Congrats to Tom Ruane

Citation from the SABR convention in Washington DC on Saturday:

Tom Ruane joined SABR in 1991. He has continuously broadened his interests
and is now a member of 12 SABR committees! And his memberships are more
than nominal as he is a valuable and active contributor. His service to
SABR has included membership on both the Donors Committee and the Nominating
Committee, and as a judge at several SABR conventions

Subscribers to SABR-L are happily familiar with Tom's varied posts which are
both humorous and definitive. For example, this spring there was a question
about George Sisler's batting average in different months in 1922. Tom
replied promptly, not just with accurate information, but also with a clear
explanation of the source of some of the discrepancies in the official
record that are continuing to come to light. Of course, at the end of this
mini-treatise, he closed with his trademark "Thank you for your patience."
It is we who now, with this Bob Davids Award, thank him for his diligence.

The breadth of Tom's sophisticated research can be seen in the many articles
he has written for the research portion of the Retrosheet website. Tom has
also contributed to the Baseball Research Journal, Baseball By The Numbers
and Nine. Many of you are aware that Tom is also a member of the Retrosheet
Board of Directors and is responsible for the wonderfully interconnected
links in box scores and player and team statistics. The members of the
selection committee are unanimous that this tireless work has been of
tremendous value to SABR and to baseball research in general. The fact that
he can make such contributions to both organizations simultaneously is a
tribute to his unflagging enthusiasm.

In fact, enthusiasm, diligence, good humor, and dedication to detail are all
hallmarks of Tom's baseball research activities. As he explained to me once
when I marveled at how much he was doing: "I don't need a lot of sleep."

Our organization is much the better for the high quality efforts of this
fine man. It is my professional and personal pleasure to present Tom Ruane
with the 2009 Bob Davids Award.