The Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) is a membership organization dedicated to fostering the research and dissemination of the history and record of baseball, primarily through the use of statistics. The organization was founded in Cooperstown, New York, on August 10, 1971, at a meeting of 16 “statistorians” coordinated by sportswriter Bob Davids. The organization now reports a membership of over 7,000 and is based in Phoenix, Arizona.
While the acronym "SABR" was used to coin the word sabermetrics (for the use of sophisticated mathematical tools to analyze baseball), the Society is about much more than statistics. Well-known figures in the baseball world such as Bob Costas, Keith Olbermann, Craig R. Wright, and Rollie Hemond are members, along with highly regarded "sabermetricians" such as Bill James and Rob Neyer.
Among Major League Baseball players, Jeff Bajenaru was believed to have been (until 2006) the only active player with a SABR membership; Elden Auker, Larry Dierker, and Andy Seminick also have been involved.
Some prominent SABR members include:
Bob Davids, founder (deceased)
Bob McConnell, Home Run Log (deceased)
Bill Carle, Biographical Committee
Bill James, analyst, writer
David Lander, actor (Laverne & Shirley), baseball scout (deceased)
Larry Lester, Negro Leagues Committee
Ron Liebman, Historial Stats & Trivia
David Neft, writer, historian, encyclopedist
David Nemec, prolific writer
Rob Neyer, analyst, journalist
Pete Palmer, analyst, encyclopedist
Dave Smith, analyst, Retrosheet founder
Lyle Spatz, Records Committee
John Thorn, historian, encyclopedist
Robert L. Tiemann, historian
Monte Irvin, Hall of Famer and former Negro Leagues star (deceased)
David W. Vincent, Home Run Log (deceased)
Larry Dierker, former Major League All-Star pitcher
Only a minority of members pursue "number crunching" research. Rather, the SABR community is organized both by interest and geography:
Research Committees study a particular issue
Regional Chapters link members by proximity.