Researching US minor league baseball history

Take me out to the ball game! This week, I’m digging for resources documenting the history of minor league baseball, players and teams, and farm clubs in the United States for a client starting a research project.

Here are a few excellent resources I found to kick start their project.

Print resources or journals

1. The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball: A Complete Record of Teams, Leagues and Seasons, 1876–2019, 4th ed.

2. Obojski, Robert. Bush League: A history of minor league baseball. 1975.

3. Sullivan, Neal J. The Minors: The Struggles and Triumph of Baseball's Poor Relation from 1876 to the Present. 1990.

4. Seymour, Harold. Baseball - The Early Years.  Oxford University Press. 1989.

5. Salin, Tony. Baseball's Forgotten Heroes: One Fan's Search for the Game's Most Interesting Overlooked Players. 1999.

6. Nine: A Journal of Baseball History and Culture. Published by the University of Nebraska Press, featuring academic articles examining baseball's cultural significance.

Libraries, Archives or Museums

1. Baseball Resources at the Library of Congress - http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/baseball/web.html The Library of Congress holds one of the world's largest and most diverse collections of baseball-related materials.

2. Baseball Hall of Fame: Library and Research Center- https://baseballhall.org/the-museum/collections Founded in 1939 along with the Hall itself, the library is a specialized research facility whose collections and services are available to all. The archives and collections contain over three million documents, everything from books and magazines to scrapbooks and manuscript collections, as well as over 250,000 photographic images and over 16,000 hours of recorded media. 

3. Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) - https://sabr.org/the-research-collection/ The SABR Research Collection is an archive of 50+ years of groundbreaking baseball research that contains thousands of articles from the Baseball Research Journal (BRJ), The National Pastime (TNP), the SABR Digital Library, and more. Use the search bar at the top to find articles and content on just about any subject in baseball history from SABR’s collection.

Professional organizations or research groups

1. The Official Site of Minor League Baseball - http://www.milb.com/index.jsp

2. The American Association of Professional Baseball - https://aabaseball.com/league/history/

3. Society for American Baseball Research - www.sabr.com

4. The Baseball Cube - http://www.thebaseballcube.com/minors/

5. Baseball American - http://www.baseballamerica.com/

6. The Baseball Historian - http://baseballhistorian.blogspot.com/

Tobias History Research is a premier provider of history research and archives management services. With 20+ years of professional experience, founder Vicki Tobias helps clients expertly discover their history and enthusiastically share their stories. Learn more about her services.

Jersey City Skeeters, 1903. Public Domain.