John Thorn
John Thorn
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Full Name and Common Aliases
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John Thorn is a well-known American historian, writer, and baseball enthusiast. His full name is John Richard Thorn.
Birth and Death Dates
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Born on May 10, 1957, John Thorn has been a prominent figure in the world of baseball history for over three decades.
Nationality and Profession(s)
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Thorn's nationality is American, and he has worked as a historian, writer, and editor. He is best known for his work in the field of baseball history, having written several books on the subject.
Early Life and Background
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Growing up in New York City, Thorn developed an interest in baseball at an early age. His father, a lifelong Yankees fan, introduced him to the game, which would eventually become his passion. Thorn's love for baseball led him to pursue a career in writing about the sport.
Major Accomplishments
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Thorn's most notable accomplishment is co-authoring The Baseball Encyclopedia with Michael Gershman and Eugene M. McLaughlin. This comprehensive reference book, published in 1985, remains a seminal work in the field of baseball history.
Notable Works or Actions
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Some of Thorn's other notable works include:
Baseball in the Garden of Eden: The Secret History of Early Baseball (2011)
Total Baseball (1979) - a comprehensive encyclopedia of baseball statistics and history
Thorn has also contributed to various publications, including _The New York Times_ and _ESPN The Magazine_.
Impact and Legacy
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Thorn's impact on the world of baseball cannot be overstated. His work has helped shape our understanding of the game's rich history, from its early days in the mid-19th century to the present day.
Through his writing and research, Thorn has shed light on forgotten figures and events in baseball history, making him a beloved figure among fans and historians alike.
Why They Are Widely Quoted or Remembered
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John Thorn is widely quoted and remembered for his insightful commentary on the game of baseball. His deep understanding of the sport's history and nuances has made him a trusted authority on the subject.
Thorn's passion for baseball, combined with his exceptional research skills, has earned him recognition as one of the leading historians in the field. His work continues to inspire new generations of baseball enthusiasts and scholars alike.
Quotes by John Thorn
John Thorn's insights on:
The heroes of our youth grow old - 'the boys of summer in their ruin', in Dylan Thomas's verse - yet we seem the same.
I’d just like to see – in writing about baseball – more energy and better craft, minus statistical bludgeoning and invective.
Planning to play: that’s what saving for retirement is today – and it is antithetical to the nature of play, fully within the definition of work, and blissfully ignorant of the reality of death.
And then came the nineties, when management, suddenly frightened that they had ceded control to the players, sought to restore baseball’s profitability by ‘running the game like a business.’
Better than anything else in our culture, it enables fathers and sons to speak on a level playing field while building up from within a personal history of shared experience – a group history – that may be tapped into at will in years to come.
My egotistical concern was less that I would fail to relate to my classmates than that they would know nothing of my uniquely tortured life’s course and, thus, me.
In response to the challenge of strangers, sport arose as a sublimated representation of a community’s armed might as well as its pride of place and clan.
Just because I am increasingly bored by sabermetric arcana doesn’t mean anyone else has to be; it remains good for people who like that sort of thing.
If I haven’t made myself clear, this worrisome chain of events describes the game of the nineteenth century.
Yes, we’ve seen it all before. And yes, those who do not study history are condemned to repeat it. But no, the sky is not falling – baseball is such a great game that neither the owners nor the players can kill it. After some necessary carnage, market forces will prevail.