Ray Nemec

Raymond J. Nemec

• Born June 19, 1929 in Chicago, IL USA
• Died April 17, 2015 in Naperville, IL USA

Biographical Information

Ray Nemec was one of the founders of SABR and one of the foremost minor league baseball historians. He had already spent three decades traveling around the country to track minor league boxscores when SABR was founded in 1971. He then served as chair of SABR's minor league committee and he was instrumental in the 1978 publication of SABR's Minor League Stars, the first comprehensive listing of career records for minor league players. It was estimated that he put together the playing record of some 100,000 minor league players! His work formed the foundation of SABR's minor league database, which in turn became the basis for minor league statistics on Baseball-Reference.com.

His work appeared many times in The Sporting News and has been cited in many books and other publications. Hall of Fame historian Lee Allen called him "the foremost authority on minor league players."

Away from baseball, Nemec spent a lifetime working for Corn Products Company International, involved in production planning for Mazola Corn Oil and Karo syrup.

He was honored with the Chadwick Award in 2012.

Further Reading

• Mark Armour: "Ray Nemec", in The Baseball Research Journal, SABR, Volume 41, Number 2 (Fall 2012), p. 102.

Related Sites

• SABR tribute page
• Obituary