Seymour Siwoff (November 9, 1920 – November 29, 2019) was an American statistician and businessman who was the president and chief executive of the

Elias Sports Bureau The Elias Sports Bureau is a privately held company providing historical and current statistical information for the major professional sports leagues operating in the United States and Canada. Elias is the official statistician for Major League Ba ...

from 1952 to 2019. He was named a finalist for the 2020 class of the

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coa ...

as a contributor, however he was not elected.

Biography

Siwoff was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

on November 1, 1920. His sister was television director and producer

Lela Swift Lela Swift (born Lillian Siwoff; February 1, 1919 – August 4, 2015) was a television director and producer, best known for her work on ''Dark Shadows'', which she also produced from 1970–71, and '' Ryan's Hope''. Early life She was born i ...

. In 1943, he graduated from St. John's University with a degree in accounting and then served during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

in the 88th Infantry Division where he was hit by shrapnel in Italy. He worked as an accountant after the war and in 1948 took a position with the Elias Sports Bureau, the official statistician of the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

, where he had interned during college. In 1952, he purchased the Bureau from the widows of Al Munro Elias and Walter Bruce Elias, who founded the company in 1913. Under Siwoff, the company was known for providing more obscure facts (day/night games, performance against left/right-handed pitchers, home/away, and with runners in scoring position), foreshadowing the modern era's advanced statistics. In 1980, the Elias Sports Bureau became the official statistician of the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league b ...

, replacing the Sports Information Center. Siwoff expanded the company into providing statistical support to the NFL, NBA, WNBA, Major League Soccer, and various television and radio networks.

Personal life

He was married to Gertrude Schatzberg (1921–2018); they had two children, Nancy Siwoff Gilston and Ronald Siwoff. He died at his home in Manhattan on November 29, 2019. His grandson, Joe Gilston, is owner and president of the Elias Sports Bureau.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Siwoff, Seymour 1920 births 2019 deaths United States Army personnel of World War II American chief executives of professional sports organizations American statisticians American technology chief executives Businesspeople from Brooklyn People from Brighton Beach St. John's University (New York City) alumni