By Justin Fenton
Enquirer staff writer

A half-dozen posters sit propped up in the lobby of the Westin Hotel with headings such as "breakdown of a plate appearance" and "decomposition of batting average" and the mathematical complexity of a calculus exam.

Welcome to the 34th annual Society of American Baseball Research convention, where about 700 people are in town for a four-day convention that started Thursday.

Richard Gibson from the Society of American Baseball Research throws out the cermonial first pitch before the Reds played against the St. Louis Cardinals at Great American Ball Park Friday. (Jeff Swinger photo)

At the convention, a man can be placed by the baseball cap on his head, and a Montreal Expos shirt is enough to spark a conversation between a 34-year-old from Ottawa and an elderly man from Maryland. This is also the only time of year to find a Tim Wakefield jersey and four guys in Chicago White Sox uniforms in the food court of Tower Place.

The group, known as SABR (pronounced "saber"), is an international association of baseball enthusiasts, historians and stat-rats who take the game to another level. SABR counts Bob Costas and Keith Olbermann and stat pioneer Bill James among its 7,000 dues-paying members.

The Cincinnati chapter has 75 members and spearheaded an effort to bring the convention to the city for the first time, chapter director Richard Gibson said.

"With all the baseball history out of Cincinnati - the first professional team, the Black Sox, all these stories that would make for good presentations - we decided there was enough interest to go ahead and submit a letter of request to be considered," said Gibson, a 39-year-old software engineer for Convergys.

PHOTO GALLERY

Photos of Friday's game WALLPAPER For a desktop wallpaper-sized version of the above photo, click here, then right-click after the image downloads and select "Set as background."

Friday night, more than 600 members attended the Reds game, scorecards in hand. Among the other events: panel discussions on the 1919 Black Sox scandal, changes in collecting memorabilia, and the "Art of Heckling," as well as presentations on determining run support for pitchers since 1901 and the adjustment of win/loss records, and the relative value of on-base percentage and slugging average.

But don't call them stat geeks, said executive director John Zajc.

"It's not really a misperception, (but) it's an incomplete perception," he said.

Most members are casually involved - a network of fans who enjoy learning about the game. Though SABR is usually mentioned in connection with stat-heavy research, only 30 to 40 percent of the group is involved in that area.

Paul Matthew, the 34-year-old from Ottawa and a programmer for Statistics Canada, has been attending the convention since 1993.

"If you think you know something about baseball, you realize you don't know anything," he said.

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E-mail jfenton@enquirer.com