Favorite Baseball Writers

by McCann and McWill on Nov 4, 2009 10:31 AM EST Comment 23 comments

This is my first post, but I've never seen this question asked. Who are some great baseball writers that I can read online, whether it be for the braves or in general?

I've noticed most people hate ESPN writers except for Jayson Stark. I still highly respect Peter Gammons. Also I noticed that its the general consensus that Ken Rosenthal makes most his stuff up. What do you guys think of the SI writers, like John Heyman? Anyway's who do you guys respect?

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Jon Heyman is the worst

I honestly don’t know how the guy maintains employment. I seriously think he’s some sort of hate buffer that absorbs most of the criticism and negative comments, to make all other baseball writers on the SI staff, as well as baseball writers everywhere else seem that much more talented. He’s the fat-friend wingman for baseball writers everywhere.

He may be a little biased, but I still like Tom Verducci’s writing style. He’s not nearly as big of a reporter as much he used to be, but he still has perspectives towards the game that seem more like his own than rhetoric. I don’t get SI anymore, but I was a big fan of John Donovan, as well. As biased as many mainstream writers seem to be to the NY/BOS hype machine, it was always nice to see a guy like Donovan who always, really showed appreciation and I guess, his own bias, towards the Atlanta Braves, and most notably the Maddux/Glavine/Smoltz era.

But overall, I’m going to have to say my favorite baseball writer these days is Joe Posnanski. He combines wit and statistical analysis into his columns, which are easy to read, and not at all laborious, even when he delves into the numbers.

No wonder nobody likes you, Tuttle... everything's a (Pujols) damn debate.

by royhobbs on Nov 4, 2009 10:39 AM EST reply actions 1 recs

+1

http://www.capitolavenueclub.com/

by PWHjort on Nov 4, 2009 12:47 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Yea. Posnanski is great. I thought his articles with the conversations with Bill James were really interesting. And I mean how can you hate guy that writes this.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/joe_posnanski/09/30/atlanta.braves/index.html

by McCann and McWill on Nov 4, 2009 1:06 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

i love that article… i have been walking around and asking my baseball friends to name the guys on that list and then i explain that it is the definitive list of best hitters of all time

best article i have read in a while

Heyward,Hanson,and Shaffer r ready now!! Why do you think they havent signed the "right handed bat"?

by fatazfoot on Jan 7, 2009 8:59 PM EST

by Swo12bv on Nov 4, 2009 3:43 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

incredible read…thanks for sharing that!

"My team of nine guys who hit like Albert Pujols and never ever bunt just beat your team with one Shane Victorino 472 to 3."

by justincredubil02 on Nov 4, 2009 4:45 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

that's one of the best baseball articles i've ever read.

"Are you tryin to say Jesus Christ can't hit a curveball?"

by mvhsbball on Nov 4, 2009 6:36 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Joe Poz

is Da Man.

If Albert played in the AFL, they’d have to rename it the AZ/NM Fall League, based on where his homers landed.

by Yakker on Nov 4, 2009 3:45 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Furman Bisher…who else?

Also, Joe Morgan is pretty good.

"My team of nine guys who hit like Albert Pujols and never ever bunt just beat your team with one Shane Victorino 472 to 3."

by justincredubil02 on Nov 4, 2009 10:59 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Dave O’Brien

Here are Pujols's stats: 1.000/1.000/4.000/5.000. That's right. He is batting a thousand, with a thousand OBP (naturally), and every hit has been a home run, and thus his OPS is a perfect 5.000.

by TradeAndruw on Nov 4, 2009 11:51 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Yea I’ve been hearing a lot about this guy named Steve Phillips. I mean he was a GM that ruined one of our rivals. How bad can that guy be?

by McCann and McWill on Nov 4, 2009 1:03 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

See: pooch, screwed.

by J-Freak on Nov 4, 2009 1:45 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Likes/dislikes

I like Joe Posnanski, Rob Neyer, Keith Law, Bill James, everyone at THT, everyone at BA, MGL, Tango, and the Fangraphs crew. And Mark Bradley (even if he’s mostly clueless).

