Sportswriting and Life
Posted: September 25th, 2008 | Filed under: Banny Log, Essays, Media | 53 Comments »
Here’s my patented warning: The following is personal, and I suspect you won’t care. But I was thinking about what it is for me to be a sportswriter, especially a sportswriter in a town full of losers (and I’m pulling out of here to win). And so I just kind of came up with this free form essay about sportswriting and fanhood … really, it’s a good one to skip.
* * *
I’ve mentioned this before, a lot. But here goes again: Tony Pena Jr. is a nice guy. Well, he is. He seems like a very good person. He seems to have a very nice wife, they seem to have an awesome kid who runs around the clubhouse and will give a high-five to anybody who would like one. My guess is that Tony Pena Jr. is the kind of guy who, when he borrowed your car, would fill it up with gas. My sense is that the Penas are the kind of family we would love to have over for cookouts. I’ll bet that when T.J. mows the lawn (he seems like the type who would mow his own lawn), he will mow a little bit of the neighbors yard, just to be a good guy.
My job, however, demands that I show you this statistic:
Worst on-base percentages since 1901 (200 at-bat minimum):
1. Bill Bergen, 1909, .163
2. Bill Bergen, 1906, .175
3. Bill Bergen, 1910, .180
4. Bill Bergen, 1911, .183
4. Tony Pena, 2008, .185
* * *
Carl Peterson is somewhat misunderstood. I believe this. He has been so demonized in the media that I suspect most people who care think he’s a monster, a man beyond scruples, old Miser Madison. I happen to know (because I’ve seen it often) that Carl Peterson has done a lot of really good things in his life, and he has given of himself for charity many many times, and he really cares about the success of the Kansas City Chiefs. More than one — more than 10 — Chiefs employees have, through the years, made a point to tell me off the record how much they like working for Carl, and not in a way that suggests they were trying to spin me. He negotiates hard, and he doesn’t always make friends, and he’s overly sensitive, and he was the key figure in turning Kansas City into a good football town. I think it breaks his heart to watch his work slowly unravel.
My job, however, demands that I point out — as I did in my newspaper column this morning — that Carl Peterson started his job as President/CEO/General Manager of the Chiefs one month before George Bush. No, not this one. And over the last 11 years, the Chiefs have been bad — two playoff appearances, five losing records (and well on their way to a sixth), four coaches — and lately they have been BEYOND bad, they have lost 12 in a row, they have not led a game since mid-December, they are as hopeless a football team as you can find in America right now.
* * *
Brian Bannister is one of my favorite people in the entire world. I cannot imagine liking an athlete more. He’s smart, funny, self-aware. He’s also had a very rough year, not only on the field but off the field too. His wife is expecting their first child, and it has been a rough pregnancy, she has been confined to bed rest. Brian has not seen his wife in two months. These are the real life problems of real-life people; and yet Brian never mentioned his issues during his struggles, he never asked for sympathy and never made excuses, never backed down from his responsibilities as a pitcher for the Kansas City Royals.
My job, however, demands that I point out Brian is 9-16 with a 5.76 ERA … his 78 ERA+ and .360 winning percentage make this among the rougher seasons a starter has ever had.
* * *
Allard Baird remains one of the best people I know and he is still a close friend. My job demanded that I write he be fired. Dave Shula was (and I’m sure still is) a really nice guy. My job demanded that I write he be fired about 10 times. Tony Muser is a good baseball man and one of the best story tellers I’ve ever known. My job demanded that I write he be fired.
Trey Hillman is a good person with a good family, and he and his wife practically saved my life when I was in Japan. My job required me to mention that I think he has tightened up in his first year as Royals managers and players tell jokes about him behind his back. Dayton Moore knows baseball and management, he has a heartfelt love for baseball and the Kansas City Royals and people. My job requires me to speak my opinion that the Jose Guillen signing was very bad judgement.
