Expanded Oral History Collection relaunches at SABR.org
SEPTEMBER 24, 2021 — Interviews with some of the most interesting figures in baseball history — from Hall of Famers Monte Irvin and Carl Hubbell to Negro Leagues pioneers Buck O’Neil and Sam Lacy to broadcasters Tim McCarver and Jerry Coleman — can be found in the newly expanded SABR Oral History Collection at sabr.org/oralhistory.
The SABR Oral History Collection now includes more than 600 audio files of interviews conducted with ballplayers (Major Leagues, Minor Leagues, Negro Leagues, AAGPBL), executives, scouts, authors, writers, broadcasters, and other figures of historical baseball significance.
These interviews, some of which date back nearly 60 years, were conducted by members of SABR’s Oral History Research Committee; many of these recordings were digitized through a collaboration with the National Baseball Hall of Fame Library.
You can now find links to most SABR Oral History interviews on each player’s page at the SABR BioProject and also by searching the Research Collection at SABR.org.
The SABR collection not only includes interviews with prominent players such as Frank Robinson and Yogi Berra, but also special sessions from SABR events, such as a Seattle Pilots panel with Jim Bouton during SABR 36 in Seattle, and Hall of Fame manager Tony La Russa’s one-on-one interview at the 2015 SABR Analytics Conference. We’re also proud to make available some interviews conducted by longtime SABR member and former Major League Baseball commissioner Fay Vincent for his series of oral history books, We Would Have Played for Nothing, The Only Game in Town, and It’s What’s Inside the Lines That Counts.
You can also find special pages for Oral History interviews in our collection with Hall of Famers, Negro Leaguers, broadcasters, writers and researchers, and special interviews from SABR’s annual convention.
To view the new SABR Oral History Collection, visit sabr.org/oralhistory.
Originally published: September 24, 2021. Last Updated: September 24, 2021.