Tim Kurkjian: “This is Why Baseball is so Beautiful.”

Press Box Access: A Sports History Podcast

Tim Kurkjian’s love of baseball radiates as he recounts his four decades of covering our National Pastime. The ESPN stalwart takes us to his early days as a newspaper beat reporter when terrible teams couldn’t extinguish his joy. Tim recalls Don Zimmer’s wisdom, Earl Weaver’s unforgettable greeting, and Cal Ripken Jr.’s ferocious competitiveness even off the field.. He puts us there for a Game 7 that Jack Morris wouldn’t leave, and a Game 7 when the Cubs broke a curse. We hear about Tony Gwynn’s favorite bat, an odd request from Mickey Rivers, and a shared fascination for the APBA board game. There’s a memorable moment with Johnny Bench sitting lakeside in Cooperstown. And, yes, that sausage mascot race . . . Yikes.

Kurkjian was named the 2022 Baseball Writers’ Association of America’s Career Excellence Award winner (formerly the J.G. Taylor Spink award), presented annually to a writer “for meritorious contributions to baseball writing.” He was recognized at Baseball Hall of Fame ceremonies in July of ’22. Tim has been a senior writer for ESPN.com and a baseball writer, analyst, host and reporter for ESPN TV since 1998. He has served as an analyst for “Monday Night Baseball” and “Wednesday Night Baseball.” Tim earned an Emmy Award in 2002 for his work on “Baseball Tonight,” and he was honored with a second Emmy for his contributions to “SportsCenter” in 2003-04.

Tim was one of the first sportswriters to appear on TV as an analyst. He spent the first half of his career at newspapers and at Sports Illustrated, where he was a baseball senior writer for nine seasons (1998-97). He also worked as an on-air reporter for CNN-SI in his final two years at the magazine. His journalism career began at The Washington Star in 1978. He then worked briefly for the Baltimore News American in 1981 before joining the The Dallas Morning News to cover the Texas Rangers as a beat reporter beginning in the 1982 season. Tim moved to The Baltimore Sun in 1986 and covered the Baltimore Orioles as a beat writer through the 1989 season.

Kurkjian is the author of three books: “America’s Game” (2000), “Is This a Great Game or What?” (2007), and “I’m Fascinated by Sacrifice Flies” (2017). He grew up in Bethesda, Md. and attended Walter Johnson High School, named for the great Washington Senators pitcher. Tim graduated from the University of Maryland with a BS in journalism in 1978.

Follow Tim on Twitter: @Kurkjian_ESPN

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