Society for American Baseball Research

The Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) is a membership organization dedicated to fostering the research and dissemination of the history and record of baseball, primarily through the use of statistics. The organization was founded in Cooperstown, New York, on August 10, 1971, at a meeting of 16 “statistorians” coordinated by sportswriter Bob Davids. The organization now reports a membership of over 7,500 and is based in Phoenix, Arizona.

Membership
While the acronym "SABR" was used to coin the word sabermetrics (for the use of sophisticated mathematical tools to analyze baseball), the Society is about much more than statistics. Well-known figures in the baseball world such as Bob Costas, Keith Olbermann, Craig R. Wright, and Rollie Hemond are members, along with highly regarded "sabermetricians" such as Bill James and Rob Neyer.

Among Major League Baseball players, Jeff Bajenaru was believed to have been (until 2006) the only active player with a SABR membership; Elden Auker, Larry Dierker, and Andy Seminick also have been involved.

Some prominent SABR members include:


 * Bob Davids, founder (deceased)
 * Bob McConnell, Home Run Log (deceased)
 * Bill James, analyst, writer
 * David Lander, actor (Laverne & Shirley), baseball scout (deceased)
 * Larry Lester, Negro Leagues Committee
 * Stan Musial, Hall of Famer for the St. Louis Cardinals (deceased)
 * David Neft, writer, historian, encyclopedist
 * David Nemec, prolific writer
 * Rob Neyer, analyst, journalist
 * Pete Palmer, analyst, encyclopedist
 * Dave Smith, analyst, Retrosheet founder
 * John Thorn, historian, encyclopedist
 * Robert L. Tiemann, historian
 * Monte Irvin, Hall of Famer and former Negro Leagues star (deceased)
 * David W. Vincent, Home Run Log (deceased)
 * Larry Dierker, former Major League All-Star pitcher

Activities
Only a minority of members pursue "number crunching" research. Rather, the SABR community is organized both by interest and geography:


 * Research Committees study a particular issue
 * Regional Chapters link members by proximity. The latter are frequently named after baseball personalities relevant to their region.

SABR members keep in touch through online directories and electronic mailing lists set up through the SABR headquarters. The headquarters also maintains a number of research tools on its website, including a lending library, home run and triple play logs, and course syllabi related to the game.

SABR holds annual conventions in a different city each year. The conference generally includes panel discussions, research presentations, city-specific tourism, a ballgame, and an awards banquet. The 2007 convention in St. Louis, Missouri, set the attendance record with 726 registered attendees out of approximately 7,000 SABR members. The organization also hosts an annual baseball analytics conference in Phoenix and a Negro Leagues conference, which is held in a different location each year.

Projects and collections

 * Biography Project, with members authoring well-researched and engaging biographies of a growing list of former big league ballplayers and other notable contributors to the game.
 * Games Project, where members research, write, and publish accounts of the major league regular season, postseason, and All-Star Games, including Negro Leagues games, along with other games of historical significance such as in the minor leagues or international or exhibition contests.
 * Oral History Collection, a collection of interviews conducted with ballplayers, executives, scouts, authors, writers, broadcasters, and other figures of historical baseball significance.
 * SABR-Rucker Archive, an extensive collection of baseball photographs which contain nearly 80,000 images dating from the 19th century to modern-day baseball.

Publications
The Baseball Research Journal (BRJ) is SABR's flagship publication since 1972 for members to publish and share their research with like-minded students of baseball. The National Pastime is an annual, published from 1982 to 2008 as The National Pastime: A Review of Baseball History, when it was intended as a more literary outlet than the stats oriented BRJ; since 2009 it is a convention-focused journal, with articles about the geographic region where the convention is taking place that year. Other Society publications are an increasing variety of books (since 1976) and ebooks (since 2011); 8–10 new e-books published annually are all free to members.

