''The Best American Sports Writing'' was a yearly anthology of magazine articles on the subject of

sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, th ...

published in the United States. It started in 1991 as part of ''

The Best American Series {{italic title ''The Best American Series'' is a series of anthologies that is published annually by Mariner Books, an imprint of HarperCollins. Each title within the series covers a specific genre such as short stories or mysteries. The works for ...

'' published by

Houghton Mifflin The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...

and ceased publication in 2020. It was preceded by the Best American Sports Stories (1945-1991) and succeeded by The Year’s Best Sports Stories (2021-present), published by

Triumph Books Triumph Books is a Chicago-based sports book publisher. The company is well known for its "instant books", such as its illustrated tribute to NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt, which was released 10 days after his death in a crash in the 2001 Daytona ...

. Articles were chosen using the same procedure as other titles in the ''Best American Series''; the series editor chose about 70-100 article candidates, from which the guest editor picked 25 or so for publication; many, but not all of the remaining runner-up articles were listed in the appendix. The series has been edited since its inception by Glenn Stout. Traditionally loaded with long-form feature stories and an occasional column, the annual book is considered a must-read by many sports writers, though the reach of its influence is debatable. Authors who have appeared in the series five or more times in its history are: Gary Smith (13 times),

Wright Thompson Wright Thompson (born September 9, 1976) is a senior writer for ESPN.com and ''ESPN The Magazine''. He formerly worked at ''The Kansas City Star'' and ''Times-Picayune'' in New Orleans. Thompson's topics have covered a wide range of sports issues ...

(12), Steve Friedman (10), S.L. Price (nine), Charles P. Pierce (nine),

William Nack William Louis Nack (February 4, 1941 – April 13, 2018)Rick Reilly Richard Paul Reilly (born February 3, 1958) is an American sportswriter. Long known for being the "back page" columnist for ''Sports Illustrated'', Reilly moved to ESPN on June 1, 2008, where he was a featured columnist for ESPN.com and wrote t ...

(seven),

Roger Angell Roger Angell (September 19, 1920 – May 20, 2022) was an American essayist known for his writing on sports, especially baseball. The only writer ever elected into both the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the Baseball Writers' Associa ...

(seven),

Pat Jordan Pat Jordan (17 July 1928 – 1 September 2001) was a British Trotskyist who was central to founding the International Marxist Group. Jordan was born in Chelsea, London,Cohen, S. 'Pat Jordan (1928-2001) in ''Revolutionary History'' Vol.8 No.3 pg ...

(seven),

Rick Telander Rick Telander is the senior sports columnist for the ''Chicago Sun-Times''. Hired in 1995 from ''Sports Illustrated'', where he was a Senior Writer, Telander's presence at the newspaper was expected to counter the stable of sports columnists the r ...

(seven), Linda Robertson (six), Paul Solotaroff (six), Chris Jones (six),

Chris Ballard Chris Ballard may refer to: * Chris Ballard (American football), American football general manager for the Indianapolis Colts * Chris Ballard (journalist), American sports writer for ''Sports Illustrated'' * Chris Ballard (politician), Canadian ...

(six), Mark Kram Jr. (five),

Bill Plaschke William Paul Plaschke (born September 6, 1958, in Louisville, Kentucky) is an American sports journalist who has written for the ''Los Angeles Times'' since 1987. Biography As a child he attended St. Albert the Great Elementary School in Louisvill ...

(five), Peter Richmond (five) and

Steve Rushin Steve Rushin is an American journalist, sportswriter and novelist. He was named the 2005 National Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association, and is a four-time finalist for the National Magazine Award. ...

(five). It also includes award-winning writers whose genre is not exclusively sports writing, such as

Jeanne Marie Laskas Jeanne Marie Laskas (born September 22, 1958) is an American writer, journalist, and professor. Career Laskas is the author of eight books, including ''To Obama: With Love, Joy, Anger, and Hope'' (2018), based on a ''New York Times Magazine'' a ...

whose 2008 piec
"G-L-O-R-Y!"
offered a rare look at professional cheerleaders. The series includes the Best American Sports Writing of the Century, published in 2000. The guest editor for that book was

David Halberstam David Halberstam (April 10, 1934 April 23, 2007) was an American writer, journalist, and historian, known for his work on the Vietnam War, politics, history, the Civil Rights Movement, business, media, American culture, Korean War, and later ...

, who also served as the guest editor for the first edition of the series, in 1991.

Guest editors

Selected from the cream of the sports journalism crop, nearly every guest editor has had at least one story published in a previous or later edition of the book. The only exceptions are

John Feinstein John Feinstein (born July 28, 1956) is an American sportswriter, author and sports commentator. Early life Feinstein was born to a Jewish family in New York City on July 28, 1956. His father was heavily involved in the arts having been the Gen ...

, and

Dick Schaap Richard Jay Schaap (September 27, 1934 – December 21, 2001) was an American sportswriter, broadcaster, and author. Early life and education Born to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, and raised in Freeport, New York, on Long Island, Schaap began writ ...

(whose work appeared twice in the ''Best American Sports Writing of the Century'' anthology). * 1991:

* 1992:

Thomas McGuane Thomas Francis McGuane III (born December 11, 1939) is an American writer. His work includes ten novels, short fiction and screenplays, as well as three collections of essays devoted to his life in the outdoors. He is a member of the American A ...

