The National Pastime is SABR's "review of baseball history," first founded by editor John Thorn in 1982. In the mid-2000s, the focus of the journal was shifted so that each annual issue would be released to coincide with that year's national SABR convention, and would bear a corresponding regional theme.
Unlike articles in the BRJ, which have a wide open range of topics and lengths, articles for The National Pastime must relate to the theme for that year and be between 1500 and 2500 words in length.
Pitches are typically made to the editor via email in November, and writing topics and word counts are assigned before January 1, with first drafts being due typically between Feb. 15 and March 15, for publication in the annual summer issue.
Submissions are only open to those article ideas that have been approved and slotted for publication.
