Bill Shaikin, a California Sportswriter of the Year honoree, covers baseball and sports business for the Los Angeles Times. His story on the Dodgers’ Russian physicist-turned-healer who claimed to channel positive energy to the team – “If You Think It, They Will Win” – was featured in the Best American Sports Writing anthology. He was the beat writer when the Dodgers filed for bankruptcy in 2011 and the Angels won the World Series in 2002, two events considered beyond improbable before they happened. He incurred the wrath of Kelly Clarkson’s fans while wondering why she was singing at the Turin Olympics, in a country with a cultural lineage that included da Vinci, Michelangelo and Fellini. He has reported from the Dominican Republic, Israel, England, Italy, Mexico, Canada and Hickory, N.C. He graduated from UC Berkeley and hopes to see the Golden Bears in the Rose Bowl during his lifetime, just once.
Of the 9 teams with the highest payrolls in 2011, at least 6 will sit home in October
Baseball's frugal clubs hit paydirt
Smithfield, N.C., is proud of its Ava Gardner Museum and of Barry Foote, who played in 10 major league seasons. Now that Jerry Sands has been called up to the Dodgers, there's a new hometown hero.
Sands of time: From the farm to the city
Giants' World Series title built on homegrown pitching
Entering golden gates
Kid's stuff = Easy win
Giants try different look, minus Burrell