Greatest Baseball Site Ever

[Shotgun Shuba]

I don't know if I am preaching to the choir or if anybody cares,but I just just subscribed to the SABR site and it is amazing. Even if you don't care about research, you can access the NY Times(and other papers) going back to the 1800's!! I just typed in a date in early April 1958 and they had a story about a game at Ebbets Field between St. John's and Rutgers and how sad that the Dodgers were gone. It was very interesting. What is great is that you can get the actual Dodger boxscores, game story, everything. You could find out about Zach Wheat's first game from the paper that day. No microfilm, no trips to the library. My God, I am so excited I don't think I will sleep tonight. The site does cost 60 smackers a year, but I think it's worth it just for this one feature alone. If you have any interest in history of any kind you could just use it for info on the Cuban Misile Crisis, Pearl Harbor whatever. I think I will relive the 1955 season this winter.

[VIBaseball]

I agree, Shotgun -- the power of this ProQuest search is truly remarkable. Instead of breaking your eyes reeling through miles of microfilm, you can zero right in on what you need. As I researched my article on Ebbets Field's final years after the Dodgers left, this is how I too found evidence that St. John's played there in '58. There's no way I would have found a lot of the tiny but meaningful snippets that the computer finds for you -- ProQuest can even pick up words in ads!

The only thing I wish for is more papers to be part of the package.

The publications from SABR are the other main reason to shell out for membership, but it's a good thing in many other ways too, especially if you do research. Fellow members are very helpful.

[Shotgun Shuba]

It would be nice to have the Post and the News. The Times is a great paper but has never been the paper of record for sports. However, to be able to read about the Battle of Gettysburg from a contemporary newspaper article or a great feature article about watching the 1963 World Series in a bar in Brooklyn is a treasure trove. I am terrified they might realize this and charge more. I will keep my fingers crossed.

[wamby]

Can you access the Sporting News through their site?

[VIBaseball]

Not part of the package, Wamby. The only thing sort of close is that The Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles has been gradually digitizing Baseball Magazine on its website. There's a link on the research tools page on the SABR site, the same place where you access ProQuest.

Shotgun, I said exactly the same thing to a friend a couple of days ago about the Times vs. the other NY papers. But having, Chicago, Washington, LA, and Atlanta as part of the package is pretty darn good.

I'm not worried that SABR will boost membership rates because of this factor. I don't think ProQuest bills SABR by member usage (if they did, I'd hate to see what I've racked up). I think this tool alone may be the best way to bring in new members and dues that they've got.

[Paulmcall]

You have to go to a site called "Paper of Record". That has the Sporting News and a bunch of other lackluster papers. Not as good as ProQuest but it does have the Sporting News. That is pretty darn good though.

[tonypug]

Can you access the Sporting News through their site?
If you are a member of SABR, they offer you a discount to The Paper Of Record. The two memberships together are a tresure trove of information, well worth the money.