Christina Kahrl
Encyclopedia
Christina Kahrl is one of the co-founders of Baseball Prospectus
. She is the former executive editor of the think tank
's website, BaseballProspectus.com, the former managing editor for their annual publication, and is currently writing and editing for ESPN.com. She is a member of the Baseball Writers Association of America
. She is also an activist on civil rights issues for the transgender community, and a Board Director of Equality Illinois. Kahrl resides in Chicago, Illinois.
).
Since the launch of BaseballProspectus.com in 1996, she has contributed a regular column entitled "Transaction Analysis," listing and analyzing the transactions (player trades, contract signings, promotions and demotions) by all Major League Baseball
teams for the site. In 2011, she kicked off a new standalone opinion and argument column for the site entitled "Purpose Pitches." She has also written for SportsIllustrated.com, ESPN.com
, the New York Sun
, Salon.com
, Slate
, Playboy
, and the Washington Blade, and is an associate editor of The ESPN Pro Football Encyclopedia. She is also the former Acquisitions Editor of Brassey's Sports, a mid-list publisher that focused on sports history and analysis.
In 2008, Kahrl was accepted as a member of the Baseball Writers Association of America
and thus became eligible to vote on Major League Baseball
post-season awards and nominees for the National Baseball Hall of Fame. She voted for the American League
Rookie of the Year in 2009 and for the National League
Manager of the Year in 2010. Reflecting on the meaning of her election, Kahrl wrote, "While I expect to still write about transactions, I really want to try and breathe new life back into the game story as an art form, and perhaps in my conceit try to take pages from Runyon
and Lardner
and Pete Palmer
and Keith Woolner
to provide something old and something new, all at once."
In April 2011, Kahrl announced that she would be joining ESPN.com to write and edit, teaming up with David Schoenfield in penning the "SweetSpot" blog, which provides a sabermetrics-driven analysis on the goings-on in baseball.
(1990) and an MA in Public History at Loyola University Chicago
and now resides in Chicago, Illinois. She is transsexual. The story of her publicly coming out as a transsexual sportswriter in 2003 was part of a GLAAD Award-nominated segment entitled "Transitions" on HBO's Real Sports that aired in 2010.
Baseball Prospectus
Baseball Prospectus is an organization that publishes a website, BaseballProspectus.com, devoted to the sabermetric analysis of baseball. BP has a staff of regular columnists and provides advanced statistics as well player and team performance projections on the site...
. She is the former executive editor of the think tank
Think tank
A think tank is an organization that conducts research and engages in advocacy in areas such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, and technology issues. Most think tanks are non-profit organizations, which some countries such as the United States and Canada provide with tax...
's website, BaseballProspectus.com, the former managing editor for their annual publication, and is currently writing and editing for ESPN.com. She is a member of the Baseball Writers Association of America
Baseball Writers Association of America
The Baseball Writers' Association of America is a professional association for baseball journalists writing for daily newspapers, magazines and qualifying Web sites. The BBWAA was founded on October 14, 1908, to improve working conditions for sportswriters in the early part of the 20th century...
. She is also an activist on civil rights issues for the transgender community, and a Board Director of Equality Illinois. Kahrl resides in Chicago, Illinois.
Career
Kahrl has co-edited several of the Baseball Prospectus annual books of forecasts and analysis and has been involved in the writing of every edition since the first in 1996 (for a list, see Baseball ProspectusBaseball Prospectus
Baseball Prospectus is an organization that publishes a website, BaseballProspectus.com, devoted to the sabermetric analysis of baseball. BP has a staff of regular columnists and provides advanced statistics as well player and team performance projections on the site...
).
Since the launch of BaseballProspectus.com in 1996, she has contributed a regular column entitled "Transaction Analysis," listing and analyzing the transactions (player trades, contract signings, promotions and demotions) by all Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
teams for the site. In 2011, she kicked off a new standalone opinion and argument column for the site entitled "Purpose Pitches." She has also written for SportsIllustrated.com, ESPN.com
ESPN.com
ESPN.com is the official website of ESPN and a division of ESPN Inc. Since launching in 1995 as ESPNet.SportsZone.com, the website has developed numerous sections including: Page 2, SportsNation, ESPN 3.com, ESPN Motion, My ESPN, ESPN Sports Travel, ESPN Video Games, ESPN Insider, ESPN.com's...
, the New York Sun
New York Sun
The New York Sun was a weekday daily newspaper published in New York City from 2002 to 2008. When it debuted on April 16, 2002, adopting the name, motto, and masthead of an otherwise unrelated earlier New York paper, The Sun , it became the first general-interest broadsheet newspaper to be started...
, Salon.com
Salon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
, Slate
Slate (magazine)
Slate is a US-based English language online current affairs and culture magazine created in 1996 by former New Republic editor Michael Kinsley, initially under the ownership of Microsoft as part of MSN. On 21 December 2004 it was purchased by the Washington Post Company...
, Playboy
Playboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
, and the Washington Blade, and is an associate editor of The ESPN Pro Football Encyclopedia. She is also the former Acquisitions Editor of Brassey's Sports, a mid-list publisher that focused on sports history and analysis.
In 2008, Kahrl was accepted as a member of the Baseball Writers Association of America
Baseball Writers Association of America
The Baseball Writers' Association of America is a professional association for baseball journalists writing for daily newspapers, magazines and qualifying Web sites. The BBWAA was founded on October 14, 1908, to improve working conditions for sportswriters in the early part of the 20th century...
and thus became eligible to vote on Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
post-season awards and nominees for the National Baseball Hall of Fame. She voted for the American League
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League , is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major...
Rookie of the Year in 2009 and for the National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
Manager of the Year in 2010. Reflecting on the meaning of her election, Kahrl wrote, "While I expect to still write about transactions, I really want to try and breathe new life back into the game story as an art form, and perhaps in my conceit try to take pages from Runyon
Damon Runyon
Alfred Damon Runyon was an American newspaperman and writer.He was best known for his short stories celebrating the world of Broadway in New York City that grew out of the Prohibition era. To New Yorkers of his generation, a "Damon Runyon character" evoked a distinctive social type from the...
and Lardner
Ring Lardner
Ringgold Wilmer Lardner was an American sports columnist and short story writer best known for his satirical takes on the sports world, marriage, and the theatre.-Personal life:...
and Pete Palmer
Pete Palmer
Pete Palmer is a major contributor to the applied mathematical field referred to as sabermetrics. Along with the Bill James Baseball Abstracts, Palmer's book The Hidden Game of Baseball is often referred to as providing the foundation upon which the field of sabermetrics was built.Palmer began his...
and Keith Woolner
Keith Woolner
Keith Woolner is an author for Baseball Prospectus and is the creator of the runs-based statistic VORP or Value Over Replacement Player. VORP is acknowledged by the sabermetrics community as one of the key concepts in the analysis of a player's performance and market valuation.-Education and early...
to provide something old and something new, all at once."
In April 2011, Kahrl announced that she would be joining ESPN.com to write and edit, teaming up with David Schoenfield in penning the "SweetSpot" blog, which provides a sabermetrics-driven analysis on the goings-on in baseball.
Background
Kahrl earned an AB in History at the University of ChicagoUniversity of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
(1990) and an MA in Public History at Loyola University Chicago
Loyola University Chicago
Loyola University Chicago is a private Jesuit research university located in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1870 under the title St...
and now resides in Chicago, Illinois. She is transsexual. The story of her publicly coming out as a transsexual sportswriter in 2003 was part of a GLAAD Award-nominated segment entitled "Transitions" on HBO's Real Sports that aired in 2010.