ESPN's Buster Olney Reflects On His ‘Crazy’ Baseball Passion

 

ESPN's Buster Olney Reflects On His ‘Crazy’ Baseball Passion

Buster Olney, a Pulitzer prize nominee who grew up in Randolph Center, says his job as a baseball writer is more challenging now than ever, thanks to the fans.

"There's no question fans are much better educated than they used to be," said Olney, 44 who is now a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine and studio analyst for Baseball Tonight.

Olney began his career in 1989 at the Nashville Banner (now disbanded), covering the Triple-A Nashville Sounds, an affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds.

"The fans have much more at their disposal today. But I also think there's a little bit that's still mysterious about the game."

During an era in which fans can instantly access their favorite teams and players and explain everything through statistical reasoning, Olney believes his role is to help explain the seemingly unexplainable.

"There's a human element of the game that can't be described in numbers," he said. "There's a natural need for people to say there's a reason why, or to give a precise reason for things happening, but sometimes you can't.

"There is such a thing as choking and such a thing as rising to the occasion, and I don't know if it's always definable by statistics."

Growing up on a farm in Randolph Center, Olney remembers walking two miles to get the Sunday Boston Globe each week in order to read "Diamond Notes" by Peter Gammons, who is now his colleague at ESPN.

Gammons' famous notes package has arguably found its successor in Olney's blog on ESPN.com—a daily, quick-hitting, insider's look at all 30 Major League teams.

Olney, the son of the late Mary Lincoln, was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in beat reporting in 1996, covering the Orioles for the Baltimore Sun.

He also finished in the Associated Press "Game Story Top 10" for his story on game one of the 1996 American League Championship Series between the Orioles and New York Yankees. The game is best remembered for the questionable home run by Derek Jeter, caught by fan Jeffrey Maier as he leaned over the outfield wall.

Great Players Care

While writing for the New York Times in 1998, Olney received his second Pulitzer Prize nomination for his coverage of the Yankees.

"That team reinforced my faith that great players cared," he said. "Mariano Rivera, Derek Jeter, Paul O'Neill, Tino Martinez—every game that year, they came to play." In 2004, Olney published the New York Times bestseller, "The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty."

Olney was graduated from Vanderbilt University in 1988 with a degree in history.

Reflecting on his life-long passion for baseball, Olney said, "I was a completely crazy, obnoxious Dodgers fan, and I loved having that passion. I love the game, and it's fun to play devil's advocate on behalf of 30 teams."

 

Buster Olney: Q & A

What is the favorite story you have ever written?

"I did a story in 1999 when I was at the New York Times on Jason Grimsley. There was an incident in 1994 when Albert Belle had his bat confiscated by Major League Baseball because he was suspected of using cork. The bat was switched out of the umpire’s office during the game with a bat that wasn’t corked, and the umps had no idea how it was done because it was behind a locked door. For my story, Jason Grimsley, who was with the Indians, told me how he did it: he crawled through a vent to switch the bats."

Who is your all-time favorite player to cover?

"Tony Gwynn. First off, he loved the game, and he loved to share his thoughts on the game. He speaks in anecdotes. He just made it so wonderful to cover because he was brilliant at what he did, but he was also brilliant in describing what he was trying to do on the field."