Wikipedia

Jeff Passan

Jeff Passan
Passan in 2019
Born1980 or 1981 (age 44–45)
Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
Alma materSyracuse University
Occupations
  • Sportswriter
  • author
Years active2004–present

Jeff Passan (born 1980 or 1981)[1] is an American baseball sportswriter and author.

Early life and education

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Passan was born in Cleveland, Ohio.[2] He is Jewish, and grew up attending Hebrew school three times a week.[3] After graduating from Solon High School in suburban Cleveland, Passan attended the S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, where he wrote for The Daily Orange and graduated in 2002 with a degree in journalism.[2][4]

Career

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Passan began covering baseball in 2004 at The Kansas City Star,[5] before moving to Yahoo! two years later. After 13 years at Yahoo! (2006–18), he announced that he was joining ESPN's baseball team in January 2019. In early 2022, Passan signed a four-year, $4 million contract extension with ESPN.[6] While working at ESPN, he makes guest appearances on SportsCenter, Get Up, The Rich Eisen Show, The Pat McAfee Show and other ESPN studio shows.[7]

In 2018, while working for Yahoo!, Passan refused to cast his ballot for the Baseball Hall of Fame due to a letter that Joe Morgan wrote to the voters asking that steroid users be excluded.[8] He has voiced negative opinions of the Baseball Hall of Fame due to its exclusion of players like Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens that were involved in performance-enhancing drug scandals.[9]

Passan is the author of The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports,[10] and the co-author of Death to the BCS: The Definitive Case Against the Bowl Championship Series.[11]

Awards and recognition

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Passan has been a member of the Baseball Writers' Association of America since 2004, while he was at The Kansas City Star.[12] The National Sports Media Association named Passan as the 2021 National Sportswriter of the Year.[13] He won the award again in 2023.[14]

Passan received the 2022 Dan Jenkins medal for Excellence in Sportswriting for his ESPN article, "San Francisco Giants Outfielder Drew Robinson's Remarkable Second Act."[15]

Personal life

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In 2023, Passan was struck by a falling tree limb after a storm, fracturing his back. He retained the use of his limbs and extremities.[1][16]

References

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  1. ^ a b Sblendorio, Peter (July 17, 2023). "ESPN's Jeff Passan suffers broken back from fallen tree limb". New York Daily News. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
  2. ^ a b Passan, Jeff (2017). "Still No Cheering in the Press Box: Jeff Passan". Shirley Povich Center for Sports Journalism (Interview). Interviewed by Scott Gelman. Retrieved October 16, 2022.
  3. ^ Gurvis, Jacob (March 1, 2023). "ESPN's Jeff Passan on Hebrew school, Sandy Koufax and Jewish baseball history". The Times of Israel. ISSN 0040-7909. Retrieved March 1, 2023.
  4. ^ Grossman, Connor (April 15, 2016). "Newsmakers: Jeff Passan discusses release of 'The Arm'". The Daily Orange. Retrieved January 21, 2022.
  5. ^ McGowin, Daniel (October 6, 2009). "Jeff Passan, Sports Media, and the Loss of Power". Bleacher Report. Retrieved May 2, 2023.
  6. ^ Conway, Tyler (April 5, 2022). "Report: Adam Schefter, Adrian Wojnarowski's ESPN Contract Details, Salaries Revealed". Bleacher Report. Retrieved October 25, 2022.
  7. ^ "Jeff Passan". ESPN Press Room U.S. Retrieved October 25, 2022.
  8. ^ Passan, Jeff (November 23, 2017). "I am giving up my Hall of Fame vote because of Joe Morgan's letter". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved November 8, 2022.
  9. ^ Passan, Jeff (January 25, 2022). "Barry Bonds was shut out of Cooperstown -- and that's a Hall of Fame failure". ESPN. Retrieved November 8, 2022.
  10. ^ Passan, Jeff (February 27, 2024). The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-240038-3.
  11. ^ Wetzel, Dan; Peter, Josh; Passan, Jeff (2010). Death to the BCS : the definitive case against the Bowl Championship Series. Gotham Books. ISBN 978-1-59240-570-1.
  12. ^ "Jeff Passan". BBWAA. Retrieved October 25, 2022.
  13. ^ "National Awards". National Sports Media Association. Retrieved October 25, 2022.
  14. ^ Kotuby, Jeff (January 9, 2024). "Joe Buck, Andrea Kremer Headline National Sports Media Association Hall of Fame Class". Barrett Sports Media. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  15. ^ "Dan Jenkins Medal for Excellence in Sportswriting Awards Dinner". Texas Moody Media. Archived from the original on October 2, 2022. Retrieved November 8, 2022.
  16. ^ Passan, Jeff [@JeffPassan] (July 17, 2023). "BREAKING: My back" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
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