I dislike Peter Gammons, Jason Stark, Tom Verducci, Jon Heyman, Ken Rosenthal, all of the BPro crew, and many more that I won’t take time to list.

As far as the beat writers go, I don’t mind either one but I’m not a huge fan of either one, either. O’Brien is the superior writer, but he doesn’t have the inside track as much as Bowman and he’s really sensitive. Kind of a bitch, honestly. Bowman is basically an organizational mouth, just reports whatever Schuerholz and Wren tell him to.

http://www.capitolavenueclub.com/

by PWHjort on Nov 4, 2009 1:09 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

i was about to comment... but then i saw this. so, you know, "this".

by brndn on Nov 4, 2009 11:25 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Gondee.

"Matt Diaz is a baseball player."-Joe Simpson

by 10-4 on Nov 4, 2009 3:54 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Seriously, we don’t give the TC authors enough credit. They are all great writers…

"Hey Fat Kid...the monster is right behind you! RUNNNN!!" -The Host

by bwellnjonesco on Nov 4, 2009 4:20 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

The fact that this is where I come first for my Braves news speaks volumes.

by secondbass on Nov 4, 2009 5:06 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

https://www.createspace.com/3407939

Just saying…

"At least he didn’t nail the bitchy fat girl from Hell's Kitchen."
www.dropoutproductions.com

by cbwilk on Nov 5, 2009 12:20 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Bad-ass dude! Congrats!

"My team of nine guys who hit like Albert Pujols and never ever bunt just beat your team with one Shane Victorino 472 to 3."

by justincredubil02 on Nov 5, 2009 9:24 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

That’s fantastic, cb!

by Lizziebeth on Nov 9, 2009 2:52 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

My favorites at ESPN are Rob Neyer, Keith Law, and Jayson Stark (only for his wacky facts, not as much for the writing). Gammons gets a free pass because the guy knows more about baseball history than anyone else on the planet and he’s a plenty good writer, but most of his online articles are TLDR.

Not being an Insider kinda limits my reading, too. I used to have an account there, but when I realized I wasn’t reading everyone every day, I decided it wasn’t really worth it. I really just miss Keith Law’s analysis, but there are always chats to read.

Non-ESPN, Joe Posnanski takes the cake. Most others I don’t read enough to pretend to know about their writing. Rosenthal, Heyman, Verducci are all good enough, I guess (Rosenthal’s kinda a weiner, and Heyman doesn’t know his ass from a hole in the ground, but it doesn’t mean I won’t read pertinent info). O’Brien’s OK, but I’ve still got a bad taste in my mouth after last offseason’s debacle. Bisher… well, he’s got that whole legacy thing, but his lightbulb burned out a long time ago.

by FineHamAbounds on Nov 4, 2009 6:21 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

My likes and dislikes:

KLaw – he’s probably my favorite, even tho he can be an asshole lol.

Gammons – Gotta respect the guy; it’s nice that he’s calmed down on all the Redsox writing the past few years.

Joe Posnanski – Easily the best non-ESPN writer and im kinda surprised they haven’t tried to pay him $$$ to come over to ESPN.

Jim Callis/The BA writers – thats the best site for all things prospects.

Dislikes:
Rob Neyer: I saw some of you like him, but I feel like he just states the obvious a lot of the time in his articles. Not to mention he gets way off-track in his chats and some of his articles.

Ken Rosenthal- Manny to the Twins! Clemens back to New York! Pujols to Boston! Hudson to become a FA! *2 days later: Manny to stay in LA. Clemens to stay retired. Pujols signs 8 year extension with STL. Hudson signs with Braves. I wish I got paid to write a bunch of bullshit.

Jon Heyman – See Rosenthal. Not to mention he tries to be funny but really isn’t.

Joe Morgan/Steve Phillips/Orestes Ostrada/etc – they don’t know shit about baseball.

"Are you tryin to say Jesus Christ can't hit a curveball?"

by mvhsbball on Nov 4, 2009 6:28 PM EST reply actions 0 recs