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This is Defector, a new sports blog and media company. We made this place together, we own it together, we run it together. Without access, without favor, without discretion, and without interference.

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Defector

New Defector Merch For Your Baby

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Merch v3

<p>Asher Elbein is <a href="https://www.asherelbein.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.asherelbein.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1712179533443000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2CJ0U-vHMdK0s6sOdzlGGF">a journalist and fiction writer</a> based in Austin, Texas. Among other places, his work has appeared in The New York Times, Scientific American, Undark Magazine, Audubon, and Texas Monthly.</p>


Asher Elbein

An illustration of Magneto placing a yarmulke atop his head.

Magneto (1)

History

The Judgment Of Magneto

Profile Pic

Chris Thompson

Sockdolager

Announcements

Sockdolager Is The New Dinger


<p>Richard Staff is a <a href="https://twitter.com/RichardStaff" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">weapons-grade Twitter goblin</a> and hostage of the Mets. That is his real name.</p>


Richard Staff

View from seats on the first-base side of Ebbets Field as the New York Giants and the Brooklyn Dodgers opened the 1939 baseball season, Brooklyn, New York, New York, 1939.

Ebbets Field Opening Day

The Last Of The Brooklyn Dodgers

Dave McKenna

8 Nov 2000: Rod Strickland #1 of the Washington Wizards dribbles the ball during the game against the New Jersey Nets at the MCI Center in Washington, D.C. The Nets defeated the Wizards 102-86. NOTE TO USER: It is expressly understood that the only rights Allsport are offering to license in this Photograph are one-time, non-exclusive editorial rights. No advertising or commercial uses of any kind may be made of Allsport photos. User acknowledges that it is aware that Allsport is an editorial sports agency and that NO RELEASES OF ANY TYPE ARE OBTAINED from the subjects contained in the photographs.

Rod Strickland #1

Farewell, TGI Fridays Where Rod Strickland And Chico DeBarge Threw Hands On 9/11

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<p class="sc-77igqf-0 bOfvBY">Vince Guerrieri is an award-winning journalist and author in the Cleveland area. He likes Lake Erie perch sandwiches, Jim Traficant and long walks on the field at League Park. His website is <a class="sc-1out364-0 hMndXN sc-145m8ut-0 kGbjEv js_link" href="http://vinceguerrieri.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-ga="[[&quot;Embedded Url&quot;,&quot;External link&quot;,&quot;http://vinceguerrieri.com/&quot;,{&quot;metric25&quot;:1}]]">vinceguerrieri.com</a>, and you can follow him on Twitter <a class="sc-1out364-0 hMndXN sc-145m8ut-0 kGbjEv js_link" href="https://twitter.com/vinceguerrieri" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-ga="[[&quot;Embedded Url&quot;,&quot;External link&quot;,&quot;https://twitter.com/vinceguerrieri&quot;,{&quot;metric25&quot;:1}]]">@vinceguerrieri</a>.</p>
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Vince Guerrieri

Balloons, 1.5 million of them, curl around the Terminal Tower Building during Balloonfest '86 sponsored by the United Ways Services of Cleveland. The lift off will be entered into the Guinness World Book of Records.(Photo by Bettmann Archive/Getty Images)

Balloons Surrounding Terminal Building

Balloonfest Made Cleveland A Laughingstock. Did It Deserve It?

VictorPortraitWClaw

David Roth

TWO HARBORS, MN - NOVEMBER 9: A bright moon shone over the horizon near the Split Rock Lighthouse on November 10, 2019. It was lit to honor the lives of the 29 men that died aboard the Edmund Fitzgerald 44 years ago. The lighthouse is only lit for approximately two hours and fifteen minutes each year. (Photo by Alex Kormann/Star Tribune via Getty Images)

Split Rock Lighthouse lit in memory of Edmund Fitzgerald

College Football

The Edmund Fitzgerald Is Inspiring Jim Harbaugh And Michigan Football To Achieve “Lake Mindset”

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Samer Kalaf

A man carries a child, wounded by Israeli airstrikes, into Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City

