SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
Scott Miller wrote about Major League Baseball for more than 30 years. He contributed to The New York Times, Bleacher Report, the Los Angeles Times and others, and you could hear him as an analyst on MLB Network Radio. He died earlier this month from pancreatic cancer at the age of 62, and that happened just five weeks after the publication of a book called "Skipper: Why Baseball Managers Matter And Always Will." Miller's friends and peers say he was one of the best sports writers of his generation, somebody who could capture human stories and weave narratives into box scores of a 162-game season. To talk more about Miller's life and legacy is Tyler Kepner. He's senior writer for The Athletic, covering Major League Baseball. Welcome to the show.
TYLER KEPNER: Thanks for having me.
DETROW: So you knew Scott Miller. You worked with Scott Miller at The New York Times. I want to start with this. I just kind of talked about his professional side, but one thing I've been struck by, reading obits and remembrances like yours, is that he was just, like, a really good person.
KEPNER: Scott was one of the most upbeat people I've ever known. He was the kind of guy who just - if he was frustrated, he never showed it. He just always projected a positive kind of energy wherever he went. And I think that rubbed off on everybody he knew and on the people he interviewed, as well.
DETROW: He had a long career, like I mentioned, writing for over the course of several decades. What's the best way to frame what made his writing and reporting stand out? There's so many people writing about the same game every single day, but still, there are people like him. They rise above. How would you describe it?
KEPNER: Well, I think he really understood the people within the game. He valued building relationships and just really trying to understand the folks not just as ball players, but as people and as the sort of struggles they go through on a human side. You know, he wrote a book with Bob Tewksbury, the former pitcher, who became a mental skills coach, really exploring the mental side of the game and how players can sort of sharpen that side and how they struggle and get through that. So he was really interested in the human aspect, as well as just getting to the truth of what happened in a game and why. People were always kind of happy to give him a little more because of how authentic and genuine he was and how much preparation he did.
DETROW: One of the things that you wrote about in a remembrance on that note is the idea that he understood relationships - not just kind of the human angle of the game, but also the way that relationships factored into a manager talking to players, but also a sportswriter getting to know the players he's covering. Can you tell us more about that?
KEPNER: He had a knack for getting to know people, but also getting stuff he could use. He managed to get all the reporting done and know the people very well, but he was also really productive. Like, when it was time to deliver the story or deliver the book, he was right on time.
DETROW: I want to talk about managers and also this book that just came out right before he died. It is not a high point for respect for and appreciation of baseball managers right now. There's this narrative that analytics and the front office they're making every single decision, and the role of the manager has been really minimized over the last decade. He was making the opposite argument. What's the best way to frame how he was thinking about this and why?
KEPNER: As a writer, you know, he understood the power of the relationship and how that factored into being a manager beyond just the numbers, right? Like, you know, a lot of managers are kind of told what to do by the front office, or they have to work in collaboration with the front office. And that's fine. You know, we're probably not going to ever get back to the Earl Weaver days, and maybe we shouldn't, you know, when an old school manager kind of ran the whole show. Managers are a lot more than just middle managers who implement what the front office wants. They have to get the players on board.
DETROW: That was Tyler Kepner, senior writer for The Athletic, talking about his friend and colleague, Scott Miller, who passed away earlier this month. Thanks so much for talking to us.
KEPNER: You're welcome. Scott was a treasure of a human, and happy to talk about him. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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