SABR is launching a digital library

By Guest
Updated: March 25, 2012

The following post is an official press release from SABR – The Society for American Baseball Research is introducing a new publishing initiative this spring. The SABR Digital Library will be publishing new titles as well as reviving historical SABR publications that have gone out of print.

Two books mark the inception of the library: one new release and one revival. Can He Play? is a new book examining the world of baseball scouting. Run, Rabbit, Run is the autobiography of Walter “Rabbit” Maranville, published once again for the first time since 1991. Both titles are available as paperback and digital editions.

Can He Play?, a production from SABR member editors Jim Sandoval and Bill Nowlin, is a collection of accounts of the lives of scouts, containing biographies, interviews, and historical essays. From the beginning of more informal “ivory hunting” in the early 1900s to today’s intricate network of cross-country scouting, Can He Play? is a collection of stories that shows the development of the business over the last hundred-plus years.

Run, Rabbit, Run is Walter “Rabbit” Maranville’s recollection of years of baseball stories, collected only a year before his death. From 1912 to 1936, he spent twenty-four years playing ball and getting himself into quite a few interesting situations. The account also contains rare photographs and an introduction and conclusion from noted baseball scholars.