Don Zminda is the former president/director of Stats LLC and spends his time now writing books. After hearing about him through a friend and having read some of his writing, I knew we had to do a feature on him. From writing books to serving as Director of Publications for STATS, Don has done it all. He is truly a jack of all trades. You can tell that Don is a down-to-earth person, and he’s kind of funny, too. Anyways, I had a great time getting to learn more about him and how he got to where he is today, and I hope you do, too.
Please note: The interview with Don Zminda was conducted via a typed conversation. Editing changes were made to make it easier to read while maintaining the voice of the interview.
The Questions
What are you up to these days? I know you were the Vice President/Director of STATS LLC previously, where you worked for over two decades.
I am currently working on writing projects. My book, The Legendary Harry Caray: Baseball’s Greatest Salesman was published in April by Rowman & Littlefield. I am currently working on a book related to the Black Sox scandal, entitled Double Plays and Double-Crosses: The Black Sox and Baseball in 1920. It is scheduled for release in spring 2021.
I also work on various projects for the Society of American Baseball Research. SABR recently released a book that I edited for them (along with writing a few essays), Go-Go to Glory: The 1959 Chicago White Sox.
Speaking of STATS LLC. Tell us about your previous role there. What did your day-to-day look like?
I was one of the first people hired by STATS, beginning as a part-timer in 1988. In 1992 I started working for STATS full-time. From 1992-2000 I was the company’s Director of Publications, supervising the production of STATS’ library of annual sports books, most notably The Bill James Baseball Handbook and the STATS Scouting Notebook. At our peak we were producing 12 books in a calendar year.
In 2000 STATS was purchased by a division of NEWS Corp., the FOX network’s parent company. As part of the deal we were asked to provide the research for FOX network and FOX Sports Net (regional) broadcasts. I moved to Los Angeles to become the Director of Research. Our job was to provide pre- and in-game research, game notes, various stat packages, and all-around broadcast support. As the department grew we began servicing non-FOX clients like CBS, Turner, the YES Network, WGN Chicago, and many other clients. During my time at STATS we provided the research for the baseball playoffs and World Series, the FOX and CBS Super Bowls, the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, and thousands of regional broadcasts.
When was the point you realized that you were meant to do work on the sports-side of journalism (what you went to university for)? Take us through that realization. If you can’t pinpoint the exact realization, tell us why you wanted a career in sports writing. Here you can discuss your participation and interest in sport growing up. We’d love to hear about specific sports you played or teams, leagues, athletes, etc. you watched growing up!
I am a graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, one of the nation’s leading journalism programs. After graduation I was interested in writing about sports, but when nothing suitable came up I wound up working for a small suburban newspaper, writing about local politics. I have to say that I did not enjoy that! So I ended up quitting and took a job with US Postal Service as a letter carrier in Evanston, Illinois. It was a job I frankly enjoyed more that covering school board meetings, but I still had ambitions about finding some sort of career in sports. The opportunity came in the 1980s through the great Bill James, who was just starting to establish his reputation as a ground-breaking statistical analyst.
It came like this: in 1984 Bill, who was frustrated by the unavailability of MLB play-by-plays at that time, created a volunteer network called Project Scoresheet to collect the game accounts. I was one of the original volunteers. Through Project Scoresheet Bill and John Dewan, who became the organization’s director that year, I became aware of my writing skills, and I started working on publications that were based on Project Scoresheet data. Eventually, John moved to STATS Inc., and I joined him shortly thereafter. I was never much of an athlete.
I did play Little League baseball.
It has been said that you do not have to be a fan of sport to work in the sport industry. Do you agree with this statement? Why or why not?
True to a limited extent. People adept at working with numbers, like computer programmers, can find and enjoy working in sports even if they’re not big fans. I know a few people like that. But those are exceptions. In my experience, the most successful people were the ones most passionate about sports.
What would you say are the top 5 biggest moments or accomplishments in your sports writing career? Please explain each choice.
Not all of these are writing.
- Having my baseball research published in several of Bill James’ Baseball Abstracts. That put me on the map as a sports analyst
- The publication of The Legendary Harry Caray, the first book I wrote entirely on my own
- Serving as lead researcher for some of the most-watched episodes in sports broadcasting history. My last Super Bowl, Super Bowl 50, was a particular thrill
- Serving as broadcast booth research assistant to John Miller and Joe Morgan for ESPN Sunday Night Baseball in 1990, ESPN’s first season broadcasting baseball. A great experience and great fun
- Working as co-author of The STATS Baseball Scoreboard for over a decade. This was one of the first publications to feature Sabermetrics
Which book was your favorite to write? Which personality was your favourite to profile? Why?
The Caray book, and Caray himself. I was in Chicago during his entire run with both the White Sox and Cubs… an unforgettable character.
What are 3 words you’d use to describe your career in sport? Please explain your choices.
Innovative (we provided some of the most insightful material featured in sports broadcasts)
Creative (we always tried to put an interesting spin on the information we provided)
Fortunate (so often in my career, I was in the right place at the right time)
If you could have a superpower to help you in your career, what would it be and why would you choose to have it?
If I could hear everything that’s being said on the playing field and dugout or bench, that would be pretty helpful!
We’re starting a feature on our website called The Bookshelf. Could you list off three of your top all-time favorite sport-related books, movies and/or songs and briefly explain why?
Books:
- The Glory of Their Times (a classic book of vivid interview with old-time ballplayers. I love the history)
- The Long Season (the first baseball diary, and a key book in my becoming a superfan)
- Ball Four (the most candid and enjoyable baseball diary, a book that expresses the fun of the game)
Movies:
- Bull Durham (entertaining and pure fun)
- The Natural (a book full of the lore of the game, with a great Randy Newman score
- When It Was a Game (great HBO documentary with rare color footage from the 1940s-50s that makes the game come alive)
Songs:
- Take Me Out to the Ball Game (never gets old)
- The Victors (greatest college fight song ever, even for a non-Michigan fan)
- Go U Northwester (have to make the hometown call here… singing the song at a Northwestern game is in my DNA
Alberta’s Final Thoughts on Interview with Don Zminda
Don Zminda is awesome. I’m really quite glad that we were able to do a piece with Don Zminda because he’s real when it comes to the difficulties we face in trying to make it in the sport industry. And he’s relatable. But, you can also see his passion for the industry and how he is living the dream. It was also nice to hear about another area of sport that isn’t talked about as much. And I have to tell you, when his book Double Plays and Double-Crosses: The Black Sox and Baseball in 1920 comes out in 2021, I will be the first to read it.
