Symposium

Wednesday, May 27, 2026

Pre-conference Session (11:00am to 12:00pm)

Poetry and Baseball - Joseph Stanton (University of Hawai'i at Mānoa - Professor Emeritus)

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

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

Keynote speaker: Melissa Ludtke (author)

Concurrent Session 1: 19th Century (2:15pm to 3:30pm)

Moderator: Jeffrey M. Katz (New York Public Library)

Drafting the Game: The Creation of the 1857 Rules of Baseball - Tom Shieber (National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum)

The Diamond and the Chattel: Helen Dauvray, John Montgomery Ward, and the Paradox of the 1887 Cup - Helice Koffler (University of Bristol)

When Two Future Hall of Famers Brought a Controversial Championship Trophy to New Jersey: A Look at the 1896 Atlantic League Championship - Brian LoPinto (Friends of Hinchliffe Stadium, Paterson, New Jersey)

Concurrent Session 2: Boston Baseball Fandom (2:15pm to 3:30pm)

Moderator: Dan Levitt (Independent writer/historian)

Segregation Games: Boston, Busing, and the Making of Red Sox Nation - David Faflik (University of Rhode Island)

Born Into Baseball: The Generational Story of Red Sox Fandom - Adam Paliana (Syracuse University)

Boston's Royal Rooters and the Meaning of Fandom - Paul Ringel (High Point University)

Concurrent Session 3: Kansas City and Buck O'Neil (3:45pm to 5:00pm)

Moderator: Jim Hughes (Independent writer/historian)

The Entrepreneurial Hub of Baseball: Kansas City in Black and White - Tom Fredrick (University of Kansas School of Business)

Swinging! Baseball and Jazz in Mid-Twentieth Century Black Kansas City - Jake Kaplan (Rutgers University - Camden)

Unsung Trailblazers: Black Scouts and the Desegregation of Major League Baseball, 1947-1964 - Jerry Gershenhorn (North Carolina Central University - Emeritus)

Concurrent Session 4: Broadcasters (3:45pm to 5:00pm)

Moderator: Robert Paskal (Independent writer/historian)

Canned Voices: Firing a Future Hall of Fame Broadcaster - James Walker (Saint Xavier University - Emeritus)

Baseball and Old Time Radio: Leo Durocher and Ronald Colman on The Jack Benny Program in 1946 - Brian Casey (Independent writer/historian)

It Happened Only Once in Baseball History...The Ernie Harwell Trade - Ernie Found, MD (University of Iowa)

Thursday, May 28, 2026

Concurrent Session 5: Fandom and Memory (9:15am to 10:30am)

Moderator: Ronald S. Gieseke (Chicago - Kent College of Law)

Home Runs...Promised & Delivered: All-American Diamond Fears for Players and Fans - Herm Krabbenhoft (Independent writer/historian)

Buds Bloom, But Roses Die: Remembering the 1973 NLCS Harrelson-Rose Fight - LisaR. Neilson (Marist University)

Can't Anyone Act This Game? Casey Stengel on Stage - Douglas T. Aumack (Independent writer/historian)

Concurrent Session 6: Biographies (9:15am to 10:30am)

Moderator: Charles DeMotte (Independent writer/historian)

Danny Gardella: Free Agency Pioneer and Renaissance Man - Robert Elias (University of San Francisco)

John Herman "Hank" DeBerry: Small Town Boy with a Major Impact on New York City Baseball - Mark McGee (Lipscomb University)

Joe Nuxhall: The Ol' Left-Hander, a Cincinnati Icon - Greg Phegley (Independent writer/historian)

Special Session: Skirting the Game: Jean Hastings Ardell's Women and Baseball (11:00am to 12:00pm)

Moderator: Kat Williams (CEO, International Women’s Baseball Center)

Interview with Greta Langhenry and Katie Woods

Concurrent Session 7: Small Town Baseball (1:25pm to 2:15pm)

Moderator: Todd Harris, Ph.D. (Bridgewater State University)

Baseball's Influence on Early Twentieth Century Communities: The Case of Hanover, PA and the Blue Ridge League - John G. Coulson (SABR)

