100 Greatest Human Beings Who Ever Lived: #71 Peter Gammons

I start law school on 13 August, 2007. Can I get this done before then without sacrificing quality? We'll see.

Peter Gammons checks in on this list at #71. He is the best sportswriter I have ever read not only because he is a good writer and is probably the best connected person in Major League Baseball. He is incredibly enthusiastic about the game and it really comes across, not only in his columns but also in his on air presentations on ESPN. Also he plays guitar, loves indy rock, and cut an album to benefit the Jimmy Fund, which is kind of cool and random in and of itself.

And now let's jump into the Way Back Machine for Personal Anecdote Time!!!

It was October of 2003, and I was covering the ALCS at Fenway Park for Harvard radio. I got to the park extra early, maybe three or four hours before the scheduled first pitch and I saw Peter Gammons in one of the concourses of this empty ballpark and he was working. He was making calls, writing emails, and generally trying to get things done. In between calls, I approached him and timidly and meekly asked if he'd give me a few minutes of his time for an interview. He politely told me that he was very busy and on a deadline at the moment but would be happy to talk to me a little bit later.

He kept his promise and, it just so happened that the game was rain-delayed. As we were waiting to get word as to whether the game would be played that night (it was eventually postponed) he allowed me to interview him in the Boston Red Sox dugout. He spoke knowledgeably, enthusiastically, and articulately about baseball and sports journalism and when he was done, he recorded a small promotional legal identification for our radio station.

None of this was unexpected. After all he was a major contributor to the World Wide Leader in Sports and eventually would be honored by the Hall of Fame for his writing. However what did strike me was something that I did not think about until later. At the beginning of the interview, when we exchanged the standard pleasantries of the radio interview, i.e. "I'm here with Peter Gammons. How are you today, Peter?", he replied that he was fine but that he really was hoping the game would start. He was disappointed that it was raining.

Lest you think I am making a mountain out of a molehill, bear in mind that this man has covered Major League Baseball games for thirty years. He is at the World Series every year and has never appeared to be in awe by the superstars of Major League Baseball. Still, he was disappointed. Here was a man who should probably be jaded, who has forgotten more about professional athletes than any of us know, and yet he was still enthusiastic about what it was all about.

Peter Gammons is not only the best at what he does. He is a man who appears to truly love what he does, and seems to recognize how lucky he is to do it. We should all be so lucky.

Next time, the 70th Greatest Human Being Who Ever Lived, the signer of the Emancipation Proclamation, Liberator of the Slaves, Savior of the Union, and, most importantly of all, the Eponym of the Lincoln Logs.