John Sickels

John Sickels (born January 5, 1968) is an American baseball writer, formerly of ESPN.com, that specializes in baseball's minor leagues and amateur ranks.

Infobox Writer


imagesize = 150px
name = John Sickels
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pseudonym =
birthdate = birth date and age|1968|1|5|mf=y
birthplace = Des Moines, Iowa, United States
deathdate =
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occupation = Author, blogger, radio host
nationality = American
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genre = Sports, science-fiction, poetry
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influences = Bill James
influenced =


website = http://www.johnsickels.net

From 1996 to 2005 Sickels was a columnist for ESPN.com, writing regular "Down on the Farm" columns that took an in-depth look at baseball prospects. Sickels was let go by ESPN in February 2005, and soon thereafter started his own blog, www.minorleagueball.com. Besides the blog, Sickels is a regular contributor to the fantasy sports website RotoWire.com. He also hosts "Fantasy Focus" on XM 175 on Fridays, and offers a subscription-based e-mail newsletter. All projects, like his work at ESPN, focus on baseball's minor leagues and amateur ranks.

Sickels writes and self-publishes the popular annual "Baseball Prospect Book", which profiles roughly 1,000 of the top prospects in baseball's minor leagues, and is only available directly from him. The book, along with the one published by Baseball America, are consistently strong sellers amongst prospect fans, with Sickels' book often selling out. Some sold-out versions remain available in PDF format.

He has also penned a 2004 biography of baseball Hall of Famer Bob Feller called "Bob Feller: Ace of the Greatest Generation".

Sickels is a graduate of Northwest Missouri State University (1990, BA in history) and the University of Kansas (1993, MA in history). He resides in Kansas with his wife, Jeri. He has two sons, Nicholas and Jackson.

Departure from ESPN.com

Sickels was let go by ESPN on February 1st 2005 after nine years as the website's minor league analyst.

"Basically, my column was discontinued because the suits wanted to "streamline" the ESPN website operation. In plain terms, I was downsized," Sickels said in one of the earliest posts on his blog [ [http://minorleagueball.com/story/2005/2/11/152041/426] ] . It added insult to injury when ESPN edited out the final paragraph on Sickels' final column. "My main beef about this is that ESPN did not allow me to say goodbye properly," Sickels reflected in a February 11th 2005 blog posting [ [http://minorleagueball.com/story/2005/2/11/152041/426] ] .

ESPN has since partnered with Baseball America to deliver minor league content. Keith Law, once a special assistant to the general manager of the Toronto Blue Jays, also provides minor league and amateur baseball content for the site.

Other interests

Sickels has also written poetry and science fiction [ [http://minorleagueball.com/story/2006/12/24/16921/169] ] and considers himself an "amateur meteorologist" thanks to witnessing a tornado first hand when he was eight years old.

References

External links

* [http://www.johnsickels.net John Sickels' personal website]
* [http://www.minorleagueball.com John Sickels' baseball blog]