CFP: Nine Conference

Trey Strecker at Ball State asked to get this posted. It's a Call for Papers for NINE, a journal of baseball history and culture. The call, along with contact information, is posted below:

The 17th Annual NINE Spring Training Conference invites original, unpublished papers that study all aspects of baseball, with particular emphasis on history and social policy implications. Abstracts only, not to exceed 300 words, should be submitted by December 1, 2009, to:

NINE Spring Training Conference
c/o Trey Strecker
Department of English
Ball State University
Muncie, Indiana 47306-0460
Email: tstrecker@bsu.edu

Email abstracts are preferred. Authors will be notified as quickly as possible whether their papers have been accepted. Authors are required to register for the conference and present their work in person. The 2010 conference program and accepted abstracts will be posted on the NINE Web site in January 2010.

Keynote Speaker: Larry Dierker

Larry Dierker pitched for the Houston Colt .45's, Houston Astros, and St. Louis Cardinals from 1964 to 1977. He broadcast Astros games from 1979 to 1996 and in 2004, and managed the Astros from 1997 to 2001, finishing in first place five times and earning the National League Manager of the Year Award in 1998. He is the author of This Ain't Brain Surgery: How to Win the Pennant Without Losing Your Mind and My Team: Choosing My Dream Team from My Forty Years in Baseball.

Featured Guest: Marty Appel

Marty Appel is the president of Marty Appel Public Relations, and he was the New York Yankees Director of Public Relations from 1973 to 1977. He is the author of seventeen books, including Slide, Kelly, Slide: The Wild Life and Times of Mike "King" Kelly and Munson: The Life and Death of a Yankee Captain.

Conference registration forms are available online. The $175 conference registration fee includes the Saturday evening banquet and tickets for two spring training games, if paid prior to January 1, 2010. After January 1, the conference fee will be $195, and game tickets are not guaranteed.

Attendees can register in one of two ways. Those wishing to pay online may use Paypal through the link provided on the NINE Web site. Those wishing to pay by check can print their registration information (name, mailing address, phone number, email, and academic affiliation [if applicable]) and send it along with their conference fee to:

Dan and Jean Ardell
P. O. Box 482
Corona del Mar, CA 92625

For further information about conference registration, please contact Jean Ardell at
jeanardell@yahoo.com