This book provides stories from journalists who were articulate and didn’t need bluster to tell a story. Many of them must have been poets at heart.
High Point: The investigative story about Jackie Robinson by Stanley Woodward of the New York Herald-Tribune.
Low Point: An occasional article that’s simply too dated to be interesting.
Editors: Irving T. Marsh and Edward Ehre
Publication Date: 1948
Genre: Sports
Project Gutenberg: Not available
LibriVox: Not available
Movie/TV Adaptation: None
Before we had 24-hour sports talk radio and TV’s talking heads, we had sports journalists who graced the pages of newspapers and magazines. Unlike many of today’s sports “analysts”, these people were articulate and didn’t need bluster to tell a story. Many of them must have been poets at heart.
A prime example is Best Sports Stories 1948. The book includes a selection of newspaper stories and magazine articles from 1947. While it may have limited appeal in the 21st century, it’s a solid example of sports journalism at its best.
To begin with, there’s a then-current investigative piece by Stanley Woodward from the New York Herald Tribune about Jackie Robinson’s debut in major league baseball—a milestone, of course, not only for baseball, but for race relations in the US.
There are also intriguing articles about sports personalities in boxing, hockey, and even skiing. Some certainly aren’t household names today, but they are fascinating stories nonetheless.
The best part, though, is the way these people used the language. I remember having a high school English teacher who encouraged us to read the sports section in the local newspaper. She talked about the way the writers could be creative and eloquent in the way they portrayed something as simple as a baseball game. This book illustrates that in spades.
We don’t see this much anymore—maybe from Jeff Passan who writes for espn.com or occasionally from Levi Weaver of The Athletic.
This book shows us what we’re missing.
