2024 Conference Presentation Guide

Bob Bailey

"Society of Baseball Research's Nineteenth Century Overlooked Legends"
Bob Bailey is the Co-Chairman of the Nineteenth Century Committee of the Society for American Baseball Research. He has been part of the Committee’s leadership for seventeen years. A member of SABR for over 40 years, Bailey has published 24 articles and essays in SABR publications since 1987. His article on the National League dropping four teams in 1900 was selected as one of the 50 best articles published by SABR since its founding.

In addition to about 20 articles on 19th Century baseball he has also written articles about Playing Managers, Charlie Finley, the minor league’s Junior World Series and Dixie Series, Negro Leagues and several book reviews. He served as Associate Editor for SABR’s Inventing Baseball: The 100 Greatest Games of the 19th Century. His book, The History of the Junior World Series was a finalist for the Casey Award in 2004.

In a career outside baseball, Bailey served as the CEO of three hospitals, managed the development of seven new hospitals, and was one of the first five executives that started Humana’s HMOs in 1984. He is a graduate of the University of Kentucky and holds a masters degree from the University of Cincinnati.

Dr. Susan Dellinger

"A Shadow in the Night", the Unsolved Mystery of the famous 1919 World Series.
Why eight men were banned from baseball for their lifetime is still an unsolved mystery today! You will hear this exciting story in the “voice” of a Baseball Hall of Famer enshrined in Cooperstown NY.

Dr. Susan Dellinger has been an active member of the Society of American Baseball Research (SABR) for close to 20 years. She has spoken on her book, Red Legs and Black Sox*, for baseball groups from California, Canada, and New York to the Seymour-Mills Chapter of SABR in Ft. Myers, FL. As a member of Hall of Fame “royalty” (granddaughter of Edd J Roush, HOF 1962), Dr. Susan is intimately knowledgeable about the Cincinnati Reds ball club in the early 20th Century. Her grandfather was the Cincinnati star “slugger” pitted against Chicago’s Shoeless Joe Jackson in the infamous 1919 World Series.

Dr. Susan is an author and a professional speaker residing in Tampa, Florida with husband and seventh-grade sweetheart, Dr. Bob. Her books are published in 8 languages including Russian, Spanish, Chinese and Arabic. Her hobbies include piano, bridge and collecting frequent flyer points.

Kevin M. Doyle

"U.S. Navy Base Ball 1864 to 1910"
During this period, baseball grew in importance as a form of competition between U.S. Navy ships and a source of ship pride. Baseball played by crews in overseas ports, helped spread awareness of the game globally.

Kevin M. Doyle grew up in Delaware County, Pennsylvania as a Phillies and Reds fan. He played organized baseball through high school. Kevin earned Geology degrees from the University of Dayton (BS 81) and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (MS 83). Afterwards he married Alison, a fellow geology student, and raised two sons together while working for Unocal and Chevron in Casper, Los Angeles, London, Bangkok and Houston. Kevin coached Little League in Bangkok!

He retired from full-time work in 2016 and settled in Fort Myers, FL. Kevin currently teaching part-time and online for the Wichita State University Geology Department. He is a Society of Baseball Research member, presenting a poster on WWII Coast Guard Baseball at the 2022 SABR50 Conference. Kevin formed the Fort Myers Vagabonds Vintage Base Ball Club in 2019. Kevin’s interest in both baseball and the U.S. Navy is credited to his father, Edward T. Doyle Sr., who served as a U.S. Navy Gunner’s Mate during World War II.

Dr. Leslie Heaphy

"19th Century Black Base Ball"
Dr. Leslie Heaphy Associate Professor, history at Kent State at Stark. Vice President for SABR and President of Board for the IWBC. Written and edited a number of books on the Negro Leagues and Women’s baseball as well as numerous book chapters, articles and presentations. She has presented for the VBBA at two previous conferences.

Glenn Miller

"Florida Baseball"
Glenn Miller believes he attended his first spring training game in 1962 in St. Petersburg’s Al Lang Field. The St. Louis Cardinals and the New York Mets, in their inaugural season, then trained in St. Pete. At the time, he was a baseball-obsessed kid. Now, he’s a baseball-obsessed senior citizen.

