The Baseball Research Journal
The first Baseball Research Journal, the cornerstone of SABR publications, was published in 1972. The objective, described by Bob Davids, was to publish an annual review of articles written and compiled by Society members. The articles would cover baseball research material previously unpublished or would deal with historical data from a different perspective.
Further reading: Click here to read more from the Baseball Research Journal archives
The 1973 Baseball Research Journal contained twenty attributed and three unattributed articles and two surveys. The Society, by asking a price of $3 by mail and $2.50 over the counter, received $375 in revenues. Five-hundred and twenty-five copies of the 1974 Baseball Research Journal were printed at a total cost of $630. Early sales and public relations efforts were under way and ads were placed regarding the Baseball Research Journal in The Sporting News and Baseball Digest.
Davids was the Journal’s editor from its inception through 1983. Cliff Kachline edited the 1984-1986 editions, Jim Kaplan handled the job from 1987 through 1990, followed by John Holway (1991), Mark Alvarez (1992-2001), Jim Charlton (2002-07), Nicholas Frankovich (2008-10), Stuart Shea (2011), and Cecilia Tan (2011 – ). The standard size of the Baseball Research Journal was 6 by 9 inches until 1983. In 1984 it was changed to the current 8-1/2 by 11-inch magazine-style publication.
In 1981 the Historical Review, a collection of articles from the first three Baseball Research Journals, was published, and in 1983 1,000 copies of the 1975-78 Baseball Research Journals were reprinted. Phil Bergen indexed the first nine Baseball Research Journals in 1981 and updated it in 1987. Joe Murphy continued a complete index of all SABR publications through 2006. All BRJ articles can now be found by searching the SABR Research Collection.
In 2009, SABR began offering the Baseball Research Journal as a bi-annual publication and converted The National Pastime from a literary journal to the national convention publication. With the establishment of the Digital Library program in 2011, SABR began making the journals available as PDFs and in other e-book formats, as well.
Beginning in 2024, all SABR members receive the Baseball Research Journal as an e-book edition twice annually (spring and fall).
- If you wish to subscribe to receive the BRJ print edition in the mail, visit SABR.org/subscribe and sign up for a discounted rate of $7 per issue ($11 for international members).