Who We Are and How We Operate

The Committee comprises about 230 members of SABR. We have in common an interest in research on the origins of baseball, on the folk games that preceded it, on the early evolution of its key rules and practices, and on its spread to new areas. Most of our members’ interests lie within the period from about 1750 to the end of the 1860's, when the first professional league was on the horizon. Our primary objective as a Committee is to facilitate such research.

The Committee has no operating budget, and its program depends entirely on the volunteered time of its members.  Available Committee members meet once a year at the annual SABR convention.

Since late 2007, the Committee program has been coordinated by the current chairman and a start-up Steering Committee that includes David Block, Skip McAfee, Larry McCray [chair], and John Thorn. Basic operating premises for the Committee are found below.

Formal Committee Activities

In early 2008 we canvassed the membership to elicit ideas about projects that the Committee might undertake. About 20 members provided input, and several potential initiatives were identified. Of those, one [the monthly Committee newsletter, Originals] is now under way – the others await the mobilization of sufficient volunteer effort.

Originals is edited by Bob Tholkes, and is distributed electronically once a month to all SABR members who have designated origins as an area of personal interest. The newsletter typically summarizes the month’s liveliest exchanges on origins research appearing on the 19CBB listserve, and increasingly includes short research notes and general research news.

Bob welcomes other contributions. Please contact him if you’d like to provide material for inclusion in the next issue of Originals: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

In early 2010 the Committee set about launching a new project tracing the spread of modern baseball across the United States and around the world.  See the "Spread Project" tab on this website.

Other Potential Committee Initiatives

Please contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it if you would like further background on the following ideas, or would like to participate in bringing one of them to fruition.

• An Expanded Committee Website? This website can expand to serve both the public and Committee members better.

• A Resource Directory? A helpful directory might acquaint members – and the public – with already-existing research sources relating to Origins. This could include links to relevant publications and newsletters [e.g., Base Ball, National Pastime, Protoball’s Next Destin’d Post], websites [e.g., Peter Morris’ site, Eric Miklich’s site, the Protoball site], and information on doing state-of-the-art internet searches.

• A SABR Guide to Doing Local [and Other] Origins Research? It may be useful to put together a guide to doing origins research, one that is user-friendly for new researchers in particular local areas. Much of the focus might be on making fullest use of local resources, although tips on electronic and other data sources might easily be added. The guide could also suggest interesting origins-related questions that local diggers can help answer. Nominally, we might aim this material at the less- experienced researcher, not excluding SABR members who are willing to look in their communities and regions for new finds. Such a guide might take shape by collecting tips and instructive stories of actual new finds from our most active members – diggers who know the ins and outs of local libraries, historical societies, newspaper archives, etc. Such material may find its best home on an Origins Committee website.

• A Data Base on “First Uses” of Key Baseball Terminology? Paul Dickson’s Baseball Dictionary has tracked first uses of baseball terms, and a new edition is in preparation, with substantial contributions by Committee member Skip McAfee. The advent of ever more powerful electronic search capacity likely means that many new first uses may be identified.

• Public Acknowledgement of Top Research Advances? The Committee could publicly acknowledge what it sees as “the best” or “its favorite” new books, articles, and/or research finds annually. An elaborate form of this idea would be to provide monetary prizes for the contributions that are selected.

• Examining Baseball-Like Games Beyond the English-Speaking Areas? The Committee could take steps to foster research in sources not written in English. There appears to be at least fragmentary evidence of the existence of baseball-like games in Poland, France, Germany, Hungary, and northern Africa. However, language barriers impede current research on such origins. Could we find ways to surmount these hurdles?

Note: Members of the SABR Origins Committee are encouraged to suggest additional committee initiatives. Please contact Committee Chair Larry McCray at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or at 781-862-2976. Larry’s postal address is 125 Vine Street, Lexington MA 02420.