The Best American Sports Writing 2020

by Jackie MacMullan (Editor)

Overview

The latest addition to the acclaimed series showcasing the best sports writing from the past year.

For over twenty-five years, The Best American Sports Writing has built a solid reputation by showcasing the greatest sports journalism of the previous year, culled from hundreds of national, regional, and specialty print and digital publications. Each year, the series editor and guest editor curate a truly exceptional collection. The only shared traits among all these diverse styles, voices, and stories are the extraordinarily high caliber of writing, and the pure passion they tap into that can only come from sports.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780358181835
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	01/17/2024
Series:	Best American Series
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	370
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

GLENN STOUT is a freelance writer, author, and editorial consultant and has served as series editor of The Best American Sports Writing since its inception. He is the author of Young Woman and the Sea and Fenway 1912, and has collaborated with Richard Johnson on Red Sox Century,Yankees Century,The Cubs, and The Dodgers. Stout has lived in and around Boston for 20 years, and currently lives in Vermont.

Table of Contents

BILL PLASCHKE: For People Suffering from Alzheimer’s and Dementia, Baseball Brings Back Fun Memories

DAVY ROTHBART: The Believer

ROBERTO JOSÉ ANDRADE FRANCO: As the Border Bled, Juárez Watched the Game It Waited Nine Years For

KURT STREETER: Which Way, Richmond? Which Way, America?

BRYAN BURROUGH: Shooting a Tiger

JOSHUA HAMMER: Chaos at the Top of the World

NICK PAUMGARTEN: The Symptoms

AISHWARYA KUMAR: The Grandmaster Diet

MARK GOZONSKY: Gritty All Day Long

ELIZABETH WEIL: Did Venus Williams Ever Get Her Due?

CHLOÉ COOPER JONES: Champion Moves

STEVE POLITI: He Told a Kid to Slide. Then He Got Sued.

KEN ROSENTHAL AND EVAN DRELLICH: The Astros Stole Signs Electronically in 2017—Part of a Much Broader Issue for Major League Baseball

TIM LAYDEN: Disqualified

KEVIN ARNOVITZ: How NBA Executive Jeff David Stole $13 Million from the Sacramento Kings

STEVEN LECKART: The Bicycle Thief

CHRIS BALLARD: Fumbled Recovery

MAY JEONG: Patriot Act

MIKE KESSLER AND MARK FAINARU-WADA: 44 Years. 41 Allegations. Now the Past Is Catching Up.

JOHN GRISWOLD: The Exiled and the Devil’s Sideshow

KENT BABB: Olympic Cyclist Catlin Was Driven to the End

AMY RAGSDALE AND PETER STARK: What It’s Like to Die from Heatstroke

ANDREW KEH: The Champion Who Picked a Date to Die

EMILY GIAMBALVO: A Second Chance

ELIZABETH MERRILL: Whatever Happened to Villanova Basketball Star Shelly Pennefather? “So I Made This Deal with God.”

Editorial Reviews

09/28/2020

This, the final planned entry to the Best American Sports Writing series, sends the lauded annual anthologies out on a high note after a 25-year run. “The most compelling stories are ones we can feel and touch and imagine, without much difficulty, that we are there,” MacMullan writes. Three particularly memorable stories mark this installment: In “For People Suffering from Alzheimer’s and Dementia, Baseball Brings Back Fun Memories” by Bill Plaschke, elderly Alzheimer’s patients trade baseball tales as therapy; “As the Border Bled, Juárez Watched the Game It Waited Nine Years For” by Roberto José Andrade Franco relates a soccer club’s revival in one of Mexico’s most dangerous cities; and “Shooting a Tiger” by Bryan Burrough follows the bloody hunt for a man-eating tiger in India. Along with well-detailed accounts of sports concussions and heatstroke, there is “Did Venus Williams Ever Get Her Due?” by Elizabeth Weil, a revealing profile of the tennis great, and “Patriot Act” by May Jeong, a blistering exposé of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft. This final, sparkling outing is a must-read for all sports lovers. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly