Symposium

Wednesday, May 31, 2023

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

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

Part of Your World - Tyler Kepner (New York Times)

Concurrent Session 1: Business Enterprises: Black Baseball, Bank Robbers, and Hot Dogs (2:15pm to 3:45pm)

Moderator: Paul Hensler (Independent writer/historian)

Boys, Baseball and Bank Robbers - Robert Sherwin (Attorney/Managing partner law firm)

Partners and Rivals: Ed Bolden, Ed Gottlieb, Harry Passon, and the Business of Black Baseball in Philadelphia - Rebecca Alpert (Temple University)

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

Concurrent Session 2: Baseball and Politics: Candidates, Myths, and Congress at the Bat (2:15pm to 3:45pm)

Moderator: Ted Curtis (Lynn University)

Batter's Box to Ballot Box - Wayne Patterson (Howard University)

The Myth and Reality of Accountability in Baseball and Politics (Or the Similar Downfalls of John McCain and Joe Girardi) - William Blake (University of Maryland, Baltimore County)

The Congressional Baseball Game: The Meeting of Two American Institutions - Casey Puerzer (Boston College) and Richard Puerzer (Hofstra University)

Concurrent Session 3: Icons on and Off the Field: Teddy Ballgame as Wingman and Ol’Diz as Media Savant (4:00pm to 5:00pm)

Moderator: Melissa Booker (Society for American Baseball Research)

The Wingmen of Major League Baseball - Adam Lazarus (Independent writer/historian; Kensington Books/Citadel Press)

What Baseball Can Learn From Dizzy Dean - Curt Smith (University of Rochester)

Concurrent Session 4: Chasing Dreams: The Promise of Summer (4:00pm to 5:00pm)

Moderator: Willie Steele (Lipscomb University)

Summer Collegiate Baseball and the Development of Future American Baseball Players - David Gold (Syracuse University)

Marty Devlin: Reaching Third Base in the 1950s with the Dodgers - Cathy Kreyche (Independent writer/historian)

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

Moderator: Jon Shestakofsky (National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum)

The Black Baseball Initiative: The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum's Current Major Project - Leslie Heaphy (Kent State University), Josh Rawitch (National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum), and Tom Shieber (National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum)

Thursday, June 1, 2022

Concurrent Session 5: Fiction in Baseball, from Writing to Film (9:15am to 10:15am)

Moderator: David Krell (Society for American Baseball Research - Elysian Fields Chapter)

Tobias Woff’s “Bullet in the Brain”: Baseball and Childhood and Redemption - Mark Altschuler (Bergen Community College)

Revisiting The Original "Angels In The Outfield": How President Eisenhower's Favorite Film Deserves Its Place In Movie and Baseball History - Lee Lowenfish (Independent writer/historian)

Concurrent Session 6: Baseball in the Hinterlands: Tompkins County and the Minor Leagues (9:15am to 10:15am)

Moderator: Bob Paskal

The County Pastime: Baseball in Tompkins County, New York - Charles DeMotte (State University of New York – Cortland)

Suing Judge Landis: The Minor Leagues vs. Baseball's Antitrust Exemption - Michael Sokolow (Kingsborough Community College, CUNY)

Concurrent Session 7: Japanese Baseball: The Game in Relocation Camps and the Women’s League (10:30am to noon)

Moderator: Daniel Linnenberg (University of Rochester)

U.S. Marines Versus Japan: Baseball and Colonialism in the Pacific Realm - Kater Miller (National Museum of the Marine Corps)

A Brief Overview of Women's Professional Baseball in Japan, 1949-1969 - Adam Berenbak (National Archives)

Baseball Behind Barbed Wire - Yuriko Gamo Romer (Flying Carp Productions – independent documentary filmmaker)

Concurrent Session 8: Confronting Jackie Robinson in Film, Classroom, and Counterpoint (10:30am to 11:30am)

Moderator: Bob Cullen (Independent writer/historian)

Gil Hodge(s), Jim Pegram, and Me: A Baseball Autoethnography - David Pegram (Paradise Valley Community College)

The Knuckleball: Baseball's Magical Pitch - Melissa Booker (Society for American Baseball Research)

Lunch break: Noon to 1:00pm

Concurrent Session 9: Chicanery and Invasions: Baseball Confronts Pitcher Cheating and Fan Take-Overs (1:00pm to 2:00pm)

Moderator: Richard Sternberg

Make It Legal - Baseball's First Response to Pitcher Cheating - Dan Levitt (Independent writer/historian)

The Rise and Fall of Field Invasions in Major League Baseball - John Bawden (University of Montevallo)

Concurrent Session 10: Baseball Biography: The Life and Times of Tony C. (1:00pm to 2:00pm)

Moderator: Tom Hogle (State University of New York – Morrisville)

Alex Johnson and Tony Conigliaro: The Anguish of Star-Crossed Teammates - Paul Hensler (Independent writer/historian)

