Pitchers and Poets was unknown to me back in 2009, when I came across a beautiful, haunting piece of writing about a dead young pitcher and a family’s tribute on the baseball field, The Death of a Pitcher. The piece’s author, a heady young upstart named Eric Nusbaum, was taking the game of baseball in his hands like a wet glob of clay, slapping it onto the wheel and forming it into something dense and glowing, and I knew it.
Well, I wasn’t the only one to take notice. Others out there, the taste-makers of the sports writing establishment, found Nusbaum’s blip on the radar as I did. They felt the same chill when they read about Jaime Irogoyen’s passing, and about a community’s need for the game. And the taste-makers acted.
Now, I am proud as hell to announce the coolest thing ever:
Glenn Stout, series editor of The Best American Sports Writing anthology, and this year’s guest editor, Peter Gammons (!), have selected Eric Nusbaum’s piece, “The Death of a Pitcher,” to appear in this year’s edition, The Best American Sports Writing 2010.
Eric works his tail off for this blog. He works his tail off to create engaging stories, and he’s a pleasure to work with. I couldn’t be happier that he’s been picked for such a substantial collection of writers and writing. He deserves it.
The edition is available for pre-order on Amazon, releasing on September 28, 2010. Check out the entire lineup of writers and work on Stout’s blog.
Awesome news! Congrats Eric!
Super huge congratulations all around!
Astounding and amazing.
Woo! Attaboy Eric!
Huzzah!!
Amazing. Congrats Eric!
Whatta mitzvah! Congrats!
Thanks for all the mazels guys, this is a really cool day for me, obviously.
Very well deserved. Congratulations.
Congratulations on the well-deserved recognition, Eric. It’s a wonderfully-written piece.
Mike Sager, Wright Thompson, Jeanne Marie Laskas, Bill Plaschke, Bob Ryan and Eric Nusbaum. That’s boss.
Holy frijoles! Congrats!
Freakin’ awesome!
That’s terrific news! Tell Plaschke to lay off the dog penis. Let’s hit up a Dodger game!
Tremendous news! And much deserved.
Hey, sorry I’m late on this but ditto, huge congrats. Great news and well deserved!
Wow. Don’t know how I missed this, but congrats. This is amazing news.