Dan Shaughnessy (born July 20, 1953) is an American

sports writer Sports journalism is a form of writing that reports on matters pertaining to sporting topics and competitions. Sports journalism started in the early 1800s when it was targeted to the social elite and transitioned into an integral part of the n ...

. He has covered the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...

for ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'' since 1981. In 2016, he was given the

J. G. Taylor Spink Award The BBWAA Career Excellence Award, formerly the J. G. Taylor Spink Award, is the highest award given by the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA). It is given "for meritorious contributions to baseball writing" and voted on annually by ...

by the Baseball Hall of Fame. Shaughnessy is often referred to by his nickname "Shank," given by the 1980s Boston Celtics team for the often unflattering and critical nature of his articles.

Career

Shaughnessy was born in

Groton, Massachusetts Groton is a town in northwestern Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, within the Greater Boston metropolitan area. The population was 11,315 at the 2020 census. It is home to two prep schools: Lawrence Academy at Groton, founded in 1 ...

. After graduating from Groton High School, Shaughnessy subsequently attended the College of the Holy Cross, graduating in 1975. He began his career as a beat reporter covering the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

for the ''

Baltimore Evening Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries. Founded in 1837, it is currently owned by Tri ...

'' in 1977 and 1978. He then was the national baseball writer for ''

The Washington Star ''The Washington Star'', previously known as the ''Washington Star-News'' and the Washington ''Evening Star'', was a daily afternoon newspaper published in Washington, D.C., between 1852 and 1981. The Sunday edition was known as the ''Sunday Sta ...

'' from 1979 until the newspaper folded in 1981. He has been a sports writer for ''

'' since September, 1981. During that time, he has served as the beat writer for the Boston Celtics and the

, as well as a sports columnist for the Globe. Shaughnessy has authored or contributed to several sports-related books, including on the fierce

Yankees–Red Sox rivalry The Yankees–Red Sox rivalry is a Major League Baseball (MLB) rivalry between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. Both teams have competed in MLB's American League (AL) for over 120 seasons and have since developed what is arguably ...

. His book, '' The Curse of the Bambino'', details the travails of the

and their search for a

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

championship after selling

Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth Jr. (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Su ...

to the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

. He subsequently wrote ''Reversing the Curse'' after the Red Sox won the

2004 World Series The 2004 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2004 season. The 100th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the American League (AL) champion Boston Red Sox and the National Leag ...

. He is a contributor to ''

ESPN The Magazine ''ESPN The Magazine'' was an American monthly sports magazine published by the ESPN sports network in Bristol, Connecticut. The first issue was published on March 11, 1998. Initially published every other week, it scaled back to 24 issues a year ...

'', and a regular guest on a Sunday night sports show, ''Sports Xtra''. Shaughnessy discusses sports and current events on radio shows airing on

WTKK WTKK (106.1 FM), known as "106.1 WTKK, More Stimulating Talk Radio", is a radio station that is licensed to Knightdale, North Carolina and serves the Raleigh-Durham media market (also known as the Research Triangle). WTKK airs a talk radio f ...

; on

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...

's ''Rome Is Burning''; and on

NESN New England Sports Network, popularly known as NESN , is an American regional sports cable and satellite television network owned by a joint venture of Fenway Sports Group (which owns a controlling 80% interest, and is the owner of Boston Red So ...

's ''SportsPlus'' and ''Globe 10.0''. On July 9, 2008, he made his debut as a guest host on the ESPN show ''Pardon the Interruption''. He has a weekend radio show on

WBZ-FM WBZ-FM (98.5 FM) is a commercial sports radio station licensed to Boston, Massachusetts, serving Greater Boston and much of surrounding New England. Owned by the Beasley Broadcast Group, WBZ-FM is the Boston affiliate for Fox Sports Radio; t ...

alongside Adam Jones. Considered by some Red Sox fans and players as being overly negative and critical, he earned the pejorative nickname "Curly-Haired Boyfriend" from former Red Sox player

Carl Everett Carl Edward Everett III (born June 3, 1971) is an American former Major League Baseball outfielder. A switch hitter, he played for eight teams over the course of a 14-year career. He was a member of the Chicago White Sox when they won the 2005 Wor ...

