Thomas M. Boswell (born October 11, 1947) is an American retired sports columnist who spent his whole career with ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

''.

Early life

Born in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, Boswell attended St. Stephen's School in

Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city (United States), independent city in Northern Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Washington, D.C., D.C. The city's population of 159,467 at the 2020 ...

, and graduated from

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zepha ...

in 1969 with a degree in English literature.

Career

Boswell spent his entire career at ''

'', joining it shortly after graduating college. He became a columnist in 1984. In addition to the ''Post'', he has written for ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman ...

'', '' GQ'', ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...

'' and '' Inside Sports''. He also makes frequent television appearances. Writing primarily about

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

, he is credited with inventing the total average statistic. In 1994, he appeared several times in the

Ken Burns Kenneth Lauren Burns (born July 29, 1953) is an American filmmaker known for his documentary films and television series, many of which chronicle American history and culture. His work is often produced in association with WETA-TV or the Nati ...

series ''

Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

'', sharing insightful commentary into the history of America's national pastime; he appeared again in "The Tenth Inning," Burns' 2010 extension of the series. On October 19, 2020, Boswell announced in his column that he would not be covering the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...

for the first time since 1975. The 72-year-old Boswell cited health concerns related to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, saying that it was too risky for someone at his age to make the trip. Boswell pointed out in his column that at the time, the

1975 World Series The 1975 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1975 season. The 72nd edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the American League (AL) champion Boston Red Sox and the Nati ...

was considered the greatest World Series ever played, largely due to the dramatic game six that ended with Carlton Fisk’s historic home run. The drama of the series convinced him to remain a journalist with the ''Post'' and, in his column, he speculates “Where would I be today if Fisk's ball had gone foul?”

Dan Shaughnessy Dan Shaughnessy (born July 20, 1953) is an American sports writer. He has covered the Boston Red Sox for ''The Boston Globe'' since 1981. In 2016, he was given the J. G. Taylor Spink Award by the Baseball Hall of Fame. The 1980s Boston Celtic ...

of ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

'' subsequently mentioned Boswell in his own column about missing the World Series for the first time in his career. On May 7, 2021, Boswell announced that he would be retiring at the end of June 2021 in a column in ''The Washington Post''. A number of his colleagues paid tribute to him, including former ''Post'' sports editor George Solomon, former ''Post'' chairman and publisher Donald E. Graham, and fellow sportswriters

, Tim Kurkjian, Jeff Passan, Christine Brennan, and Ken Rosenthal.

Awards

In 2018, Boswell was inducted into the

National Sports Media Association The National Sports Media Association (NSMA), formerly the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association, is an organization of sports journalism, sports media members in the United States, and constitutes the American chapter of the Inte ...

's Hall of Fame. Previously, he had been inducted into the Washington DC Professional Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists Hall of Fame and the Washington, DC Sports Hall of Fame, one of only seven sports writers among the 140 members, who include

Walter Johnson Walter Perry Johnson (November 6, 1887 – December 10, 1946), nicknamed "Barney" and "the Big Train", was an American professional baseball player and Manager (baseball), manager. He played his entire 21-year baseball career in Major League Ba ...

Red Auerbach Arnold Jacob "Red" Auerbach (September 20, 1917 – October 28, 2006) was an American professional basketball coach and executive. As a head coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA), he led the Boston Celtics to an unprecedented champio ...

, Bones McKinney, and National Sports Media Association Hall of Famers Shirley Povich and Bob Wolff. In December 2024, Boswell was selected as recipient of the 2025 the BBWAA Career Excellence Award, and will be honored at the

Baseball Hall of Fame The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by a private foundation. It serves as the central collection and gathering space for the history of baseball in the United S ...

in July 2025.

Personal life

Boswell lives in Crownsville, Maryland, with his wife Wendy. They have one child together, a son named Russell.

Books

* ''How Life Imitates the World Series'' (1982) * ''Why Time Begins on Opening Day'' (1984) * ''Strokes of Genius'' (1987) * ''The Heart of the Order'' (1989) * ''Game Day: Sports Writings 1970–1990'' (1990) * ''Cracking the Show'' (1994) * ''Diamond Dreams'' (with

Walter Iooss Walter Iooss Jr. ( ; born September 15, 1943) is an American photographer noted for his images of athletes, including Michael Jordan, Kelly Slater, Tiger Woods, Scottie Pippen, and Muhammad Ali. He has been called "the poet laureate of sports." ...

) (1996)

References

External links

Thomas Boswell: 2025 BBWAA Career Excellence Award winner
at the

Boswell's columns
at ''

'' * {{DEFAULTSORT:Boswell, Thomas 1947 births Living people Amherst College alumni American columnists Baseball writers The Washington Post journalists Sportswriters from Washington, D.C. BBWAA Career Excellence Award recipients