PALESTINIAN-ISRAEL-GAZA-CONFLICT

Politics

Subjugation And Dehumanization Lead To Only One Result

Baltimore Orioles left-hander Tippy Martinez, from a 1983 game against the Chicago White Sox.

tippy martinez

Recalling “The Pickoff Game,” Forty Years Later

<div id=":g4.ma" class="Mu SP" title="January 26, 2021 at 2:34:42 PM UTC-5" data-tooltip="January 26, 2021 at 2:34:42 PM UTC-5"><span id=":g4.co" class="tL8wMe EMoHub" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/GoStevenGoldman">Steven Goldman</a> is a former BP editor-in-chief and current consulting editor. He is the author of the Casey Stengel biography <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Forging-Genius-Making-Casey-Stengel/dp/1574888749">Forging Genius</a> </i>and host of the long-running <a href="https://www.baseballprospectus.com/show/the-infinite-inning/"><i>Infinite Inning </i>podcast</a>, which sits at the crossroads of baseball, history, politics, and culture. He also co-hosts the Bob Dylan career retrospective podcast <i><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/everything-is-broken/id1522797671">Everything is Broken</a>, </i>and is one of the panelists on the ongoing baseball and politics podcast <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/say-it-aint-contagious/id1549209775"><i>Say It Ain&#8217;t Contagious</i></a>.</span></div>
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Steven Goldman

Domingo German of the New York Yankees leaves the mound during a home game against the Chicago Cubs in July of 2023.

Chicago Cubs v New York Yankees

Underneath The Bottle

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Ray Ratto

(Original Caption) 8/27/1951-St. Louis, MO-: Bill Veeck, new owner of the St. Louis Browns, who believes that a zany atmosphere in baseball is good "box office," carried his idea to a new high when he staged a "grandstand managers" night when the Brownies played the Philadelphia Athletics. Fans who always know what the managers of the opposing teams "shouldda done" were given the opportunity to vote on decisions. Here, Jay Edson, of the Browns publicity staff, is asking the Board of Managers to decide on a pitcher.

Man Holding Sign near Grandstand Audience

The Best Team Is One That Can’t Hurt You Anymore

An American soldier stands in the Zeppelin stadium and looks towards a Nazi swastika, Nuremberg, Germany, 1945. The stadium, along with two others, was used by Adolf Hitler to hold many Nazi rallies. (Photo by © Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)

Nuremberg in Allied Hands

They Almost Played An All-Star Game At Nuremberg

<p>Keith Paradise is a freelance writer who somehow won a Keystone Press Award during his<br />
decade spent as a newspaper reporter in Pennsylvania, where he covered sports, education, and<br />
the murder of a neighborhood turkey. Originally from Pittsburgh, he is a monthly contributor to<br />
<em>Billiards Digest</em> magazine.</p>


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Keith Paradise

A rack of Starter jackets, satin and pullover and polyester. Colorado Rockies is in the front.

rockies-starter-jackets-side-colorado

Arts And Culture

The Rise And Fall Of Starter, The Coolest Company On Earth

Boxing at Dodger Stadium

Boxing

Whoever Killed Davey Moore Also Killed Boxing At Dodger Stadium

<div dir="auto"><a href="https://twitter.com/nkulw">Noah Kulwin</a> is a writer and co-host of the podcast <a href="https://blowback.show/">Blowback</a>. He lives in New Jersey.</div>


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Noah Kulwin

A photo of Lee Harvey Oswald being taken away by officials. In the corner is the join or die cartoon with the words THE AMERICAN FRIEND on it

americna-friend-1

Decades Later, The JFK Assassination Still Keeps Some Secrets


<p>A founding member of the Billings, Montana-to-Brooklyn sportswriting pipeline, Patrick Sauer has written for many large digital publications you’ve heard of and even more smaller ones that no longer exist. He’s on Twitter at <a href="https://twitter.com/pjsauer" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">@pjsauer</a>.</p>


Patrick Sauer

The Cannon Street All-Star Team of 1955 is honored at an event in 2015.

cannon-street-all-stars

The Little League Team That Never Got The Chance To Play

Richard Nixon preparing to go on Meet The Press in 1988.