Gunther Cunningham is a decent and hardworking guy who, in many ways, reminds me of my father. My job required me to point out that when he explained a bad timeout by saying that the forty-five second clock was running — yes, it became a forty-FIVE second clock — he was probably demonstrating why he should not be an NFL head coach. Tony McGee was a tight end in Cincinnati and a very thoughtful person. We once sat next to each other on a plane, and we had a great talk about sports and life and everything else. My job required me to mention that he dropped lots of passes (which required him to yell at me and threaten to kill me). Herm Edwards absolutely cracks me up — he’s one of the funniest, most passionate, most savvy, most fun-to-be-around people I know. I believe he knows football talent and can get players to play hard for him. My job requires me to surmise that the Chiefs rebuilding project is not going well at all.
And so on. And so on. And so on.
The point of this is not to say my job sucks. The exact opposite is true. I have undoubtedly the best job in the entire world for me. My stock answer when people ask me what I would be if I was not a sportswriter — my stock answer but also my most honest answer — is this: Unemployed.
This job, though, does require you to put away humanity at times — or at least, put humanity off to the side. Friends kid me (and some readers go beyond kidding) because I find it very difficult to rip anyone without pointing out some of their good qualities, without saying that I like them, without polluting my main points with a few puffs of perspective. I plead guilty. I do not like writing badly about people. I get no kick out of it at all.
Now, don’t get me wrong: Sometimes I see injustices in sports, real injustices, and I feel good about coming out, guns blazing, swords sharpened, and then you will get no apologies, no distractions, no reservations or qualifiers. I don’t like bullies, and I don’t like arrogance, and I don’t like unfairness. I hope that I would never hesitate or back off pointing those out. But there is a lot of gray area in sports. A lot of mostly good people are bad at their jobs, and a lot of mostly bad people are good at their jobs. It presents a perplexing landscape.
Wednesday, I wrote that Carl Peterson column, the one that wonders how fans survived the Matt Millen era and when the Chiefs will finally put their fans out of their misery. I wondered if I was being too mean by bringing up the point or too nice because I didn’t include Herm Edwards in the mix. Wednesday, I watched Tony Pena Jr. hit a rare single to right and then, inexplicably, try to advance to second base, where he was thrown out by roughly 483 yards. I wondered how it was possible that someone who grew up around Major League Baseball and has no hitting ability never really learned how to play the game. I watched Brian Bannister throw six shutout innings, and I was really happy for him and I wondered if maybe he could take this as momentum for next year.
And I realized, yet again, that it’s fun being a sports fan, and it’s fun being a sportswriter, but they’re really two very different kinds of fun.
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Dear Joe:
Before I pass out in drunk in the library, one question:
How do you managed to kick so much ass, so consistently?
Your admirer,
devil_fingers
Not about the piece, but about the preface…
Really, Joe? You really think we’re not interested in the personal side of sports? You really think we don’t care about the personal side of Banny? If so, I’ve got to ask.
Why *DO* you think we read your blog?
Don’t misunderstand. I like your writing. But the reason I read your blog is to find out what someone who likes sports, as I do, thinks when he has access that I don’t. The journalism? Eh, not so much. I mean, I read it some, but well, that’s just sports reporting. No, what I’m interested in is finding out how you think about things you DON’T write about for the paper.
And yeah, how you separate the good human feelings, spawned by the access you’re provided, from the good reporting that is the job that gives you that access, is one of those things. (Wow. After that last sentence, every English teacher I’ve ever had is now tempted to call the Hague to prosecute me for torturing the syntax. It was a war crime. But it’s a comment. Who edits comments? Onward…)
I liked reading this. And I like that, though I’m not from KC, not really a big baseball fan, I still scan the papers for Bannister’s results. I like knowing that you can separate the people you like from the athletes you cover. Don’t apologize for it. It’s why your RSS feed is in my list.
Joe,
It’s your humanity that makes your columns so much better than the next guy’s. I don’t think you ever set it aside.
