Category Archives: Statistician
Seymour Siwoff
Seymour Siwoff (Statistics. Born, Brooklyn, NY, Nov. 1, 1920.) Although he is considered a legend in the area of modern sports statistics, Seymour Siwoff of the Elias Sports Bureau’s outstanding achievement was perhaps his decision 40 years ago to computerize the business. In 1961, Siwoff rescued the remnants of the old Al Munro Elias Baseball Bureau and the following year converted to a computer system for tabulating and maintaining the Bureau’s records. Although Elias had been the offical statistician for the National League and several minor leagues in baseball (including the International and Eastern Leagues), Siwoff expanded and modernized its operation and began by becoming the official statistician for the National Football League in 1961. His new organization began handling the National Basketball Association in 1969 and, as was also the case with the N.F.L., he began to create accurate modern statistics. While Siwoff created a new organization when he took over in 1961, he had worked part-time for the old Elias Baseball Bureau even while a high school student. The original Bureau traces its origins back to 1916, when Elias himself became one of the first baseball statisticians. Siwoff and his staff also produced such nationally recognized publications as the Book of Official Baseball Records and, for several years, the Elias Baseball Analyst.
Al Munro Elias
Al Munro Elias (Statistician. Born, Charleston, SC, June 5, 1872; died, New York, NY, Aug. 1, 1939.) A salesman who peddled shoes, shirts, salad oils and other sundry items, Al Munro Elias was to have a profound effect on baseball statistics. Elias came to New York in 1899 an ardent baseball fan. While pursuing his trade, he compiled extensive records of baseball players and teams. In 1913, in concert with his brother Walter B. Elias, he began selling scorecard-like sheets to fans who assembled in saloons and pool halls. When the Evening Telegram arranged to have Elias supply daily statistics to the paper in 1916, the Al Munro Elias Baseball Bureau was born. Elias created daily “Top 10” leaders, which soon became a staple of baseball coverage and, in 1919, the Elias Bureau became the official statistician of the National League. Shortly, the Bureau was handling the International League and a half-dozen other minor leagues. When Spalding discontinued publishing the “Little Red Book of Baseball Records,” started by Charles D. White in 1926, the Elias Bureau took it over (1937). By that time, Elias was ill and no longer engaged actively in the business, which was run by Walter for nearly two decades until it was taken over by Seymour Siwoff.
