John Thorn
John Thorn | |
---|---|
Stuttgart, Germany | |
Occupation | Author, historian, publisher |
Language | English |
Alma mater | Beloit College |
Genres | Sports, history, cultural affairs |
Subjects | Baseball, football, basketball, New York, history |
Spouse | Erica Freudenberger |
Children | 3 |
John Abraham Thorn (born April 17, 1947) is a German-born American sports historian, author, and publisher. Since 2011, he has served as the Official Baseball Historian for Major League Baseball.[1]
Early life
Thorn was born in
Of his love for baseball, Thorn said: "I fell in love with [baseball] cards before I loved the game, when I discovered that baseball was something that all the kids on my street corner cared about... I was an immigrant kid and was looking for a way into America. With my background I saw myself as an underdog, and so Brooklyn had to be my team. I began watching the game seriously when I was eight, in 1955, on my Admiral television, but I had already begun to follow their exploits in the daily newspapers my father brought home with him each night."[3]
As a teen, he played baseball and basketball at Richmond Hill High School.[4] However, at age 19 he suffered a stroke. "It was severe," he said, "knocking out my left-side function for months as well as patches of personal memory — though not the powerful visual memory I retain for images and facts and statistics." The stroke left him with a limp and precluded his further participation in athletic activities.[5]
Thorn attended Beloit College, from which he graduated in 1968.[2][6]
Writings
Thorn is the author and editor of numerous books, including Total Baseball: The Official Encyclopedia of Major League Baseball,[2] Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of Major League Football, Treasures of the Baseball Hall of Fame, The Hidden Game of Baseball,[2] The Glory Days: New York Baseball 1947–1957, and The Armchair Book of Baseball.[2] His 2011 book, Baseball in the Garden of Eden: The Secret History of the Early Game, published by Simon & Schuster, was an in-depth chronicle of the seminal development and pioneers of the sport. A New York Times review of the latter book referred to Thorn as "a researcher of colossal diligence."[7]
Thorn is also the co-author with
He founded Total Sports Publishing and served as its publisher from 1998 to 2002.[8]
Role as historian
Thorn served as the senior creative consultant for the 1994
In 2004, Thorn discovered documentation tracing the origins of baseball in America to 1791 in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.[9] He has also attempted to shed light on the contributions of 19th century pioneers of the game, while debunking common misconceptions. "I don't want anyone to think of me as a crusader on behalf of causes," he wrote. "I'm only interested in setting the story straight, and in recognizing other stories for what they are, some of which are legend."[10] Despite the claims of various localities to being the "birthplace of baseball," Thorn simply follows facts. "Abner Doubleday, Santa Claus, and Dracula," he notes, "are equally mythic figures."[9]
In June 2006, the
On March 1, 2011, John Thorn was named Official Baseball Historian for Major League Baseball,[6] succeeding the late Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times baseball writer Jerome Holtzman, who served in the role from 1999 until his death in 2008.[1]
Thorn played an important role in the retroactive recategorization of the defunct
Personal life
Thorn has three sons from two previous marriages.[5] He is currently married to Erica Freudenberger, former director of the Red Hook Public Library in Red Hook, New York, and who is currently affiliated with the Southern Adirondack Library System.[13]
He and his wife live in
Thorn's great-grandfather was magician Ernest Thorn; the two share their middle name "Abraham".[15]
References
- ^ a b "John Thorn Named Official Baseball Historian". MLB.com. March 1, 2011.
- ^ ISBN 1574884212.
- Society of American Baseball Research.
- ^ "John Thorn Interview; American Masters". PBS. October 19, 2017.
I played in Madison Square Garden in the semifinal championships in nineteen sixty one from Richmond Hill High School.
- ^ a b Jaffe, Chris (December 4, 2007). "Interview: John Thorn". The Hardball Times.
- ^ a b c "Q&A with John Thorn, baseball historian". Star Tribune. March 27, 2011.
- ^ Weber, Bruce (April 8, 2011). "The Prehistory of Baseball". The New York Times.
- Sports Business Journal. September 6, 2000.
- ^ a b Litsky, Frank (May 12, 2004). "Now Pittsfield Stakes Claim to Baseball's Origins". The New York Times.
- ^ Singer, Tom (March 13, 2011). "MLB historian sheds new light on game's origin". MLB.com.
- ^ "Bob Davids Award: John Thorn". Society for American Baseball Research.
- ^ Kasten, Susan (April 29, 2011). "Baseball Historian John Thorn'68 Applauds Inclusion of the Negro Leagues". beloit.edu. Beloit College.
- ^ "Announcement of Freudenberger's new position". Southern Adirondack Library System.
- ^ Post, Paul (October 2011). "John Thorn: An Interview with Major League Baseball Historian, Hudson Valley (Catskill, NY) Resident, and Author of Treasures of the Baseball Hall of Fame". Hudson Valley Magazine.
- ^ Thorn, John (August 1, 2017). "Magician's Blood". Our Game. MLBlogs.com.
Further reading
- Frommer, Frederic J. (April 2024). "How Baseball's Official Historian Dug Up the Game's Unknown Origins". Smithsonian.
External links
- Our Game - Official Blog
- John Thorn at the Society for American Baseball Research
- John Thorn at IMDb
- John Thorn at Library of Congress