Clayton Trutor
Historian, Author, Freelance Writer
Author of Boston Ball: Rick Pitino, Jim Calhoun, Gary Williams and the Forgotten Cradle of Basketball Coaches
(University of Nebraska Press, 2023)
*Preorder Boston Ball & Save 40% with Promo Code 6AF23
Author of Loserville: How Professional Sports Remade Atlanta–and How Atlanta Remade Professional Sports (University of Nebraska Press, 2022).
Loserville won the Georgia Historical Society’s 2023 Bell Award for Best Book on Georgia History
Loserville has been named one of the best baseball books of 2022 by Sports Collectors Digest.
Loserville has been named one of Public Books‘ Public Picks for 2022.
Loserville was featured in Secret Base‘s “Atlanta and Cleveland’s battle to end baseball misery deserves a deep rewind.”
Vermont State Chair, Society for American Baseball Research (SABR)
Co-Editor, Overcoming Adversity: Baseball’s Tony Conigliaro Award (SABR, 2017)
Instructor, Norwich University, Northfield, VT
Boston College, PhD, History
University of Vermont, MA, History
University of Vermont, BA, History and Political Science
Recent Articles by Clayton Trutor:
“The Making of Geno Auriemma (Part I),” The UConn Blog (April 2024)
“Review: Patrick Leahy, Senate Stalwart,” America: The Jesuit Review (April 2024)
“Predicting Who Will Be President,” Next Avenue PBS (April 2024)
“Beyond the Good Friday Massacre,” The Hockey News (April 2024)
“Missing Moody,” Columbia Metropolitan (April 2024)
“Beyond Blake Griffin: Oklahoma City is a Surprising Hub of Basketball Talent,” The College Basketball Times (March 2024)
“The story of the first varsity women’s basketball team at UConn,” The UConn Blog (March 2024)
“The NHL Goes to Jail,” The Hockey News (January 2024)
“Remember Cassette Tapes? They’re Back,” Next Avenue PBS (February 2024)
“A Rock Documentary That Won’t Die,” Next Avenue PBS (January 2024)
“Sarasota’s Peppi Borza Was a One-of-a-Kind Transatlantic Star,” Sarasota Magazine (January 2024)
“The State of Girls Hockey: How Roseville Changed it All,” Minnesota Monthly (January 2024)
“Leave It: Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella,” NINE: A Journal of Baseball History and Culture (Spring 2024)
“Everyday Diplomacy,” The Hockey News (November 2023)
“Hockey’s First Blockbuster,” The Hockey News (November 2023)
“Three Silent Film Stars Who Found a Sanctuary in Palm Springs,” Palm Springs Life (December 2023)
“The story of UConn’s first Elite Eight appearance,” The UConn Blog (November 2023)
“When Harry Met Pablo Interview,” Next Avenue (November 2023)
“When an Unknown Coach Named Rick Pitino Helped Lift BU Men’s Basketball to New Heights,” Bostonia [Boston University] (November 2023)
“The Blair Witch Project Turns 25 Next Year. We Talked to Writer and Director Dan Myrick About Its Legacy,” Sarasota Magazine (October 2023)
“Hobey Baker’s Sports Legacy Lives on in Bala Cynwyd and Beyond,” Main Line Today (November 2023)
“Lady and the Champ: A Saranac Lake Love Story,” Adirondack Life (December 2023)
“Lones Wigger: Local Legend,” Big Sky Journal (Fall 2023)
“‘Mean’ Gene Okerlund, Wrestling’s Greatest Interviewer, Had a Decades-Long Love Affair With Sarasota,” Sarasota Magazine (September 2023)
“The 1951 UConn team was Hugh Greer’s breakthrough squad,” The UConn Fast Break (September 2023)
“A Victim of the Life He Led,” Pittsburgh Quarterly (Fall 2023)
“Inside the Skip Holtz Era of UConn Football,” The UConn Fast Break (September 2023)
“On Corny Thompson,” The UConn Fast Break (September 2023)
“Roanoke’s Original Life Master,” The Roanoker (September 2023)
“When Sports Writers Ruled TV,” Next Avenue PBS (August 2023)
“Residents recall U2’s Fountain Street Church show,” Grand Rapids Magazine (July 2023)
