Allen Barra

Allen Barra is an American journalist and author of sports books. He is a contributing editor of American Heritage magazine, and regularly writes about sports for The Wall Street Journal and The Atlantic.{{cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/author/allen-barra/|title=Allen Barra|first=Allen|last=Barra|website=The Atlantic}} He has also written for The New York Times and The New York Observer, and was formerly a columnist for Salon.{{cite web|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/04/06/DD2516T2LR.DTL|title='Yogi Berra,' by Allen Barra, a definitive look|work=SFGate|date=April 7, 2009 }} He formerly blogged on sports for the Village Voice website. He frequently contributes to Major League Baseball Radio and The Daily Beast.{{cite web|title=Allen Barra {{!}} Authors |url=http://us.macmillan.com/author/allenbarra|publisher=Macmillan|accessdate=May 10, 2013}}{{cite web|last=Barra|first=Allen|title=Why I Write...Allen Barra|url=http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/authors/why-i-write/article/56390-why-i-write-allen-barra.html|publisher=Publishers Weekly|accessdate=May 10, 2013}}

Personal

Barra, grew up in Birmingham, Alabama, currently lives in South Orange, New Jersey.

Publications

His 2009 book on Yogi Berra — Yogi Berra: Eternal Yankee — was praised as "sturdy," "well-written," and "thorough" by the San Francisco Chronicle, but The New York Times thought it too enthralled with its subject.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/03/books/review/Mahler-t.html|title=Book Review - 'Yogi Berra: Eternal Yankee,' by Allen Barra|first=Jonathan|last=Mahler|work=The New York Times |date=May 2009 |publisher=}}

In 2010, Barra wrote Rickwood Field: A Century in America's Oldest Ballpark.{{cite book|title= Rickwood Field: A Century in America's Oldest Ballpark |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |date=July 26, 2010|ISBN=978-0393069334|first=Allen|last=Barra}}

Perception

Barra was one of the few sportswriters to agree with Rush Limbaugh that Donovan McNabb had been overrated by sports journalists due to reasons related to McNabb's race.{{cite magazine|url=http://www.slate.com/articles/sports/sports_nut/2003/10/rush_limbaugh_was_right.html|title=Rush was right about Donovan McNabb.|magazine=Slate Magazine|date=October 2, 2003 |last1=Barra |first1=Allen }}

In 2009, he was the target of a widely read critique at the website Deadspin, which targeted Barra's subjective adoration for Derek Jeter.{{cite web|url=http://deadspin.com/5360440/jesus-is-the-derek-jeter-of-christianity|title=Jesus Is The Derek Jeter Of Christianity|author=Junior|work=Deadspin|date=September 16, 2009 }} Barra then responded, five years later, in an article for Salon,{{cite web|url=http://www.salon.com/2014/02/14/shut_up_stats_nerds_and_haters_youre_wrong_about_derek_jeter/|title=Shut up, stats nerds and haters: You're wrong about Derek Jeter|work=salon.com|date=February 14, 2014 }}

that his argument was based on the premise that Jeter contributes in "ways that don’t necessarily show up in a box score," rather than his argument from the piece that, "many observers think the primary reason (for the Yankees' success in 2009) is Mr. Jeter," rather than giving credit to the achievements of the team as a whole (six other members of the starting lineup had an OPS over 120+).

References

Category:American male non-fiction writers

Category:Living people

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)

Category:Writers from Birmingham, Alabama

Category:Writers from South Orange, New Jersey

Category:Sportswriters from New Jersey