The National Pastime
From BR Bullpen
The National Pastime is a publication of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR). It was originally an annual magazine geared to publishing articles on baseball with a cultural and historical bent, while its sister publication, The Baseball Research Journal focussed on more hard-core research; however, over the years, the lines between the two became blurred and in 2008, SABR announced that it would merge the two publications, under the Journal's name, with a bi-annual publication schedule. The name The National Pastime will now be used for the Society's publication related to its annual convention; this will gather articles around a geographic theme related to the convention's host city.
The National Pastime had acquired a reputation as a key vehicle for the publication of original research related to baseball, alongside its sister publication The Baseball Research Journal. Under its new format, it will continue to be a must-read publication, as the most recent convention journals have included a wealth of information on local baseball history. Examples are the 2006 Convention journal entitled Rain Check: Baseball in the Pacific Northwest, and the 2007 journal Batting Four Thousand: Baseball in the Western Reserve.
The National Pastime is distributed free to SABR members as part of their annual membership dues. Additional copies and back issues can be purchased by anyone via the University of Nebraska Press.