I’m with devil_fingers.
As a fan (of sports, and the JoeBlog), I have to observe that a lot of people might not agree with your general premise — as much as they like you, Joe. I am not sure people in this country will give “the media” a lot of slack, because they see such mean-spirited coverage all over the place, in places large and small, couched as “observations.”
People in the press can observe and point out mistakes and snafus without being bullies. And many do… maybe most. The fact that some members of the media can’t resist slamming people for fun gives readers a lot of pause, and helps foster an attitude of antagonism towards the Fourth Estate that is occasionally channelled by politicians.
The fact that Joe doesn’t indulge in that type of behavior in his columns just makes me a little wistful that others can’t follow.
Here Here to Ron’s comments. Joe, I am amazed at how entertaining you make some topics that I would normally never care about.
Keep up the great work
Joe –
Of course, we’re interested — that’s why we’re here. I check this site several times during the day, and it always bring a smile to my face when I see that there is a new post — a new post about anything at all, in fact.
One of my favorite baseball tales is about the time Deion Sanders, in his incarnation as a NY Yankee, decided that running out a popup/groundout (don’t remember; doesn’t matter) was just too much trouble for him. The opposing catcher was Carlton Fisk, and he proceeded to get in Neon’s face, screaming (no doubt cleaned up for family papers), “Play the game like you mean it!”
Joe, you write like you mean it, and my world (and, I would bet, the worlds most, or even all, of those who come here) is a better place for it.
No, Joe, this one isn’t personal, and I suspect almost everyone who reads it will care, because the subject of this post can be related directly to many walks of life. I won’t bore anyone with the details of my job, but I will say that I regularly find myself in a position where I have to recommend that a very nice person be removed, or replaced, or outsourced to India. And it sucks. Hard. But it’s good to know there are other people, like yourself, in a similar boat with similar guilt, so thanks for that.
The columns I like best are usually the ones you ask me to skip. That said, I love all your stuff, Joe.
Dear Joe
Please make your ‘personal’ posts as long as the non-personal ones.
Sincerely,
Probably most of your readers
I echo all of the above. People love this blog because its real and genuine. Anyone can read a standard sports column or story. What makes it better is when its written by someone people can identify with. Its like the old political saying of “people don’t care what you know until they know that you care.” Same goes for this blog.
Joe, to me your writting is the exact opposite of Dan Pugh’s * (Posterisk) (I mean Dan Patrick’s) SI column. I know he’s now your cohort, but to me his SI column is something he takes about 5 minutes to phone in. In fact, its basically a few notes and a transcript from an interview that some intern probably typed up. Your blogs posts come from the heart and we can all tell you never just phone it in. That’s my two cents.
* Did you know there is another fake Dan Patrick (actually Dan Goeb) that has a conservative talk radio show in Houston and serves as a Republican state senator in Texas? What’s with people changing their names to Dan Patrick?
The SI “Dan Patrick”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Patrick
and the state senator “Dan Patrick”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Patrick_(politics)
I envy you, Joe.
I, too, make my living writing. But I just hate it.
I love having written, but the process of writing too often feels like pulling my own teeth. You seem to love the process. It shows. You’re blessed.
I think the curse of Carl Peterson is he’s spent most of his career building a “competitive” team. Through the 90s the Chiefs were always in the hunt.
The food was always good in the parking lot and the game usually turned out to be interesting.
The NFL seems hard-wired for
mediocrity parity. Peterson at his best seemed to deliver a team that was just a tad above average. Competitive but not excellent. Not awful, but not champions.The fan in me hopes these awful Chiefs are young and will learn and the #1 draft choice will be the second-coming of Jim Thorpe or Red Grange or Roger Staubach.
But I don’t see it happening that way.
Here’s an idea to discuss:
Great players who were denied a chance to truly show their greatness.