“How Sarasota’s Bones Howe Helped Shape America’s Pop Music Landscape,” Sarasota Magazine (July 2023)
“Remembering Liz Sheridan, the Seinfeld Actress and Westchester Local” Westchester Magazine (June 2023)
“Review of Irene Vallejo’s Papyrus: The Invention of Books in the Ancient World,” America: The Jesuit Review (June 2023)
“A Train for All Seasons,” Southlake Style (May 2023)
“Review of Andrew M. Wehrman’s The Contagion of Liberty: The Politics of Small Pox in the American Revolution,” American History (May 2023)
“Pittsburgh’s Frank Gorshin was the Original Riddler,” Pittsburgh Quarterly (May 2023)
“How Sarasota Shaped the Life and Career of ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage,” Sarasota Magazine (May 2023)
“Bill Campion Looks Back at his time at Manhattan,” Mid-Major Madness (April 2023)
“New Hampshire’s Gifts to Baseball,” New Hampshire Magazine (April 2023)
“The Links Doctor: Cary Middlecoff,” Memphis Magazine (April 2023)
“The Legacy of Del Wilkes,” Columbia Metropolitan Magazine (April 2023)
“The St. Louis Man Who Invented ‘Soccer,’” Riverfront Times (March 2023)
“Andre the Giant Had a Posse in Burlington,” Seven Days (January 2023)
“Taking it to the Court: Evansville Continues to be the Main Street of DII March Madness,” Evansville Living (December 2022)
“Andy Williams: The Mayor of La Quinta,” Palm Springs Life (November 2022)
“Longtime Sarasota Resident Hoyt Wilhelm Threw the Most Mystifying Pitch in Baseball,” Sarasota Magazine (December 2022)
“Saranac Lake’s Howard Siler Coached the Original Jamaican Bobsled Team,” Adirondack Life (December 2022)
“The Sears Christmas Wish Book Helped Fulfill the Dreams of a Young Sports Collector,” Sports Collectors Digest (December 2022)
“Knute Rockne: Football Legend was a Longtime Elk,” Elks Magazine (December 2022)
“The Man Who Lou Gehrig Replaced,” Grand Rapids Magazine (November 2022)
“Review of What it Took to Win by Michael Kazin,” American History Magazine (November 2022)
“Twenty Years Ago, Champlain College Basketball Went Away, and So Did a Piece of Burlington,” Seven Days (November 2022)
“Top 10 Basketball Moments at the Norfolk Scope,” Mid-Major Madness, SB Nation (October 2022)
“San Antonio’s Ross Youngs Won His First World Series 101 Years Ago,” San Antonio Magazine (October 2022)
“Marchy Schwartz: The Man Who Ran After Gipp,” Notre Dame Magazine (September 2022)
“Review of Hitler’s American Gamble by Brendan Simms & Charlie Laderman,” American History (Autumn 2022)
“Delaware’s Baseball Dream Team,” Delaware Today (June 2022)
“Whitey Ford: Baseball Legend,” Elks Magazine (June 2022)
“Do Facsimile Autographs Have Value to Collectors? Bo (Jackson) Knows,” Sports Collectors Digest (May 2022)
“The House that Frank Built,” Columbia Metropolitan Magazine (May 2022)
“The Rhode Island Nine: Ocean State Baseball Greats,” Rhode Island Monthly (April 2022)
“Remembering the Montreal Expos,” Sports Collectors Digest (March 2022)
“Delaware’s Dream Starting Five,” Delaware Today (March 2022)
“Al McGuire’s Brookfield Life,” MKE Lifestyle (February 2022)
“Days of Eagles and Giants: The NFL in Saranac Lake,” Adirondack Life (January/February 2022)
“From the Desk of Clayton Trutor: The History Behind Atlanta’s World Series Victory,” University of Nebraska Press blog (November 2021)
“Rockne and the Four Horsemen’s Last Ride,” Notre Dame Magazine (Autumn 2021)
“Legends and Legacies: The Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum,” Mississippi Magazine-Field Guide (Fall 2021)
“Seventy Years Ago, San Antonio’s Kyle Rote was the Top Pick in the NFL Draft,” San Antonio Magazine (September 2021)
“Heroes and Saints: 10 Powerful Books about Sports and Catholicism,” America Magazine: The Jesuit Review (August 2021)
