Red Sox fans get criticized a lot. Maybe more than any other fan base in baseball. As a Red Sox fan, I am guilty of criticizing my own from time to time. In spite of that, there is one criticism that always annoys me. Red Sox fans are known for buying into whatever marketing idea the team comes up with. Selling dirt from Fenway? We’ll buy it. Selling the seats they tore out when they were working on different sections of the park? Please sell them to us! Slapping the Boston Red Sox logo on dog bowls and baby seats? We’re in! I’ve written lately about the different things I’ve saved that have some relation to the Sox. I’m all for taking advantage if there is something out there to be had that will make you happy as a fan. I don’t see buying items that support your team as being a negative thing. The bottom line is, Red Sox fans will spend their money and, frankly, I think that’s a very good thing.
The best part about that is, in my experience, not only will they spend their money on material things that relate to the Red Sox but they are willing to open their wallets in the name of charity any time they are asked. Â They are a generous people, Red Sox fans, which is why I’m usually happy to help promote various charitable events that involve the Red Sox or their fans. Â Today is one of those days.
The Sons of Sam  Horn came up with a really interesting way to make money for the Jimmy Fund while indulging the baseball geek inside you.
A weekend baseball-centric seminar titled Sabermetrics, Scouting, and the Science of Baseball will be held on May 21 and 22 at Harvard University. All proceeds from this event will benefit the Jimmy Fund as part of the SoSH March to 100K. Help cure cancer while talking baseball with some of the top minds in the game including Jared Porter, Tom Tippett, Mitchel Lichtman, Andy Andres, Jonah Keri, Dan Brooks, Alan Nathan, Jeremy Greenhouse, David Gassko, David Sheinberg, Michael Richmond and other members of SoSH.
Planned seminars include an explanation of offensive assessments like linear weights and WPI/LI, a discussion of pitch f/x and how that tool is best utilized, the bio-mechanics of a baseball swing, the visuomotor aspects of the game including the psycho-physics of hitting, what the most advanced defensive stats entail and where they are going, forecasting player performance, modern technologies for tracking the baseball, a discussion of why a ball curves, and question and answer sessions with Red Sox Director of Information Services Tom Tippett, and Assistant Director of Pro Scouting Jared Porter. The more advanced baseball statistics will be discussed alongside more traditional scouting assessments, with science helping bridge the gap between them
Two days of discussing baseball with some of the best minds in the game and all of the proceeds go to the Jimmy Fund. Â It’s a stat fiend’s dream.
The Red Sox play the Cubs the weekend of the seminar and all three games that weekend are night games, so you can attend the seminars on both days and still not miss a pitch! Â That, my friends, is how you make sure your fan base can happily be charitable and enjoy themselves at the same time!