Jayson Stark: “The Baseball Breaks a Window Across the Street from Wrigley Field.”

Press Box Access: A Sports History Podcast

Our show’s 75th episode has a special guest in Jayson Stark, one of the most well-respected, well-liked baseball writers for more than 40 years. His passion for the game and craft shines through as he discusses growing up as Stan Hochman’s pen pal, studying Peter Gammons early in his career, and mentoring other young reporters. Jayson has some wild tales – including a near punch by Dickie Noles, and Dallas Green’s special gift – from being a beat writer covering the early ’80s Philadelphia Phillies. Hear how Jayson developed his weekly baseball column, renowned since 1983 for humor, oddball stats and offbeat facts. He tells us about a World Series game that he considers the best in history. And there’s even a story connecting a Sammy Sosa homer and a certain Frenchman.

The Baseball Writers’ Association of America named Stark the 2019 winner of its Career Excellence Award, which he received at the Hall of Fame induction weekend in Cooperstown, New York. Jayson worked 21 years at his hometown Philadelphia Inquirer, first serving as the Phillies’ beat reporter (1979-82) and then becoming the paper’s national baseball writer and columnist in ’83. His Baseball Week in Review column proved so popular in syndication that it continued after he was hired by ESPN in 2000. For the next 17 years, Stark served as a senior baseball writer for ESPN.com and ESPN The Magazine while making regular appearances on the cable network’s TV shows “Baseball Tonight,” “SportsCenter” and “Outside the Lines,” as well as regular ESPN Radio guest spots on “Mike and Mike” and as co-host of a weekly radio show during the baseball season on ESPN Radio’s affiliate in Philadelphia. His TV work includes appearances on Major League Baseball Productions, NFL Films and Philadelphia’s Comcast SportsNet. He is also a former baseball analyst for the Sports Fan radio network and a commentator on the Phillies’ pregame radio show.

Despite his popularity and proficiency, Stark was laid off by ESPN in April 2017. He has been covering baseball at The Athletic and MLB Network since 2018. Jayson also served as a columnist for Baseball America for 16 years and has written for Sports Illustrated, Sport, Inside Sports, Sporting News, Men’s Fitness and Athlon. His first job in journalism was at the Providence Journal (1975-78).

Stark has won an Emmy for his work on "Baseball Tonight," has been inducted into the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame and is a two-time winner of the Pennsylvania Sportswriter of the Year award given by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association. He was a finalist for that group’s National Sportswriter of the Year award in 2017. Stark was honored by Penn State’s Foster Conference for Distinguished Writers in 2010. He has won several awards from the Associated Press Sports Editors, and he was inducted into the Philadelphia Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 2017. That year, Topps issued a Jayson Stark baseball card.

Jayson is the author of three books:

• “Wild Pitches: Rumblings, Grumblings, and Reflections on the Game I Love” (2014)
• “Worth The Wait: Tales of the 2008 Phillies” (2011)
• “The Stark Truth: The Most Overrated and Underrated Players in Baseball History” (2007)

Stark earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Syracuse University in 1973. He was born in Philadelphia and grew up in the city’s Northeast section. His mother, June Herder Stark, wrote for the Philadelphia Record and worked alongside legendary sportswriter Red Smith. She later edited the Philadelphia edition of Where Magazine.

You can follow Stark on X: @jaysonst

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