“From Johnson C. Smith University to the Harlem Globetrotters, Twiggy Sanders was an ‘out-of-the-box sensation,’” Mid Major Madness (July 2021)
“50 Years Ago, the Baltimore Bullets Pulled Off One of the Greatest Upsets in NBA Playoff History,” Baltimore Magazine (July 2021)
“Style and Substance: The Story of Memphis’ “Parisian Bob” Caruthers,” Memphis Flyer (July 2021)
Review of Bubble in the Sun: The Florida Boom of the 1920s and How It Brought on the Great Depression by Christopher Knowlton for HistoryNet (July 2021)
Review of Rock Me on the Water: 1974, the Year Los Angeles Transformed Movies, Music, Television, and Politics by Ronald Brownstein for HistoryNet (July 2021)
“Frank Lucchesi’s Tarrant County Life,” Southlake Style (July 2021)
“They Called Him Gypsy Boots,” Palm Springs Life (July 2021)
“Five NBA Stars that Hail from San Antonio,” San Antonio Magazine (June 2021)
“Columbia’s Starting Nine: A Quiet Hub of MLB Talent,” Columbia Metropolitan Magazine (May 2021)
“10 Books You Need to Read About Indiana Sports,” Indianapolis Monthly (April 2021)
“Evansville’s Starting Nine,” Evansville Living (March/April 2021)
“John Lindsay’s Lowcountry Life,” Local Life Magazine (April 2021)
“The Eastern Shore’s Starting Nine,” Chesapeake Bay Magazine (April 2021)
Review of Blake Bailey’s Philip Roth: The Biography for American History/History Net (March 2021)
“Ten Must-Read Minnesota Sports Books From the Past Decade,” Minnesota Monthly (December 2020)
“My On-Again, Off-Again Romance With Autograph Collecting,” Sports Collector Digest (December 2020)
“The Ten Best Books About Sports and Christianity of the Last Ten Years,” Christianity Today (December 2020)
Review of new edition of Richard Hofstadter’s Anti-Intellectualism in American Life for American History/HistoryNet (October 2020)
“The Rise and Fall of ‘Atlanta’s Ice Society’: Tom Cousins, Downtown Redevelopment, and Professional Hockey in 1970s Atlanta,” Atlanta Studies (December 2019)
Get in touch with Clayton Trutor
Recent Media Appearances and Reviews:
“Boston Ball/CBB Talk,” Cats Talk Wednesday (December 2023)
“Boston Ball Discussion,” Meter and the Coach, 103.7 FM WEEI FM Providence, RI (December 2023)
“Boston Ball,” Keeping the Nostalgia Alive Show (December 2023)
“Boston Ball,” The Sports Animal, 98.1 FM, Oklahoma City (December 2023)
“How ‘Boston Ball’ Changed the Way Basketball is Played,” Radio Boston, 90.9 FM WBUR, Boston, MA (December 2023)
“Boston Ball/College Basketball Discussion,” Dan Reinhardt on Radio Kingston, 1490 AM Radio Kingston, Ulster County, NY (December 2023)
“Clayton Trutor Interview,” The Packaged Tourist Show (December 2023)
“Boston Ball Discussion,” The Sports Zoo, 1060 AM KDUS, Phoenix, AZ (December 2023)
“Boston Ball/UConn Talk,” The Rob Dibble Show, ESPN 97.9 FM, Hartford, CT (November 2023)
“Boston Ball,” The Brandon Vogt Show, 96.3 FM KKOB FM, Albuquerque, NM
“Review of Boston Ball,” The Guy Who Reviews Sports Books (November 2023)
“Boston Ball,” Titillating Sports with Rick Tittle, iHeart Radio Sports Byline USA (November 2023)
“Boston Ball,” R&R in the Morning, 94.1 FM KTFM, San Antonio, TX (November 2023)
“Boston Ball Discussion,” Cail and Company, 103.9 FM/103.1 FM 1450 AM WKXL, Concord, NH (November 2023)
“Review of Boston Ball,” BC Bookmarks (November 2023)
“Boston Ball Discussion,” The Sports Garten with Tom Barton, Bleav in Betting (November 2023)
“Boston Ball,” In the Zone with Brandon Kravitz, 96.9 FM The Game, Orlando, FL (November 2023)
“Boston Ball,” The Morning Drive, 620 AM WVMT, Burlington, VT (November 2023)
“Boston Ball Discussion,” Corm and the Coach, Classic Hits Vermont, WCVT 101.7 FM, Montpelier, VT (November 2023)
