10,000 images from SABR-Rucker Archive added to Research Collection
APRIL 4, 2023 — We’re excited to introduce a new addition to the SABR Research Collection: The SABR-Rucker Archive is one of the most extensive collections of baseball imagery in North America, with nearly 80,000 unique items from the roots of baseball in the 19th century up to current major league teams and players.
These images — which were donated by longtime SABR member and photo archivist Mark Rucker — represent more than 150 years of the sport and its growth from homemade fields with players wearing no gloves to the global pastime today played by hundreds of millions of kids and adults, from Little League to the Major Leagues.
The entire Rucker Archive collection has been digitized, and we are now in the process of cataloging in order to make all of the images available as part of the search engine on SABR.org.
The first 10,000 images are now available online and searchable at SABR.org/rucker-archive — including hundreds of rare images of baseball greats such as Henry Aaron, Roberto Clemente, Ty Cobb, Martín Dihigo, Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Jackie Robinson, Babe Ruth, and Ted Williams. Before this summer’s SABR convention in Chicago, we expect to have an additional 70,000 uncatalogued images added to the collection online.
The cataloging of this collection will be an ongoing member project managed by Pictorial Committee chair Cary Smith and SABR member Jason Schwartz. The catalog for the SABR-Rucker Archive includes 27 distinct metadata fields, ensuring that the history contained in these images is recorded to the greatest extent possible. Please click here to sign up as a catalog volunteer.
Over time, the Rucker Archive collection will become more robust as we work to catalog the entire collection. SABR also controls the rights to the images in the collection and they can be purchased using the link on each individual image page. For additional licensing opportunities, please contact SABR directly.
To learn more, visit SABR.org/rucker-archive.
Originally published: April 3, 2023. Last Updated: April 3, 2023.