Kurkjian, Tim 1956–

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Kurkjian, Tim 1956–

(Timothy Bell Kurkjian)

PERSONAL:

Born December 10, 1956, in Bethesda, MD; married Kathleen Patrick, 1983. Education: Attended University of Maryland.

ADDRESSES:

E-mail—tim.kurkjian@espnmag.com.

CAREER:

Sports Illustrated, senior writer, 1989-1997; ESPN, senior writer and reporter for ‘Baseball Tonight,’ 1998—.

WRITINGS:

America's Game: A Three- Dimensional Interactive Book Featuring Documents and Photographs from the National Baseball Hall of Fame, Crown Publishers (New York, NY), 2000.

(Author of foreword) Major League Baseball Hometown Heroes: The Most Outstanding Players in Baseball History, Club by Club, Ballantine Books (New York, NY), 2006.

Is This a Great Game, or What? From A-Rod's Heart to Zim's Head—My 25 Years in Baseball, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2007.

SIDELIGHTS:

Journalist Tim Kurkjian has made his passion—baseball—the focus of his entire sportswriting career. As a senior writer at Sports Illustrated, and as a senior writer for ESPN as well as a reporter for ESPN's ‘Baseball Tonight,’ he covers the sport that he considers the best in the world. In Is This a Great Game, or What? From A-Rod's Heart to Zim's Head—My 25 Years in Baseball, he shares statistics, anecdotes, jokes, and memories from his long career as a baseball analyst.

Kurkjian argues in Is This a Great Game, or What? that baseball is superior to football, basketball, soccer, and every other sport because it is the ‘ultimate skill sport.’ He also emphasizes that baseball is the game in which players confront the most fear—because the risk of being seriously injured by a hard ball pitched or thrown at great speeds is formidable. Indeed, according to Booklist reviewer Wes Lukowsky, Kurkjian's chapter on players' fear is a ‘standout.’ As the reviewer pointed out, Kurkjian interviewed many players who had been hit and found that injury can be both physical and psychological. Some players recover physically, but can't overcome their fear of being hit by a ball again. Others recover emotionally, but live with permanent impairments such as altered vision.

Kurkjian also argues that baseball is the funniest sport, citing many humorous anecdotes to prove his point—among them, the story of a player who went to a team meeting accompanied by a live ostrich. He includes a section on the importance of those who work behind the scenes and are little recognized, such as the scouts—whom he considers underpaid unsung heroes—who travel across the country every year looking for the next star. He ends the book with the plea that parents, coaches, and others should encourage kids' love of baseball, which he fears is losing support because of safety concerns and the intense pressure that young players face when just beginning the sport. Kurkjian calls on major league players to act as positive role models for the sport that they—and he—continue to love.

Reviewers enjoyed the vast amount of baseball trivia and analysis in Is This a Great Game, or What? Associated Content Web site contributor Dylann Bond called Kurkjian ‘a walking encyclopedia for baseball statistics,’ and observed that the book ‘brings the drama of baseball leaping off its pages.’ Lukowsky also praised the book, deeming Kurkjian a ‘fine writer who absolutely loves his work.’ A writer for Publishers Weekly, however, expressed disappointment that the book deals only briefly with the steroid scandals that have rocked the sport in recent years. Calling this a ‘glaring oversight,’ the reviewer nevertheless found the book comprehensive and often entertaining.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, April 15, 2007, Wes Lukowsky, review of Is This a Great Game, or What? From A-Rod's Heart to Zim's Head—My 25 Years in Baseball, p. 16.

Library Journal, February 1, 2000, Paul Kaplan, review of America's Game: A Three-Dimensional Interactive Book Featuring Documents and Photographs from the National Baseball Hall of Fame, p. 92.

Publishers Weekly, March 5, 2007, review of Is This a Great Game, or What?, p. 52.