Weiss Baseball Questionnaires now available online in SABR Research Collection
APRIL 3, 2025 — An archive of nearly 100,000 self-completed surveys of professional baseball players, compiled over six decades by longtime SABR member William J. Weiss, is now available online in the SABR Research Collection at SABR.org/weiss-baseball-questionnaires.
The Weiss Baseball Questionnaires provide comprehensive information on dozens of future Hall of Famers such as Dick Allen, Wade Boggs, Bob Gibson, Tony Gwynn, Rickey Henderson, Reggie Jackson, and Ryne Sandberg, plus other notable baseball figures such as Dusty Baker, Billy Beane, Bruce Bochy, David Cone, Pete Rose, and Fernando Valenzuela.
- Please note: SABR members must be logged in to view the questionnaire forms online; click here to log in at SABR.org and start browsing
Between 1945 and 2005, Weiss sent surveys each year to dozens of minor-league teams, asking each of their players to answer questions about their lives and baseball careers. In addition to biographical details, the forms also include such information as schools attended, signing scouts, offseason hobbies and jobs, memorable on-field experiences, and military service.
Weiss, who died in 2011, was one of SABR’s earliest members and a longtime statistician/historian for professional baseball leagues in California and throughout the United States. A large collection of Weiss’s research materials was donated to SABR’s San Diego Ted Williams Chapter and the San Diego Public Library in 2014.
Weiss landed his first job in professional baseball in 1948, hired by Judge Howard Green — also a future SABR member — to become the statistician for the Class D Longhorn League and box office manager for the Abilene Blue Sox, which Green co-owned. The following year, Weiss headed west to compile stats for the California and Far West leagues in San Francisco. At the end of the 1949 season, Weiss became statistician for the Pacific Coast League and made his home in San Mateo, where he and his wife Faye raised generations of black cocker spaniels for more than five decades.
Weiss received the SABR Salute in 1997. In 2004, he was honored with the Baseball Reliquary’s Tony Salin Memorial Award, which recognizes a person who dedicates his or her life to baseball history.
Special thanks to Jason Sigler and Tiberiu Ungureanu, along with Steven Vogel, Maz Johnson, Amily Ancuelo, and John “Ivan” Pasquil, for their work in managing the Weiss Questionnaire digitization and transcription process. Thanks to Jason Best and Jacob Pomrenke for overseeing the database import.
Transcription volunteers included: Michael Bender, Karen Bent, Chris Betsch, Kurt Blumenau, Chip Bomyea, Patrick Brown, Chris Butts, Anne Chamberlain, Anne Enos, Stanley Enzweiler, Pat Filippone, John Gregory, Steve Hall, Kent Henderson, Jason Hendricks, Kim Juhase, Matt Karlak, Heather Kerrigan, David Klotz, Sheri Laufer, Scott Lehotsky, Mark McFadden, Chuck McGill, Abigail Misckowiec, Alan Morris, Dan Mueller, Rod Nelson, Bill Nowlin, Gregg Omoth, Aiden Presutti, Ruth Sadler, Venus Seno, Jaekuk Song, Alan Steinberg, Jerry Swenson, Dan Walsh, Donald Wiederecht, James Williams, Paul Winter, Brian Wood, Yusra Yavic, Izzet Yilmaz, and Greg Zeis.
ID matching volunteers included: Amily Ancuelo, David Bender, Dan Bergman, Cliff Blau, Deborah Bloom, Chip Bomyea, Chet Emerson, Thomas Emerson, John Gregory, Samantha Hare, Geoff Mills, Andrew Milner, Jack V. Morris, Tom Naylor, Rod Nelson, Ian Orr, John “Ivan” Pasquil, Jacob Pomrenke, Jason Sigler, Jerry Swenson, Tiberiu Ungureanu, Bob Wirz, and Betul Zenan.
Visit SABR.org/weiss-baseball-questionnaires to learn more about the Weiss Baseball Questionnaires.
Originally published: April 3, 2025. Last Updated: April 3, 2025.