Society for American Baseball Research

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 (1926–2002), founder
Bob McConnell (1925–2012), Home Run Log
Bill James (born 1949), analyst, writer
David Lander (1947–2020), actor (Laverne & Shirley), baseball scout
Larry Lester (born 1949), Negro Leagues Committee
Stan Musial (1920–2013), Hall of Famer for the St. Louis Cardinals
David Neft (born 1937), writer, historian, encyclopedist
David Nemec (born 1938), prolific writer
Rob Neyer (born 1965), analyst, journalist
Pete Palmer (born 1938), analyst, encyclopedist
Dave Smith (born 1948), analyst, Retrosheet founder
John Thorn (born 1947), historian, encyclopedist
Robert L. Tiemann, historian
Monte Irvin (1919–2016), Hall of Famer and former Negro Leagues star
David W. Vincent (1949–2017), Home Run Log (deceased)
Larry Dierker (born 1946), former Major League All-Star pitcher
Ted Williams (1918–2002), Hall of Famer for the Boston Red Sox

6 more chapters are free with a Lably account.

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 2017 convention in New York City, set the attendance record with 806 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.

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).
Dorothy Seymour Mills Lifetime Achievement Award: awarded to any person with a sustained involvement in women's baseball or any woman with a longtime involvement in baseball in any fashion — player, umpire, writer, executive, team owner, scout, etc.

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

Notes

Regional chapters

SABR has regional chapters located across the mainland United States. There are also a number of international chapters. The majority of chapters are named in honor of a player or person with a close connection to, or after something associated with, the chapter's location. Chapters are displayed here with their headquartered locations and the wider area they serve, if applicable.

Allan Roth – Los Angeles (Greater Los Angeles)
Babe Ruth – Baltimore
Bob Broeg – St. Louis
Bob Davids – Washington, D.C. (Chesapeake Bay)
Boston – Boston (Eastern New England)
Buck O'Neil – Tallahassee, Florida (North Florida)
Burick–Collett–McCoy – Dayton, Ohio
Carolina – Durham, North Carolina (North Carolina)
Casey Stengel – New York City
Central Florida – Orlando, Florida (Central Florida)
Central Illinois – Bloomington–Normal (Central Illinois)
Central Virginia – Richmond, Virginia (Central Virginia)
Charlotte – Charlotte, North Carolina (North Carolina)
Choo Choo – Chattanooga, Tennessee
Cliff Kachline – Cooperstown, New York (Central New York)
Clyde Sukeforth – Concord, New Hampshire (New Hampshire and Maine)
Col. Abner Doubleday/Judge Howard Green – San Angelo, Texas (West Texas)
Connie Mack–Dick Allen – Philadelphia
Cool Papa Bell – Starkville, Mississippi (Mississippi)
Dusty Baker – Sacramento, California (Northern California)
East Tennessee – Knoxville, Tennessee
Elysian Fields – Jersey City, New Jersey (Northern New Jersey)
Emil Rothe – Chicago (Chicagoland)
Ernie Banks–Bobby Bragan – Dallas (Dallas-Fort Worth)
Field of Dreams – Des Moines, Iowa (Iowa)
Forbes Field – Pittsburgh
Gardner–Waterman – Burlington, Vermont (Vermont)
Goose Goslin – Cherry Hill, New Jersey (South Jersey)
Grantland Rice–Fred Russell – Nashville, Tennessee (Tennessee)
Halsey Hall – Minneapolis (Minnesota)
Hampton Roads Bud Metheny – Norfolk, Virginia (Virginia Eastern Shore)
Hank Gowdy – Columbus, Ohio (Central Ohio)
Hoyt–Allen – Cincinnati
Jack Graney – Cleveland
Ken Keltner – Milwaukee (Wisconsin)
Lajoie–Start – Providence, Rhode Island (Southern New England)
Larry Dierker – Houston
Larry Doby – Aiken, South Carolina (South Carolina)
Lefty O'Doul – San Francisco (Bay Area)
Lou Criger – South Bend, Indiana (Michiana)
Luke Easter – Rochester, New York (Western New York)
Maddux Brothers – Las Vegas (Nevada)
Magnolia – Atlanta
Mathewson–Plank – Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (Central Pennsylvania)
Monarchs – Kansas City, Missouri
Kekionga – Fort Wayne, Indiana
Northwest – Seattle (Pacific Northwest)
Northwest Ohio – Toledo, Ohio
Oklahoma – Oklahoma City (Central Oklahoma)
Orlando Cepeda – San Juan, Puerto Rico (Puerto Rico)
Oscar Charleston – Indianapolis
Pee Wee Reese – Louisville, Kentucky (Kentucky)
Pop Lloyd – Jacksonville, Florida (Northeast Florida)
Rabbit Maranville – Springfield, Massachusetts (Western Massachusetts)
Ralph Kiner – New York City (Long Island)
Rickwood Field – Birmingham, Alabama (Alabama)
Rio Grande – Albuquerque, New Mexico (New Mexico)
Robinson–Kell – Little Rock, Arkansas (Arkansas)
Rocky Mountain – Denver (Greater Colorado)
Rogers Hornsby – Austin, Texas (Austin–San Antonio)
Roland Hemond – Phoenix, Arizona (Arizona)
Schott–Pelican – New Orleans (Louisiana)
Sebring–Stovey – Williamsport, Pennsylvania (North Central Pennsylvania)
Seymour–Mills – Naples, Florida (Southwest Florida)
Smoky Joe Wood – Hartford, Connecticut (Connecticut)
South Florida – Miami (South Florida)
Southern Michigan – Detroit (Southern Michigan)
Sweet Lou Johnson – Lexington, Kentucky (Kentucky)
Tampa Bay Roush–Lopez – St. Petersburg, Florida (Tampa Bay)
Ted Williams – San Diego (Mexicali)
Wahoo Sam Crawford – Omaha, Nebraska (Nebraska)

