Leonard Koppett
Leonard Koppett (1923-2003) was a long-time sportswriter known for his intellectual rigor and evidence-based analysis of the issues facing his two great sporting loves: baseball and basketball. Born in Moscow but raised in the Bronx, Koppett wrote for many of the leading New York newspapers (Herald Tribune, Post, and Times) before relocating to the Bay Area and writing for several West Coast dailies. He also wrote a column for The Sporting News for many years. He authored 22 books on sports, including three highly influential baseball books: A Thinking Man’s Guide to Baseball (1968), The Man in the Dugout (1993), and Koppett’s Concise History of Major League Baseball (1998). He received the J.G. Taylor Spink Award from the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1992, and the Curt Gowdy Media Award from the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1994, and he remains the only writer to win both prestigious awards.
Related links:
- Read Dan Levitt’s profile of Leonard Koppett in the Spring 2019 Baseball Research Journal
- Listen to Leonard Koppett’s SABR Oral History interview from 1992
- Leonard Koppett was a 1992 recipient of the J.G. Taylor Spink Award (BaseballHall.org)
- Read: “The National Spit Tobacco Education Program,” by Leonard Koppett (SABR Baseball Research Journal, 1999)