He was born when Babe Ruth was in just his third season as a Yankee slugger. He went to his first baseball game when John McGraw and Wilbert Robinson were still managing. His tenure at Sports Illustrated began months before the first issue of the magazine printed in 1954. And recently, I found Robert Creamer, [...]
Archive for the ‘Interviews’ Category
With Moneyball due in theaters this week, I figured it might be a good time to interview Dan Szymborski, who voted in the project here last December on the 50 best players not in the Hall of Fame and is something of a sabermetric writer about the Internet. Szymborski is the Editor-In-Chief of BaseballThinkFactory.org, and [...]
To anyone who missed it, one of my interview subjects from last year, John Thorn, was named official historian yesterday for Major League Baseball. Thorn has authored several books, including Total Baseball and served as senior creative consultant for the Ken Burns Baseball series that aired in 1994 on PBS. After seeing the news yesterday, [...]
Editor’s note: The following conversation took place this morning by phone. For the second straight day, I’ve got to say it: Thank you Rob Neyer First off, thank you so much for being up for this. I just got a few questions. I know you’re a busy guy. The first thing I wanted ask you [...]
The baseball blogosphere is filled with people who haven’t gotten a professional break, people like myself. Many of us are dedicated and passionate, but for whatever reason, we find ourselves here. Every so often, though, one of us breaks through. Last spring, I noticed reviews on ESPN.com and in Sports Illustrated of Josh Wilker’s book, [...]
My curiously long interview with Joe Posnanski
Posted: 10th September 2010 by Graham Womack in Interviews, Joe PosnanskiAs an aspiring sportswriter, there are certain writers I look up to, idolize, and wonder how they got where they did. One of these writers is Joe Posnanski, the two-time Associated Press sports columnist of the year and Sports Illustrated writer. In addition to his professional duties, Posnanski maintains arguably the best baseball blog known [...]
My interview with Hank Greenwald
Posted: 13th August 2010 by Graham Womack in Hank Greenwald, InterviewsFormer San Francisco Giants announcer Hank Greenwald left a comment on this site Thursday. The 75-year-old Greenwald, who broadcast Giants games from 1979 to 1986 and again from 1989 to 1996, read my review of Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story and commented that greats like Sandy Koufax and Hank Greenberg were beloved for [...]
More quotes from my interview with John Thorn
Posted: 18th June 2010 by Graham Womack in Interviews, John ThornLast week, I posted a story on a forgotten Negro League/semi-pro great named John Donaldson, and in writing it, I faced a high class problem for a writer: I had more solid material than could fit. As I’ve since commented, this was an 800-word piece that could’ve gone 2,000. A lot of good stuff didn’t [...]
Port-mortem on McGwire: Five more questions with Dale Tafoya
Posted: 26th January 2010 by Graham Womack in InterviewsTags: A Legacy Subpoenaed, Bash Brothers, Dale Tafoya, interview, Jose Canseco, Mark McGwire
Faithful readers of this site will know that in December I reviewed a book about Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco, Bash Brothers: A Legacy Subpoenaed. The book’s author, Dale Tafoya subsequently contacted me, and I interviewed him. A few weeks after that, McGwire finally admitted to using steroids during his career. Thereafter, his former trainer, [...]
10 Questions with Matt Walbeck
Posted: 4th January 2010 by Graham Womack in InterviewsTags: chronicles of the marginally employed, interview, Sacramento baseball players
I have found work recently as a painter and was in a town here in Northern California called Danville last week, doing interior work on a house. I got to talking with one of the homeowners, and it turns out she is from Sacramento, like me and went to high school with Matt Walbeck, a [...]