Small Town Organized Baseball…..Supplying Big League Talent - Dick Mahoney (Independent writer/historian)

Concurrent Session 11: The Women’s Game: Jewish Heroines and the AAGPBL (2:15pm to 3:15pm)

Moderator: Cathy Leogrande, Ph. D (Le Moyne College)

Yentl at the Bat: Jewish Women and Baseball - Bill Simons (State University of New York – Oneonta)

The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League: Was it baseball? Was it ever supposed to be baseball? - Emilie Newman (Syracuse University)

Concurrent Session 12: Education: How to Use Baseball to Create Better Student Writers (2:15pm to 3:15pm)

Moderator: Ginny Skinner-Linnenberg (Nazareth University)

Can Baseball Cards Be Used to Improve Undergraduate Student Writing? - Christopher Bell, Ph. D (University of North Georgia)

"It Must Have Been Better Baseball": (Rhetoric, Epistemology, & Our National Pastime) - Kenneth Sammond (Fairleigh Dickinson University)

Concurrent Session 13: Franchise Relocation: East to West and West to East (3:30pm to 4:30pm)

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

From Minor to Major: The Dodgers Move to Los Angeles - Ira Cooperman (Chautauqua Institution) and Robert Hopper (The Manuscript Society)

A Tale of Two Cities: American Society in 1953-54 and the Relocation of the St. Louis Browns to Baltimore - Kenneth Campbell (Monmouth University)

Concurrent Session 14: Baseball and Religion: The Sabbath and Other Collisions (3:30pm to 4:30pm)

Moderator: Dave Bohmer (DePauw University)

When Sunday Baseball Came to Brooklyn - Stuart Blumin (Cornell University) Glenn Altschuler (Cornell University)

The Jesus Boys: The Collision of Religion, Race, and the National Pastime - Geoff Griffin (Independent writer/historian)

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 the Otesaga, 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, June 2, 2022

Concurrent Session 15: Crossover of Baseball and Country Music: From Bill Monroe to Conway Twitty (9:15am to 10:15am)

Moderator: Ted Curtis (Lynn University)

More Than a High Lonesome Sound: Baseball, Bluegrass, and Bill Monroe - Willie Steele (Lipscomb University)

A Curveball by Elvis Presley Shut Down Conway Twitty's Baseball Career - Mark McGee (Lipscomb University)

Concurrent Session 16: Native Americans in Baseball, from the sixth state to the 49th state (9:15am to 10:15am)

Moderator: Cathy Leogrande, Ph. D (Le Moyne College)

Jim Thorpe's Twilight…League Experience in Lawrence, MA 1924 - Brian Sheehy (North Andover High School)

Native Americans in Baseball: A Focus on Alaska and its Thriving Baseball Culture - Tynan Weathers (Syracuse University)

Concurrent Session 17: The Art of Baseball: Baseball Art in the Museum and the Fine Art of Long John Reilly (10:30am to 11:30am)

Moderator: Mark Altschuler (Bergen Community College)

The Art of Baseball: Artworks in the Hall of Fame Collection - Joseph Stanton (University of Hawaii at Manoa)

In Search of John G. "Long John" Reilly: A Baseball Player's Hometown Legacy, Part II - Ginny Skinner-Linnenberg (Nazareth University) and Daniel Linnenberg (University of Rochester)

Concurrent Session 18: Writing Baseball: The Scribes (10:30am to 11:30am)

Moderator: Charles DeMotte (State University of New York – Cortland)

Red Barber, Baseball’s Forgotten Writer: “Sports Reflects a Nation’s Culture” - Judith Hiltner (Saint Xavier University) and James Walker (Saint Xavier University)

"This is just between I and you": Ring Lardner, Modernism, and the Chicago Renaissance - Daniel Anderson (Dominican University (Illinois))

Lunch break: 11:30am to 1:00pm

Concurrent Session 19: Frauds and Fabulists: Phony Major Leaguers and the Grandstanding Commissioner (1:00pm to 2:00pm)

Moderator: Wayne Patterson (Howard University)

The Eddie Scissons Syndrome: Life Still Imitating Art Still Imitating Life, 30+ years later - Rob Sheinkopf

A Not So "Happy" Chandler - Dave Bohmer (DePauw University)

Concurrent Session 20: Integration: From the military to baseball (1:00pm to 2:00pm)

Moderator: Paul Semendinger (Independent writer/historian)

Winning Games, Lowering the Color Barrier: Dan Bankhead Plays Baseball for the U.S. Marine Corps During World War II - Bob Cullen (Independent writer/historian)

Session 21: The Science of Baseball: The Cerebral Game (2:15pm to 3:15pm)

Moderator: Mark Pelesh (Independent writer/historian)

Bodies in motion: Lyman James Briggs and the science of baseball - Edward Landa (University of Maryland)

Batting Average Variability and Lineup Construction - Thomas Brady, Ph. D (Purdue University North Central)

Concluding Session (3:30pm to 4:00pm)

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

Gandhi at the Bat

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.