Carl basically wasted the career of Derrick Thomas. Tony Gonzales has wasted his career in Kansas City. Archie Manning and the New Orleans Saints. Barry Sanders and the Lions. Ernie Banks
and the Cubs.
I envy you, Joe.
I, too, make my living writing. But I just hate it.
I love having written, but the process of writing too often feels like pulling my own teeth. You seem to love the process. It shows. You’re blessed.
I think the curse of Carl Peterson is he’s spent most of his career building a “competitive” team. Through the 90s the Chiefs were always in the hunt.
The food was always good in the parking lot and the game usually turned out to be interesting.
The NFL seems hard-wired for
mediocrityparity. Peterson at his best seemed to deliver a team that was just a tad above average. Competitive but not excellent. Not awful, but not champions.The fan in me hopes these awful Chiefs are young and will learn and the #1 draft choice will be the second-coming of Jim Thorpe or Red range or Roger Staubach.
But I don’t see it happening that way.
Here’s an idea to discuss:
Great players who were denied a chance to truly show their greatness.
Carl basically wasted the career of Derrick Thomas. Tony Gonzales has wasted his career in Kansas City. Archie Manning and the New Orleans Saints. Barry Sanders and the Lions. Ernie Banks
and the Cubs.
Oops
Joe you a very different than the writters here in Boston. Most of them have a stuck up you know where. The perception to many of us is that they go out of there way to ruthless to people and that they enjoy doing it.
I wouldn’t read this blog if I didn’t care. I know TPJ is terrible, but anytime I watch him play, he hasn’t looked terrible. I saw two of his AB’s last night, and one of them was the single and what I’m convinced was a lack of vision (actual ability to see, not able to see the play). I saw the AB where he had the walk-off hit. From what I can see, he has shortened his swing some (he’s no longer making a giant bruise down his back) and he’s gotten some hits. Just judging from what I see.
I’m with the hoi polloi. Joe, you could perform a TSE and report back to us here, and we would hang on every word.
It’s close, the Dallas Cowboys v. the NY Yankees. But I had plenty of Redsins success in the formative years. There were no Red Sox titles.
So, the Yanks.
Joe -
I love you and your blog. There isn’t any better proof out there that the evil blogs that are threatening to overtake the world of sports journalism can be beautifully, thoughtfully, and honestly written. You’re like FJM with heart (and I loves me some FJM).
Please, don’t ever stop writing. The world of sports, and the world in general, is better with you writing.
At least you’re getting something historically bad to watch, Joe. I was trying to feel that way a few years ago with Christian Goose Egg and his 2005 season.
You’re “…pulling out of here to win”
Not as in, leaving, right Joe?
Joe?
Like Matt, I too am parsing “pulling out of here to win” in hopes that it doesn’t mean you’re taking a job in NY, LA or CHI.
what’s with all the chiefs complaining lately? yeah they are terrible this year but they have been a pretty damn good team the past decade or so.
the royals i can understand, but stop with the chiefs.
Joe it looks like Pena is going to keep Bergen’s OPS+ record intact. In Bergen’s last 3 years, he OPS+ were 1,6 and -4. Right now TP, Jr. is at 3, so more than likely he won’t “achieve” negative numbers.
To put his totally sucking into perspective, when Ray Oyler in 1968 stunk so bad at hitting that the Tigers decided to play their CF at SS in the WS, his OPS+ that year was 20. And that was while he batted .135/.213/.186. And TPJr has managed to “achieve” a nearly 7 times lower OPS+. Bravo.
Joe,
Thanks for the introspective. You know that what you write can affect peoples lives and not always in a positive way. That is a lot of responsibility on one person’s shoulders. You are one in million. Keep up the good work.
What makes your sportswriting so good, Joe, is that you leaven the criticism with humanity, and vice versa. No one (well, probably someone, but not me) wants to read puff pieces about ballplayers who couldn’t hit their way out of a wet paper bag but who should remain on the team because they’re good folks, try hards, etc., etc. And as much as I try to embrace sabermetrics and other hard-headed ways to look at sports performance, I always find it depressing to see my heroes — and come on, why else would we care? — reduced to nothing but results and statistics.
