How Rob Neyer Got His Start

Bill James may be the grandfather of baseball sabermetrics, but Rob Neyer has to be considered some kind of great uncle. James was well-established among hardcore baseball nerds before Neyer came along, but it was Neyer's column on ESPN.com that brought sabermetrics into the light and in front of a national audience. The Hardball Times recently caught up with Neyer for an interview, where he discusses how he got his start, including just how rough things were for him before finally finding his niche:

My freelance "career" lasted for 10 months, and I think I made something like $8,000. At best. Those were some lean months, during which I was occasionally reduced to buying food at gas stations with my mom's credit card. When I did that, I would drive 20 miles from town, to avoid running into somebody who knew me. None of my friends knew I was destitute, and a lot of my meals were made with pancake mix I swiped from my roommate (by the way, I owe a very belated thanks to John Cheffey).

Honestly, I hate to even think about what baseball reporting would look today had Neyer decided to pursue something that would have afforded him a better diet than gas station food and pancake mix. As befuddled as some mainstream writers are, no one can deny that both writers and front office execs are a bit more enlightened than they were 10 years ago, and Neyer is at least a small reason why.