* 1993:

Frank Deford Benjamin Franklin Deford III (December 16, 1938 – May 28, 2017) was an American sportswriter and novelist. From 1980 until his death in 2017, he was a regular sports commentator on NPR's ''Morning Edition'' radio program. Deford wrote fo ...

* 1994:

Thomas Boswell Thomas M. Boswell (born October 11, 1947, in Washington, D.C.) is a retired American sports columnist. Career Boswell spent his entire career at the ''Washington Post'', joining it shortly after graduating from Amherst College in 1969. He became ...

* 1995:

Dan Jenkins Daniel Thomas Jenkins (December 2, 1928 – March 7, 2019) was an American author and sportswriter who often wrote for ''Sports Illustrated''. He was also a high-standard amateur golfer who played college golf at Texas Christian University. Ear ...

* 1996:

* 1997:

George Plimpton George Ames Plimpton (March 18, 1927 – September 25, 2003) was an American writer. He is widely known for his sports writing and for helping to found ''The Paris Review'', as well as his patrician demeanor and accent. He was also known for " ...

* 1998:

Bill Littlefield William Littlefield (born July 1948) was the host of National Public Radio and WBUR's Only A Game program from its beginning in 1993 to July 2018, covering mainstream and offbeat United States and international sports. Littlefield joined NPR in 1 ...

* 1999:

Richard Ford Richard Ford (born February 16, 1944) is an American novelist and short story writer. His best-known works are the novel '' The Sportswriter'' and its sequels, '' Independence Day'', ''The Lay of the Land'' and ''Let Me Be Frank With You'', and t ...

* 2000:

* 2001:

Bud Collins Arthur Worth "Bud" Collins Jr. (June 17, 1929 – March 4, 2016) was an American journalist and television sportscaster, best known for his tennis commentary. Collins was married to photographer Anita Ruthling Klaussen. Education Collins was b ...

* 2002:

Rick Reilly Richard Paul Reilly (born February 3, 1958) is an American sportswriter. Long known for being the "back page" columnist for ''Sports Illustrated'', Reilly moved to ESPN on June 1, 2008, where he was a featured columnist for ESPN.com and wrote t ...

* 2003:

Buzz Bissinger Harry Gerard Bissinger III, also known as Buzz Bissinger and H. G. Bissinger (born November 1, 1954) is an American journalist and author, best known for his 1990 non-fiction book '' Friday Night Lights''. He is a longtime contributing editor at ...

* 2004:

Richard Ben Cramer Richard Ben Cramer (June 12, 1950 – January 7, 2013) was an American journalist, author, and screenwriter. He was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting in 1979 for his coverage of the Middle East. Biography Cramer was born and r ...

* 2005:

Mike Lupica Michael Lupica (; born May 11, 1952) is an author and former American newspaper columnist, best known for his provocative commentary on sports in the ''New York Daily News'' and his appearances on ESPN. Biography Lupica was born in Oneida, ...

* 2006:

Michael Lewis Michael Monroe Lewis (born October 15, 1960) Gale Biography In Context. is an American author and financial journalist. He has also been a contributing editor to '' Vanity Fair'' since 2009, writing mostly on business, finance, and economics. H ...

* 2007:

David Maraniss David Maraniss ( ; born 1949) is an American journalist and author, currently serving as an associate editor for ''The Washington Post''. Career ''The Washington Post'' assigned Maraniss the job of biographer for their coverage of 2008 president ...

* 2008:

William Nack William Louis Nack (February 4, 1941 – April 13, 2018)Leigh Montville Leigh Montville (born July 20, 1943) is an American writer and former newspaper columnist who worked for ''The Boston Globe'' and ''Sports Illustrated''. Early life and education Montville was born in New Haven, Connecticut. He graduated from th ...

* 2010:

Peter Gammons Peter Gammons (born April 9, 1945) is an American sportswriter 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 ...

* 2011: Jane Leavy * 2012:

Michael Wilbon Michael Wilbon (; born ) is an American commentator for ESPN and former sportswriter and columnist for ''The Washington Post''. He is an analyst for ESPN and has co-hosted ''Pardon the Interruption'' on ESPN since 2001. Early life and education ...

* 2013:

J.R. Moehringer John Joseph Moehringer (born December 7, 1964), known by his pen name J. R. Moehringer, is an American novelist, journalist, and ghostwriter. In 2000, he won the Pulitzer Prize for newspaper feature writing. He collaborated on the 2021 film ...

* 2014:

Christopher McDougall Christopher McDougall (born 1962) is an American author and journalist. He is best known for his 2009 book '' Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen''. He has also written for ''Esquire'', ''Th ...

* 2015:

* 2016:

* 2017:

Howard Bryant Howard "Howie" Bryant (born November 25, 1968) is a sports journalist, and radio and television personality. He writes weekly columns for ESPN.com and ''ESPN The Magazine'', ESPN, and appears regularly on ESPN Radio. He is a frequent panelist o ...

* 2018:

Jeff Pearlman Jeff Pearlman (born 1972) is an American sports writer. He has written nine books that have appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list: four about football, three on baseball and two about basketball. He was the author of the infamous 1999 Jo ...

* 2019: Charles P. Pierce * 2020:

Jackie MacMullan Jackie "Mac" MacMullan Boyle (born October 7, 1960) is a retired American freelance newspaper sportswriter and NBA columnist for the sports website ESPN.com. She retired from ESPN on August 31, 2021. She attended Westwood High School in Wes ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Best American Sports Writing Book series introduced in 1991

Sports Writing 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 ...

Books about sports Houghton Mifflin books