Awards
SABR annual awards include:
 * Bob Davids Award: for exceptional SABR members who have made contributions to SABR and baseball that reflect ingenuity, integrity, and self-sacrifice. It is SABR's highest honor, and was established in 1985.
 * Henry Chadwick Award: for baseball researchers—historians, statisticians, annalists, and archivists.
 * Seymour Medal: best book of baseball history or biography published during the preceding calendar year.
 * McFarland-SABR Baseball Research Award: for authors of the best articles on baseball history or biography completed during the preceding calendar year (published or unpublished).
 * Sporting News-SABR Baseball Research Award: for projects which do not fit the criteria for The Seymour Medal or the McFarland-SABR Award.
 * Jerry Malloy Book Prize: best book-length nonfiction manuscript submitted by a member of SABR.
 * Doug Pappas Research Award: best oral research presentation at the Annual Convention.
 * Lee Allen Award: for the best baseball research project at the annual National History Day competition.
 * Jack Kavanagh Memorial Youth Baseball Research Award: research paper by a researcher in grades 6–8 (middle school category), grades 9–12 (high school category), or undergraduates 22 and under (College Category).

In 2013, SABR began collaborating with Rawlings on the Gold Glove Award. Rawlings changed the voting process to incorporate SABR Defensive Index, a sabermetric component provided by SABR, which accounts for approximately 25 percent of the vote for the defensive award.

Research committees

 * Asian Baseball
 * Ballparks
 * Baseball and the Arts
 * Baseball and the Media
 * Baseball Card History and Influence
 * Baseball Index Project
 * Baseball Records
 * Biographical Research
 * BioProject
 * Black Sox Scandal
 * Business of Baseball
 * Collegiate Baseball
 * Concessions
 * Deadball Era (1901–1919)
 * Educational Resources
 * Games and Simulation
 * Games Project
 * Latino Baseball
 * Minor Leagues
 * Negro Leagues
 * 19th Century
 * Official Scoring
 * Oral History
 * Origins
 * Pictorial History
 * Retrosheet
 * Science and Baseball
 * Scouts
 * Spring training
 * Statistical Analysis
 * Umpires
 * Women in Baseball

Retrosheet is a research and archives organization independent of SABR which holds its annual meeting in conjunction with the society's annual convention.

Regional chapters

 * Allan Roth – Los Angeles
 * Auker–Seminick – Orlando, Florida
 * Bob Broeg – St. Louis, Missouri
 * Bob Davids – Washington, D.C. & Baltimore, Maryland
 * Bobby Thomson – Great Britain
 * SABRBoston – Boston, Massachusetts
 * Bresnahan–Mud Hens – Toledo, Ohio
 * Carolina – North Carolina
 * Casey Stengel – New York City
 * Central Illinois - Bloomington–Normal
 * Cliff Kachline – Cooperstown, New York
 * Connie Mack – Philadelphia
 * Dayton, Ohio
 * Don Lund – Ann Arbor, Michigan
 * Elysian Fields – Northern New Jersey
 * Emil Rothe – Chicago
 * Field of Dreams – Iowa
 * Flame Delhi – Phoenix, Arizona
 * Flip Valentini- Louisville
 * Forbes Field – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
 * Ford–Harrelson – Long Island, New York
 * Gardner-Waterman – Vermont
 * Hall-Ruggles – Dallas, Texas
 * Halsey Hall – Minnesota
 * Hank Gowdy- Columbus, Ohio
 * Hanlan's Point – Toronto
 * Hoyt–Allen – Cincinnati
 * Jack Graney – Cleveland, Ohio
 * Jesse Burkett – Worcester, Massachusetts
 * Jim O'Rourke – Bridgeport, Connecticut
 * Ken Keltner – Wisconsin
 * Lajoie–Start – Providence, Rhode Island
 * Larry Dierker – Houston, Texas
 * Leatherstocking – Cooperstown, New York
 * Lefty O'Doul – San Francisco, California
 * Lou Criger – South Bend, Indiana
 * Magnolia – Atlanta
 * Monarchs – Kansas City, Missouri
 * Montreal
 * NWSABR – Seattle, Washington
 * Orlando Cepeda – San Juan
 * Oscar Charleston – Indianapolis, Indiana
 * Pee Wee Reese – Louisville, Kentucky
 * Rabbit Maranville – Springfield, Massachusetts
 * Robinson–Kell – Little Rock, Arkansas
 * Rocky Mountain SABR – Denver, Colorado
 * Rogers Hornsby – Austin, Texas
 * Sacramento, California
 * Schott-Pelican – New Orleans, Louisiana
 * Seymour-Mills – Southwest Florida
 * Smoky Joe Wood – Connecticut
 * South Carolina
 * South Florida – Miami, Florida
 * Ted Williams – San Diego
 * Tennessee – Nashville, Tennessee
 * Tokyo
 * Wade Boggs – Tampa, Florida
 * Wally Pipp – Western Michigan
 * West Texas – Abilene, Texas
 * Luis Castro – Maracaibo, Venezuela
 * Mathewson-Plank – Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Source: SABR Regional Chapters — Society for American Baseball Research

