Diamonds & Scribes Series: Bob Nightengale | EP. 02

About this episode

Bob Nightengale discusses the intricacies of baseball journalism and the challenges faced by reporters in the modern era.

Diamonds & Scribes — Episode 02 Bob Nightengale: Scoops, Trust, and the Real Cost of Being First Diamonds & Scribes is a limited-series podcast produced by the Philadelphia Baseball Review, exploring the craft of baseball journalism through conversations with the writers who shaped it. Each episode pulls back the curtain on the reporting, storytelling, habits, instincts, and hard-earned wisdom that define great baseball writing. Bob Nightengale has spent more than four decades covering Major League Baseball, building a career rooted in access, trust, and institutional memory. Now a national columnist for USA TODAY, Nightengale came up through the Kansas City Star and the Los Angeles Times, where he learned the value of preparation, restraint, and authoritative reporting. Over time, he became one of the sport’s most reliable national voices — not by chasing attention, but by earning confidence across clubhouses, front offices, and agencies. In this conversation, Nightengale broke down the structural realities of modern baseball reporting, particularly the differences between national writers and beat reporters. He explained how agents drive the vast majority of free-agent…

People in this episode

Guest: Bob Nightengale

Topics covered

• baseball journalism
• reporting
• storytelling
• Major League Baseball
• sports media

Keywords

• scoops
• trust
• free-agent information
• social media
• news cycle

Mentioned in this episode

Products: USA TODAY

Books & works: Diamonds & Scribes Series, Diamonds & Scribes, Scoops, Trust, and the Real Cost of Being First

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