SABR

SABR

Photo courtesy of SABR

Following a growing interest in harnessing data analytics in baseball, the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), founded in 1971 by “The Cooperstown 16", gathered those interested in baseball history and statistical research.

Researchers Cite Goals of New Baseball Group, 1971, SABR

Photo courtesy of SABR

"In the spring of 1971, L. Robert “Bob” Davids of Washington, D.C, sent a letter to about 40 people whom he knew to be interested in baseball history and statistical research — or, as he called them, “statistorians.”

​​​​​​​SABR, SABR’s Founding Members: The Cooperstown 16

Davids' original letter to the people he knew were interested in baseball history and statistical research, 1971, SABR 

In 1974, SABR members Bill James, Pete Palmar, and Dick Cramer co-founded SABR’s Statistical Analysis Committee, which helped further popularize baseball data analytics.

Then, in 1980, Bill James coined the term "sabermetrics.” This represented the beginning of a gradual shift toward data-based baseball.

Bill James

Photo courtesy of Bill James

Pete Palmar

Photo courtesy of Pete Palmar

Dick Cramer

Photo courtesy of Dick Cramer

The studies below pioneered baseball analytics by verifying its significance, deriving new equations for evaluation methods, and introducing industry professionals to sabermetrics. ​​​​​​​

Baseball Analyst, 1986, SABR

The National Pastime: Premiere Edition, 1982, SABR

"Perhaps the most foundational article SABR has ever published in the field of baseball analytics, Palmer was able to mathematically connect the relationship between runs and wins. It sounds so simple, and yet we'd sort of stumbled around in the dark prior to this point." (Scott Bush)

The Journal of Sabermetrics, 1984, SABR

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 1977 Baseball Research Journal, 1977, SABR

"This is still argued about, but Cramer's calculations were the first to demonstrate that performance in the clutch is not a repeatable skill." (Scott Bush)

1973 Baseball Research Journal, 1973, SABR

"Palmer calls it On Base Average, but we now know it as On Base Percentage. Though Palmer's contribution here is nodded at in our more contemporary wOBA (weighted on base average). Palmer would later create OPS - while working for the Sports Information Center - and provide it to the American League." (Scott Bush)

1978 Baseball Research Journal, 1978, SABR

"Shoebotham showed us league environment context and Palmer showed us park environment context. We now regularly employ park adjustments in advanced statistics." (Scott Bush)

1980 Baseball Research Journal, 1980, SABR

"Cramer was the first to attempt to quantify how much hitters have improved from a skill perspective throughout the history of the game. This is something we still try to do today." (Scott Bush)

1976 Baseball Research Journal, 1976, SABR

"Shoebotham was one of the first people to consider surrounding context in player performance by studying batting average relative to the league environment for batting averages. Today, most advanced statistics adjust for league environment." (Scott Bush)

Despite prominent research committed in SABR, sabermetrics remained rejected in the baseball industry.

"People like Pete Palmar, Bill James, and Dick Cramer they had an interest in what James later dubbed sabermetrics. And SABR was a place for that work to be published because it wasn't widely accepted. It was challenging status quo, it was against the grain of the convention at the time.

​​​​​​​Scott Bush, CEO of SABR, student conducted interview