In between then and now, Miller covered sports for the St. Petersburg Evening Independent and Fort Myers News-Press and in recent years has written spring training preview stories for Florida Weekly and the occasional baseball feature.

He also writes stories for Roy Hobbs Baseball’s programs and newsletter. Roy Hobbs is an amateur adult baseball organization which holds its annual World Series in Fort Myers every fall. More than 300 teams are expected to compete over five weeks of play at spring training venues in 2023.

Jack Pelikan

"Vintage Base Ball's Enduring Legacy"
Jack Pelikan, CPA, CISA, CISSP, is a business professional, university professor, SABR member and author of Vintage Base Ball’s Enduring Legacy (Pocol Press, 2023). While now a resident of Columbia, MO, Mr. Pelikan grew up in St. Louis and witnessed the area’s 19th century base ball revival while living in the city’s Lafayette Square neighborhood, home of one of the first organized base ball clubs west of the Mississippi and now two prominent vintage clubs (St. Louis Perfectos and Lafayette Square Cyclone). Ultimately, the compelling yet unheralded stories behind the vintage game and Mr. Pelikan’s unrivaled passions for baseball history, research and storytelling were the catalysts for Vintage Base Ball’s Enduring Legacy.

Kelly Rinne

"19th Century Clothing Fabrics"

Eric Saegebarth

"The Awkwards Base Ball Club in Post-Civil War Florida"
Eric Saegebarth Born 1955 in Seattle but raised in Wilmington, Delaware til 1978. I grew up as a Willie Mays fan since may parents were from California. My first MLB game was with my Dad as an Indian Guide at Connie Mack Stadium were the Phillies beat the expansion Mets 3-2. That is where my love affair with baseball began as a player, follower, fan & coach. We had Game 5 tickets to the World Series in 1964 until the Phils blew a 7 game with 12 to play to the Cardinals.

I earned a BS in business at Elizabethtown College (PA) and an MBA from Monmouth University (NJ). My career in business was in sales/ marketing & sales management in entertainment, building materials, and financial products. I moved with my family to Longwood, Florida in 1989 and worked for the The Orlando Sentinel for 18 years. In 2009, I became an Orange County, FL public school teacher in social sciences, language arts & debate in Alternative Education. I retired in 2021 to spend time with the grandchildren & to pursue new interests in water colors, electric trains & biking.

I attended my first Awkwards of City Point (Central Florida Vintage Base Ball Club) practice in September 2020. I have enthusiastically embraced the club’s camaraderie, learning the original & evolving rules of the game & playing our rivals in the Vagabonds & Shamrocks with a few road trips to Tennessee, Maryland & Gettysburg. I am also an aspiring umpire with my straw hat & black vest. Vintage base ball is the perfect fit for me, since I love baseball & history as it is clarified over time. I hope to play or be involved in VBB for as long as I am physically & mentally capable. For me, I strive everyday to be a life long learner by challenging my mind & body. Two great joys in my life, are to learn something new and hard hit line drive where I safely reach first base. Play Ball!

Holly Shaffer & Matt Andres

"Connie Mack, Thomas Edison and the History of Spring Training in Fort Myers"
The impact of Connie Mack and the Athletics on spring training in Fort Myers and the spring training teams that followed. Plus, a peek at the new spring training baseball exhibit at Edison Ford Winter Estates.

Holly Shaffer is Program Manager at Edison & Ford Winter Estates. She was a longtime volunteer docent at the Joshua Chamberlain Museum and a former educator. She is an enthusiastic baseball fan, particularly of the Red Sox. She enjoys researching the history of spring training in Fort Myers and Civil War history.

Matt Andres is the Curatorial Registrar at the Edison & Ford Winter Estates. In this position, he plays an integral role in collections management & preservation, maintaining artifact catalog records, exhibit development and the interpretation of the Edison & Ford Winter Estates. His educational background includes a Master of Arts in Historical Studies and Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Museum Studies. He is a member of the American Alliance of Museums, Florida Association of Museums, and Vintage Base Ball Association. He has appeared on historical programming featured on Fox and Wink news.