SI Article "Write of Spring"
This week's Sports Illustrated Scorecard , which was edited by Mark Bechtel and Sridhar Pappu, featured a great short piece on Roger Angell, the legendary sportswriter for The New Yorker.
I haven't read much of Angell in The New Yorker, but his eloquent descriptions of the subjects that he writes about are legendary. Here's a sampling of his writing through his description of Pedro Martinez in last fall's American League Championship Series against the New York Yankees.
"After each out, he gloves the returning ball backhand, and gazes about with lidded hauteur. No one else in the world has eyes so far about."
Angell started sportswriting at the age of 41 when he was dispatched by the New Yorker to cover the New York Mets. The year was 1962, and the Mets ended up with 120 losses that year. The Mets were managed by the legendary 71 year-old Casey Stengel and were stocked with aging veterans, who were at the the end of their careers such as Gil Hodges and Richie Ashburn. The roster was also filled with characters such as Chico Carrasquel and Elio Chacon. Angell learned from covering this team that sometimes the best stories come from the worst teams.
"There's enough about the game that's absolutely fascinating and complicated....Every year we get in the postseason and everyone says 'Oh baseball is so wonderful.' They've rediscovered that there are some really tense and amazing contests and astounding turnabouts. And I say, 'Yeah, that what I've been saying all along."
He now dispatches two or three articles to the New Yorker each season. I'm going to check out more of Angell's pieces. After listening to Vin Scully announce the Dodgers/Rockies game last night, I know that our time to listen to these great journalists are heading into the deep September of the season.
BD
I haven't read much of Angell in The New Yorker, but his eloquent descriptions of the subjects that he writes about are legendary. Here's a sampling of his writing through his description of Pedro Martinez in last fall's American League Championship Series against the New York Yankees.
"After each out, he gloves the returning ball backhand, and gazes about with lidded hauteur. No one else in the world has eyes so far about."
Angell started sportswriting at the age of 41 when he was dispatched by the New Yorker to cover the New York Mets. The year was 1962, and the Mets ended up with 120 losses that year. The Mets were managed by the legendary 71 year-old Casey Stengel and were stocked with aging veterans, who were at the the end of their careers such as Gil Hodges and Richie Ashburn. The roster was also filled with characters such as Chico Carrasquel and Elio Chacon. Angell learned from covering this team that sometimes the best stories come from the worst teams.
"There's enough about the game that's absolutely fascinating and complicated....Every year we get in the postseason and everyone says 'Oh baseball is so wonderful.' They've rediscovered that there are some really tense and amazing contests and astounding turnabouts. And I say, 'Yeah, that what I've been saying all along."
He now dispatches two or three articles to the New Yorker each season. I'm going to check out more of Angell's pieces. After listening to Vin Scully announce the Dodgers/Rockies game last night, I know that our time to listen to these great journalists are heading into the deep September of the season.
BD
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