It’s the 2015 SABR Analytics Conference Research Awards!

The end of every year is thick with best of lists, awards, and the like. In certain cases, a work of art will get nominated for an award even if no one has even seen it/consumed it yet. In other cases, a work of art that debuted so long ago that you might have forgotten existed may garner a nomination. No matter the timing, if done properly, awards or best of lists give us a chance to remember and reflect on the things that delighted us this year, be it a book or a song or a movie.

The baseball analysis community has its own awards, modest as they may be, in the Society for American Baseball Research’s Analytics Conference Research Awards. And, as every year, they are interested in your feedback in the form of nominations. They have three categories for which pieces can be nominated. Pulling directly from their site, the categories are:

  • Contemporary Baseball Analysis: Honoring the best analysis focusing on a subject related to the modern game(s), team(s) or player(s).
  • Contemporary Baseball Commentary: Honoring the best commentary focusing on a subject related to the modern game(s), team(s) or player(s).
  • Historical Baseball Analysis/Commentary: Honoring the best original analysis or commentary focusing on a subject related to a game(s), team(s) or player(s) throughout baseball history.

If you’re not clear on what type of post each of those are or how they will be judged, you can head over to SABR for a more thorough explanation. If you would like to nominate an article, you can send your nomination via email. Again, pulling directly from SABR’s site:

Please send all nominations via e-mail to this address: 2015-analytics-awards@sabr.org no later than January 15, 2015. Include author, title, date of publication and a URL link (if applicable).

The last piece is an important distinction. The article need not be published online. So if you read something in a book or a magazine this year that you feel is worthy of nomination, that is fair game as well.


Paul Swydan used to be the managing editor of The Hardball Times, a writer and editor for FanGraphs and a writer for Boston.com and The Boston Globe. Now, he owns The Silver Unicorn Bookstore, an independent bookstore in Acton, Mass. Follow him on Twitter @Swydan. Follow the store @SilUnicornActon.

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