Past convention sites and keynote speakers

 * 1971  Cooperstown, New York; none
 * 1972  Washington, D.C.; Chuck Hinton
 * 1973  Chicago; Bob Elson and Dave Malarcher
 * 1974  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Fred Lieb, Gene Kelly, and Ted Page
 * 1975  Boston, Massachusetts; Joe Dugan
 * 1976  Chicago, Illinois; Lew Fonseca
 * 1977  Columbus, Ohio; Johnny Bucha
 * 1978  Paramus, New Jersey; Tony Lupien
 * 1979  St. Louis, Missouri; Mike Shannon
 * 1980  Los Angeles, California; Roy Smalley
 * 1981  Toronto, Ontario; none
 * 1982  Baltimore, Maryland; Sparky Anderson
 * 1983  Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Hal Goodenough
 * 1984  Providence, Rhode Island; Lou Gorman
 * 1985  Oakland, California; Roy Eisenhardt
 * 1986  Chicago, Illinois; Bill Gleason
 * 1987  Washington, D.C.; John Steadman
 * 1988  Minneapolis, Minnesota; Andy MacPhail
 * 1989  Albany, New York; Bobby Brown
 * 1990  Cleveland, Ohio; Sam McDowell
 * 1991  New York City; Mel Allen
 * 1992  St. Louis, Missouri; Bing Devine
 * 1993  San Diego, California; Dick Williams
 * 1994  Arlington, Texas; Robin Roberts
 * 1995  Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Chuck Tanner
 * 1996  Kansas City, Missouri; Don Fehr
 * 1997  Louisville, Kentucky; Jim Bunning
 * 1998  San Mateo, California; Bill Rigney
 * 1999  Scottsdale, Arizona; Tommy Henrich
 * 2000  West Palm Beach, Florida; Elden Auker
 * 2001  Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Bud Selig
 * 2002  Boston, Massachusetts; Dom DiMaggio and Johnny Pesky
 * 2003  Denver, Colorado; Jim Evans
 * 2004  Cincinnati; Marvin Miller
 * 2005  Toronto; Paul Godfrey
 * 2006  Seattle; Jim Bouton
 * 2007  St. Louis, Missouri; Joe Garagiola
 * 2008  Cleveland, Ohio; Ron Shapiro
 * 2009  Washington, D.C.;  Josh Alkin (MLB lobbyist)
 * 2010  Atlanta; John Schuerholz
 * 2011  Long Beach, California; Scott Boras
 * 2012  Minneapolis; John Thorn
 * 2013  Philadelphia; Larry Bowa
 * 2014  Houston; Larry Dierker
 * 2015  Chicago; Ernie Banks/Minnie Miñoso tribute
 * 2016  Miami, Florida; ballpark session with Barry Bonds, Don Mattingly, Andre Dawson, and Tony Perez
 * 2017  New York City; ballpark session with Sandy Alderson, Tom Goodwin, Wayne Randazzo, Steve Gelbs, and Josh Lewin
 * 2018  Pittsburgh; ballpark session with Clint Hurdle, Neal Huntington, Dan Fox, Joe Block, and Thomas E. Kennedy
 * 2019  San Diego, California
 * 2022  Baltimore, Maryland
 * 2023  Chicago
 * 2024  Minneapolis

Source: SABR Convention History – Society for American Baseball Research.