It's All about the Players: What I've Learned from Baseball's Best

Hall of Fame baseball writer Peter Gammons dives deep into his encounters over the last six decades with the best in the sport, revealing a trove of behind-the-scenes stories about the fascinating and inspiring individuals at the heart of our national pastime.

Peter Gammons is the preeminent baseball writer of his generation. Born and raised in New England, Gammons was mentored by the revered basketball coach Dean Smith at the University of North Carolina. Smith told him that being a good listener was not only the key to journalism but to life--and Gammons has long taken that to heart. His early calling card was his Sunday notes column in the Boston Globe, which combined baseball and pop culture to deliver a weekly joyride through the sport. His story from Game 6 of the 1975 World Series is still considered the greatest game story ever written on deadline, and led to his hiring by Sports Illustrated in 1976. He moved to ESPN in 1990, becoming the first sportswriter the network ever put on TV.

Nearly every significant figure in the game has shared stories with Gammons. It's All About the Players reveals what Gammons has learned from those greats about baseball and life. He details the emergence of Latin and Asian players in Major League Baseball and the symbiotic relationships between manager and general managers, catchers and pitchers, and second basemen and shortstops. He recalls his chance childhood meeting with Roger Maris as he was falling in love with baseball. He speaks to the marriage between rock n' roll and baseball, and, yes, tells the story of how Ted Williams claimed he could smell the wood burning on his bat after smoking line drives to the outfield.

Now Gammons has put it all down on the page for baseball fans to treasure.

Author: Peter Gammons
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 09/22/2026
Pages: 368
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.19lbs
Size: 9.17h x 6.28w x 1.26d
ISBN: 9781538777206


Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 08/03/2026
Library Journal 07/17/2026 pg. 1
Kirkus Reviews 09/15/2026

About the Author
PETER GAMMONS was born and raised in Groton, Massachusetts and attended the University of North Carolina. He was hired by the Boston Globe in 1968 before finishing his senior year of college, and, by 1972, became the Red Sox beat writer. He joined Sports Illustrated in 1976 and eventually went to ESPN in 1990. Gammons has been named National Sportswriter of the Year three times, and, while at ESPN, he was given the Baseball Hall of Fame's J.G. Taylor Spink Award. He later worked for MLB Network and The Athletic, while also founding the annual Hot Stove Cool Music charity fundraiser in conjunction with the Foundation to Be Named Later and its Gammons Scholars, who in its first decade through 2025 included more than 300 underserved scholars who combined for a one percent college dropout rate. Married for over 55 years to his wife Gloria, Gammons resides in Cape Cod.