Posted by Matt Sisson on Wednesday, February 10, 2010 at 5:45 pm

The Society of American Baseball Research (SABR) will once again be offering The Emerald Guide to Baseball as a free searchable PDF available for download on the SABR Website starting today.  The 2010 Guide is 580+ pages of every type of baseball information a fan could ever want (and it’s free!).

The Emerald Guide to Baseball is currently in it’s fourth edition and was edited by Gary Gillette, Rod Nelson, Pete Palmer, and Ted Turocy along with some help from a few others. The Emerald Guide is essentially The Annual Book of Record for our National Pastime, a comprehensive listing of what has traditionally been called the “official averages” for Major League Baseball and the affiliated Minor Leagues.  The information at the core of the book is compiled in a similar fashion that baseball enthusiasts have found in The Sporting News Guide for each season since 1942 and, prior to that, the Spalding and Reach Guides back to inception of the National League in 1876.  The publication presents a comprehensive account of the 2009 Year In Review, as well as a Directory and brief Preview for the upcoming 2010 season.

In speaking with editor Rod Nelson, he gave a little history of where The Emerald Guide originated and how it came to be where it is today.   “When The Sporting News ceased publication of The Guide in 2006, we at 24/7 Baseball, LLC recognized what a loss it would be for the baseball research community.  As editors of the ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia, Gary Gillette and Pete Palmer felt they were up to the task of reviving the annual guide, and decided to put their own distinct identity on it. In the Spring of 2008, we collaborated with Sean Forman of Sports Reference and released three versions of The Emerald Guide, separate issues for 2007 and 2008 and a Combo Edition with abbreviated coverage of the low minors. Last year, we joined forces with the Society of American Baseball Research as our co-publisher and the decision was made to offer it as a free PDF download from their website, while also making it available in hardcopy on a print-on-demand basis from Lulu.com.”

Editor Gary Gillette added, “If newspapers and daily web accounts are the first draft of history, The Emerald Guide is the second draft of baseball history for 2009.  We have the advantage of perspective while looking back on the previous year, yet our content is generated contemporaneously.”

Nelson also went on to say, “The Emerald Guide to Baseball is the only source for complete batting, pitching and fielding statistics for all clubs in organized baseball, MLB and MiLB including the Mexican League, Dominican and Venezuelan Summer Leagues. Fellow editors Gary Gillette and Doug White authored an extensive narrative for the 2009 Year in Review, putting on-field and off-field matters in their proper historical perspective.” Gillette emphasizes that the Year in Review essay is part of a tradition that goes back to the founding of Major League Baseball in the 19th century and explains that the reviews written in the time are relevant and give a better portrayal of what actually happened compared to ones that are written years after the fact.

While most of the performance data is available online from multiple sources, the editors feel the traditional arrangement found in The Emerald Guide provides continuity with our forebearers, while the Expanded League Standings, Team Day-by-Day Logs and Postseason Player Register provide fresh looks at information that is otherwise not available from a single source. The Emerald Guide also contains updated listings for Franchise Career Leaders for all thirty clubs and Active Career Leaders in over fifty statistical departments. Readers will also find a Daily Transaction Log and comprehensive listings of 2009 Major League Debut Players (with signing scouts) and First-Year Player Draft (with bonus amounts).  The Guides Necrology section includes a baseball epitaph for the eighty Major Leaguers who passed away in 2009 and documents the death notices for over 500 minor league players — the product of original research conducted by numerous SABR members, most notably Jack Morris of East Coventry, Pennsylvania.

Although SABR is offering The Emerald Guide to Baseball 2010 for free, you do not need to be a member to get one. Simply go to this link and follow the instructions