That said, there’s at least one thing to be said for being a sportwriter — or a sports fan — in K.C.: you learn to take joy where you can find it. Here in Houston, our sportswriters tend to tear apart our best athletes if they stop excelling for more than about fifteen minutes. See, e.g., http://blogs.chron.com/sportsjustice/archives/2008/09/lance_berkman_n.html. I mean, if Lance Berkman played for the Royals, would he not be the most popular human being in Missouri? Would they not fete him in the town square (instead of ripping him for having a late-season slump)?
Berkman is a good guy, a fantastic hitter, and more or less the only reason the Astros have scored any runs at all this year. Do you think Richard Justice blogs quietly to himself about how guilt-ridden he feels for tearing him apart? Somehow, I kind of doubt it…
(pulling out of here to win is a Thunder Road reference)
Joe, as a Chicagoan, I want to ask you to never apologize for putting sports in context, and for explaining that there are good people. We just “lost” Mariotti, who took sick glee in ripping people apart. YOu are what is good in the business, Joe. Keep it up.
Joaldo,
I’m with Matt and DT. I’m hoping you’ll reassure us that “pulling out of here to win” does not mean you’re leaving KC. Please let us know……
Antoniomo: rest assured he was just taking the opportunity to quote from Thunder Road, because that’s how he is. He is not going anywhere and didn’t even realize it would be interpreted as such.
Yes, I can speak for Joe
Fantastic post, Joe.
Yet another reason I stop by everyday; a nice, thoughtful post.
Now on to the poll — you should have allowed us to vote for multiple teams to despise. For me (a Mizzou fan), I really despise two teams on the list, but they would never be a fellow Big XII teams. It really gets down to Notre Dame vs Michigan football — you really have to hate their silly fight songs that never get out of your head.
I echo all of the above– it’s the mixing of quotes from The Boss, along with brilliant writing and human insight that makes this a daily stop on my stroll through cyberspace. I like the eclectic way you think, no matter the topic.
Keep it rolling!
Tampa Bay writers vote with their hearts and they did just fine choosing a team MVP!
Boy, Bill Bergen must have been one hell of a gloveman. Either that or he had compromising daguerreotypes of his manager.
Did I miss the announcement of the Rosenberg book winners, by the way?
Without getting too sycophantic on you, Joe, I think you’re what most sportswriters should aspire to become.
You can be critical when necessary, but you’re well-informed in your criticisms, and when there are holes in your knowledge (from a SABR standpoint), you fess up and are actually eager to learn more instead of dismissing new and more relevant ways of thinking or shooting down those breaking new ground in analysis.
You manage to be heartfelt without stepping across the line into the maudlin, and you offer insight beyond the raw numbers without glossing over flaws by invoking “hustle” or “grit.”
Best of all, you’re a fan (but who isn’t blinded to the truth by your fandom.) And by that, I don’t just mean that you’re a fan of the Royals, or of K.C. or Cleveland sports. You’re a fan of the game, its nuances, its stories and its characters, and that comes out in your writing. There’s a sense of wonder in your writing that you’re able to not only convey but pass along to others.
And…so much for not being sycophantic. I guess I’ll stop now.
James:
Bill Bergen is THE all-glove/no-bat catcher. There is no comparison. He makes Brad Ausmus look like Josh Gibson. His brother Marty (also a baseball player, though not as historic) also (probably, there is some speculation about this) killed his family and then himself.
Joe, this is somewhat off topic, but I emailed you several years ago about a story I shot (I’m a photographer) on Hilton Smith, for Kansas City Magazine. You never responded, so I’m hoping that maybe you read these comments.