“Boston Ball Talk,” ESPN 103.7 FM Lafayette, LA 104.1 FM Lake Charles, LA (October 2023)
“90s sitcoms and Boston Ball,” Kentucky Sports Guys, 99.1 FM The Hoss, Edmonton, Kentucky (October 2023)
“Boston Ball/Loserville Discussion,” Applebee’s Tailgate Talk, WKAC 1080 AM, Huntsville, AL (October 2023)
“Thurman Munson Hall of Fame Debate,” SABR NH/ME (October 2023)
“Boston Ball Interview,” iHeart Radio The Tech of Sports (September 2023)
“Boston Ball Discussion,” The Morning Show, WKNY AM 1490, Radio Kingston, Kingston, NY (September 2023)
“Boston Ball,” Ralph Williams One on One (August 2023)
“Boston Ball,” Indiana Sports Beat (July 2023)
“Boston Ball Discussion,” Hodgepod with Rob Fredette (June 2023)
“Boston Ball Talk,” Meter and the Coach, WEEI 103.7 Providence, RI (June 2023)
“Hartford Whalers,” Best Damn Sports Talk Period with Ed Berliner and Pete Sheppard (June 2023)
“Atlanta and Cleveland’s battle to end baseball misery deserves a deep rewind,” Secret Base (June 2023)
“Boston Ball Discussion,” Atlanta Prime Sports (May 2023)
“Bartolo Colon,” Pod of Fame (May 2023)
“NHL to Atlanta Discussion,” Atlanta Prime Sports (April 2023)
“Loserville & The Atlanta Braves,” Remember When with Ed Randall & Kevin Kennedy, Sirius XM MLB Network, Channel 89 (April 2023)
“Loserville Discussion,” Baseball & BBQ Podcast (April 2023)
“Thomas Cahill & St. Louis Soccer History,” St. Louis Soccer Weekly, The Big 550 KTRS AM St. Louis (March 2023)
“GBBO, Kitchen Utensils, Bjork, and College Basketball,” Kentucky Sports Guys, 99.1 FM The Hoss (Edmonton, Kentucky, February 2023)
“Zach Thomas,” Pod of Fame (February 2023)
“Happy Book Birthday to Loserville,” University of Nebraska Press (February 2023)
“12 Stories We Loved in 2022,” San Antonio Magazine (December 2022)
“Review of Loserville,” SABR Business of Baseball Newsletter (Fall 2022)
“Public Picks of 2022,” Public Books (December 2022)
“Best Baseball Books of 2022,” Sports Collectors Digest (December 2022)
“Against the Designated Hitter,” Kentucky Sports Guys, 99.1 FM The Hoss (Edmonton, Kentucky, November 2022)
“Review of Loserville,” Journal of Southern History (November 2022)
“SABR Bookshelf: Fall 2022,” SABR (Fall 2022)
“The Braves are Rewriting Atlanta’s Tortured Comeback History,” Fox Sports (October 2022)
“Billy ‘White Shoes’ Johnson,” Pod of Fame (October 2022)
“Corby Connections with Clayton Trutor,” Notre Dame Club of Gettysburg
“Review of Loserville,” Georgia Historical Quarterly (2.2022)
“Clayton Trutor Interview: History of Atlanta Sports,” 92.9 The Game Weekends with Chris Goforth, WZGC Atlanta
“AAC Football Preview,” Off Tackle Empire, SB Nation
“Loserville discussion,” Wrestling Talk Across the Country Podcast
“Loserville & 90s Sitcom Castoff Discussion,” Kentucky Sports Guys, 99.1 FM The Hoss (Edmonton, Kentucky)
“Major League Atlanta,” Norwich University Online Residency Conference Address
“Loserville Discussion,” St. Louis United FC Show, 590 AM The Fan (St. Louis)
“Atlanta Sports Discussion,” Tom Barton Show, Sports Garten Network (Long Island, NY & syndicated)
“On This Day: Pete Maravich Traded to Jazz,” Sports Illustrated, May 20, 2022
“How Sports Remade Atlanta–and How Atlanta Remade Sports (Interview with Dr. Frank Guridy), Pandemic Baseball Book Club
“Loserville/Falcons Discussion,” Football Odyssey with Aron Harris
“Loserville Discussion,” The Bottom Line with Matthew Meyer, 98.1 FM WWLS The Sports Animal (Oklahoma City, OK)
“American Cities Historian Clayton Trutor, author of Loserville,” Sports Jam with Doug Doyle, WBGO 88.3 FM Newark Public Radio (NJ)
“A Dive Into Atlanta Sports,” Eagle Eye (BC Heights Podcast)
“Loserville,” The Bob Muscatell Show, WLIS 1420 AM (Middletown, CT)
