I’m often asked to speak about all aspects of baseball — modern, historical, or statistical. If you’re a reporter working on a story, a student working on a paper, or a fan with a baseball question, please feel free to contact me. Here are a few recent interviews and clips:
My grandfather, World War II, and Minor League Baseball
By Harry Swartout, Sports Illustrated
May 25, 2017
The author sets out to learn more about his paternal grandfather, Harry Alvin Swartout, and what life was like for a young man who had to choose between pursuing his dream of a professional baseball career and serving his country during World War II. Listen to “The Narrative” podcast at SI.com.
Cardinals’ hacking scandal stands alone in the history of cheating in baseball
By Lindsey Adler, Deadspin
February 1, 2017
The St. Louis Cardinals scandal—in which then-scouting director Chris Correa used a former colleague’s password to access the Houston Astros’ player database over 50 times in 16 months—is unprecedented in baseball history. But baseball’s past is riddled with absurd scandals, many of which shaped the course of the game as we know it today. Read the full story at Deadspin.com.
Local author contends ‘Black Sox’ still threw games in 1920
By David Lipowski, The Daily Southtown
June 17, 2016
The Chicago White Sox might have disappointed many of their fans over the last several weeks, but according to Bruce Allardice, a professor of history at South Suburban College, things could always be worse. In his recent research article titled “Playing Rotten, It Ain’t That Hard to Do: How the Black Sox Threw the 1920 Pennant,” Allardice delved nearly a century back into the team’s history. The article appeared in the spring issue of the SABR Baseball Research Journal. Read the full story at The Daily Southtown.
Game with Phoenix College brought Jackie Robinson face-to-face with racism at a young age
By Rian Bosse, Cronkite News
April 15, 2016
During segregation, Jackie Robinson, the legendary baseball player who broke the MLB color barrier in 1947, visited Phoenix as a junior college football player, and battled discrimination here long before his baseball career ever began. It was indicative of what he would face throughout his athletic life. Robinson came to Phoenix as an 18-year-old on the Pasadena Junior College football team in 1937, when he and other African-American athletes were met with discrimination at the team’s hotel, as well as later in his career when he went “barnstorming” across the country after he was an established baseball star. Read the full story at Cronkite News.
How Your World Works: A Crash Course in Baseball Sabermetrics
By Cameron Johnson, Popular Mechanics
March 29, 2016
The advanced statistics known as sabermetrics are so much a part of baseball that they’re now a constant feature on SportsCenter. With the season starting April 3, we asked Jacob Pomrenke, director of editorial content at the Society for American Baseball Research, a nonprofit baseball analysis organization, to explain the math behind a few stats. Read the full story at Popular Mechanics.
Baseball writers face moral dilemma in Hall of Fame vote
By David Uberti, Columbia Journalism Review
January 7, 2016
Journalism, the adage goes, is the first rough draft of history. But baseball writers, specifically veteran Baseball Writers’ Association of America members, have something of a final-cut privilege on how the sport is recognized in our collective consciousness. They hold the keys to Cooperstown, the power to confer upon players not only eternal baseball glory, but also a place in American mythology. And the debate in recent years over how to wield that power with respect to the Steroid Era, which spanned roughly two decades till the late-2000s, has divided writers over what the Hall of Fame is or should be. Read the full story at Columbia Journalism Review.
