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Despite the sports junkie circles I travel in, I don’t know anyone who’s read this, or at least no one who hasn’t read it at my insistence. Smith is a senior writer at Sports Illustrated, generally considered to be the living master at sports-oriented literary nonfiction (you may know him from his recent piece on Pat Tillman), and the best thing about the magazine. His gift is compelling, usually heartbreaking stories about famous and unknown athletes. It’s worth the price of admission for his profile of John Malangone, once considered to be the heir to Yogi Berra, but whose career went off the rails because of the remnants of an early tragedy–as a New York schoolboy, he accidentally killed a friend with a homemade javelin. There’s a modestly happy ending that I won’t spoil for you, but believe me when I say it turns the piece from a well-told tale to a fable bordering on art.
- My Steve Sax Connection, Alan Bennett Waldman