Anyway, I’d like to donate the photos to you or the Negro Leagues Museum (you write books, right? Maybe you could use the photos!). I don’t want any money for them, just thought someone else might find them useful. We also interviewed and shot Newt Allen and another guy whose name escapes me at the moment. Shoot me an email if you’re interested.
Back to the topic at hand, you’re the best sports writer I’ve ever read. I’m hoping that your reference to “pulling out” is, in fact, related to Thunder Road. If you leave KC, I’ll have to hunt you down and bitch slap your ass.
Nick
Joe,
Please write more posts that you don’t think we’ll care about. This was some of your best work.
Sincerely,
Myself, and apparently quite a few other people who comment here
You know, Brian seems like a great guy from all i’ve read about him at different places…. but he really isn’t major league material right now. Now I understand why… he’s got some issues at home distracting him. Still, he’s not major league level this year. I hope last year wasn’t the best he’ll ever do. I personally love to see pitchers without “great stuff” prove that one doesn’t have to have a Nolan Ryan fastball to win games… who cares about K’s if you can win? Just induce ground balls and you can win without “great stuff”.
Anyway, about 2 months ago, I grew sick of seeing the Royals trot Bannister out every 5 days knowing that he just couldn’t hack it (for any reason).
I mean seriously, why would anyone give a pitcher 180 IP that’s maintaining a 5.76 ERA? Get serious. Of course, this is also the same management that’s giving 200 plate appearances to a guy with an OBP under .190. What?
I am so very, very glad that I didn’t follow your advice to skip this one.
Your essential humanity, which comes through in everything you write, is what makes you worth reading on any topic at any time.
There are so many screamers covering sports (in print as well as radio/tv) that seem to take such glee and delight in ripping people to shreds. You are blessedly not like that. You are the antithesis of the bullies that get so much attention. I feel blessed that to have you in Kansas City.
And glad you like David Wilcox, too.
No apologies required, Joe. We need more human sportswriters. The screechers are more entertaining, in a guilty way – which is why we have Around the Horn with Plaschke, Mariotti, Paige, and whassisname. I’d prefer one with you, Rob Neyer, Howie Long, and… well, we need a basketball or hockey guy. Suggestions?
And speaking of suggestions… Thanks for the hockey love in the poll, but can you put the New York Rangers on the poll? Despised on the Island, in Philly, Jersey, Boston, probably parts of Detroit and Montreal, in Hartford (in memoriam), and most recently in Atlanta for that playoff sweep a couple years ago.
Ugh, I LOATHE the Rangers.
I’m sure Carl Peterson is a good person, but I want to personally carry him out of Kansas City and throw him to the ground outside the city limits. I want him gone and I want him fired 7 years ago. At least Allard Baird had the more evil David Glass to take a lot of the heat. Carl has only himself to blame. I want Herm gone too, but Carl is #1 on my list.
I guess I expect losing from the Royals. They have been so bad for so long. I am a much bigger Royals fan that I am a Chiefs fan, but at least the Chiefs used to win. I was 5 years old when the Royals won the Series. Unfortunatly I think the franchised died along with Kauffmann. We could at least count on the Chiefs to make the playoffs, but to watch this team crubble away over the last 6 or 7 years has been very hard to watch.
As an aside, I really hope the Royals keep Bannister, Greinke, and Soria. I think Bannister is turning things around and I’m not ready to give up on him.
[...] Have I mentioned that we really like Joe Posnanski? [...]
Joe, can you please move to Boston? Pretty please?
Joe, can you explain this Brian Bannister split?
3.96 ERA at home in 109 IP,
8.43 ERA away in 73.2 IP
It’d make for a great column in the Star. *hint hint*
I wish I could be as clever as you folks who often post here, for you guys are indeed clever. But, Joe, though you ignore all my emails, even when I include brilliant insights and penetrating suggestions, I read your blog and buy your books (three so far, and you’ve only published two!) because you are NOT a sportswriter. You are a writer who writes about sports. That’s a big difference.
