Scouts Research Committee
Welcome to the Scouts Committee home page!
The Scouts Committee was formed in 1994 to compile a complete roster of scouts with biographical and career information for each and a listing of the big league ballplayers signed. A newsletter is published twice a year and the committee operates an online interactive forum for discussion of topics of interest to researchers and those in the scouting community. Subscribers are encouraged to share links to timely articles relative to baseball scouts in the news.
- Newsletters: To view past issues of the “20 to 80” newsletter, click here.
- Discussion group: To sign up and participate in our Scouts email discussion group at SABRgroups.org, click here.
- Announcements: To sign up for email announcements from this committee, click the “Announcements” button above, then click “Join Group” (
). All SABR members are eligible to sign up for announcements from any committee.
In 2011, the Scouts Committee published a collection of biographies and historical essays about baseball scouts: Can He Play? A Look At Baseball Scouts and Their Profession, co-edited by the late Jim Sandoval (former committee co-chair) and SABR Vice President Bill Nowlin.
Click here for more information or to buy Can He Play? in e-book or paperback form.
In the spring of 2013, the committee’s two primary database projects — the Who-Signed-Whom Database and the Scouts Register — were chosen to serve as the foundation of the online Diamond Mines exhibit which was underwritten by the Scout of the Year Foundation and is hosted by the National Baseball Hall of Fame. The exhibit displays thousands of amateur and professional scouting reports and will remain a perpetual work-in-progress.
Since 2001, the committee has recognized a baseball executive who has made significant contribution to the scouting community with the Roland Hemond Award.
For more information, contact Jason Sigler.