May 20, 2025

Dear Peter:

Over the past month, the Campaign for Baseball Research has outlined SABR’s efforts to expand, maintain, and preserve our baseball Research Collection and Research Resources.

Now, you now have the opportunity to DOUBLE THE IMPACT OF YOUR DONATION. Baseball-Reference founder Sean Forman, a long-time SABR member, Henry Chadwick Award winner, and SABR Analytics Conference Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, has stepped forward to help us reach our campaign goal. Sean’s company will match the first $7,500 in contributions made in response to this email …

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“Baseball Reference continues to be a proud partner of SABR. As a longtime SABR member and supporter myself, I hope you will join me in making a contribution to the Campaign for Baseball Research. SABR’s Research Collection and Research Resources have likely improved your enjoyment and understanding of the game, and if you are like me, they have significantly impacted your work as well.

I’m already counting down the days until SABR 53 in Dallas-Fort Worth, where I hope to see many of you and share in our love for the game. SABR plays such an important role in our baseball community, which is another reason why I’m lending my support to this important campaign. 

My company, Sports Reference LLC, will match the first $7,500 in contributions made in response to this email.”

— Sean Forman
Founder of Baseball-Reference.com

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We will use your best gift of $150, $300, $500, or $1,000 to better serve our growing membership base, attract more attention for our research, and offer new tools to all corners of the worldwide baseball community.

Here are several recent Research Collection projects and upgrades to our Research Resources, assets, and tools made possible by your donations:

• Addition of the Weiss Baseball Questionnaires, a collection of self-completed surveys of professional baseball players from 1945-2005, to SABR.org
• Full access to the Historical Black Newspapers Collection, including titles like the Chicago Defender, Pittsburgh Courier, and New York Amsterdam News, for all SABR members
• Expansion of ProQuest offerings to include the US Collection, bringing archival offerings for SABR members up to the present day with more than 600 publication titles from 35 states, including significant newspapers from major-league cities
• Launching of the MLB Team Employee Database, which offers a new lens into major-league front and back offices, containing over 40,000 staff members ranging from team owners to ticket sales
• Incorporation of the Lahman Baseball Database, containing complete batting and pitching statistics back to 1871, plus fielding statistics, standings, team stats, managerial records, postseason data, and more, into SABR.org
• Licensing of the Seamheads Negro Leagues Database and future integration into the Lahman Baseball Database at SABR.org, creating a comprehensive archive of major league statistics

There are also some great incentives for contributing now as part of our Campaign for Baseball Research. All donors making a gift of $150 or more will receive a paperback copy of SABR’s forthcoming book on Stan Musial. Donors contributing $300 or more will receive the Musial book as well as an invite to “An Evening with Brian Kenny”, an exclusive virtual event just for SABR’s top donors, featuring a Q&A session with the host of MLB Network’s daily show MLB Now. 

Donors making a gift of $500 or more will receive all of the above along with a signed copy of 72 Stories from the Baseball Collection of Geddy Lee, a new book from legendary rock frontman and renowned Negro Leagues memorabilia collector Geddy Lee of Rush. All Campaign for Baseball Research donors will receive recognition in This Week in SABR and on SABR.org.

And remember, your gift will go twice as far — as all donations made in response to this email will be matched by Sean Forman and Sports Reference LLC, up to a grand total of $7,500.

To those who have already contributed during this collective effort, thank you for your support!

For more information, please visit SABR.org/donate/research-campaign.

 

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Mailing address: SABR, PO Box 1715, Milwaukee, WI 53201. Physical address: Cronkite School at ASU, 555 N. Central Ave. #406-C, Phoenix, AZ 85004. Website: SABR.org. Phone: 602-496-1460.