. In an October 2005 column Shaugnnessy revealed information detailing negotiations between then-Red Sox

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

Theo Epstein Theo Nathaniel Epstein (born December 29, 1973) is an American Major League Baseball executive, who currently works for MLB as a consultant. He was the vice president and general manager for the Boston Red Sox and then the president of baseball o ...

and Red Sox CEO

Larry Lucchino Lawrence Lucchino (born September 6, 1945) is an American lawyer, best known as an executive in Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously served as president of the Baltimore Orioles, president/ CEO of the San Diego Padres, and president/CEO of ...

. Shaughnessy and other ''Globe'' writers were accused by writers at the '' Boston Herald'' of routinely reporting information leaked from the Red Sox front office (the Red Sox were 17.75 percent owned by

The New York Times Company The New York Times Company is an American mass media company that publishes ''The New York Times''. Its headquarters are in Manhattan, New York City. History The company was founded by Henry Jarvis Raymond and George Jones in New York City. ...

, the Globe's parent company). Then–'' Boston Herald'' columnist

Tony Massarotti Anthony Ezio Massarotti (born October 28, 1967) is an American author and a former sportswriter for the '' Boston Herald'' and ''The Boston Globe''. He co-hosts a sports talk radio show, '' Felger & Mazz'', on 98.5 The Sports Hub with former ' ...

accused Red Sox management of smearing Epstein and suggested the ''Globe''s coverage of the negotiations may be conflicted because of the Times ownership in the team. In the weeks leading up to Epstein's decision, Red Sox owner John Henry said the leaks "had to stop". In 2013, Shaughnessy and

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...

manager

Terry Francona Terrence Jon Francona (born April 22, 1959), nicknamed "Tito", is an American baseball manager and former player who is the manager of the Cleveland Guardians in Major League Baseball (MLB). Previously, he was the manager of the Boston Red Sox fo ...

released ''Francona'', a biography focusing on Francona's years as manager of the Red Sox. The book immediately became a best-seller. On December 8, 2015, Shaughnessy was named the 2016 recipient of the

, presented annually by the

Baseball Writers' Association of America The Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) is a professional association for journalists writing about Major League Baseball for daily newspapers, magazines and qualifying websites. The organization was founded in 1908, and is known ...

"for meritorious contributions to baseball writing". He was presented with the award during induction weekend at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in July 2016.

Personal life

He is married to Marilou Wit, with whom he has three children, Sarah, Kate, and Sam. He is the uncle of tennis player

Meghann Shaughnessy Meghann Shaughnessy (born April 13, 1979 in Richmond, Virginia) is an American former professional tennis player. She achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 11 in 2001 and won six titles on the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Tour. ...

Bibliography

* * ''Reversing the Curse''; (hardcover), (paperback) * ''The Legend of the Curse of the Bambino''; * ''The Curse of the Bambino''; * ''Fenway, Expanded and Updated: A Biography in Words and Pictures'', with Stan Grossfeld; (hardcover), (paperback) * ''Spring Training: Baseball's Early Season''; * ''At Fenway: Dispatches from Red Sox Nation''; * ''Seeing Red: The Red Auerbach Story''; (hardcover), (paperback) * ''Ever Green the Boston Celtics: A History in the Words of Their Players, Coaches, Fans and Foes, from 1946 to the Present''; * ''One Strike Away: The Story of the 1986 Red Sox''; *

References

External links

Article on Shaughnessy

Dan Shaughnessy's Current Columns: ''The Boston Globe''

Dan Shaughnessy Bio:WTKK
*
On NECN to discuss the controversy over Theo Epstein

Dan Shaughnessy
Author/Illustrator Bio, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt {{DEFAULTSORT:Shaughnessy, Dan 1953 births Living people College of the Holy Cross alumni BBWAA Career Excellence Award recipients People from Groton, Massachusetts Sports in Boston The Boston Globe people Writers from Massachusetts Sportswriters from Massachusetts