Armour, Snelling, Swaine, Fink announced as winners of 2026 SABR Baseball Research Awards
The 2026 SABR Baseball Research Awards, which honor outstanding research projects completed during the preceding calendar year that have significantly expanded our knowledge or understanding of baseball, have been awarded to:
- Mark Armour, “The Satchel Paige Project” (Self-published)
- Dennis Snelling, The Whiz Kids: How the 1950 Phillies Took the Pennant, Lost the World Series, and Changed Philadelphia Forever (University of Nebraska Press)
- Rick Swaine and Gary C. Fink, The Integration of Minor League Baseball: A History and Player Register, 1946-1959 (McFarland & Co.)
Armour is the founder and past chairman of the SABR Biography Project and the SABR Baseball Cards Committee, former Board President, author of several books and many articles on baseball, and a recipient of the Bob Davids Award.
Snelling is a member of SABR and the Pacific Coast League Historical Society. He is the author of Lefty O’Doul: Baseball’s Forgotten Ambassador; Johnny Evers: A Baseball Life; and The Greatest Minor League: A History of the Pacific Coast League, 1903–1957.
Swaine is the author of five baseball books and a contributor to SABR’s Baseball Research Journal and The National Pastime. He lives in Tallahassee, Florida. Fink, a SABR member since 1974, has been working for approximately 15 years to identify and compile a database containing statistical and demographic information on the integration era’s minor league players of color. He lives in Reno, Nevada.
The SABR Baseball Research Award is designed to honor projects that do not fit the criteria for the Seymour Medal or the McFarland-SABR Baseball Research Award. The selection committee included Pete Cottrell (chair), Mike Bates, Bill Pearch, and Rich Arpi.
To see a complete list of SABR Baseball Research Award winners, click here.
Originally published: May 28, 2026. Last Updated: May 27, 2026.