Tom Keegan is an American sportswriter and author who is sports editor of the Chesterton Tribune, a twice-weekly newspaper in Chesterton, Ind. He was a columnist at the Boston Herald until getting laid off, July 1, 2020. He was at the ''
Lawrence Journal-World
The ''Lawrence Journal-World'' is a daily newspaper published in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, by Ogden Newspapers.
History
Though the ''Journal-World'' title came into existence in 1911, the paper dates itself to 1858, according to the ...
'' in
Lawrence, Kansas
Lawrence is a city in and the county seat of Douglas County, Kansas, United States, and the sixth-largest city in the state. It is in the northeastern sector of the state, astride Interstate 70 in Kansas, Interstate 70, between the Kansas River ...
. While in Kansas, Keegan, members of his staff, and local TV personalities combined to do sports podcasts entitled "Spodcasters" on KUsports.com, one of the newspaper's four websites. Keegan also was one of four panelists on a weekly television show ''The Drive'', which is broadcast during the college football and basketball seasons throughout
Kansas
Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...
and nationally on
Fox College Sports
Stadium College Sports (formerly Fox College Sports) was a group of three American sports networks. Owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group and Allen Media Group (under the joint venture Diamond Sports Group), the three channels aired college and hig ...
.
Early years and education
Keegan was born in
Rochester,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
New York may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* ...
, the seventh of 10 children. He attended
Bishop Kearney High School in Irondequoit. He then went on to
Marquette University
Marquette University () is a Private university, private Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It was established as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, by John Henni, the first Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Ar ...
where he graduated with a B.A. in Journalism. Keegan married his wife Angie in
Claremont, California
Claremont () is a suburban city in eastern Los Angeles County, California, United States, east of Los Angeles. It lies in the Pomona Valley at the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census it had ...
. The couple have four children together.
Career
Prior to arriving in the
Midwest
The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...
, Keegan worked for
ESPN
ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
radio AM-1050 in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, until being replaced by
Stephen A. Smith. Before that he spent several years in newspapers, writing for the ''
New York Post
The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative
daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates three online sites: NYPost. ...
'', ''
The Baltimore Sun
''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local, regional, national, and international news.
Founded in 1837, the newspaper was owned by Tribune Publi ...
'', ''
Daily Southtown'' in
Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
, the now-defunct ''
The National Sports Daily'' and the ''
Orange County Register
''The Orange County Register'' is a paid daily List of newspapers in California, newspaper published in California. The ''Register'', published in Orange County, California, is owned by the private equity firm Alden Global Capital via its Digit ...
''.
He is also well known for writing three
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 ...
books, including ''Sleeper Cars and Flannel Uniforms'' on the late
Elden Auker
Elden LeRoy "Submarine" Auker (September 21, 1910 – August 4, 2006) was an American Major League Baseball pitcher with the Detroit Tigers, Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Browns between 1933 and 1942. Auker batted and threw right-handed. Auker wa ...
, a submarine-style pitcher who is known as the last living hurler to face
Babe Ruth
George Herman "Babe" Ruth (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional Baseball in the United States, baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nickna ...
. He also wrote a book about
Ernie Harwell and a story documenting the history of the first-base position.
Keegan's responsibilities in Lawrence included lead columnist, where he wrote several columns a week on the
University of Kansas
The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...
football and basketball teams.
References
External links
Staff pageat the Journal-World website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Keegan, Tom
Living people
1959 births
Marquette University alumni
Sportswriters from New York (state)
Sportswriters from Kansas
Writers from Rochester, New York
American male biographers