Baseball Almanac

From BR Bullpen

For the website, see Baseball Almanac (website).

Published annually by Baseball America since 1988, the Baseball Almanac includes standings for every minor league and independent league plus season recaps for almost all leagues.

Additional coverage is provided of international baseball, providing overviews and league leaders for Nippon Pro Baseball, the Korea Baseball Organization, Chinese Professional Baseball League, China Baseball League, and European leagues. It covers the various winter leagues, both American and Caribbean. College and high school baseball receives coverage as well.

The major league draft is reported with each pick. The Almanac also lists annual awards given out by Baseball America and other organizations. It lists obituaries of baseball personalities who died during the prior year. It publishes statistics for all major and minor league teams, grouping them by the organization.

Baseball America put out a publication known as the Statistics Report in 1986 and 1987. The Almanac evolved from that, and was the main rival for The Sporting News Baseball Guide for most of the 1990s; the Guide's big advantage was that it contained fielding stats for the low minors and comprehensive Mexican League statistics, which the Almanac lacked. The Almanac generally contained more information on the minors and the Sporting News Guide did not include international or independent leagues. When the Guide ceased publication following its 2006 edition, the Almanac was briefly the only guide published. The Emerald Guide is now its main competition.