Rob Rains is the editor of
STLSportsPage.com and former
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...
beat writer for ''
USA Today
''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...
''s ''Baseball Weekly'' and for three years covered the
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 hav ...
for the ''
St. Louis Globe-Democrat
The ''St. Louis Globe-Democrat'' was originally a daily print newspaper based in St. Louis, Missouri, from 1852 until 1986. When the trademark registration on the name expired, it was then used as an unrelated free historically themed paper.
Orig ...
'' until its collapse in the 1980s. He was awarded the
Freedom Forum
The Freedom Forum is the creator of the Newseum in Washington, D.C., which it sold to Johns Hopkins University in 2019. It is a nonpartisan 501 (c)(3) foundation that advances First Amendment freedoms through initiatives that include the Power Shif ...
Grant to teach Journalism for a year at the
Walter Cronkite School of Journalism
The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (often abbreviated to The Cronkite School by its students and faculty), is one of the 24 independent schools at Arizona State University and is named in honor of veteran broadcast jo ...
at
Arizona State
Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...
. Rains has been writing books, magazine articles, and doing radio for the past 10 years. He is based in
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...
.
Rains has written or co-written more than 30 books, most on baseball, including autobiographies or biographies of
Mark McGwire
Mark David McGwire (born October 1, 1963), nicknamed "Big Mac", is an American former professional baseball first baseman who played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1986 to 2001 for the Oakland Athletics and the St. Louis Cardi ...
,
Ozzie Smith
Osborne Earl Smith (born December 26, 1954) is an American former professional baseball player. Nicknamed "the Wizard of Oz", Smith played shortstop for the San Diego Padres and St. Louis Cardinals in Major League Baseball, winning the National ...
,
Jack Buck
John Francis "Jack" Buck (August 21, 1924 – June 18, 2002) was an American sportscaster, best known for his work announcing Major League Baseball games of the St. Louis Cardinals. His play-by-play work earned him recognition from numerous hall ...
,
Red Schoendienst
Albert Fred "Red" Schoendienst (; February 2, 1923 – June 6, 2018) was an American professional baseball second baseman, coach, and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB), and is largely known for his coaching, managing, and playing years wit ...
, and Dave Phillips. Rains is also the co-author of ''
The Curse: Cubs Win! Cubs Win! Or Do They?'' which he wrote with former St. Louis Cardinal
Andy Van Slyke
Andrew James Van Slyke (born December 21, 1960) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) center fielder.
Career
Van Slyke earned All-American honors in baseball as a senior at New Hartford Central High school in New Hartford, New York. ...
. ''The Curse'' is a novel that describes a tragic plane crash that kills almost the entire
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...
roster, and the new players that soldier on to take the Cubs to their first
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 ...
in decades. Rains is also the author of ''
James Naismith
James Naismith (; November 6, 1861November 28, 1939) was a Canadian-American physical educator, physician, Christian chaplain, and sports coach, best known as the inventor of the game of basketball. After moving to the United States, he wrote ...
: The Man Who Invented Basketball'', co-written with Naismith's granddaughter Hellen Carpenter.
Publications by date
*''Intentional Walk: An Inside Look at the Faith That Drives the St. Louis Cardinals.'' 2013
*''Tony La Russa: Man on a Mission.'' 2011
*''
The Curse: Cubs Win! Cubs Win! or Do They?'' (With Andy Van Slyke) 2010
*''Albert Pujols: Simply The Best'' (with John Rooney) 2009
*''James Naismith: The Man Who Invented Basketball.'' 2009
*''Where Have All the Cardinals Gone?'' Sports Publishing. 2005.
*''Albert the Great: the Albert Pujols Story'' Sports Publishing. 2005.
*''My One Big Break: Inspiring Stories of Successful Business and Professional Leaders'' With Jack Grimm and Clark Johnson. Spotlight Press. 2004.
*''Centerfield on Fire: An Umpire’s Tales of Spitballs, Pine Tar Bats and Corked Personalities'' (with Dave Phillips). Triumph Books. 2004
*''Big Stix: The Greatest Hitters in the History of Baseball'' Sports Publishing, 2004
*''Beyond X’s and O’s, My Thirty Years in the NFL'' (with Jim Hanifan). Sports Publishing Inc., 2003.
*''A Special Season. Sports Publishing'' 2003.
*''Whitey’s Boys'' Triumph Books, 2002.
*''Ozzie Smith, the Road to Cooperstown'' Sports Publishing, 2002.
*''Cardinal Nation'' The Sporting News, 2002.
*''Baseball Samurais, Ichiro Suzuki and the Japanese Invasion'' St. Martin's Press, 2001.
*''The Mighty ‘Mox, the 75th Anniversary History of KMOX Radio'' (with Sally Rains). Diamond Communications, 2000.
*''Marshall Faulk, Rushing to Glory'' Sports Publishing, 1999.
*''Find A Way, Valpo’s Sweet Season'' Diamond Communications, 1999.
*''Mac Attack'' Sports Publishing, 1998.
*''Slugger'' Sports Publishing, 1998.
*''Mark McGwire, Home Run Hero'' St. Martin’s Press, 1998.
*''Red: A Baseball Life'' (with Red Schoendienst). Sports Publishing, 1998.
*''Jack Buck, That’s A Winner'' Sports Publishing, 1997.
*''Playing On His Team'' (with Sally Rains). CrossTraining Publishing, 1996.
*''The Cardinal Fans Little Book of Wit and Wisdom'' Diamond Communications, 1994.
*''The St. Louis Cardinals’ 100th Anniversary History'' St. Martin's Press, 1992.
*''Top 150 Minor League Prospects'' The Sporting News, 1990.
*''Wizard'' (with Ozzie Smith). Contemporary Books, 1988.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rains, Rob
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
American sports journalists
Baseball writers
St. Louis Globe-Democrat people