Tim Kurkjian attended Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda, where he played on the school’s basketball and baseball teams. At the suggestion of his basketball coach, Kurkjian began writing for the student newspaper, The Pitch, and the school’s yearbook, “The Wind-up.
He eventually became the sports editor of The Pitch and realized that journalism would be the surest means of fulfilling his childhood dream of making a living in professional sports. He graduated from the school in 1974 and after some time away, still lives in MoCo today.
Earlier this Month, the National Baseball Hall of Fame announced that Kurkjian would be the 2022 recipient of the BBWAA Career Excellence Award and will be presented the award as part of the Hall of Fame Induction in Cooperstown this upcoming July.
Per The Baseball Hall of Fame:
Kurkjian transitioned from award-winning beat writer to beloved ESPN television personality during his career covering the National Pastime.
Along the way, Kurkjian’s skills as a wordsmith and love of the game made him a fan-favorite at each of his stops.
A graduate of Walter Johnson High school in his native Bethesda, Md., and the University of Maryland, Kurkjian began his career in 1979 for the Washington Star and two years later was the Rangers beat writer for the Dallas Morning News. After four years in Texas, Kurkjian returned to Maryland, joining the Baltimore Sun to cover the Orioles for four years.
Kurkjian then spent seven years as Sports Illustrated’s senior baseball writer. In 1998, he joined ESPN where he has worked as a columnist for ESPN.com and a reporter/analyst/host for “Baseball Tonight,” the latter assignment earning him an Emmy Award in 2002. He won a second Emmy for contributions to “SportsCenter” in 2003-04.
Kurkjian also penned “America’s Game” (2000), an interactive look at baseball; “Is This a Great Game or What?” (2007), a collection of his personal reflections covering the sport; and “I’m Fascinated by Sacrifice Flies” (2017), detailing the idiosyncrasies that define his love for the game.
