Jeff Passan

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Jeff Passan
Jeff Passan (5oxS9zRebYI) (cropped).png
Passan in 2019
Born1980or1981(age 44–45)
Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
Alma mater Syracuse University
Occupations
  • Sportswriter
  • author
Years active2004–present

Jeff Passan (born 1980or1981) [1] is an American baseball sportswriter and author.

Contents

Early life and education

Passan was born in Cleveland, Ohio. [2] He is Jewish, and grew up attending Hebrew school. [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

Passan began covering baseball in 2004 at The Kansas City Star , [5] before moving to Yahoo! two years later. After 13 years at Yahoo! (2006–2018), he announced that he was joining ESPN's baseball team in January 2019. In 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 at Yahoo! Sports, Passan declined to submit his Baseball Hall of Fame ballot after Hall of Famer Joe Morgan circulated a letter urging voters to bar players linked to performance-enhancing drugs. [8] He has since argued that the Hall’s continued exclusion of candidates such as Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens represents a failure of the voting process. [9]

In March 2024, Passan's reporting detailed that Los Angeles Dodgers interpreter Ippei Mizuhara had transferred at least $4.5 million from Shohei Ohtani’s bank account to an illegal bookmaker, leading to Mizuhara’s dismissal and law-enforcement inquiries. [10] [11] [12]

Passan is the author of The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports, [13] and the co-author of Death to the BCS: The Definitive Case Against the Bowl Championship Series. [14]

Awards and recognition

Passan has been a member of the Baseball Writers' Association of America since 2004, while he was at The Kansas City Star . [15] The National Sports Media Association named Passan as the National Sportswriter of the Year in 2021 and again in 2023. [16] [17]

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." [18]

Personal life

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] [19]

References

  1. 1 2 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. 1 2 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 2, 2025.
  9. ↑ Passan, Jeff (January 25, 2022). "Barry Bonds was shut out of Cooperstown — and that's a Hall of Fame failure". ESPN. Retrieved November 2, 2025.
  10. ↑ "Reports: Shohei Ohtani's interpreter fired, tied to bookmaking operation". Reuters. March 21, 2024. Retrieved November 2, 2025.
  11. ↑ "Translator for Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani fired after allegations of 'massive theft'". The Guardian. March 20, 2024. Retrieved November 2, 2025.
  12. ↑ "Shohei Ohtani says he never bet on sports, interpreter Ippei Mizuhara stole money, told lies". Associated Press. March 25, 2024. Retrieved November 2, 2025.
  13. ↑ 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.
  14. ↑ 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.
  15. ↑ "Jeff Passan". BBWAA . Retrieved October 25, 2022.
  16. ↑ "National Awards". National Sports Media Association . Retrieved October 25, 2022.
  17. ↑ 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.
  18. ↑ "Dan Jenkins Medal for Excellence in Sportswriting Awards Dinner". Texas Moody Media. Archived from the original on October 2, 2022. Retrieved November 8, 2022.
  19. ↑ Passan, Jeff [@JeffPassan] (July 17, 2023). "BREAKING: My back" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
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