Ivor-Campbell killed in an automobile accident

[FrankWakefield]

Frederick Ivor-Campbell has died and his wife, Alma, has been seriously injured in an automobile accident in Rhode Island this weekend. They were apparently struck head on by a driver who crossed into their side of the road. Alma will be undergoing surgery for multiple broken bones and other injuries.

Fred was 73, a baseball scholar, winner of SABR's Davids Award, may we offer our thoughts and prayers for their families.

[ethicsprof]

What a tragedy. It is particularly difficult to hear of the loss of one of our own. My deepest prayers and sympathy go out to the family and friends.
I pray also for the healing/ recovery of his wife.

Barry

[19cbb]

My prayers go out to their families.

A sad day for the baseball research community.

[slantycouch]

Very sad news. My thoughts and prayers are with their family.

[baseballart]

Very sad news, coming just days after noted Black Sox researcher Gene Carney died unexpectedly.

Max

[barrysloate]

Fred was a huge presence in the SABR community. What an awful story. My sincere condolences to his family.

[Ladder7]

Best wishes to the Campbell family.

Collision was actually in Mass, near New Bedford. A group of us were heading to Newport yesterday. Our route would have brought us through that insane stretch on 195. Due to potential t-storms popping up in SE Mass, we diverted to Ptown. We've had more than our share of fatal MVC's in our district this summer. Be diligent, very few drivers out there give a sh!t about you.

[rc4157]

My condolences to the family and best wishes for a successful recovery for Mrs. Campbell.

[Rich Klein]

This is the latest tragedy to hit SABR and another which reminds us that life is very fragile.

Condolonces to the Ivor-Campbell family and may his spirit live on in both SABR researchers and other baseball fans

Other people who left SABR and this life too soon this year include Ron Gabriel. who was a major force in helping to organize and run early regional meetings and Gene Carney who was perhaps the pre-eminent Black Sox Scandal Scholar.

Regards
Rich

[slidekellyslide]

Very sad news, coming just days after noted Black Sox researcher Gene Carney died unexpectedly.

Max

I hadn't heard this...I used to subscribe to the Black Sox Newsletter and I used to get emails all the time from Gene...that's a shock.

[19cbb]

Fred Ivor-Campbell, former SABR Director and Vice Presicent and recipient of the Bob Davids Award, was killed in a car crash in Massachusetts on July 24. His wife Alma, also a SABR member, was in the car and suffered serious injuries.

Ivor-Campbell joined SABR in 1982 and wrote his first SABR article for the 1985 National Pastime. Later, he contributed to Baseball Research Journal, SABR Review of Books, Nineteenth Century Stars, and Baseball’s First Stars (which won the Sporting News/SABR Award in 1996) . He also contributed to non-SABR publications Total Baseball and the Biographical Dictionary of American Sports. He chaired the 19th Century Committee from 1992-98 and edited the committee’s newsletter, 19th Century Notes, from 1991 until the early 2000s. He was awarded the Bob Davids Award 2003.

Fred served as Vice President of SABR from 1998-2002. During this time, he did much to coordinate and energize regional chapters of the organization. Previously, he had been a Director from 1992 through 1996 and was always regarded as a calming voice on the board.

In a profile conducted with SABR in late 2007, Ivor-Campbell shared some thoughts on baseball memories, his research, and what he loved about SABR. In his words:

“Two great memories come to mind: the time when, in a playground game of scrub in the 1940s, I was one of the fielders to help pull off a triple play. (It remains the only triple play I've ever seen, except on TV.) But even more memorable was the time in the fall of 1948 when my mother took me out of school to watch my beloved Braves on TV in the opening game of the World Series. We didn't own a TV, so my mother arranged with an appliance store in the next town to let me watch on a set in their store. They were very nice, and gave me a stool to sit on. It was a great game, and I sat rooted there for a couple of hours in fan heaven. The man who lived next door to us went to the game, and later gave me his ticket stubs, one of which--decades later--I got autographed by the opposing pitchers, John Sain and Bob Feller.”

Ivor-Campbell also stated that, “a large part of SABR's appeal is the opportunity it gives its members to know and interact with fellow researchers and other serious fans of the game. At least, that's what continues most to appeal to me. … I'm excited by SABR's newly strengthened focus on disseminating the sources and results of baseball research and the opportunities that are opening for using the Internet in a major way to achieve these goals. My hope is that SABR will both: (1) continue (and strengthen) its leadership role in print publication (not only through SABR's own publications, but also through enabling members' research that finds publication elsewhere) and (2) become a major player in compiling and disseminating baseball research on the Web.”

He will be greatly missed by the entire SABR community.

[GoldenAge50s]

For those of you that knew Ivor-Campbell here is a column that ran in todays Providence Journal, along w/ a picture, by one that knew him.

http://www.projo.com/opinion/columnists/content/CL_achorn4_08-04-09_73F7SKH_v13.3f8dc5f.html

[rc4157]

Fred - Thanks for sharing the article, I didn't know Mr. Campbell but this article sheds light on the type of person he was.

RC

[Leon]

I never knew the gentleman but, by that article, he sounds like someone we all aspire to be. May he rest in peace and may his wife have a speedy recovery, though I am sure life will never be the same for her. Very tragic indeed.