richard-nixon

The Secret History Of Richard Nixon, Mets Sicko

<p><a href="http://www.ddavisla.com"><span style="font-weight: 400">David Davis</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400"> is the author of <em>Wheels of Courage: How Paralyzed Veterans from World War Invented Wheelchair Sports, Fought for Disability Rights, and Inspired a Nation</em>. A </span><a href="https://sidewinderfilms.org/films/waterman"><span style="font-weight: 400">documentary</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400"> based on his previous book, <em>Waterman: The Life and Times of Duke Kahanamoku</em>, airs on <a href="https://www.pbs.org/video/waterman-duke-ambassador-of-aloha-ot83gi/">PBS’s American Masters series</a> on May 10.</span></p>


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David Davis

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The Mostly Untold Story Of How The Sports Bra Conquered The World And Tore Its Inventors Apart

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<div>Casey Taylor is a writer living and working in Pittsburgh. He is currently writing a book for St. Martin&#8217;s Press about cannabis religions, Haile Selassie I, and the Cold War in the Caribbean. He also writes a free newsletter called <a href="https://weedchurch.substack.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://weedchurch.substack.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1709306863919000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1mVH2xiID6S0zvlyj6yHco">Weed Church</a> covering foolish spiritual things that occur to him. His work has appeared in The New Republic, WIRED, New York Magazine, and a sports blog he can’t currently recall the name of. You can <a href="mailto:caseyt7@gmail.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">email</a> him if you’d like.</div>
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casey

Casey Taylor

The statue of Saint George as he vanquishes the dragon of nuclear war is made of actual pieces of Soviet SS-20 and United States Pershing nuclear missles which were destroyed as a result of their historic disarmament treaty. AFP PHOTO TIMOTHY A. CLARY (Photo credit should read TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images)

The 1990 Monument “Good Defeats Evil” by

This Family Has Tattooed The Holy Land For Centuries

headshot

Barry Petchesky

Coronavirus Pandemic Causes Climate Of Anxiety And Changing Routines In America

Wait, Second Base Has Been WHERE This Whole Time?

Robin Ficker, seen here wearing a Washington Bullets hat and screaming.

FickerGrabYouTube

Stories

NBA Heckler, Friend Of Ali, And Wannabe Governor Robin Ficker Gets Disbarred

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Tom Ley

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They Found The Freaking ‘Endurance’


<p>Jasper Hutson is a lapsed journalist.</p>


Jasper Hutson

The All-Black League That Invented Hockey As We Know It

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Kelsey McKinney

An Historical Correction Needs To Be Seen


<p>Louis Keene is a writer for the Forward and the creator of <a href="http://unstatable.com">Unstatable</a>, a newsletter about the Clippers. He’s on Twitter <a href="http://twitter.com/thislouis">@thislouis.</a></p>


Louis Keene

The late Malik Sealy and Brent Barry at a Los Angeles Clippers game in the Arrowhead Pond, in 1997.

Nuggets V Clippers

25 Years Ago, The Clippers Came Closer To Moving To Anaheim Than Anyone Knew

<p><a href="https://twitter.com/ericnus">Eric Nusbaum</a> (words) is a writer based in Tacoma, Washington. He is the author of the book <i><a href="https://bookshop.org/books/stealing-home-los-angeles-the-dodgers-and-the-lives-caught-in-between-9781541742222/9781541742215">Stealing Home: Los Angeles, the Dodgers, and the Lives Caught in Between</a></i>. He is also a former editor at VICE.</p>
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/adamvillacin">Adam Villacin</a> (pictures) is an illustrator based in Joshua Tree, California. He has written, illustrated, and self-published roughly one hundred zines. He has worked with clients such as Nike, Jordan Brand, Adidas, Dr. Martens, and Fender in addition to editorial work for VICE and The Ringer. He’s also been drawing a musician every day for the last year and a half.</p>


Eric Nusbaum and Adam Villacin

Bodybuilder Rachel McLish, as drawn by Adam Villacin.

mclish2

Women’s Bodies, Men’s Rules, And The Indiscreet Draw Of ‘Pumping Iron 2: The Women’