Pat Jordan (born April 22, 1941, in Bridgeport, Connecticut) is an American sports writer. His work has been included in the

Best American Sports Writing ''The Best American Sports Writing'' was a yearly anthology of magazine articles on the subject of sports published in the United States. It started in 1991 as part of ''The Best American Series'' published by Houghton Mifflin and ceased publicati ...

anthology series seven times.Index to The Best American Sports Writing 1991–2007
accessed March 2, 2011. He is also the author of ''A False Spring'', a bittersweet memoir about his minor league baseball career, which is ranked #37 on

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

's Top 100 Sports Books of All Time and which ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' called “one of the best and truest books about baseball, and about coming to maturity in America...”

Minor league baseball player

Pat Jordan grew up in

Fairfield, Connecticut Fairfield is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. It borders the city of Bridgeport and towns of Trumbull, Easton, Weston, and Westport along the Gold Coast of Connecticut. Located within the New York metropolitan area ...

, where he became a highly pursued baseball prospect after going 17–4 over three seasons (He also threw four consecutive no-hitters as a Fairfield little leaguer) for the Fairfield Prep Jesuits. On July 9, 1959, after being pursued by over 15 major league baseball organizations, he signed a $36,000 bonus with the

Milwaukee Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bost ...

, which at the time was reported to be the highest amount given to any new player signed by the organization. He reported to the

McCook Braves The McCook Braves were a minor league baseball team based in McCook, Nebraska. From 1956 to 1959, the McCook Braves played as members of the short-season Class D level Nebraska State League as an affiliate of the Milwaukee Braves for their durati ...

of the Nebraska State League where he played alongside teammates and future major leaguers

Phil Niekro Philip Henry Niekro ( ; April 1, 1939 – December 26, 2020), nicknamed "Knucksie", was an American baseball pitcher who played 24 seasons in Major League Baseball, 20 of them with the Atlanta Braves, Milwaukee / Atlanta Braves. Niekro's 31 ...

and

Joe Torre Joseph Paul Torre (; born July 18, 1940) is an American professional baseball executive, serving as a special assistant to the Commissioner of Baseball since 2020. He previously served in the capacity of Major League Baseball's (MLB) chief baseb ...

. He struggled in the minors for three seasons, despite being one of the hardest throwing pitchers in the minors at that time, as chronicled in his memoir, ''A False Spring'', at which point he retired and returned home to Connecticut to pursue his writing career. Thirty-six years after throwing his last pitch for the

Palatka Redlegs The Palatka Redlegs were a minor league baseball team that existed from 1956 to 1962 as members of the Florida State League, as descendants from the Palatka Azaleas. The team began as an affiliate of the Detroit Tigers in 1956, as the Palatka Ti ...

of the

Florida State League The Florida State League (FSL) is a Minor League Baseball league based in the state of Florida. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following ...

in 1961, Jordan returned to the mound to start a game with the

Waterbury Spirit Waterbury is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut on the Naugatuck River, southwest of Hartford and northeast of New York City. Waterbury is the second-largest city in New Haven County, Connecticut. According to the 2020 US Census, in 202 ...

of independent

Northeast League The Northeast League was a professional independent baseball league that operated in the Northeastern United States from 1995 until 1998 and from 2003 until 2004. Between 1999 and 2002, the league was part of the Northern League after the two lea ...

in 1997. The 56-year-old acquitted himself well, allowing no hits or runs and one walk in his single inning on the mound, striking out cleanup hitter Eddie Perozo to end the frame. (Jordan was believed to be the oldest man to pitch in a pro baseball game since

Hub Kittle Hubert Milton Kittle (February 19, 1917 – February 10, 2004) was an American professional baseball pitcher, manager and front office executive in the minor leagues and a pitching coach at the Major League level. When he took the mound for the ...

, who threw one inning for

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

Class A team in

Springfield, Illinois Springfield is the capital of the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat and largest city of Sangamon County. The city's population was 114,394 at the 2020 census, which makes it the state's seventh most-populous city, the second largest o ...

, in 1980 at the age of 63.)

Writer

Jordan is the author of eleven books and a regular contributor to many periodicals. Jordan's work has been included in

eight times, the Best American Mystery Stories, Best American Crime Writing, Best American Essays, and the Norton Anthology of World Literature.

Best American Sports Writing

The following writings of Pat Jordan have appeared in the

anthology series: * 1993: ''The Wit and Wisdom of the White Rat'' from ''Los Angeles Times Magazine'' * 1995: ''Behind the Icy Glare'' from ''The Sporting News'' * 1996: ''Belittled Big Men'' from ''The New York Times Magazine'' * 2005: ''The Lion in Late, Late Autumn'' from ''The New York Times Magazine'' * 2006: ''Card Stud'' from ''The New York Times Magazine'' * 2006: ''The Magician'' from ''The Atlantic Monthly'' * 2010: ''Chasing Jose'' from Deadspin.com * 2017: ''Barry Switzer Laughs Last''

Best American Mystery Stories

The following writings of Pat Jordan have appeared in the Best American Mystery Stories anthology series: * 1997: ''The Mark'' from ''Playboy'', July 1996 * 1998: ''Beyond Dog'' from ''Playboy'', August 1997

Best American Crime Writing

The following writings of Pat Jordan have appeared in the Best American Crime Writing anthology series: * 2002: ''The Outcast: Conversations with O.J. Simpson'' from ''The New Yorker''Pat Jordan
''The Outcast: Conversations with O.J. Simpson''
The New Yorker (July 9, 2001). * 2004: ''CSC: Crime Scene Cleanup'' from ''Playboy'', July 2003

Bibliography

# ''Black Coach'' (1971, ) # ''The Suitors of Spring'' (1974, ) # ''A False Spring'' (2005, Revised Edition, ) # ''Broken Patterns'' (1977, ) # ''Chase the Game'' (1979, ) # ''After the Sundown'' (1979, ) # ''The Cheat'' (1985, ) # ''a.k.a. Sheila Doyle'' (2002, ) # ''a.k.a. Sheila Weinstein'' (2003, ) # ''A Nice Tuesday'' (2005, ) # ''The Best Sports Writing of Pat Jordan'' (2008, )

Education

Jordan graduated from the

Fairfield College Preparatory School Fairfield College Preparatory School (Fairfield Prep) is a Jesuit preparatory school located on the campus of Fairfield University in Fairfield, Connecticut. It is an all-male school of about 700 students, founded by the Society of Jesus in 1942 ...

in 1959 and received his bachelor's degree in English from

Fairfield University Fairfield University is a private Jesuit university in Fairfield, Connecticut. It was founded by the Jesuits in 1942. In 2017, the university had about 4,100 full-time undergraduate students and 1,100 graduate students, including full-time ...

in 1965.

Personal

Jordan is married to the mother of actress

Meg Ryan Meg Ryan (born Margaret Mary Emily Anne Hyra; November 19, 1961) is an American actress. She began her acting career in 1981 when she made her acting debut in the drama film ''Rich and Famous''. She later joined the cast of the CBS soap opera ...

. They reside in Abbeville, South Carolina.

References

External links

Official Website of Pat Jordan

Bronx Banter: Pat Jordan
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jordan, Pat 1941 births American sportswriters Fairfield University alumni Living people Writers from Fairfield, Connecticut McCook Braves players Davenport Braves players Palatka Redlegs players Eau Claire Braves players Waterbury Spirit players Baseball pitchers Baseball players from Connecticut Fairfield College Preparatory School alumni