No Place Baseball - Marty Payne (Eastern Shore Baseball Hall of Fame)

Concurrent Session 8: Philosophical (1:25pm to 2:15pm)

Moderator: Johnny Moore (Radford University)

Eephus: Capturing the Pulchritude, Vicissitudes, and Multitudes of Baseball in Film - Richard Puerzer (Hofstra University)

Baseball and Virtue - Robert P. Miller, Ph.D. (Mount Saint Mary College)

Concurrent Session 9: Ballparks (2:30pm to 3:45pm)

Moderator: Tim Whitt (Independent writer/historian)

207 Fields and Counting: Seeing America through Baseball - Virginia M. Skinner-Linnenberg (Nazareth College - Emerita) and Daniel M. Linnenberg (University of Rochester - Retired)

Keeping Baseball on the Landscape: An evaluation of commemorative techniques applied to surplus Major League ballparks - Douglas R. Appler, Ph.D. (University of Kentucky) 

Caught in a Rundown: What the history of team movement tells us about a potential new era of MLB relocation - Phillip Lovas (Old Dominion University)

Concurrent Session 10: Pop Culture and Media (2:30pm to 3:45pm)

Moderator: David Krell (Independent writer/historian)

From Stadiums to Screens: The Evolution of American Fandom from Baseball to Twilight - Lily Sweeney (Syracuse University)

Fun Yes, but Easy No: Building an Independent Baseball Podcast, One Episode at a Time - Leonard Aberman (Baseball and BBQ Podcast) and Jeff Cohen (Baseball and BBQ Podcast)

Intersection of esports and Baseball: Why the Return of Pablo Sanchez and Backyard Baseball is Good for the Game - Cathy Leogrande (Le Moyne College)

Concurrent Session 11: Politics (4:00pm to 5:15pm)

Moderator: Ira Cooperman (Chautauqua Institution)

Dodgerthon '58: America's First Political Telethon - David Gunzerath (Independent writer/historian)

Celebrating the Age of Athletic Patriotism: Advice and observations from interviews with the last surviving World War Two and Korean War Major League Veterans - Anne R. Keene (Independent writer/historian)

Stan the Political Man: Stan Musial's Lifelong Support for the Kennedys - Casey Richard Puerzer (Boston College)

Concurrent Session 12: Ballpark Laborers (4:00pm to 5:15pm)

Moderator: Denis Crawford (College Football Hall of Fame)

Baseball's Seasonal Employees: Part-Time Work, Full-Time Love - Nick Elam, Ph.D. (Ball State University)

Subjectivization, "Fitting In," and Pioneering Umpires - Seth Tannenbaum (Manhattanville University)

The Official Scorer: Identity, Judgement, and the moral Labor of Baseball's Record Keepers - Gina Chambers (Nebraska Wesleyan University) and Bill "Skip" Mathews (Eckerd College; Tampa Bay Rays)

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

Hosts: 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 historian Peter Young will serve as host, instructor, and umpire 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 29, 2026

Concurrent Session 13: Legacies (9:15am to 10:30am)

Moderator: Gerardo Canul (The Chicago School of Professional Psychology, Anaheim campus)

Playing Ball on the World Stage: Baseball's Representation of American Ideals in World's Fairs - Hannah Staples (Independent writer/historian)

Concurrent Session 14: Baseball Beyond Borders (9:15am to 10:30am)

Moderator: Sonja Lynch (Wartburg College)

Baseball Overseas: Expedited Evolution of Baseball - Jimmy Smiley (Cooperstownexpert.com)

Wabash in the Dominican: Baseball, Culture, and Gratitude - Todd McDorman (Wabash College)

The Magic of Baseball Box Scores in Europe Before the Internet - Christopher Schaefer (Mount St. Mary's University)

Concurrent Session 15: Negro Leagues (10:45am to 11:35am)

Moderator: Kenneth Sammond (Fairleigh Dickinson University)

Jewish Baseball Players in the Negro Leagues - Rebecca Alpert (Temple University) and Zachary Kranc (Independent writer/historian)

What Does the Map Say?: Storytelling & Visual Representation of Negro Leagues Stadiums Through GIS Mapping - Fabio Montella (Suffolk County Community College) and Vanessa Viola (New York Institute of Technology)