“Loserville Discussion with Clayton Trutor,” RP3 and Company, 103.7 FM The Game Lafayette (Lafayette, LA)
“Loserville author Clayton Trutor,” The Bern with Mitch
“Clayton Trutor Interview,” The Bill Shanks Show, 93.1 FM ESPN Middle Georgia (Macon, GA)
“Zach Thomas Discussion,” Pod of Fame
“Clayton Trutor, author of Loserville,” In This Corner with JD
“Short Takes on Five Vermont Books,” Seven Days (Burlington, VT)
“Loserville: How Sports Remade Atlanta And How Atlanta Remade Professional Sports With Author Clayton Trutor,” The Morning Show, WGTD 91.1 FM (Kenosha, WI)
“Play Ball,” BC Bookmarks
“11 New Baseball Books for Your 2022 Lineup,” Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel (Milwaukee, WI)
“Loserville Discussion,” Auburn Public Library (Auburn, GA)
“Clayton Trutor and Shawn Parker,” Liberty Bell Smack, WWDB 860 AM (Philadelphia, PA)
“Clayton Trutor,” The Morning Drive, WVMT 620 AM (Burlington, VT)
“Author Clayton Trutor,” Spaghetti Junction Boys Podcast
“Loserville, Atlanta Discussion,” The Thom Abraham Show, ESPN 97.7 Tennessee Valley (Huntsville, AL)
“Clayton Trutor, Loserville Interview,” Cail and Company, WKXL, NH Talk Radio (Concord, NH)
“Loserville Discussion,” The Rotary Club of Winder, GA
“Loserville Interview–Clayton Trutor,” From the Rumble Seat Podcast (Georgia Tech, SB Nation)
“Loserville,” The Paul Finebaum Show, SEC Network & ESPN Radio
“Loserville by Clayton Trutor is the story of pro sports, politics, and business in Atlanta,” Dawg Sports Live (SB Nation)
“Loserville,” Atlanta Prime Sports with Todd Corder
“Loserville, Atlanta, and St. Louis,” High Noon with Nate Lucas KFNS 590 AM St. Louis The Fan & KWTO 93.3 Springfield, MO, Springfield’s Happy Hour
“Loserville,” Sports with Coleman with Jerry Coleman, 105.7 WJZ Baltimore
“Loserville,” The Sports Zoo with Dave Bierstein, KDUS Sports 1060 AM Phoenix
“Loserville,” The Randy Kennedy Show, Sports Talk 99.5 Mobile (AL)
“Loserville,” Drive Time Sports, KOAL 107.3 FM Salt Lake City
“Loserville Presentation,” SABR Iowa, SABR Day Presentations
“How Atlanta Rewrote the Playbook for Recruiting Professional Sports Teams,” Morning on Maine Street, WDUN 550 AM North Georgia
“Loserville,” The Scott Hamilton Show, ESPN Radio 98.9 FM Charleston (SC)
“Loserville,” Upon Further Review with Derek Martin, KMA 960 AM Shenandoah (IA)
“Loserville: Talking Atlanta, Milwaukee, and the Importance of Sports to a Community,” It’s All Thunder Podcast with Mitch “Thunder” Nelles, WOKY The Big Sports 920 AM Milwaukee
“Loserville,” The WKNY AM Drive Sports Show, WKNY 1490 AM Kingston (NY)
“Loserville on Rick’s Reading List,” The Rick Dayton Show, 100.1 KDKA FM Pittsburgh
“Loserville,” Titillating Sports with Rick Tittle, Sports Byline USA (Sirius XM 211)
“How Did Atlanta Become a Sports Hub?” In the Zone with Shot Dr. and Brandon Kravitz, WYGM 96.9 The Game Orlando
“Loserville Discussion,” SABR Cincinnati
“Page Turners,” Sports Business Journal
“Interview: ‘Loserville: How Professional Sports Remade Atlanta,'” SI.com
“Clayton Trutor Interview,” WCGL CBS 46 Atlanta, The Sunday Sports Show
“Loserville Interview,” Fan Talk with Bobby Hartin, 98.9 FM Charleston, South Carolina WMTZ
“Episode 159: Loserville (Interview w/ Clayton Trutor),” Archive Atlanta
“Every Atlanta Sports Fan Should Read This Book, Loserville,” David Shiele, WBIR, YouTube
“Loserville Interview,” Pirate Radio 92.7 FM Greenville (Clip Brock)
“Loserville Discussion,” SABR Northwest Ohio Chapter
“The Quaz Five with … Clayton Trutor,” The Yang Slinger (Jeff Pearlman’s Substack)
“Talking Loserville, #GBBO, Wrestling, and Bob Saget,” The Kentucky Sports Guys
“Loserville: How Professional Sports Remade Atlanta—and How Atlanta Remade Professional Sports (Starred Review: Recommended),” Publishers Weekly
