Brock: King for a day: Writer-turned-commissioner Rob Neyer embraces latest chapter of his baseball life
From Corey Brock at The Athletic on August 15, 2019, on SABR member Rob Neyer:
I’m sitting in the seats at Civic Field watching a baseball game when Rob Neyer leans in and tells me about a book idea. A longtime baseball writer who has authored six books on the sport, Neyer has a great hook.
Heck, he’s even got a working title.
“‘King for a Day: My summer as a baseball commissioner,’” he says, stretching his legs out over a row of empty seats in front of us before laying out the basic premise. “I go into it thinking A, and it turns out it’s X and then Z … they fire me. And here is all of the crazy stuff that happened.”
There’s only one problem: After two seasons as the real-life commissioner of the West Coast League — a college summer circuit based in the Pacific Northwest — the league keeps asking Neyer back, which ruins his ending. The writer-turned-commissioner is fine with this particular pitch ending up in the dustbin. He’s having way too much fun reigning over the 12-team league that fills a niche in towns and cities across Washington, Oregon and British Columbia.
“Last season was so wild for me personally that there was material there for a book,” he says. “But now that they’ve invited me back, it’s got a happy ending. So I don’t think it’s nearly as dramatic now.”
Read the full article here: https://theathletic.com/1138499/2019/08/15/king-for-a-day-writer-turned-commissioner-rob-neyer-embraces-latest-chapter-of-his-baseball-life/
Originally published: August 15, 2019. Last Updated: August 15, 2019.