sportsjabber.net

You are browsing the archives of Jeff Pearlman.

It’s 10 pm, and I just put the kids down after a long day at Six Flags Great Adventure. A looooooong day. I love roller coasters and, in theory, I love amusement parks. I’m a fan of crowds–check. I’m a fan of rides—check. I’m even a fan of funnel cakes and overpriced milkshakes—check, check. I [...]

Jim Abbott was, by all statistical measures, a mediocre Major League pitcher. Over 10 seasons, his lifetime record was 87-108. He had but five .500-plus runs and, besides a fantastic 18-11 finish in 1991, never totaled more than 12 wins. Although his lifetime ERA of 4.25 is digestible, it’s hardly Gooden-esque. And yet … There’s [...]

There are many keys to researching a book, from lining up the right interviews to finding the right research materials to discovering new little details that have never before been uncovered. Few things, however, are as important to me as the piles. By piles, I mean piles … … and piles … … and piles [...]

“The Bad Boys Won: the story of the 1986 New York Mets” by esteemed sports writer Jeff Pearlman is a great book. But in this case, a bad guy lost. Former Mets outfielder Lenny Dykstra was sentenced Monday to three years in state prison in a grand theft auto case. Los Angeles County Superior Court [...]

I was 13 in 1985, when Whitney Houston’s self-titled debut album arrived at my house as a Chanukah gift.

I knew only a little about Houston, whose song, “You Give Good Love,” was starting to get a lot of play on the radio and MTV. Like, for example, I knew that she sang like the most beautiful of birds. And I knew that her voice was unlike any I had ever heard. And I knew that the photograph of her[...]

Over the past few days Kyle Williams, the 49ers kick returner who had the two key turnovers against the Giants, has been receiving tons and tons and tons of hate. Hate on the radio. Hate on TV. Hate on blogs. Hate on Twitter. To these people, the haters, I offer this message of love and [...]

In Jeff’s Own Words…

So, as many of you know, my latest book, “Sweetness: The Enigmatic Life of Walter Payton,” comes out tomorrow. I have never worked harder on a project … have never devoted more time, more energy, more passion, more heart to a project. Never ever. I always feel funny asking people to buy a book, but if you feel inclined, this is the link to the Amazon page:

[...]

Running for the presidency and being the president are awfully different things. When one runs for president, he is a superhero, galloping from town to town atop a white horse, promising hope and fortune and something called The American Dream. He can say whatever he pleases; guarantee whatever he wishes to guarantee; talk of better [...]

A couple of weeks ago I returned to a major league clubhouse for the first time in, oh, a year. It was nice being back, the comfortable rhythms of a life I once knew very well. Players dodge the press. The press congregates. A star goes to his locker. The press follows. Ah, like home.

Yet whenever I long for a true comeback to covering baseball, [...]

If there is a Baseball God, Cliff Lee returns to Texas and the Yankees sit and watch Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford and the best pitcher on the market go elsewhere.

I don’t know Lee, but I hope he’s enough of a smalltown guy to ignore the seventh year of the Yankee contract and stick with the [...]