“Frank Lucchesi,” Topps 1988 Podcast
“Loserville Author Clayton Trutor, Plus an Atlanta Braves Victory Lap!” Running the Bases Podcast
“Special Interview with BC Grad Clayton Trutor, Author of Loserville,” Locked on Boston College Podcast
“Clayton Trutor with Chris Goforth,” The Midday Show, 92.9 The Game WZGC Atlanta
“Clayton Trutor Interview,” Packaged Tourist Show
“Loserville Discussion & New England SABR Chapter ‘Hot Seat’ Discussion,” SABR Boston Chapter
“Loserville & Baltimore Stadium History Discussion,” SABR Babe Ruth Chapter (Baltimore)
“Pro Sports in Atlanta–It’s Complicated,” Good Seats Available Podcast
“Loserville Review,” Jeff Sexton, Bookanon
“Underdog Sports Movies, Bad News Bears, Hoosiers, Rocky III, & Loserville,” Big Screen Sports Movies Podcast
“Lou Hudson,” Pod of Fame
“Loserville/History of Atlanta Falcons Discussion,” Football History Dude Podcast
“Talking Loserville, Braves, Falcons, and the Great British Bake Off,” Kentucky Sports Guys (99.1 The Hoss, Edmonton, Kentucky)
“Loserville Discussion with Fred Wallin,” Sports Overnight America (Sirius XM, 122)
“Loserville Discussion,” Cats Talk Wednesday
“Loserville Author Clayton Trutor,” ML Sports Podcast with Mike Lindsley
“Loserville Presentation,” SABR Elysian Fields (North Jersey) Chapter Meeting
“Loserville/Atlanta Sports Discussion,” Kudzu Vine Podcast
“Loserville,” Football is Family Podcast
“Loserville discussion with Rob Fontenot,“ Astros Baseball Podcast
SABR North Florida “Loserville” Presentation
“Author Clayton Trutor,” Mark Heffernan Marked Men Podcast
“Dale Murphy with Clayton Trutor,” Pod of Fame
“Clayton Trutor, author of Loserville,” The Luke Winstel Show
“Loserville: How Professional Sports Remade Atlanta–and How Atlanta Remade Professional Sports,” The Falcoholic Podcast (SB Nation)
“Loserville Author Clayton Trutor,” Mattlanta 680 The Fan Atlanta
“Clayton Trutor Interview,” Internet Baseball Writers Association of America Podcast
“Analyzing Atlanta Sports with Loserville author Clayton Trutor,” Locked on MLB Podcast
SABR Nashville “Loserville” Presentation
SABR Philadelphia “Loserville” Presentation
“Loserville author Clayton Trutor,” Ringside Sports with a Punch Podcast
“Interview with Clayton Trutor,” American Sports History Podcast
“Baseball Writers Interview by Stacey Gotsulas,” The Baseball Writers IBWAA Podcast
“Loserville author Clayton Trutor on Tom Glavine,” 1988 Topps Podcast
“Q&A with Loserville Author Clayton Trutor,” Stadium Journey
“Loserville Interview with Clayton Trutor,” Start Spreading the News
“From Peanuts to Crackerjacks: All Things Baseball 2021,” Vermont Edition, Vermont Public Radio
“Clayton Trutor, Author of Loserville, Discusses Georgia Tech and Georgia Football History,” History of College Football Podcast
“Trutor’s Book Tells Story of Atlanta Sports,” Rutland Herald
“The Best Books About Football,” Football History Dude Podcast
Loserville: How Professional Sports Remade Atlanta―and How Atlanta Remade Professional Sports
In July 1975 the editors of the Atlanta Constitution ran a two-part series entitled “Loserville, U.S.A.” The provocatively titled series detailed the futility of Atlanta’s four professional sports teams in the decade following the 1966 arrival of its first two major league franchises, Major League Baseball’s Atlanta Braves and the National Football League’s Atlanta Falcons. Two years later, the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association became the city’s third major professional sports franchise. In 1972 the National Hockey League granted the Flames expansion franchise to the city, making Atlanta the first southern city with teams in all four of the big leagues.