I was once a big baseball fan. Ask me a question about the 1969 baseball season, and I can tell you. My friends and I played about 5000 games of Strat-o-matic baseball with those gray and tattered cards, and Jim Rooker remains the best pinch hitter ever! I read and memorized a billion baseball card facts, carefully read both the Newark News and the Star-Ledger, subscribed to the Sporting News (and got a letter published when I was 13!) and saved a billion box scores.
But I grew up, and found out that baseball had changed. Like everything else it touches, piles of money had tainted the way the game was played, and I found myself more and more discouraged by the sports pages that had somehow morphed into the gossip pages, the police blotters, and the business pages.
But your writing has restored my interest in sports. Well, sort of. I still won’t pay to watch the Royals. (Last time I did, I watched the Royals get hammered by the Twins, and Paul Phillips, a backup catcher who should have been hustling to keep his job, didn’t run out a squib that if he had run, just a little, he would have beaten out. Man, was I disgusted.) And I read very little baseball elsewhere. But Tony and Brian and Jose are people I “care” about in some way, and that is all due to your work here Joe. Thanks.
From Marty Bergen’s Wikipedia entry:
His career was cut short when it was discovered that he killed his wife and two children then committed suicide afterwards.
Now come on, that would be hysterical if it weren’t so sad. “Cut short” about a guy who nearly removed his head with a razor. Multiple puns in that one. And “it was discovered” is about perfect. That raises passive tense to a whole new level.
One thing that I found that is really interesting about Banny and Greinke:
Banny (2007): 12-9, 165 Inn., 3.87 ERA, 121 ERA+, ROY 3
Greinke (2004): 8-11, 145 Inn., 3.97 ERA, 120 ERA+, ROY 4
Banny (2008): 9-16, 182.2 Inn., 5.76 ERA, 78 ERA+, 113 K’s
Greinke (2005): 5-17, 183 Inn., 5.80 ERA, 76 ERA+, 114 K’s
SCARY…
I know that Banny doesn’t have the same upside, but they’re both cerebral guys and it gives me hope that he might figure it out like Zack did this year, even if he doesn’t become an ace.
[...] The conflicts of sports writing. (Posnanski) [...]
Interesting post.
I tend to dwell in that netherworld of sportswriting, often an outsider (think Baseball Prospectus, Bill Simmons et al) but sometimes an insider (beat writers, most mainstream columnists). That means I’m usually able to avoid those potential clubhouse confrontations, where I’ve ripped a player, coach, GM or owner I cover, only to have them threaten me to my face a day later.
Because I do wear an insider hat on occasion, though, those incidents do come up, albeit rarely. Even more rarely with a player/coach/GM/owner I like, though that’s happened too.
For instance, former Mariners GM Bill Bavasi is as stand-up a guy as you’ll find in any sport, ready and willing to accept criticism, defend his actions and face the music when times are rough. I’ve seen him give generously of his time to talk to various groups of fans, answering questions with the kind of candor that can make you feel like Michael Lewis in the A’s draft room. Since the M’s have been lousy and/or inefficient over the past few years, though, there’s been no choice but to criticize many of his moves.
With that said, Joe, you seem to develop closer ties to your sources than most writers I know, even insiders. If caveats are needed to get across cogent points while making sure not to take unnecessary glee in your sources’ failures, so be it. The results are usually great reads.
I’m a pastor. A good friend and colleague once finished a sermon and then apologized ’cause he figured it sucked (which he says it really did) . . . The congregation praised him so much. Made him feel even worse. BUT. He’ll never do that again.
This was different. Your “warning” at the beginning told me I wanted to read it.
btw: I’m loving The Soul of Baseball. I had given it to my dad for Christmas, and he liked it so much he bought me a copy.
I understand you can get it online. . .
I still wish Mr. O’Neil had been named to the HOF during his lifetime!
“I do not like writing badly about people. I get no kick out of it at all.” I think this is why so many of us love you, Joe.