It struck me while editing this issue of the journal that SABR is a bit like that, too. The vast majority of researchers are alone in the library, or compiling their spreadsheet, or at their computer. And yet it is our collective power that has elevated SABR to where it stands today. When those opportunities arise to help one another, through research requests on SABR-L, or chance meetings at chapter meetings, or any number of other ways, we do. While editing the journal, I see peer reviewers often provide the missing link to a paper they are evaluating. It’s not uncommon for us to receive feedback that says “the author is barking up the right tree, but here’s the bit they need to make their conclusion cohere.”

And of course it’s teamwork that creates the fantastic book projects we’ve seen coming from committees and chapters recently, like the Nineteenth Century Committee’s book Inventing Baseball: The 100 Greatest Games of the 19th Century, or the many BioProject books. Every team has — and needs — its stars, workhorses, and utility players. So if you’ve been thinking about joining one of these efforts, I encourage you to do so. You might just have a cup of coffee, or you might end up in a long and varied career. My first effort for SABR was an essay I wrote for The Fenway Project at my very first SABR convention. The next thing I knew, I was volunteering to typeset the book. A little while later I wrote a bio for the BioProject. I got roped at one point into helping update the SABR Style Guide. I helped edit the Impossible Dream Red Sox book. I guess I was like a utility player who, thanks to experience playing all over the field, becomes a candidate to manage.

In my lineup card this time around, I get to write in the names of veterans like Pete Palmer and Andy McCue, and newcomers making their rookie debuts like Paul Hertz and Russell Ormiston. Every team needs a hot prospect from Japan: meet Takeyuki Inohiza from our Tokyo chapter. This issue has history, sociology, physiology, memorabilia, major leagues, minor leagues, and good-ol’-fashioned stats. I also note several stories with a New York connection of one kind or another, which is not uncommon. But I would like to encourage diversity, both among the contributors and the topics of study. Open tryouts are always on, you know: submit your queries and ideas to me at PubDir@sabr.org and I’ll send you the details.

Remember, although you may feel you’re flying solo, you have a whole team around you. Use the massive resource that is the brainpower and knowledge of SABR members. The next thing you know, you’ll be the wily veteran in the clubhouse giving tips to the rookies.

• Click here to read more articles online from the Spring 2014 Baseball Research Journal.
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• Click here to purchase a softcover edition from the SABR Bookstore.

CECILIA M. TAN is SABR’s Publications Editor. She can be reached at ctan@sabr.org.

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Click the images below to view at full size.

Figure 1: George Sisler, 1922 batting average

Figure 2: Rogers Hornsby, 1922 batting average

Figure 3: Ty Cobb, 1922 batting average

Figure 4: 1922 cumulative BA graph for Sisler, Cobb and Hornsby

Figure 5: Rogers Hornsby, 1922 SLG, OBP and OPS

Figure 6: George Sisler 41-game hitting streak in 1922

Figure 7: Rogers Hornsby 33-game hitting streak in 1922

Figure 8: Ty Cobb batting average, July 1922

Figure 9: 1922 St. Louis Browns home games factor graph

Figure 10: 1922 St. Louis Cardinals home games factor graph

Table 1: Catchers who played mostly since 1890

* games before 1890 not counted

Table 2: 1890-2013 figures for catchers who played mostly before 1890

* games before 1890 not counted