Robert Churchill McConnell (January 18, 1925 – March 18, 2012) was a founding member of the
Society for American Baseball Research
The Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) is a membership organization dedicated to fostering the research and dissemination of the history and record of baseball primarily through the use of statistics. Established in Cooperstown, New ...
(SABR), serving as its secretary and treasurer. In 1985, he won the first
Bob Davids Award, SABR's highest honor.
Early life
McConnell was born on January 18, 1925, in
Seattle, Washington
Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...
, though he moved around continuously throughout his youth. His family settled in
Newark, New Jersey
Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.[Navy
A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...]
in 1942, serving on the U.S.S. Whitman and U.S.S. Mifflin during his first three years in the service. He was sent for officer training at
Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...
in July 1945, whence he earned a
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years.
The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...
in mechanical engineering in 1949.
[SABR Biography]
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Baseball research endeavors
McConnell is credited with finding, filling in and fixing considerable amounts of missing, incomplete or incorrect historical baseball information, especially that concerning home runs.St. Louis Post-Dispatch
The ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' is a major regional newspaper based in St. Louis, Missouri, serving the St. Louis metropolitan area. It is the largest daily newspaper in the metropolitan area by circulation, surpassing the ''Belleville News-De ...
'', ''Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...
'' and ''The Press of Atlantic City
''The Press of Atlantic City'' is the fourth-largest daily newspaper in New Jersey. Originally based in Pleasantville, it is the primary newspaper for southeastern New Jersey and the Jersey Shore. The newspaper designated market runs from Ware ...
'', among others.Stl. Post-Dispatch
/ref>
He died on March 18, 2012, in Newark, Delaware
Newark ( )Not as in Newark, New Jersey. is a small city in New Castle County, Delaware, New Castle County, Delaware, United States. It is located west-southwest of Wilmington, Delaware, Wilmington. According to the 2010 United States Census, ...
.
References
External links
*
A Homeric Quest
''Philadelphia Inquirer'', June 4, 1992 – about the Home Run Log in progress
{{DEFAULTSORT:McConnell, Bob
1925 births
2012 deaths
Baseball writers
Sports historians
Writers from Seattle
Vanderbilt University alumni