What does Theo Epstein know that other GMs don't?

The Boston SABR chapter, of which I'm a member, is putting on a pretty neat sounding conference this Saturday at the Boston Public Library. And wouldn't you know, I'm going to be at a dance recital, so I can't make it :-( Anyway, it's free, no registration, and there's Yankees at Fenway tickets to win - how can you lose?

BY THE NUMBERS
What does Theo Epstein know that other GMs don't?

(Boston, MA)--The Red Sox are just one of the major league teams to put a greater emphasis on "sabermetrics"--using statistical research to evaluate both player talent and strategy--than the teams of the past. Epstein's pursuit of non-star players ranging from Bill Mueller and Todd Walker to Mike Timlin and David Ortiz (who is NOW a star) created the alchemical mix that led to the 2004 World Championship.

SABR Boston, the regional chapter of the Society for American Baseball Research, presents a day-long symposium on sabermetrics that will delve into some of the cutting edge findings of the numbers whizzes, including the latest news about clutch hitting, how to predict a team's likelihood of success, as well as a talk by historian John Thorn on the importance of numerical records as cultural artifacts.

In addition to Thorn (author of The Hidden Game of Baseball among other significant works), the speaker slate includes Tom Tippett, creator of Diamond Mind Baseball, Matt Gallagher, David Grabiner, and university professors including Dr. Andy Andres (Tufts, Harvard) and Steven Miller (Brown).

The gathering is free and open to the public and will take place Saturday, May 20th, from 10am to 4pm (with an intermission for lunch) at the Boston Public Library's Rabb lecture hall. Recognizing the baseball-loving public's hunger for more tangible things, as well, door prizes will be awarded in the afternoon including two pairs of tickets to future Red Sox games (one against the Yankees), as well as books and other baseball-related prizes.

For more information, contact SABR Boston President Seamus Kearney at skearney@tmfnet.org or (617) 536-0501.