the hotel. Public buses, taxis, and walking are also viable options.

You have two ticket options:

• Center field pavilion seats are $48 each. Cost includes game ticket and unlimited hamburgers, veggie burgers, hot dogs, French fries, nachos, frozen treats, soda, Coca-Cola, and water.
• Field reserve seats (third base side) are $33 each. Cost includes $10 coupon to spend on concessions or merchandise.

We will have more information online on getting to the game soon.

Saturday, August 7

9:30 a.m. Discussion of Shoeless Joe Jackson with sportswriter Furman Bisher

Furman Bisher is a retired sports columnist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, where he once served as sports editor, and a columnist for The Sporting News. Bisher wrote for Sports Illustrated, The Saturday Evening Post, and many other national publications. His final column for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution was published in the print version of the October 11, 2009, Sunday paper.

12-3:00 p.m. Awards luncheon, Keynote Speaker John Schuerholz

Luncheon cost is $33 (choice of blackened chicken or tilapia) John Schuerholz is president of the Atlanta Braves. Before joining the Braves in 1990, he spent 22 years with the Kansas City Royals, where he was farm director, Scouting Director, Assistant GM, and General Manager. He was the Braves GM until 2007, when he left the post to become team president. Schuerholz has a reputation for building strong farm systems and championship teams. Among the teams he has built are the world champion 1985 Royals and 1995 Braves. His teams have won their division 15 times. Schuerholz shared the inside life of a GM in his 2006 book Built to Win. He is the only General Manager in baseball to win a World Series championship in both leagues.

The luncheon honors the winners of the McFarland-SABR Award, the Sporting News-SABR Award, and SABR’s highest honor, the Bob Davids Award.

2:45 p.m. Visit to Joe Jackson Museum and Greenville Drive baseball game, Greenville, SC

(pending sufficient registration)
Cost is $29 and includes round-trip bus transportation, admission to the Joe Jackson Museum, and one ticket to the Rome Braves at Greenville Drive minor league game. (Class A, South Atlantic League. Rome Braves are Atlanta Braves Class A affiliate. Greenville Drive are Boston Red Sox Class A affiliate.)

In 2006, the home of Joe Jackson was dismantled, moved three miles, and reassembled in the historic west end of Greenville, South Carolina. The house was deeded to the Shoeless Joe Jackson Museum and Library Foundation in July 2007. The museum held its grand opening and dedication on June 21, 2008. The new house number is 356 – also Jackson’s lifetime batting average.

3:00 p.m. New Technologies in Baseball, panel moderated by Alan Nathan

Learn more about Pitch/Hit/Field FX and Trackman

7:30 p.m. Ty Cobb, a one-man play by Norm Coleman

Sunday, August 8

9:00 a.m. The Research Process: Seymour Medal Winners Panel

Dorothy Seymour Mills and local member Ken Fenster will co-moderate .Trials and Tribulations of the Research Process: A Panel Discussion with Recent Recipients of the Seymour Medal.. This panel will focus on the creative processes and problems involved in seeing a research project all the way through from conception to execution to publishing a final product. Participants will draw on their experiences with their award-winning works and their current research.

9:00 a.m. Visit to Rickwood Field, Birmingham, AL

(pending sufficient registration)
Cost is $27 and includes round-trip bus transportation and ballpark admission/tour. Rickwood Field is the oldest surviving professional baseball park in the United States. It was built for the Birmingham Barons in 1910 by industrialist and team owner Rick Woodward and has served as the home park for the Birmingham barons and the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro Leagues. The field has been used for minor league affiliates, spring training, and football games.  Since 1992, the ballpark has been under the care of the Friends of Rickwood, who are trying to restore the facility to its former glory. The field now hosts frequent amateur, police and semi-pro games and is open to visitors and tours.