Life from the Press Box

Book excerpt: Jim Street learned early in his career that fairness and accuracy were two of the most important words of his profession. From the beginning to the end of his forty-year career as a sportswriter covering major league baseball and professional football on the West Coast, Street strived to listen to both sides of each story and print the truth. Street chronicles his intriguing sportswriting career beginning in high school when he discovered his passion for writing while covering beats for the local newspaper, the Butte Valley Star. As he moves through his career, Street details his experiences working alongside iconic athletes and coaches that included O.J. Simpson, Randy Johnson, Joe Montana, Bill Walsh, John Madden, and Ichiro Suzuki while sharing fascinating insight into what it was like to cover the Oakland Athletics famed Mustache Gang in 1972 featuring future Hall of Fame legends Catfish Hunter, Reggie Jackson, and Rollie Fingers, several World Series and All-Star games, the first World Baseball Classic, two Super Bowls, four Rose Bowls, the Kentucky Derby, and the mens and womens US Open golf tournaments. Life from the Press Box shares memories from the forty-year career of a former MLB.com beat reporter and long-time baseball writer who played a significant role during a bygone era.