The excitement surrounding the arrival of four professional franchises in Atlanta in a six-year period soon gave way to widespread frustration and, eventually, widespread apathy toward its home teams. All four of Atlanta’s franchises struggled in the standings and struggled to draw fans to their games. Atlantans’ indifference to their new teams took place amid the social and political fracturing that had resulted from a new Black majority in Atlanta and the whites’ exodus to the outer suburbs, and sports could never quite bridge the divergence between the two.
Loserville examines the pursuit, arrival, and response to professional sports in Atlanta during its first decade as a major league city (1966–75). It scrutinizes the origins of what remains the primary model for acquiring professional sports franchises: offers of municipal financing for new stadiums. Other Sunbelt cities like San Diego, Phoenix, and Tampa that aspired to big league stature adopted Atlanta’s approach. Like the teams in Atlanta, the franchises in these cities have had mixed results—both in terms of on-field success and financial stability.
Advance praise for Clayton Trutor’s Loserville:
“Clayton Trutor vividly and expertly untangles the complex ball of issues that made Atlanta’s transformation into a ‘Major League’ sports town so unexpectedly (and maddeningly) difficult. A fascinating look at the way professional sports collided with politics, economics, and social upheaval in the 1960s and 1970s, Loserville also serves as a cautionary tale for any twenty-first-century city that’s hoping to land its own MLB, NFL, NBA, or NHL franchise. In other words, be careful what you wish for!”—Dan Epstein, author of Big Hair and Plastic Grass: A Funky Ride Through Baseball and America in the Swinging ’70s
“In Loserville Clayton Trutor uses painstaking research and impressive command of Atlanta’s political and racial history to depict the birth of a modern American sports town. Only this creation story comes with a surprising twist. Build it and they will come? Think again.”—John Eisenberg, author of The League: How Five Rivals Created the NFL and Launched a Sports Empire
“As a baseball historian and writer since 1969, and as a fan of the Braves since 1957, I loved every page of Loserville, a well-crafted and well-researched history of both Atlanta and its sports teams. I especially enjoyed reliving the roller-coaster ride the baseball team took from its arrival in 1966 through its dismal years as the Bad-News Braves, with attendance so poor that it took Ted Turner to keep the team in town—and eventually in national view via TBS and some shrewd acquisitions. I like the place and the book.”—Dan Schlossberg, author of When the Braves Ruled the Diamond: Fourteen Flags Over Atlanta
“Loserville is a fascinating history of Atlanta’s emergence as the epicenter of Sunbelt sports. . . . In a revealing portrait of Atlanta and the ground-shifting changes in American sports, Trutor demonstrates how the age of franchise free agency collided with the political fracturing of a divided city. Anyone interested in the history of American sports, the South, or Atlanta should read this book.”—Johnny Smith, Julius C. “Bud” Shaw Professor of Sports History at Georgia Tech University. Author of The Sons of Westwood: John Wooden, UCLA, and the Dynasty That Changed College Basketball.
clayton trutor
Historian, Author, Freelance Writer
Vermont State Chair, Society for American Baseball Research (SABR)
Co-Editor, Overcoming Adversity: Baseball’s Tony Conigliaro Award (SABR, 2017)
Instructor, Norwich University, Northfield, VT
Boston College, PhD, History
University of Vermont, MA, History
University of Vermont, BA, History and Political Science
clayton trutor
clayton trutor 