The National Pastime; A Review of Baseball History, Volume 7, No. 1

Cooperstown, NY: Society for American Baseball Research, 1989. Special Pictorial Issue: Baseball in the Big-Bang Era. First printing [stated]. Wraps. Good. Quarto (approximately 8.5 inches by 11 inches). 88 pages plus covers. Wraps. Profusely illustrated. Cover color illustration. Some wear and soiling to covers, small tears at spine. Rare surviving Premiere issue copy. Baseball History Lives. The National Pastime has sprung into being to depict the panorama of Baseball. The Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) is an organization dedicated to the research and dissemination of the history and record of baseball. It was established in August 1971. The acronym "SABR" may have lent its root to the word sabermetrics (for the use of mathematical tools to analyze baseball), the Society is about more than statistics. Well known figures in the baseball world such as Bob Costas, and Keith Olbermann are members, along with highly regarded "sabermetricians" such as Bill James. Among Major League players Jeff Bajenaru, Elden Auker, Larry Dierker, and Andy Seminick have been involved. The Baseball Research Journal (BRJ) is SABR's flagship publication for members to publish and share their research. The National Pastime: A Review of Baseball History was published from 1982 to 2008. From 1982 to 2008, the magazine was intended as a more literary outlet for SABR members to publish their research, in comparison to the more statistically inclined Baseball Research Journal. The history of baseball in the United States can be traced to the 19th century, when amateurs played a baseball-like game by their own informal rules using home made equipment. With this offering, the editor brings SABR's pictorial history of baseball from 1920 to 1946, "The Big-Bang Era". On display in these pages is a remarkable period, spanning the roaring twenties, the Great Depression, and the Second World War. Amidst all the swirl of change, baseball retained its sixteen franchises, in the sixteen sites that were in force in 1903. Nevertheless, baseball did have changes during this period--the slash-and-run style gave way to the pursuit of the home run and the big inning.