Concurrent Session 16: Mascots (10:45am to 11:35am)

Moderator: Daniel Linnenberg (University of Rochester - Retired)

Courts and Jesters: Who Owns Baseball's Beloved Mascots? - Ted Curtis (Lynn University)

Babe the Blue Ox: How a Mascot Became a Community's Baseball Memory - Dean Gyorgy (Bangor Blue Ox) and Gina Bigham (Bangor Blue Ox)

Concurrent Session 17: Black Baseball (1:00pm to 1:50pm)

Moderator: Leslie Heaphy (Kent State University at Stark)

The 1913 Mohawk Giants: Baseball in Upstate New York - Keith Wood, Ph.D. (Christian Brothers High School)

'I Wouldn't Wish It On Anybody': Reggie Jackson Returns to Birmingham's Rickwood Field - Ron Bishop, Ph.D. (Drexel University) and Alex Jenkins, Ph.D. (Drexel University)

Concurrent Session 18: More Biographies (1:00pm to 1:50pm)

Moderator: TBD

The Turbulent Life of Jimmy Piersall - Charles DeMotte (Independent writer/historian)

Chief: The Three Lives of Gene Locklear - Jay Thomas, Ed.D. (Aurora University)

Concurrent Session 19: Batboys and Youth (2:00pm to 2:50pm)

Moderator: Ernie Found, MD (University of Iowa)

From Batboys to Men: Childhood, Labor, and the Myth of Youthful Innocence - Jarred Stewart, Ph.D. (Collin College)

Bats, Balls, Boys, and Dreams: Youth All-Star Games in Mid 20th Century America: 1944-1965 - Alan Cohen (SABR)

Concurrent Session 20: Thoughts on Patriotism (2:00pm to 2:50pm)

Moderator: John Paul Hill (University of North Georgia)

Harmonic Dissonance: José Feliciano, the 1968 World Series, and the Evolution of the National Anthem in American Culture - Jeffrey M. Ward, Ph.D. (State University of New York - Oneonta)

The Presidential First Pitch: Purely Symbolic or a Unifying Gesture? - Hon. Andrew C.M. Mizsak (Lakeland Community College; Cleveland Guardians)

Concurrent Session 21: Baseball Cards (3:00pm to 3:50pm)

Moderator: Cathy Leogrande (Le Moyne College)

The Rise and Demise of the Bowman Bubblegum Brand/Bowman Baseball Cards 1939-1955 - Jeff Jaech (American Baseball Card Museum)

Pieces of the Game: Baseball Cards, Memory, and Materiality - Sean G. Dolan, Ph.D. (Los Alamos National Laboratory)

Concurrent Session 22: Rule Changes (3:00pm to 3:50pm)

Moderator: Ted Curtis (Lynn University)

A Dizzying Episode - Dave Bohmer (DePauw University - Emeritus)

ABS Challenge System or If Rod Sterling was Commissioner of Baseball - Hermon Card (Syracuse University; Syracuse Mets)

Concurrent Session 23: Women in Baseball (4:00pm to 4:50pm)

Moderator: Leah Buhagiar (National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum)

Becoming Mrs. Payson: Venture Capital, Philanthropy, and the Origins of the New York Mets - Dr. Cynthia Kierner (George Mason University)

Tags and Alterations: Diving Into the Structure of AAGPBL Uniforms - Gabrielle Augustine (National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum) and Alyssa Frysinger (Binghamton University)

Concurrent Session 24: Baseball's Impact on Communities (4:00pm to 4:50pm)

Moderator: Robert P. Miller, Ph.D. (Mount Saint Mary College)

The Sacramento Solons: A Study of Popular Representation with the Pacific Coast League (PCL) 1930-1960 - Gene Exiquio Garcia (Michigan State University)

A Divided Community United on the Diamond: The 1962 Hidalgo County Colt League Baseball World Series Champions - Juan David Coronado (Central Connecticut State University)

Concluding Session (5:00pm to 5:15pm)

Moderator: Cassidy Lent (National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

Women's Pro Baseball League - Justine Siegal (WPBL Commissioner)

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.