One of the primary initial goals of SABR was to establish a publication where members could get research published and shared with like-minded students of baseball. The Baseball Research Journal was launched in 1972 with 19 articles, including "Ty Cobb Steals Home," "The Pinch Grand Slam," "Tigers Best at Triple Plays," and "East Meets West in Negro Games." The Journal, combined with the newsletter The SABR Bulletin and a membership directory for networking purposes, formed SABR's publications program.

In 1982, SABR launched The National Pastime, a review of baseball history. It complements The Baseball Research Journal, featuring longer articles and more photos, and is currently published each year to coincide with the SABR convention.

During the 1980s, SABR began issuing occasional books, and by the 1990s it had established a tradition of providing at least one and sometimes two books each year as part of the membership benefit.

As of 2009, The Baseball Research Journal is be published twice a year.