International chapters

Bert Blyleven – Europe
Bobby Thomson – London (Great Britain)
China – China
Luis Castro – Maracaibo (Latin America)
Quebec – Montreal (Greater Montreal)
Frank Shaughnessy – Ottawa (Eastern Ontario)
Juan Marichal – Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic)
Korea – Seoul (South Korea)
Ed Abbaticchio – Sorrento (Italy)
Joe Quinn – Sydney (Australia)
Taiwan – Taiwan
Tokyo – Japan
Hanlan's Point – Toronto (Southern Ontario)

Past convention sites and keynote speakers

SABR holds an annual convention in different locations around North America.

1971 Cooperstown, New York; none
1972 Washington, D.C.; Chuck Hinton
1973 Chicago, Illinois; 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, Ohio; Marvin Miller
2005 Toronto, Ontario; Paul Godfrey
2006 Seattle, Washington; Jim Bouton
2007 St. Louis, Missouri; Joe Garagiola
2008 Cleveland, Ohio; Ron Shapiro
2009 Washington, D.C.; Josh Alkin (MLB lobbyist)
2010 Atlanta, Georgia; John Schuerholz
2011 Long Beach, California; Scott Boras
2012 Minneapolis, Minnesota; John Thorn
2013 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Larry Bowa
2014 Houston, Texas; Larry Dierker
2015 Chicago, Illinois; 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, Pennsylvania; ballpark session with Clint Hurdle, Neal Huntington, Dan Fox, Joe Block, and Thomas E. Kennedy
2019 San Diego, California with Steve Garvey, Janet Marie Smith, John Thorn (baseball historian), Randy Jones (baseball), Kurt Bevacqua, Justine Siegal
2022 Baltimore, Maryland with Tim Kurkjian and Boog Powell
2023 Chicago, Illinois with Jason Benetti
2024 Minneapolis, Minnesota with Rod Carew, Tony Oliva, Jim Kaat, Bert Blyleven
2025 Dallas–Fort Worth, Texas with Elvis Andrus, Bruce Bochy, Donald Fehr, Tom Grieve, Charlie Hough, Ferguson Jenkins, Ivan Rodriguez and Steve Rogers (baseball)
2026 Cleveland, Ohio with Tom Hamilton (sportscaster), Sandy Alomar, Jr., Carlos Baerga, Mike Hargrove, Kenny Lofton and Charles Nagy

Former Presidents

Bob Davids (1971-72, 75-76, 82-84)
Ron Menchine (1972-73)
Robert Allen (1973-74)
David Voigt (1974-75)
Eugene Murdock (1976-78)
Cliff Kachline (1978-80)
Kit Crissey (1980-82)
Cappy Gagnon (1984-86)
Gene Sunnen (1986-89)
Rich Topp (1989-91)
Jack Kavanagh (acting, July-December 1991)
Lloyd Johnson (1991-93)
David Pietrusza (1993-97)
Larry Gerlach (1997-99)
Jim Riley (1999-2001)
Claudia Perry (2001-2003)
Dick Beverage (2003-2009)
Andy McCue (2009-2011)
Vince Gennaro (2011-19)
Mark Armour (2019-25)
Dan Evans (2025)
Daniel R. Levitt (2025-present)