Here are some other interviews I’ve done:
Television
“Jackie Robinson’s experience with racism in 1937.” Cronkite News, KAET/8, Phoenix, AZ (April 12, 2016)
“Scandal on the South Side: The 1919 Chicago White Sox.” Arizona Horizon, KAET/8, Phoenix, AZ (July 16, 2015)
Radio/Podcasts
“This Week in Baseball History: The Black Sox Go To Trial” re: continuing developments in the Black Sox Scandal story with Michael Bates and Bill Parker (July 19, 2017)
“How Your World Works” re: an intro to sabermetrics with Cameron Johnson, Popular Mechanics (March 25, 2016)
“The Show” re: Pete Rose’s continued ban from MLB with Steve Goldstein, KJZZ/Phoenix (December 15, 2015)
“Game On” re: Rob Manfred’s announcement on Pete Rose ban with Katie B. Davis, WDUN/Gainesville, Ga. (December 15, 2015)
“All Things Considered” re: historical feat of all 15 MLB home teams winning on same day, NPR (August 12, 2015)
“C Dot Show” re: Pete Rose and the 1919 Reds with C. Trent Rosecrans, Cincinnati.com (June 22, 2015)
“Game On” re: new book on the Black Sox Scandal with Katie B. Davis, WDUN/Gainesville, Ga. (June 15, 2015)
“MLB Roundtrip” re: Pete Rose and the Black Sox Scandal with Jeff Joyce and Mel Antonen, MLB Network Radio/SiriusXM (March 18, 2015)
“Game On” re: John Smoltz’ Hall of Fame induction with Katie B. Davis, WDUN/Gainesville, Ga. (January 5, 2015)
“Game On” re: firing of Braves GM Frank Wren with Katie B. Davis, WDUN/Gainesville, Ga. (September 22, 2014)
“Game On” re: the Braves’ 2014 Hall of Fame induction class with Katie B. Davis, WDUN/Gainesville, Ga. (July 21, 2014)
“London in the Afternoon” re: new developments in the Black Sox story with Al Coombs, CJBK/Toronto (April 9, 2013)
“The Nick D Show” re: new developments in the Black Sox story with Nick Digilio, WGN Radio (September 5, 2011)
Online
“David Vincent, the Sultan of Swat Stats, dies.” New York Times (July 6, 2017)
“The Exorcist: How Theo Epstein can banish Cubs’ demons.” New York Daily News (October 6, 2016)
“The religious sect that became baseball’s answer to the Harlem Globetrotters.” The Guardian (September 21, 2016)
“Uphill climb for St. John’s underhand-throwing ace Thomas Hackimer.” New York Daily News (May 20, 2016)
“Opening Day, baseball’s best day of the season.” Scripps Howard Foundation Wire (April 8, 2016)
“Moneyball, anyone? How Cubs rank in advanced sabermetric stats.” Chicago Tribune (October 7, 2015)
“Will Shoeless Joe Jackson ever get into the Baseball Hall of Fame?” The Sporting News (September 8, 2015)
“MLB Commissioner denies latest appeal for Buck Weaver reinstatement.” Chicago Tribune (July 29, 2015)
“For the first time, sensors and a computer play umpire in a pro baseball game.” Ars Technica (July 29, 2015)
“Buck Weaver’s family pushes to get ‘Black Sox’ player reinstated.” Chicago Tribune (July 3, 2015)
“How Baseball Has Spent 96 Years Punishing An Innocent Man For The 1919 Black Sox Scandal.” VICE Sports (July 2, 2015)
“The Forgotten Story of … Joe DiMaggio and the San Francisco Seals talent factory.” The Guardian (May 21, 2015)
“The Johnny Bench Mystery is Solved.” The Oklahoman (May 19, 2015)
“That Was the Strangest MLB Game Ever.” Wired (April 29, 2015)
“Baseball Fans Locked Out as Riots Rock Baltimore.” Agence France-Presse (April 28, 2015)
“With our MLB teams, it’s often a long-distance love affair.” Albany Times-Union (April 4, 2015)
“Expert: Rose situation is unprecedented as far as Hall.” Cincinnati Enquirer (March 17, 2015)
“Is Mort Rogers The Granddaddy Of The American Baseball Card?” Hauls of Shame (January 20, 2015)
“Decades later, ‘Orioles Magic’ still resonates.” Baltimore Sun (October 13, 2014)
“Sure as day follows night …” Baseball Prospectus (October 7, 2014)
“.394: Numbers game is ever evolving.” San Diego Union-Tribune (August 13, 2014)
“Rare footage of infamous 1919 ‘Black Sox’ World Series found in Yukon permafrost.” National Post (May 4, 2014)
“For SABR, Data Just Part of the Equation.” Associations Now (March 31, 2014)
“Ruben Tejada could be Terry Collins’ guinea pig in batting a position player ninth.” Newsday (March 16, 2014)
“Sabermetrics: Past, Present and Future.” Mets360.com (December 16, 2013)
“Hunting Shoeless Joe’s Holy Grail.” Wall Street Journal (August 2, 2013)
“Miguel Cabrera, the Triple Crown and the MVP Issue” MarketWatch.com (October 3, 2012)
“Cubs at Fenway should be worth the wait.” MLB.com (May 18, 2011)
“90 years later, experts still unraveling Black Sox mysteries.” USA Today (July 28, 2009)
