UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Society of American Baseball Research (SABR) has recognized a research article by Penn State University Libraries Distinguished Librarian Tom Reinsfelder with a 2026 McFarland-SABR Baseball Research Award.
The annual award, granted to three authors in 2026, honors the best articles on baseball history or biography completed or published during the preceding calendar year. Recipients are three individuals, groups or groups of individuals whose research projects have greatly expanded the knowledge of baseball.
Reinsfelder’s article, “Some of the Least Explored Resources: Dissertations and Theses on the Subject of Baseball (1908–2024),” was published in the fall 2025 edition of Baseball Research Journal. A metastudy, the article reviewed dissertations, graduate and undergraduate theses and related research published between 1908 and 2024 and representing nearly 300 colleges and universities.
“Most of this body of research is available online or through libraries, yet much of it remains difficult to discover,” Reinsfelder said. “I believe this project and bibliography will interest both casual fans as well as students and researchers looking to further our collective knowledge of the sport.”
An appendix linked in Reinfelder’s published article contains a full bibliography of the 864 scholarly works identified and sorted by topic, most with online links.
The analysis highlights the vast interdisciplinary nature of the sport, Reinfelder said. Baseball can be studied from a remarkable range of academic fields, from kinesiology, history and business to strategy, music, psychology and architecture/stadium design.
Most of the research Reinsfelder assembled focuses on American professional baseball, especially the business of baseball, the most popular topic, represented by 93 studies covering topics such as economic impact, salaries, ticket pricing and attendance.
Other frequent areas of focus included specific cities and geographic areas as well as leagues and teams, followed by the history of the sport, including early terminology. Studies also examined U.S. collegiate baseball, Black baseball history and international baseball, particularly in Japan and the Dominican Republic. His analysis noted an increasing interest in research on women’s baseball since the 1990s. Some students even used aspects of baseball as the inspiration for original works of literature or musical compositions.
“For students who enjoy baseball, one of the most interesting outcomes of this project is the clear evidence that opportunities exist across nearly all academic disciplines to connect the national pastime with meaningful and engaging research questions,” Reinsfelder said.” If you like baseball and need to develop a dissertation topic, you can probably find something that intersects with your program of study.”
Reinsfelder joined Penn State in 2002, was named head librarian of the Mont Alto Campus Library in 2018 and, as of 2025, also serves as head librarian of the Lee R. Glatfelter Library at Penn State York. In 2013, he began coordinating and expanding the University Libraries’ Ask a Librarian service, a role he continues to hold. He was named one of the University Libraries’ three distinguished librarians in 2024.
Reinsfelder earned a doctoral degree in administration and leadership studies from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 2012 and served as president of the Pennsylvania Library Association in 2021. He became a member of SABR in 2022 and remains active in that organization as a peer reviewer and contributor to various research projects.